Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Ezra 6, 7-8.12.14-20
Leave the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews alone, to get on with their work on that Temple of God; they are permitted to rebuild that Temple of God on that site.
And herewith are my instructions as to how you will assist these elders of the Jews in the rebuilding of that Temple of God: the cost is to be paid in full to these men from the royal revenue, that is, from the taxes of Transeuphrates, and without interruption.
and may the God who has caused his name to live there overthrow the king of any people who dares to defy this and destroy that Temple of God in Jerusalem! I, Darius, have issued this order. Let it be punctiliously obeyed!'
and the elders of the Jews made good progress over their building, thanks to the prophetic activity of the prophet Haggai and Zechariah son of Iddo, completing the reconstruction in accordance with the command of the God of Israel and the order of Cyrus and of Darius.
This Temple was completed on the twenty-third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
The Israelites -- the priests, the Levites and the remainder of the exiles -- joyfully celebrated the dedication of this Temple of God;
for the dedication of this Temple of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs and, as a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel.
Then they installed the priests in their orders and the Levites in their positions for the ministry of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, as prescribed in the Book of Moses.
The exiles celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month.
The Levites, as one man, had purified themselves; all were pure, so they sacrificed the Passover for all the exiles, for their brothers the priests and for themselves.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Finally, the time of the rebuilding comes. Like in a drama, the author is not interested in the precise historical description of the events--some details are even contradictory and anachronistic--rather he underlines that the conclusion of the works of the house of God marks the end of a long story, started with oppression from the kings of Assyria up to the destruction of the temple. Now this is all over. The promise God had made to David is fulfilled. God never forgets His word. It is fulfilled notwithstanding the sins of the people of Israel and the adverse historical conditions, which apparently restrain the Lord’s plan. Now the templethe core of God’s presence amid his people--and religious feasts can be celebrated. The joy and unity of the people of God are the features of this rejoicing: "The people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy." It is a continuous joy, repeated for "seven days", that is forever: "With joy they celebrated the festival of unleavened bread for seven days." No one can be sad before the Lord, as if ignoring his protection. To stay where the presence of God is evident means being freed from the burden of sadness and loneliness, children of our love for ourselves that we are. This joy is shown particularly in the celebrations of the Passover and the Unleavened Bread, which the Jewish tradition later combined into one. They celebrated the memory of the Israel’s liberation from slavery in Egypt, and strengthened their devotion to God, liberator of all slavery. The remembrance of this liberation renews a joyful service to the Lord and a fresh availability to be guided by His Law. This is the only possible beginning of the celebration of the rebuilt temple: praise to the Lord of a people united by the presence of God, in memory of regained freedom.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
