Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Baruch 1, 15-22
You must say: Saving justice is the Lord's, we have only the look of shame we bear, as is the case today for the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
for our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, and for our ancestors,
because we have sinned before the Lord,
have disobeyed him, and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God telling us to follow the commandments which the Lord had ordained for us.
From the day when the Lord brought our ancestors out of Egypt until today we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, we have been disloyal, refusing to listen to his voice.
And we are not free even today of the disasters and the curse which the Lord pronounced through his servant Moses the day he brought our ancestors out of Egypt to give us a land flowing with milk and honey.
We have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God in all the words of those prophets he sent us;
but, each following the dictates of our evil heart, we have taken to serving alien gods, and doing what is displeasing to the Lord our God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The author of this little book, attributed to Baruch, the companion and secretary of Jeremiah, probably belongs to a group of spiritual men devoted to the Law, the Basids. They never stopped hoping that God would intervene directly in history and save his people. Trusting prayer was their weapon of choice. They felt deeply connected to the entire people of Israel, and they thought that the sad condition in which the people lived was the consequence of the sins of previous generations. They know that they are a minority, but they feel they represent the entire people before God. They do not consider themselves a distant and detached elite. Consequently, they make a sort of examination of conscience by recalling all of the great works God had performed on behalf of the people of Israel. The prophet seems to want to make a collective examination of conscience as he also recalls the sins of the people, who disobeyed the Lord’s commandments. The sad situation in which the people find themselves is the consequence of disobedience to God and his law, "From the time when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God, and we have been negligent, in not heeding his voice" (v. 19). The prophet clearly indicates the root of the evil that assails Israel. And his words are obviously intended to make the people aware of the sins they have committed so they will once again convert to the Lord. It is not difficult, the prophet seems to say: the confession of faults is accompanied by the narration of God’s incredible love and the delight with which he loves his people. The words of the prophet are meant to push the people of Israel to be moved by so much love and to change their lives. Not only should they not be fascinated by the neighbouring people, which truthfully is always a temptation for Israel, but once again they are invited to let themselves be attracted by a love as extraordinary as the love of their God. The memory of his love, along with continuous listening to the Holy Scriptures that narrate it, preserve the people of Israel from forgetfulness and the subtle attraction of the neighbouring peoples. And, most importantly, it pushes the Lord to intervene as he always has.
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
