EVERYDAY PRAYER

Liturgy of the Sunday
Word of god every day

Liturgy of the Sunday

Twenty-ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint Luke, evangelist and author of the Acts of the Apostles. According to tradition, he was a physician and a painter.
Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Liturgy of the Sunday
Sunday, October 18

Homily

Mark tells us about Jesus talking to James and John, the sons of Zebedee. We are still on the way to Jerusalem, and Jesus, for the third time, confided in his disciples that he is fated to die at the end of his journey. The two disciples are not touched at all by their Master’s tragic words, and, with a notable hardness of heart, they come forward and ask Jesus to grant two seats next to him when he establishes his kingdom. After Peter’s confession in Caesarea and after they had argued about who was the greatest among them, rivalry among the disciples probably has increased. This may explain why the two brothers lay a claim to the first places. How difficult it is for Jesus to touch the hearts of his Twelve, even if he has chosen them and has taken care of them! Actually, they are very far away from Jesus’ worries and thoughts. They are not able to be in tune with him. Being physically close to him is not enough to understand him. We need to listen to his word every day and follow him along a path of interior growth. How often instead we experience our spiritual poverty and lack of evangelical wisdom.
Confronted with the two disciples’ claim, Jesus answers, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with" Jesus wants to explain to them what the Gospel demands though the two symbols, the cup and baptism, which were well known to all those, like the disciples, who were acquainted with the Holy Scriptures. Jesus interprets both symbols in relation to his death. The cup is the symbol of God’s wrath, as Isaiah writes: "Rouse yourself, rouse yourself! Stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl of staggering" (Is 51:17). Also Jeremiah says, "Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it" (Jer 25:15). Jesus’ metaphor means he has accepted God’s judgement for the evil of the world, even at the cost of death. Likewise, the symbol of baptism, "All your waves and your billows have gone over" (Ps 42:7). With these two images, Jesus shows that he is not seeking a successful career of power. In fact, he is taking on humanity’s sin, as John the Baptist said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."
Probably the two disciples are not even listening to what the Master says, and even less do they understand its meaning. The Gospel word needs an attitude of listening and praying, if we want to hear it and understand it. The two disciples do not care about understanding the Gospel word. They want to be granted a place, or in any event, that Jesus considers their claim. So with a foolish simplification they say, "We are able!" Likewise they will reply to Jesus at the end of the Last Supper when they walk up in the Garden of Olives (Mt 26:35). That night a few hours will be enough, and with the frightened others they will run away from the Master, and they will leave him in the hands of the High Priests. Obviously, the claim of the two sons of Zebedee roused other disciples’ envy and rivalry ("They began to be angry with James and John" the evangelist notices). Jesus calls them together once again around him to listen to a new Gospel lesson. Whenever the disciples do not listen to Jesus’ words and let themselves be guided by their own reasoning, they wander off the evangelical path, while arguments and quarrels break out among them. On their own, the disciples, just like everyone else, are inclined to be self-schooled and self-sufficient, believing that they can get along without any help, even without Jesus. The Gospel teaches the complete opposite, as the disciples keep learning at their master’s school. They never stop listening to him. Even if they get responsible positions, both in the Church and in society, they will continue being the Lord’s children, that is, disciples sitting at Jesus’ feet.
That’s why Jesus is gathering the Twelve again and teaching them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you." The instinct of power, Jesus suggests, takes strong roots in men’s hearts, also in the heart of those who swear that they are free of it. Nobody, even in the Christian community, is exempt from this temptation. We may say that Jesus himself was tempted by power when he was led to the desert by the Spirit. It doesn’t matter whether it is a "great" or a "small" power; everyone is bewitched by it. It is normal to comment harshly on people who have political, economic, or cultural power, and it is sometimes necessary to do so. But maybe it is easier to examine others’ consciences rather than our own, we who are generally men and women with a "little power." Shouldn’t we ask ourselves how egoistically and arrogantly we use that little power we have in our family, at school, in the office, behind a desk, on the streets, in ecclesiastical organizations, or wherever we are A poor reflection on this issue is often a source of disappointment, quarrel, envy, clash, and cruelty.
Jesus keeps telling his disciples, "But it is not so among you" (you’d rather say "it should not be like this"). It is not a crusade against power to encourage a facile humility, which can also be simply indifference. Jesus had power, "he taught them as one having authority," writes Matthew (7:29), and he gave it to his disciples, "gave them authority over the unclean spirits," we read in Mark (6:7). The problem is what "power" we speak about, and, in any event, how we exercise it. The power the Gospel is telling us about is the power of love. Jesus explains it not only by words declaring: "whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant," but also by means of his life. He remarks about himself, "Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant." This is how all his disciples must behave.

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR

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!

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR