Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Isaiah 25,6-10
On this mountain, for all peoples, Yahweh Sabaoth is preparing a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of succulent food, of well-strained wines. On this mountain, he has destroyed the veil which used to veil all peoples, the pall enveloping all nations; he has destroyed death for ever. Lord Yahweh has wiped away the tears from every cheek; he has taken his people's shame away everywhere on earth, for Yahweh has spoken. And on that day, it will be said, 'Look, this is our God, in him we put our hope that he should save us, this is Yahweh, we put our hope in him. Let us exult and rejoice since he has saved us.' For Yahweh's hand will rest on this mountain, and Moab will be trodden under his feet as straw is trodden into the dung-heap.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The prophet shows the Lord that prepares salvation for all peoples and imagines it as a banquet to which everyone is invited. It is the joyful proclamation to an oppressed people who can finally sing in victory over suffering and death. The liturgy gives us a taste of this universal feast. Of course, it is not just the satisfaction from the hunger for bread. The prophetic vision is also the fulfilment of the need of a full, beautiful life, lived in peace with all. Unfortunately, it is common today even for Christians - to think that salvation can be found in personal well-being and the tranquillity of their own lives. This passage from the Bible shows us that salvation is the opposite of the narcissistic instinct that keeps us from seeing others. Today the prophet tells us that the Lord himself will tear away the veil that closes us in on ourselves, in our little world, in our narrow, selfish horizons. No, salvation is for all people. There is no salvation only for some, not even for some group that thinks it is perfect. The Lord is preparing a feast for all peoples. He prepares it with his own hands, so that all can experience the fullness of communion with him and with all people. It is an image that uproots the egocentric instincts that lie in us all. Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a dinner (Lk 14:15-24), to which God calls "the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame." Only the rich, that is, those who are satisfied with their own "I" and caught up in their own affairs, refuse the invitation. The feast the Lord prepares is always a feast for everyone. But it is important to note that it does not only come at the end of time. It has already begun. The feast becomes true every time we form bonds of friendship and affection, every time we come out of ourselves and create a new familiarity. We could say that it is a feast that has already started and is constantly being prepared. The Lord is already at work. The prophet adds that God is eliminating death forever. The disciples of Jesus can sing -- along with the apostle -- in victory over death: "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 15:55-57). The image of the Lord walking among the guests at the feast, drying their tears, is beautiful. It is full of tenderness. How can we not see in it an invitation to all believers to rediscover the ministry of consoling those who are afflicted and in need of consolation and comfort in a world that is often cruel and pitiless? That is how we can receive Jesus’ beatitude: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Mt 5:4).
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
