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 45,6-8.18.21-25
so that it may be known from east to west that there is no one except me. I am Yahweh, and there is no other, I form the light and I create the darkness, I make well-being, and I create disaster, I, Yahweh, do all these things. Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down saving justice, let the earth open up and blossom with salvation, and let justice sprout with it; I, Yahweh, have created it! For thus says Yahweh, the Creator of the heavens -- he is God, who shaped the earth and made it, who set it firm; he did not create it to be chaos, he formed it to be lived in: I am Yahweh, and there is no other. Speak up, present your case, let them put their heads together! Who foretold this in the past, who revealed it long ago? Was it not I, Yahweh? There is no other god except me, no saving God, no Saviour except me! Turn to me and you will be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other. By my own self I swear it; what comes from my mouth is saving justice, it is an irrevocable word: All shall bend the knee to me, by me every tongue shall swear, saying, 'In Yahweh alone are saving justice and strength,' until all those who used to rage at him come to him in shame. In Yahweh the whole race of Israel finds justice and glory.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the only passage in the Old Testament in which a foreign king, Cyrus king of Persia, the nation that had conquered the Babylonian Empire, is called "messiah," meaning the "anointed" one, sent by God. This must have sounded very strange to the people of Israel who were slaves in exile in Babylon. In truth, God has great freedom of action. Even a foreign king can become a tool to carry out his loving plan. The Lord exercises great freedom in calling, beyond the bonds of blood, relationship, or belonging. And he does not favour only those who know him. Everyone, in fact, can contribute to his dream of justice and peace for the world. This passage from the prophet shows the freedom of God, who even acts outside of the borders of Israel. The universal plan of salvation, with which God mysteriously reaches all people, can already be seen in the Old Testament. Jesus’ disciples are called to recognize the universal dimension of God’s work and praise him for his limitless love. Prayer is also an invocation to God for peace and justice. From the very beginning, this is the dream of the book of Isaiah: God will grant peace and justice to a world tormented by war and injustice, especially towards the poor. This helps us understand the invocation that we just read: " Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation may spring up, and let it cause righteousness to sprout up also." This is the invocation that rises from every Christian community, from every nation torn by war, from every corner of the earth where the poor cry out to God in their pain and in their need. People who accept injustice, enmity, and war as inevitable facts often criticize God’s actions. But the Lord has planned a future of peace for his children, and he put men and women on the earth to establish it. Believers are confident that God listens to their invocations for peace, because God listens to those who pray insistently with faith. Anyone who has persevered in prayer has experienced the force for peace that comes from praying. The prophet calls us not to remain closed in hopeless pessimism, but to open our mouths in insistent and shared payer.
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
