Memorial of the prophet Elijah who was taken into heaven and left his mantle to Elisha. Read more
Memorial of the prophet Elijah who was taken into heaven and left his mantle to Elisha.
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
Jeremiah 1,1.4-10
The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests living at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of Yahweh came to me, saying: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you; I appointed you as prophet to the nations.' I then said, 'Ah, ah, ah, Lord Yahweh; you see, I do not know how to speak: I am only a child!' But Yahweh replied, 'Do not say, "I am only a child," for you must go to all to whom I send you and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of confronting them, for I am with you to rescue you, Yahweh declares.' Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, and Yahweh said to me: 'There! I have put my words into your mouth. Look, today I have set you over the nations and kingdoms, to uproot and to knock down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
God called Jeremiah to be a prophet at a difficult time in his people’s history. This text describes God’s favour for Jeremiah: he looks at him with love from the day of his birth. He does not choose a well-prepared man to be his prophet: Jeremiah is still young; he has not been educated to speak in public, as a prophet must. He feels that his particular condition is a good excuse to refuse God’s invitation. Especially as he begins to understand the height and depth of the vocation to which God is calling him, placing him within a horizon that is so inconceivable it makes him tremble. But even though the Lord takes Jeremiah’s doubts and the fears that emerge from his words seriously, he affirms his decision to choose him as a prophet. Nonetheless, he reassures him, promising him his constant support: "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you." Most importantly, it will be God himself who will put the words to speak on his lips. In truth, Jeremiah’s experience is the experience of every one of Jesus’ disciples: we are called to communicate the Gospel, not our own words or ideas, but the Word of the Lord, even in the most difficult of times, as Jesus himself will tell his disciples: "When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Mt 10:19-20). God changes our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh and prepares our closed mouths to speak. We must not be afraid. Of course, we need to let our heart and our lips be touched, like Jeremiah, to be able to speak effectively. As disciples we are first of all called to listen to and willingly obey God’s call, and God himself will put his Word on our lips. And it will be effective. What matters is that we have faith in the Gospel and its power to change: "See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant." That is the strength of the Gospel accepted and preached with faith: it can change human history.
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
