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
Psalm 67, 2-8
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face to shine upon us,
2 that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
7 May God continue to bless us;
let all the ends of the earth revere him.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Psalm 67 begins (v.1) and ends (v. 6-7) by invoking God’s blessing, “God, our God, has blessed us. May God continue to bless us” (v.6-7). The psalmist echoes and relives the well-known “priestly blessing” from the book of Numbers, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace” (6:24-26). Invoking a blessing means asking for God’s goodness to descend on the person for whom it is invoked. We know that everything is a gift of God. It is especially meaningful to invite the Lord to “make his face to shine upon us” (v.1) and so to reassure believers that they are always under God’s loving gaze. The psalmist widens his gaze to encompass all nations, hoping that worthy praise may rise up to God, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equality and guide the nations upon earth” (v.4). This is Israel’s faith in the Lord, who guides the whole of human history. God governs everything, and nothing is left to chance or blind fate. There is certainly no lack of disasters or violence, as we see in our time. And yet history has not slipped from God’s hands. God continues to enrich the earth and make it fruitful (v.6). This entire psalm is marked by a longing for universality: all the nations, all the peoples, all the ends of the earth are called to recognize the true God and praise him. The conviction that sustains this universality is God’s love for all people, with no exceptions. This aspiration is taken up by the entire New Testament. The apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians: “In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (Eph 3:5-6). The universality of the proclamation of the Gospel resounds with particular urgency today because of the barriers and walls of separation that once again are being raised. The apostle Paul extols the new people born of Jesus, to which all men and women are called upon to be part of: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God” (Eph 2:19).
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
