Memorial of Saints Cyrillus (869) and Methodius (885), fathers of the Slavic Church and patrons of Europe. Read more
Memorial of Saints Cyrillus (869) and Methodius (885), fathers of the Slavic Church and patrons of Europe.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Psalm 29, 1-4.9-10
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
worship the Lord in holy splendour.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
9 The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forest bare;
and in his temple all say, Glory!’
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
With language describing a tempest taken from the pagan culture of Canaan, the psalmist exalts the strength of God, which is like a storm. The psalm is punctuated by the expression, “the voice of the Lord.” The psalmist feels the need to affirm the strength of God’s presence in history. The Lord is present like a powerful voice that causes storms: “The voice of the Lord is over the waters the Lord, over mighty waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty” (v. 3-4). And he continues in the following verses, “The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox” (v. 5-6). In pagan thought, the storm evokes God’s terrifying power, His anger. When faced with this destructive force, the most common feeling was fear. And certainly the men and women of the Bible also saw God’s power in the unleashing of a storm, but they were convinced that this God, so powerful that He could shake nature, loved His people to the depths of His heart. This faith in God changes everything. The power of the tempest becomes a source of faith and serenity. God’s power, which dominates everything, is at the service of his love and in defence of his people. His irresistible power, in fact, is totally aimed at defeating the power of evil. There is no need to be afraid of it; rather we should cultivate a “holy fear of God” and the certainty of victory. After the initial fright caused by the storm, the psalmist immediately passes to serenity: the storm has not ended, but his way of observing it has completely changed: “The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forest bare; and in his temple all say, Glory!’ The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as king for ever” (v. 9-10). Every time a believer lifts up his or her eyes to the Lord, he or she passes from the storm to tranquillity, from agitation to peace. Indeed, in God we rediscover calm and hope. Agitation and fear make us turn in on ourselves and our powerlessness. Only faith saves.
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
