Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Psalm 103, 13-18
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
14 For he knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for mortals, their days are like grass;
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
18 to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Psalm 103, of which today’s liturgy has us sing a few verses from the second part is a hymn to God’s love, which is compared to the compassion of a father towards his children: “As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him” (v. 13). The psalmist is not afraid of presenting the God of Israel with the face of a compassionate father who bends down over men and women, as he did using Moses at the beginning of the liberation of Israel from the slavery of the Egyptians: “He made known his ways to Moses” (v. 7). Ever since then, the Lord has accompanied his people with power and strength, without ever abandoning them. And he never abandoned his covenant with his people even when they strayed from him, which they did with incredible frequency. But the Lord never let his anger against his people prevail. The book of Exodus reads: “The Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (34:6). As if to underline God’s mercy, the psalmist sings, “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting and his righteousness to children’s children” (v. 17). There is enthusiasm for the greatness of God’s love in the psalmist’s words: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him” (v. 11). The fragility of humanity is not unknown to the psalmist. The psalmist sings of the Lord: “For he knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust” (v. 14). And believers should also be aware of their fragility and their radical weakness: “As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more” (v. 15-16). But the psalmist’s vision is not an anguished one. Indeed, it is precisely human weakness that explains God’s love and compassion for us. In effect, it is our weakness that moves the Lord’s heart with compassion and pushes him to bend down over us and take care of us. God has chosen the dust that we are to give us love and forgiveness. That is what he did at the beginning of creation, when he chose dust to form Adam and breathe life into him. God “remembers that we are dust” and that is why he is at our side “from everlasting to everlasting” (v. 17). The psalmist reminds us that God’s justice is not meant to condemn but to exercise his mercy towards those who trust in him, towards those who place their salvation in him: “But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments” (v. 17-18).
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
