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
Luke 1,46-55
And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his faithful love extends age after age to those who fear him. He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly. He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love -according to the promise he made to our ancestors -- of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
During her encounter with her cousin Elizabeth, Mary was greeted with the first beatitude that appears in the Gospel: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." The fact that this first beatitude is linked to listening to the Word of God should make us think. It is immediately clear that listening to the Gospel is not without problems, perplexity. But the perplexity it causes is salutary, in that it leads towards salvation because it causes a decision, a change. Our initial perplexity is transformed into the joy of feeling loved by God and being in God's hands. Having received the first blessing in the Gospel, Mary sings of the joy of being chosen and loved by God. A hymn of praise springs from her heart, because the Lord of heaven and earth has turned his gaze towards her, a poor and weak creature. Mary creates an extraordinary synthesis of the happiness of the "anawim," those who have put their lives into the Lord's hands and wait for fullness of life from Him. Mary does not hide her smallness or poverty; she knows that true wealth is from God, who chooses the poor and the little ones to reveal his love. Mary understands that the mystery that she is living is all an extraordinary gift from the Lord. The same God who freed Israel from the slavery of Egypt, who protected the poor, who cast down the proud and filled the hungry with good things, this same God had leaned down to her and loved her so much that he made her the Mother of the Son. With trembling and great joy, she welcomed him into her heart and made him the purpose of her very existence. From that day, through her, God has made his dwelling among men and women. In her the Word became flesh. And through her the Lord has showed us the path believers are called to follow.
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
