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
Matthew 8, 28-34
When he reached the territory of the Gadarenes on the other side, two demoniacs came towards him out of the tombs -- they were so dangerously violent that nobody could use that path.
Suddenly they shouted, 'What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before the time?'
Now some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding,
and the devils pleaded with Jesus, 'If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.'
And he said to them, 'Go then,' and they came out and made for the pigs; and at that the whole herd charged down the cliff into the lake and perished in the water.
The herdsmen ran off and made for the city, where they told the whole story, including what had happened to the demoniacs.
Suddenly the whole city set out to meet Jesus; and as soon as they saw him they implored him to leave their neighbourhood.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus reaches the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee that borders a semi-pagan region of the ten towns (the Decapolis). One town, placed in an area full of caves, is Gadara. Two persons who are not masters of themselves run out of one of them towards Jesus. It might seem strange, but our cities and countries are similar to a system of caves, dark, lifeless, inhabited by possessed men and women who live in isolation where they look for shelter because they are incapable of dialogue, of meeting and of a relationship. We do not know the story of these two men. Jesus neither judges them nor fears them, whereas, on the contrary, people usually do just that, and in so doing, make the condition of those who are not master of themselves even more violent and sadder. How many people are marked by mental imbalance and by difficulties in relationships. They are often despised by others who at times think they are behaving so on purpose. Jesus sets them free. How many spirits of loneliness and division become true pathological cases.. Let?s think of a grudge which turns into hatred, of malicious gossip which always sows division and makes us mute and deaf, of prejudice which deceives us with certainty and always strikes those who cultivate it as well as those who are targeted by it. Life resembles spiritual and human deserts, where men and women are incapable of being together. We are often so resigned to the foolishness of a senseless life as not to hope for any change anymore. The two men set upon Jesus, “What have you to do with us?” The Master recognises their real request, to be set free, though it is expressed in a negative way. Jesus wants everyone to be master of his/her own life and has the power to drive away the many unclean spirits of division because they overshadow our humanity and our beauty. The inhabitants of the town are astonished by what happened and, considering the value of the swine herd, invite Jesus to leave the area. Faced with the changes needed in order to live a more worthy life (this might mean drowning swine herd), people prefer to continue their ordinary life and, above all, preserving their own interests. How often consumerism makes possessions more important than people, money more important than restoring those who were dispossessed of their own life to being masters of themselves. Jesus granted his disciples the power to drive out every spirit of loneliness from the heart of people.
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
