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
Isaiah 11,1-10
A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse, a new shoot will grow from his roots. On him will rest the spirit of Yahweh, the spirit of wisdom and insight, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and fear of Yahweh: his inspiration will lie in fearing Yahweh. His judgement will not be by appearances. his verdict not given on hearsay. He will judge the weak with integrity and give fair sentence for the humblest in the land. He will strike the country with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips bring death to the wicked. Uprightness will be the belt around his waist, and constancy the belt about his hips. The wolf will live with the lamb, the panther lie down with the kid, calf, lion and fat-stock beast together, with a little boy to lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like the ox. The infant will play over the den of the adder; the baby will put his hand into the viper's lair. No hurt, no harm will be done on all my holy mountain, for the country will be full of knowledge of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea. That day, the root of Jesse, standing as a signal for the peoples, will be sought out by the nations and its home will be glorious.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This oracle of Isaiah is closely linked to chapters 7 and 9, in which the prophet had announced the birth of a child, a descendant of David, Emmanuel, the light that shines in the darkness. The prophetic word announces that God has not abandoned his people to the power of injustice and violence. In fact, slavery had made the people of Israel become like a dry trunk, destined to rot away, with no future hope of being a flowering tree bearing leaves and fruit. But then the prophet announces: "A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots." From the dry trunk sprouts a bud. Yes, it is just a little shoot that does not look like a large, strong tree. Its strength does not depend on its size as measured by people, but on the sap that gives it life: the life-giving Spirit of God. The prophet says: "The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord." This shoot is full of wisdom and strength. The enumeration of the six gifts of the Spirit suggests the extraordinary strength of the "shoot" that is about to be born. Believers are called to bind themselves to that shoot and receive the richness of its gifts. If we graft ourselves on to that shoot, we too will be given the richness of the gifts of the Spirit. The believer is, in fact, a spiritual person, someone who is guided by the richness of the gifts of the Spirit. The believer is called to accept the Spirit poured out in his or her heart with openness, in order to be aligned with God, to read the many "signs of the time," and to transform the world into a place of justice and peace. The prophet makes it clear that justice begins with the defence of the poor and oppressed for God cares for them first and foremost. Love for the poor and defence of their rights is the way to justice for the entire society. Yes, care for the weak is the beginning of peace within the people of Israel and among the peoples of the earth. The prophet shows this through the beautiful images of the wolf that dwells with the lamb, the leopard that lies down with the kid, and the calf and the lion that graze together, led by a child. This is how the new world of peace begins. We need to let ourselves be led by the Spirit of love for the poor, and justice will come to dwell on the earth.
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
