Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 8,5-17
When he went into Capernaum a centurion came up and pleaded with him. 'Sir,' he said, 'my servant is lying at home paralysed and in great pain.' Jesus said to him, 'I will come myself and cure him.' The centurion replied, 'Sir, I am not worthy to have you under my roof; just give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man, "Go," and he goes; to another, "Come here," and he comes; to my servant, "Do this," and he does it.' When Jesus heard this he was astonished and said to those following him, 'In truth I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found faith as great as this. And I tell you that many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of Heaven; but the children of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.' And to the centurion Jesus said, 'Go back, then; let this be done for you, as your faith demands.' And the servant was cured at that moment. And going into Peter's house Jesus found Peter's mother-in-law in bed and feverish. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him. That evening they brought him many who were possessed by devils. He drove out the spirits with a command and cured all who were sick. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: He himself bore our sicknesses away and carried our diseases.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus is coming back into Capernaum and a centurion comes towards him. He is a person who is foreign to the religion and traditions of Israel. This officer has a servant who is at home sick and wracked with pain. And he has decided to speak to Jesus. His heart is full of pain because of his servant's condition. When he has come near to Jesus, he does not ask for his servant to be healed, he just solemnly explains the situation. And seeing the pain in this man's eyes, Jesus is moved and says, "I will come and cure him." But with spontaneous honesty, the centurion says he is not worthy to have the Teacher come into his house. He feels ashamed in front of such a good man. And he speaks those splendid words that we repeat today in the holy liturgy, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed." Twice the centurion addresses Jesus with the title of "Lord." A non-believer, he addresses him with a religious term, in the sense that it reveals his total trust in Jesus: one word is enough for his servant to be healed. Truly this centurion is an example for us. Jesus' comment on his faith could be applied to us, too: "Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith." And he said to the centurion, "Go; let it be done for you according to your faith." "And," the evangelist notes, "the servant was healed in that hour." There is a strength of healing that comes from love that knows now limits or distances. All of Jesus' activity in Capernaum is marked by his closeness to the sick. In this world so deeply marked by Covid 19, he is truly an example. And the day ends with the extraordinary scene of Jesus who heals the many who are "possessed by demons" and are brought to the door of his house. It is a scene that questions our communities: are they like that house in Capernaum whose doors are open to those who need comfort, healing, and salvation? Should not the words of the prophet Isaiah noted by the evangelist not come true in our time: "He took our infirmities and bore our diseases."
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
