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
Mark 11,11-25
He entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple; and when he had surveyed it all, as it was late by now, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. Next day as they were leaving Bethany, he felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree in leaf some distance away, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it, but when he came up to it he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. And he addressed the fig tree, 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' And his disciples heard him say this. So they reached Jerusalem and he went into the Temple and began driving out the men selling and buying there; he upset the tables of the money changers and the seats of the dove sellers. Nor would he allow anyone to carry anything through the Temple. And he taught them and said, 'Does not scripture say: My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples? But you have turned it into a bandits' den.' This came to the ears of the chief priests and the scribes, and they tried to find some way of doing away with him; they were afraid of him because the people were carried away by his teaching. And when evening came he went out of the city. Next morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered to the roots. Peter remembered. 'Look, Rabbi,' he said to Jesus, 'the fig tree that you cursed has withered away.' Jesus answered, 'Have faith in God. In truth I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, "Be pulled up and thrown into the sea," with no doubt in his heart, but believing that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. I tell you, therefore, everything you ask and pray for, believe that you have it already, and it will be yours. And when you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, soyour Father in heaven may forgive your failings too.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
At the end of the day in which he had entered Jerusalem, Jesus returns to Bethany, probably to the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. These are the most difficult days of his life, and he needs a friendly family where he can rest. But he must preach in Jerusalem. And the following morning, he goes back to the city. As he is walking down, he feels hungry. There is a leafy fig tree by the side of the road. Jesus walks up to it, but he does not find any fruit and curses it. Early the next morning, Jesus returns to Jerusalem and goes to the temple. As soon as he enters, he begins "to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying." Jesus "drives out" of the temple, and out of our hearts, a way of relating to God and our brothers and sisters as if we were in a market where love is never freely given. Jesus himself is the true temple, a house open to all men and women, even foreigners, accessible to "all the nations" of the earth. His house is the kingdom of love and forgiveness, fraternity and peace. Above all, it is the kingdom of gratuity, where people do not live and act with the expectation of getting anything back in return. The Lord invites us to love freely, without reservations, not making reciprocity a condition. Jesus comes back to Jerusalem the next day. And the disciples see that the cursed fig has withered to its roots. Taking this as an example, Jesus teaches the disciples about the effectiveness of prayer that rises to God from a heart that believes. And he adds, "Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." These words are full of hope for the disciples. They know that they are not abandoned. They have an enormous power in their hands, the power of prayer that directly reaches God's heart. But faith, that is, total trust in the Father, is an indispensable part of this power. And there is a condition that seems to be a part of faith: the ability to forgive. We could say that faith and forgiveness, faith and love for our brothers and sisters, sustain each other.
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
