Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 6,7-15
'In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us. And do not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One. 'Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The "Our Father" is the centre of the Sermon on the Mount. It almost gives us "the summary of the entire Gospel" (Tertullian). Jesus calls disciples not to waste words in prayer, thinking they can convince God by pouring themselves on him. "Your father knows what you need before you even ask," reassures Jesus. The essence of the prayer is in putting our entire faith in God, certain that he will not abandon us and that he will give us what we need. It is an extraordinary prayer that Jesus teachesthe Our Father. We could say that the entire prayer is summarized in the first word, "Father," "Abba" (dad). By putting these words on our lips Jesus accomplishes a true religious revolution. Just think that the entire Hebrew tradition prohibited the naming of God. Instead, Jesus makes us call God "dad" and offers us a dimension that was unthinkable until then that of being a son or daughter of God, of being an intimate part of God's family. God remains "totally other" but he is a Father that loved us so much that he sent us his own Son. This is an absolutely limitless loveimpossible for us even to conceive of - if He himself had not revealed it to us. With this prayer we become directly involved. And it is right then to do his will and ask that his kingdom come, that is, the definitive time in which the holiness of God is finally recognized and his love will reign among men and women and all creation. The second part of the prayer is about daily life. Jesus calls us to ask for bread--daily breadso that, together with the bread of his Word, we touch the love of God concretely. Two breads, two tables that are indispensable. And both must be feasts, or rather, multiplied for all. And then he puts on our lips a serious request: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." It seems hard and unrealistic to admit that human forgiveness is the model ("as we forgive those...") for divine forgiveness, but in the following verses this petition is explained: "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." This language is incomprehensible for a society like ours in which forgiveness is very rare and the spirit of revenge seems to prevail. But maybe exactly for this reason do we need, even more, to learn how to pray the "Our Father" in order to make it penetrate ever deeper into our hearts.
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
