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
Matthew 13,18-23
'So pay attention to the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the Evil One comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the seed sown on the edge of the path. The seed sown on patches of rock is someone who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But such a person has no root deep down and does not last; should some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, at once he falls away. The seed sown in thorns is someone who hears the word, but the worry of the world and the lure of riches choke the word and so it produces nothing. And the seed sown in rich soil is someone who hears the word and understands it; this is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This Gospel passage reports the explanation of the parable of the sower that Jesus himself gave his disciples. The sower generously spreads the seed, which is the "word of the Kingdom," Jesus clarifies. But only the seeds that fall on good soil bear abundant fruit. The seeds that fall on the road are stolen by the Evil One, Jesus says. This is the condition of those who listen but do not understand, who receive the Gospel message but do not let it sink in. Next there is the seed that falls on rocky soil. This is the case of those who listen willingly, but then let themselves be defeated by difficulties, tribulations, and inconsistency. Then there is seed that falls among the thorns: it represents those who listen but then worldly worries prevail over the strength of the seed. Finally, there is the good soil that listens to the Gospel and knows how to make it bear fruit. Jesus does not say who the sower is, but it is clear that it is Jesus himself. He is the one who sows generously, not us or anyone else. He does not pick what kind of field to spread the seed on ahead of time. He seems to trust in fields that are more like roads or piles of rocks than ploughed and ready soil. Every field is important to the sower. And the fields are the hearts of men and women. And perhaps it is important to remember that our hearts are not always one type of field or another. It is easy for our hearts to be sometimes like rocky roads or inconsistent or full of thorns, or sometimes even like good soil. The Lord asks us to be good and welcoming soil. He also asks us to help him sow, everywhere. This is the meaning of the prayer to the Father to send workers into his vineyard, or, in this case, to send workers into the countless fields of our world. And Jesus asks for his same generosity in sowing. In any event, the seed is not ours, it is given to us by the Lord, it is the Gospel.
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
