Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 12,39-48
You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.' Peter said, 'Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?' The Lord replied, 'Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy steward whom the master will place over his household to give them at the proper time their allowance of food? Blessed that servant if his master's arrival finds him doing exactly that. I tell you truly, he will put him in charge of everything that he owns. But if the servant says to himself, "My master is taking his time coming," and sets about beating the menservants and the servant-girls, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful. 'The servant who knows what his master wants, but has got nothing ready and done nothing in accord with those wishes, will be given a great many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but has acted in such a way that he deserves a beating, will be given fewer strokes. When someone is given a great deal, a great deal will be demanded of that person; when someone is entrusted with a great deal, of that person even more will be expected.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Disciples do not spend their days looking to increase their wealth but live their lives waiting for the Lord and his kingdom. The Gospel makes this perspective clear to us in the parable of the steward who was made head of household after the departure of the master. Thinking that the master would be late in coming, the steward sets to beating the servants and eating and drinking to excess. At first, this scene seems exaggerated yet in truth, it paints a picture that is all too frequent. Underneath it all, the many injustices and millions of little evil gestures that make life difficult for everyone stem from this wide-spread attitude. The idea is that we can behave like little masters of the lives of others with the quite myopic thought that we do not have to answer to anyone. People think that they are allowed to do anything, such as wreak violence, wage wars and abuse power because the horizon of their lives ends with themselves. This is why today's Gospel passage tells us to stay awake: "Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives." Those who wait for someone else stay awake, as well as those who understand that life does not end within the borders of one's interests or within what one can or cannot do, or the limits one creates with one's own thoughts, body or feelings. We are called to bear witness in the world in which we live that every day is nourished by waiting and hoping and that each of our lives is a gift, a talent for which we will have to give account. It is written, "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required." We have been given a lot as Christians: we have been given the Church as mother and teacher, the family where every day the Lord nourishes us, brings us to life and communicates his Spirit to us. Indeed, "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required." In thinking of vigilance, many saints have said, "I ought to live every day as if it were the last one." If everyone lived every day as if it were the last one, our lives would resonate differently. They would be more human, more beautiful, fuller, richer, more true and less boring and desperate. In brief it would be true life.
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
