Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
2 Samuel 6,12-15.17-19
King David was informed that Yahweh had blessed Obed-Edom's family and everything belonging to him on account of the ark of God. David accordingly went and, amid great rejoicing, brought the ark of God up from Obed-Edom's house to the City of David. When the bearers of the ark of Yahweh had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fat sheep. And David danced whirling round before Yahweh with all his might, wearing a linen loincloth. Thus with war cries and blasts on the horn, David and the entire House of Israel brought up the ark of Yahweh. They brought the ark of Yahweh in and put it in position, inside the tent which David had erected for it; and David presented burnt offerings and communion sacrifices in Yahweh's presence. And when David had finished presenting burnt offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh Sabaoth. To all the people, to the whole multitude of Israelites, men and women, he then distributed to each a loaf of bread, a portion of dates and a raisin cake. Then the people all went back to their homes.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After having made Jerusalem the capital of the kingdom, David decides to transport the ark of the covenant there. From the time of Moses, the ark was the sign of the Lord's presence among his people. It contained the tablets of the Law with the "ten words," a vase in memorial of the miracle that occurred in the desert, and Aaron's staff, which blossomed as a confirmation of his high priesthood. Even after the people had entered the land of Canaan, it was not permanently kept in one place. Consequently, David decided to move it to the new capital of the kingdom. Aware of the importance of this entrance, he gathered "chosen men" from all of Israel. Everything was done with solemnity and joy. But the place where God is present must be respected. Uzzah broke the commandment not to "touch holy things," and "reached out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it." But "God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God." The lack of holy fear of things related to God always leads to ruin. David was saddened by this death and himself "was afraid of the Lord." All of Scripture attests to the "fear" of God as a necessary condition for recognizing God's holiness. The ark continues its pilgrimage, but following a new ritual. It is no longer carried in a cart, according to the Philistine custom, but, as Moses had commanded (Num 4:5-15), on the shoulders of the Levites. Along the route of the pilgrimage, people offered sacrifices of thanksgiving and sin offerings. David was so enthusiastic that he stood in front of the ark and "danced before the Lord with all his might." His wife Michal, the daughter of Saul, not only does not understand this enthusiasm, she is scandalized by it. David responds that if he uncovered himself like a "vulgar man" before the Israelites, it was only in recognition of the one who had chosen him as king and before whom he was ready to make himself even more contemptible. This "lowering" of David is another prefiguration of the Messiah, who lowered himself taking on the condition of a servant.
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
