Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Luke 4,24-30
And he went on, 'In truth I tell you, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country. 'There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah's day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a town in Sidonia. And in the prophet Elisha's time there were many suffering from virulent skin-diseases in Israel, but none of these was cured -- only Naaman the Syrian.' When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him off the cliff, but he passed straight through the crowd and walked away.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
In front of the irritated reaction of the Nazarenes to his first preaching in the synagogue of the village, Jesus responds with a well-known proverb of the time: "No prophet is accepted in the prophet's home town." Jesus is experiencing it first-hand. The reason that make the Nazarenes reject the Gospel preaching is their decision of not allowing Jesus any authority on their lives. There was no room for anyone beyond themselves. He is too similar to them; they know where he comes from and his relatives; he cannot come from on High. But this is the mystery of the Gospel: they are simple and human words, and yet God speaks through them. In those who allow themselves to be moulded by the Gospel, there is a reflection of God's authoritativeness. Faith means looking beyond appearance and trusting the Spirit of God who speaks through His Church and all those who continue to be sent among us. Those who are poor and needy, those who beg for meaning and love, allow the Gospel words and the witnesses of faith to touch their heart. On the contrary, those who are full of pride do not have ears to hear, or mind to understand, or heart to be passionate. They are full of themselves and think they do not need anyone. In front of Jesus revealing their incredulity, the Nazarenes rebelled and tried to kill him by pushing him down the cliff. The Gospel of mercy bothers those who are used to think only about themselves. God's love reaches the poor, like the widow of Zarephath, and the sick, like Naaman, the Syrian. Those who are rich and healthy do not feel the urgency to ask for help. They easily close in their egocentrism and do not care about others. But Luke writes that Jesus went on his way. Even if we want to throw away the Gospel it always remains a source springing eternal 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
