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
Matthew 7,6.12-14
'Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces. 'So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets. 'Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it; but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel passage continues the sermon on the Mount with Jesus' exhortation to his disciples: "Do not give what is holy to dogs." The image is connected to the ancient cult in which the flesh of the victims and the fruit of the earth should be offered to God, as the Leviticus prescribes (22:1-14). Flesh should not be given to dogs that will tramp over it nor the pearls to pigs that will reject them. This sentence does not concern people who would not be suitable for the Gospel. Jesus urges us not to trivialize the Gospel, but to hold it in great consideration for our own lives and the lives of others. We should not waste the words of the Gospel nor should we throw the words of preaching to the wind. The Gospel is a very precious treasure that must be kept in great account and should not be thrown away. This is what happens every time we focus on ourselves and let the words of preaching slip away. The evangelist reports another one of Jesus' sayings: "In everything do to others as you would have them do to you." This is the way to apply the entire law and the prophets. This norm is called "the golden rule" and is present in almost all the great religions. It reflects the wisdom from on High that was placed in the heart of every man and woman. Matthew formulates it in an affirmative mode to emphasize that it is not enough just to avoid evil, it is necessary to do good. And if we read it in the context of Jesus' life, it gains the unique flavour of that love for others that knows no limits or exchanges because is totally free. The Gospel is the narrow gate that leads to salvation. We could say that is "narrow" because it is a small book, similar to a small gate. And yet, it is the door that opens to the Kingdom of God. Wide instead is the gate that leads to selfishness, pride, hatred and violence: all of these lead to "destruction", says Jesus. Let us trust the Gospel and we will be led by its light to the Kingdom of God.
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!
