Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
February 7, 1968 commemorates the beginning of the Community of Sant'Egidio. A group of students from a Roman high school started gathering around the Gospel and loving the poor. Thanksgiving to the Lord for the gift of the Community.
Baca lebih lanjut
Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time
February 7, 1968 commemorates the beginning of the Community of Sant'Egidio. A group of students from a Roman high school started gathering around the Gospel and loving the poor. Thanksgiving to the Lord for the gift of the Community.
First Reading
Job 7,1-4.6-7
Is not human life on earth just conscript service? Do we not live a hireling's life? Like a slave, sighing for the shade, or a hireling with no thought but for his wages, I have months of futility assigned to me, nights of suffering to be my lot. Lying in bed I wonder, 'When will it be day?' No sooner up than, 'When will evening come?' And crazy thoughts obsess me till twilight falls. Swifter than a weaver's shuttle my days have passed, and vanished, leaving no hope behind. Remember that my life is but a breath, and that my eyes will never again see joy.
Psalmody
Psalm 146
Antiphon
How beautiful it is to sing to the Lord.
Praise the Lord for he is good;
sing to our God for he is loving;
to him our praise is due.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem
and brings back Israel's exiles,
he heals the broken-hearted,
he binds up all their wounds.
He fixes the number of the stars;
he calls each one by its name.
Our Lord is great and almighty;
his wisdom can never be measures.
The Lord raises the lowly;
he humbles the wicked to the dust.
O sing to the Lord, giving thanks;
sing Psalms to our God with the harp.
He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares the rain for the earth,
making mountains sprout with grass
and with plants to serve man's needs.
He provides the beasts with their food
and young ravens that call upon him.
His delight is not in horses
nor his pleasure in warriors' strength.
The Lord delights in those who revere him,
in those who wait for his love.
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 9,16-19.22-23
In fact, preaching the gospel gives me nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion and I should be in trouble if I failed to do it. If I did it on my own initiative I would deserve a reward; but if I do it under compulsion I am simply accepting a task entrusted to me. What reward do I have, then? That in my preaching I offer the gospel free of charge to avoid using the rights which the gospel allows me. So though I was not a slave to any human being, I put myself in slavery to all people, to win as many as I could. To the weak, I made myself weak, to win the weak. I accommodated myself to people in all kinds of different situations, so that by all possible means I might bring some to salvation. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, that I may share its benefits with others.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Mark 1,29-39
And at once on leaving the synagogue, he went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon's mother-in-law was in bed and feverish, and at once they told him about her. He went in to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to serve them. That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were sick with diseases of one kind or another; he also drove out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was. In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, 'Everybody is looking for you.' He answered, 'Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can proclaim the message there too, because that is why I came.' And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out devils.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
The Gospel passage narrates Jesus' first day in Capernaum "they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John." It is a Gospel passage that we have heard many times and that on this day illuminates the anniversary of the Community of Sant'Egidio which, with Andrea Riccardi, started to move its first steps in Rome. The "day of Capernaum" that the Gospel presents to us is emblematic and in a certain way enlightens all the days of the disciples and of every Christian community. Mark describes it in the succession of hours. Immediately it becomes clear that Jesus had not come for himself but to save men and women. As the hours went by, the number of the sick and the poor who crowded in front of that house grew more and more, until the end of the day: "that evening, at sunset," writes Mark, "they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door." The sun had set on Capernaum and darkness surrounded the houses. Jesus remained the only light that did not set, the only hope to cling to. The sick and the poor had understood this and were crowding at the door of that house. Nestled among the houses of Capernaum, that house had been transformed by Jesus' presence into a place of mercy and pity, into a sanctuary of the Gospel. Every community is called to be a sanctuary of the Gospel, a house of mercy, where everyone is welcomed and loved, free of charge. Through the community of disciples, Jesus continues to gather, to heal and to liberate. And his light remains lit to give hope in a world that is struggling to see a peaceful future.
Jesus' day was not over, yet: "In the morning, while it was still very dark," writes Mark, Jesus withdrew alone to a secluded place to pray. It was his prayer of the night. Jesus drew his strength from that prayer. It is from prayer, from listening together to the Word of God, that the disciples draw strength and vision. That is what Jesus did. Works are not enough; it is not enough to focus on oneself and one's commitment. This is the teaching of this last Gospel passage. Faced with the arrival of many in front of the house, the disciples go to Jesus and say to him: "Everyone is searching for you!" But Jesus said to them, "Let us go on." After raising his eyes to the Father, he invited them to raise their eyes to the many who in the other villages were waiting for the Gospel to be communicated to them: "Let us go on to the neighbouring towns , so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do." It is an invitation not to stop in the already established fences, not to linger in the already established circuits, not to reduce to one's own small horizons the broad vision of the Gospel. Jesus invites us to feel the urgency of the mission, to think big, to communicate the Gospel to all, even to the ends of the earth.
Doa merupakan jantung kehidupan Komunitas Sant'Egidio dan merupakan prioritas yang paling penting. Di penghujung hari, setiap Komunitas Sant'Egidio, besar maupun kecil, akan berkumpul di sekeliling Tuhan untuk mendengarkan sabda-Nya. Sesungguhnya Sabda Allah dan doa merupakan landasan seluruh kehidupan Komunitas. Para rasul tidak bisa tidak selain tetap di sekitar kaki Yesus, seperti yang dilakukan oleh Maria dari Bethani, untuk menerima kasih dan belajar cara-Nya (Fil. 2:5).
Sehingga setiap malam, ketika Komunitas kembali ke kaki Tuhan, Komunitas mengulangi kata-kata dari rasul tak bernama: "Tuhan ajarkanlah kami cara berdoa" Yesus, Sang Guru, terus menjawab: "Ketika kamu berdoa, katakanlah: Abba, Bapa". Hal itu bukanlah satu seruan sederhana. Dengan kata-kata ini, Yesus membiarkan para murid untuk berperan serta dalam hubungan mereka sendiri dengan Bapa. Oleh sebab itu, fakta bahwa sebagai anak-anak Bapa yang bertahta di surga, muncul sebelum kata-kata yang mungkin kita ucapkan. Jadi doa di atas segalanya merupakan cara untuk menjadi manusia. Ini untuk mengatakan bahwa kita anak-anak yang berpaling kepada Bapa dengan iman, dan yakin bahwa hal itu akan didengar.
Yesus mengajar kita memanggil Allah dengan sebutan "Bapa Kami" Tidak hanya "Bapa" atau "Bapaku" Para murid, meskipun mereka berdoa dengan cara mereka, tidak pernah terisolasi tidak juga menjadi yatim; mereka selalu menjadi anggota keluarga Tuhan.
Dalam doa bersama, di samping misteri anak Allah, ada juga misteri persaudaraan, seperti Bapa Gereja mengatakan: "Kamu tidak bisa memiliki Allah sebagai Bapa tanpa memiliki gereja sebagai ibu". Ketika berdoa bersama, Roh Kudus menyatukan para rasul di ruangan atas bersama dengan Maria, Bunda Allah, sehingga mereka dapat memusatkan pandangan mereka kepada wajah Tuhan dan belajar dari Dia rahasia hati-Nya.
Komunitas Sant'Egidio di seluruh dunia berkumpul bersama di berbagai tempat doa dan menghamparkan di hadapan Tuhan harapan dan penderitaan manusia yang lelah dan letih seperti yang di katakan oleh Injil (Mat. 9:37). Dalam kumpulan di masa lalu ini kita bisa melihat jumlah massa yang sangat besar di kota-kota modern ini, jutaan pengungsi yang terus melarikan diri dari negeri mereka, orang miskin yang terpinggirkan ke tepi kehidupan dan mereka yang menantikan seseorang yang akan merawat mereka. Berdoa bersama termasuk di dalamnya tangisan, seruan, permohonan, keinginan bagi damai, penyembuhan dan penebusan manusia di dunia ini. Doa tidak pernah sia-sia, doa terus menerus kepada Tuhan sehingga mengubah kecemasan menjadi harapan, air mata menjadi kegembiraan, putus asa menjadi kebahagiaan, dan kesepian menjadi persatuan. Semoga Kerajaan Allah hadir segera di antara manusia.
