Memorial of Saint John Paul II, pope, who died in 2005. Remembrance of Mary Salome, the mother of James and John, who followed the Lord to the cross and placed him in the tomb. Lees meer
Memorial of Saint John Paul II, pope, who died in 2005. Remembrance of Mary Salome, the mother of James and John, who followed the Lord to the cross and placed him in the tomb.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 12,13-21
A man in the crowd said to him, 'Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.' He said to him, 'My friend, who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?' Then he said to them, 'Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for life does not consist in possessions, even when someone has more than he needs.' Then he told them a parable, 'There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, "What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops." Then he said, "This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time." But God said to him, "Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?" So it is when someone stores up treasure for himself instead of becoming rich in the sight of God.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In this passage, Jesus explains again the kind of attitude that the disciples ought to have towards earthly goods. The situation comes up when a man asks Jesus to intervene where two brothers are trying to equally divide an inheritance. Yet Jesus refuses to come between them: he is no master of dividing up assets but of things that concern God and the human soul. Instead, he gives his perspective on the hearts of these two brothers. The kernels of greed and interest for themselves lie in their hearts. Assets and goods are only external and are not in and of themselves the cause of evil. Yet, the hearts of these brothers as often oursare weighed down by desires for money and material possession. As Paul reminded Timothy, when money is sought division and fighting raise: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (6:10). Jesus talks about this kind of attitude using the parable of the foolish rich man who believed that happiness lay in the accumulation of wealth. How can we not think of today's mentality, that has made of consumerism the rule of our life? How many people continue to sell their hearts seeking riches and consume their entire lives for them! A dictatorship of materialism pushes people hard to spend our lives in obtaining possessions and consuming riches and material goods. Jesus is telling us that in the life of this rich man, there is no space left for others. This is the logic of a greedy person: his or her worries are only in accumulating goods for themselves. The rich man forgot however an essential thing: that no one owns his life. We can have riches and wealth, but we do not own life. Our happiness does not lie in goods but in loving God and our brothers and sisters. The fundamental truth for everyone: we were not created to accumulate riches but to love and to be loved. Love is the radical good that we need to seek in every way possible since love is that which remains and satisfies completely the thirst of our hearts. Whoever lives with love accumulates true riches both for the present and the future. Love, an extraordinary, celestial treasure, different from the earthly goods that can be lost, does not run the risk of being robbed. The fruit of love is forever. Jesus refers back to the biblical tradition that compares good works to a treasure laid up in heaven: "My fathers accumulated treasures for below and I, I stored up treasures that bore interest."
Het gebed is het hart van het leven van de Gemeenschap van Sant’Egidio. Het is haar eerste “werk”. Aan het einde van de dag komt elke Gemeenschap, of die nu klein of groot is, samen bij de Heer om het Woord te beluisteren en zich tot Hem te richten in het gebed. De leerlingen kunnen niet anders dan aan de voeten van Jezus zitten, zoals Maria van Bethanië, om het “betere deel” te kiezen (Lc 10, 42) en van Hem zijn gezindheid te leren (vgl. Fil 2, 5).
Elke keer dat de Gemeenschap zich tot de Heer richt, maakt ze zich die vraag eigen van de anonieme leerling: “Heer, leer ons bidden!” (Lc 11, 1). En Jezus, meester in het gebed, antwoordt: “Wanneer jullie bidden, zeg dan: Abba, Vader”.
Wanneer we bidden, ook in de geslotenheid van ons eigen hart, zijn we nooit alleen of verweesd. Integendeel, we zijn leden van de familie van de Heer. In het gemeenschappelijk gebed wordt naast het mysterie van het kindschap, ook dat van de broederschap en zusterschap duidelijk.
De Gemeenschappen van Sant’Egidio, verspreid over de wereld, verzamelen zich op de verschillende plaatsen die gekozen zijn voor het gebed en brengen de hoop en het verdriet van de “uitgeputte en hulpeloze mensenmenigte” waarover het Evangelie spreekt (Mt 9, 37) bij de Heer. Deze oude menigte omvat de inwoners van onze hedendaagse steden, de armen die zich bevinden in de marge van het leven, en iedereen die wacht om als dagloner te worden aangenomen (vgl. Mt 20).
Het gemeenschappelijk gebed verzamelt de schreeuw, de hoop, het verlangen naar vrede, genezing, zin en redding, die beleefd worden door de mannen en vrouwen van deze wereld. Het gebed is nooit leeg. Het stijgt onophoudelijk op naar de Heer opdat verdriet verandert in vreugde, wanhoop in blijheid, angst in hoop, eenzaamheid in gemeenschap. En het rijk Gods zal spoedig temidden van de mensen komen.
