Feast of Saint Matthew, apostle and evangelist. Lees meer
Feast of Saint Matthew, apostle and evangelist.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 9,9-13
As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him. Now while he was at table in the house it happened that a number of tax collectors and sinners came to sit at the table with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, 'Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?' When he heard this he replied, 'It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today the Church celebrates Matthew, apostle and evangelist. The first of the four Gospels takes his name: Matthew. He was a tax collector; this job was considered dishonourable by his countrymen because he collected taxes for the Roman dominant power. Jesus was walking by in Capernaum, and saw Matthew, and, instead of passing by spitefully like everyone else, he stopped and called him: "Follow me!" One word, evidently very powerful, was enough and Matthew "got up and followed him." The initiative is all Jesus', exclusively his. For Jesus, as in the case of the bad reputation experienced by the tax collectors, the condition in which everyone finds himself is not relevant to become his disciple. In Jesus' call there is a mystery of love marked by total gratuitousness. The intuition of such love makes Matthew get up from his desk and follow the Master. From that moment Matthew's life changed. Pope Francis chose as his motto a phrase that a Father of the Church, Bede the Venerable, used to describe the strength of this call: "Miserando atque eligendo", "looking with mercy he chose him." That call was the fruit of mercy. Matthew did not sit collecting taxes anymore; he became a disciple and gathered sinners to celebrate around Jesus. The world - it is the Pharisees' harsh reaction - does not understand what is happening, but this is the innovation of the Gospel that is disconcerting to the majority of people: everyone's heart, with no exceptions, can be touched and everyone can change his or her life, starting from sinners. In front of the objections posed to the disciples, Jesus answers: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." And recalling Hosea he adds: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." With the Gospel that bears his name, Matthew continues to remind us of the primacy of the Word of God in our life. Let us listen to it, as Matthew and the other disciples of any time did, and let us begin to follow Jesus to be part of the realization of the kingdom of God from now in our cities.
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.
