Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (+1226).
Remembrance of the dedication of the Primavalle "chapel;" the first place of prayer of the Community of Sant'Egidio in the periphery of Rome. On October 4, 1992, the peace treaty that put an end to the war in Mozambique was signed in Rome. Prayer for all those who work for peace.
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Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi (+1226).
Remembrance of the dedication of the Primavalle "chapel;" the first place of prayer of the Community of Sant'Egidio in the periphery of Rome. On October 4, 1992, the peace treaty that put an end to the war in Mozambique was signed in Rome. Prayer for all those who work for peace.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 11,25-30
At that time Jesus exclaimed, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 'Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, remembering his death in the night of October 3, 1226. Even today, his witness continues to move the hearts of many men and women towards the Lord. His conversion was marked by the encounter with the leper whom he embraced and kissed and the listening to the voice from the Crucifix in St. Damian. Since then, he started living the Gospel "without additions." In him, the Gospel became the leaven of a universal fraternity that does not know any border. The Gospel passage that the liturgy offers us on this feast day shares one of Jesus' prayers in which he thanks the Father for bending on the little ones, revealing to them the mystery of his saving love, that mystery hidden throughout the ages that not even the wise could have understood if God did not reveal it: that God so loved the world to send His own Son to save all men and women from the power of evil and death. n understand. Such mystery is Jesus himself who was sent to earth to save humanity from the power of evil and of death. It was God's gracious will to save humanity beginning with the littlest and weakest ones. This privilege of the poor is a constant in the Bible and it continues even today in the life of Jesus' disciples. Pope Francis does not cease reminding us of it with his very example. This is why he chose the name of the saint of Assisi. The young man from Assisi also urges us to be, as he was, among the little ones who welcomed and lived this love out. St. Francis is part of the long host of believers that stretches throughout twenty centuries of Christian history as a single red thread and which reveals God's preference for the weak and the poor. It is God's preference for the poor and the weak. It is here that God starts to save the world. Francis retraced the old story of Jesus' disciples: they, simple and despised people, were chosen by Jesus as apostles of the Kingdom. Through these disciples, Jesus continues to address the tired crowds of this world, telling them, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
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.
