Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Genesis 37,3-4.12-13.17-28
Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, for he was the son of his old age, and he had a decorated tunic made for him. But his brothers, seeing how much more his father loved him than all his other sons, came to hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him. His brothers went to pasture their father's flock at Shechem. Then Israel said to Joseph, 'Your brothers are with the flock at Shechem, aren't they? Come, I am going to send you to them.' 'I am ready,' he replied. The man answered, 'They have moved on from here; indeed I heard them say, "Let us go to Dothan." ' So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them they made a plot to kill him. 'Here comes that dreamer,' they said to one another. 'Come on, let us kill him now and throw him down one of the storage-wells; we can say that some wild animal has devoured him. Then we shall see what becomes of his dreams.' But Reuben heard, and he saved him from their clutches. 'We must not take his life,' he said. 'Shed no blood,' said Reuben to them, 'throw him down that well out in the desert, but do not kill him yourselves' -- intending to save him from them and to restore him to his father. So, when Joseph reached his brothers, they pulled off his tunic, the decorated tunic which he was wearing, and catching hold of him, threw him into the well. The well was empty, with no water in it. They then sat down to eat. Looking up, they saw a group of Ishmaelites who were coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum tragacanth, balsam and resin, which they were taking to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, 'What do we gain by killing our brother and covering up his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, then we shall not have laid hands on him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, and our own flesh.' His brothers agreed. Now some Midianite merchants were passing, and they pulled Joseph out of the well. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver, and these men took Joseph to Egypt.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
This passage of the book of Genesis tells the story of Joseph, son of Jacob, and of his favourite wife Rachel. The story tells about his brothers who, jealous of his role in the family and his dreams, try to get rid of him. It is an emblematic story that, through Joseph -- a just man convicted because of envy, allows us to catch a glimpse of Jesus, who we will see sold and unjustly condemned to the envy of the priests, the scribes and Pharisees with the complicity of the Romans and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in a few weeks. Reuben, Joseph's eldest brother, convinces his brothers not to kill Joseph but to sell him to the merchants who were passing at the time. After buying him, they lead him into the land of Egypt where Joseph, however, showing significant managerial skills, reaches the highest pinnacle of Egyptian society, even becoming one of pharaoh's closest collaborators. We know that Joseph did not retaliate against his brothers. Indeed, in the dramatic moment of famine, he will be them and their father's saviour, but not without first having rewoven the relationship of fraternity that the brothers had torn apart. Joseph's story helps us to understand Jesus' story who saves us from sin and death. And he starts to save us, taking us away from loneliness by creating a new fraternity, a new network of relationships and reports based not on blood but on the spirit of love that he gives us. Thus, he makes us sharers in his vision, his great dream, to make all people of the earth a great family that has God as Father and him as the firstborn of all of us.
Modlitwa jest sercem życia Wspólnoty Sant’Egidio, jej pierwszym „dziełem”. Na zakończenie dnia każda Wspólnota, niezależnie czy mała czy duża, zbiera się wokół Pana, aby słuchać Jego Słowa i zanosić do Niego swe prośby. Uczniowie nie mogą uczynić więcej niż siąść u stóp Jezusa jak Maria z Betanii, aby wybrać „najlepszą cząstkę” (Łk 10, 42) i uczyć się jak mieć te same co On uczucia (por. Flp 2,1-5).
Wracając do Pana za każdym razem Wspólnota czyni własną prośbę anonimowego ucznia: "Panie, naucz nas się modlić!” (Łk 11, 1). I Jezus, nauczyciel modlitwy, nieprzerwanie odpowiada: „Kiedy się modlicie, mówcie: Ojcze nasz”.
Kiedy człowiek się modli, także w cichości własnego serca, nigdy nie jest odizolowany od innych czy opuszczony: zawsze jest członkiem rodziny Pana. W modlitwie wspólnotowej poza tajemnicą usynowienia jasno ukazuje się również tajemnica braterstwa.
Wspólnoty Sant’Egidio rozsiane po świecie zbierają się w różnych miejscach wybranych na modlitwę i przynoszą Panu nadzieje i cierpienia „znękanych i porzuconych tłumów”, o których mówi Ewangelia (por. Mt 9, 36-37). Należą do tych tłumów także mieszkańcy współczesnych miast, ubodzy zepchnięci na margines życia, wszyscy ci, którzy oczekują, że zostaną najęci choć na dzień (por. Mt 20).
Modlitwa Wspólnoty gromadzi wołania, dążenia, pragnienia pokoju, uzdrowienia, poczucia sensu i zbawienia, którymi żyją mężczyźni i kobiety tego świata. Modlitwa nigdy nie jest pusta. Nieustannie wznosi się do Pana, aby płacz zmienił się w radość, desperacja w pogodę ducha, przygnębienie w nadzieję, samotność w zjednoczenie. I aby Królestwo Boże jak najszybciej zamieszkało między ludźmi.
