Feast of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. Czytaj więcej
Feast of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 1,39-56
Mary set out at that time and went as quickly as she could into the hill country to a town in Judah. She went into Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. Now it happened that as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, 'Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? Look, the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.' And Mary said: My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name, and his faithful love extends age after age to those who fear him. He has used the power of his arm, he has routed the arrogant of heart. He has pulled down princes from their thrones and raised high the lowly. He has filled the starving with good things, sent the rich away empty. He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his faithful love -according to the promise he made to our ancestors -- of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever. Mary stayed with her some three months and then went home.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Catholic Church and the Anglican Church today commemorate Mary's visitation to Elizabeth. The Gospel we have heard proclaims this event to us. After hearing from the angel that Elizabeth was pregnant, Mary immediately travels to see her. "With haste," Luke writes. The Gospel always hurries us; it pushes us to go beyond our habits, our worries, and our thoughts. And how many thoughts must Mary have had just after the Word of God had completely turned her life upside down! The Gospel makes us rise from ourselves, and pushes us to go and be near those who suffer and those who are in need, like the elderly Elizabeth who was facing a difficult pregnancy. As soon as she saw Mary come into the house, Elizabeth rejoiced deeply, even in her very womb. It is the joy that the weak and poor feel when they are visited by the servants - the men and women of the Lord - those "who believe that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to them by the Lord." The Word of God, when it is welcome creates a new alliance in the world, an unusual alliance between the disciples of the Gospel and the poor. Mary has become the first of the believers. She appears from the start marked by the blessedness of the one who listens to the Word of God. It is the Gospel's first beatitude, as Luke writes: "Blessed is she who believed that there would be* a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." Mary's happiness, as the first disciple of the Gospel, is expressed in the Magnificat, a song that manifests the joy of a poor girl from a lost village at the periphery of the empire when she realizes that the Lord of heaven and earth has stooped down to her, his poor servant. Mary does not deem herself worthy of consideration, as each one of us generally claims for him/herself. She knows that everything comes to her from God and that her greatness and strength are from God: the same God who freed Israel, who has protected the poor, who has humbled the proud and has filled the hungry with good things; he has stooped down to her and loved her. And she has received him in her heart. From that day on, through her, God has put his dwelling in our midst.
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.
