Memorial of Saint Anthony and Theodosius, founders of the caves of Kiev (†1073). They are fathers of Russian and Ukrainian monasticism. Remembrance of Christians in Ukraine and Russia. Czytaj więcej
Memorial of Saint Anthony and Theodosius, founders of the caves of Kiev (†1073). They are fathers of Russian and Ukrainian monasticism. Remembrance of Christians in Ukraine and Russia.
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
Exodus 14,21-31
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh drove the sea back with a strong easterly wind all night and made the sea into dry land. The waters were divided and the Israelites went on dry ground right through the sea, with walls of water to right and left of them. The Egyptians gave chase, and all Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea after them. In the morning watch, Yahweh looked down on the army of the Egyptians from the pillar of fire and cloud and threw the Egyptian army into confusion. He so clogged their chariot wheels that they drove on only with difficulty, which made the Egyptians say, 'Let us flee from Israel, for Yahweh is fighting on their side against the Egyptians!' Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea and let the waters flow back on the Egyptians and on their chariots and their horsemen.' Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and, as day broke, the sea returned to its bed. The fleeing Egyptians ran straight into it, and Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. The returning waters washed right over the chariots and horsemen of Pharaoh's entire army, which had followed the Israelites into the sea; not a single one of them was left. The Israelites, however, had marched through the sea on dry ground, with walls of water to right and left of them. That day, Yahweh rescued Israel from the clutches of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the sea-shore. When Israel saw the mighty deed that Yahweh had performed against the Egyptians, the people revered Yahweh and put their faith in Yahweh and in Moses, his servant.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Moses, strong of God's company, extended his hand over the sea while it was still closed, and the sea opened. The wisdom of Israel collected in the Talmud says that the waters of the sea only opened when the first Hebrew touched his feet to the water. Believers, like Moses, trust God and not wait to be certain, to have all the answers ahead of time. Trusting does not mean being passive. Moses faces the sea, convinces his people, and pushes them forward despite their fears and resistance, both forms of resistance that they openly expressed with nostalgia and those hidden forms of resistance that often smother hope and "grieve" the Spirit, as the Apostle Paul would say. Believers trust the Lord, with the knowledge that God does not leave us alone and that his love is faithful and liberates us from the hands of the enemy. Believers trust the Lord not because they have obtained everything, but because the Lord will not leave us lacking for anything. As we recite in the Easter Liturgy, the waters of the Red Sea are the prefiguring of the future people of the baptized, those whom God chooses and takes with him, snatching them from evil and gathering them in a people. Israel saw the strong arm with which the Lord had freed them from the slavery of against Egypt. Moses was the visible sign of it. This is also true for the community of believers. It also through its work that the Lord frees many people from the slavery of this world. And the Lord continues to perform "miracles' and prodigies even today through the "hands' of his people who listen to and follow the Gospel.
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.
