Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 5, 33-37
'Again, you have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.
But I say this to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God's throne;
or by earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black.
All you need say is "Yes" if you mean yes, "No" if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the Evil One.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the second time Jesus begins with the longer expression, “You have heard that it was said,” opening a second series of examples illustrating true justice. He recalls two precepts from the Old Testament. The first is about making a declaration before God and calling him as a witness of the truth of what is said. The precept said, “You shall not swear falsely” (Lev 19:12). When a person turns to God and calls him as a witness, he or she must be absolutely sincere and truthful, or else he or she will do something that is injurious to God even more than other people. The second precept also touches on the relationship between God and humanity, but from another perspective. When someone makes a promises, it must be kept. Jesus does not deny the two precepts, he deepens them. It is not enough to keep from sinning or being neglectful before God. It is not enough, in fact, to avoid evil. A disciple must have a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with God, such that though observing these two precepts scrupulously, as the Pharisees did, they can still be offensive to God’s holiness. This is why Jesus radically affirms, “But I say to you, do not swear at all.” The very act of swearing like the Pharisees destroys the respect we owe God, who desires our hearts, not the simple observation of precepts with a cold and distant heart. Jesus does not condemn oaths, but affirms that they should not be made when they are inspired by feelings of mistrust. We need to restore trust among men and women, that is, to remove the distrust that demands the addition of an oath, because in such cases the oath itself is invalidated. Unfortunately, today we see mutual trust wither because of the exorbitant growth of our egos, our love for ourselves that makes us distrustful of others. On one hand, Jesus is calling us back to humility, the foundation of our relationships. And truth and frankness follow humility. With a bit of humour, Jesus warns that it is of no use to swear by “your head”, because we do not have the power to make a single hair white or black. On the other hand, however, Jesus emphasizes that the Lord created man and woman, giving them the dignity of speech. This is why Jesus says, “Let your word be “Yes, Yes” or “No, No”; anything more than this comes from the evil one.” Our words have weight: they should not be vague or ambiguous. Our heart can be seen in our words, as it is for God himself. The evil one tries to increase his power by corrupting our words. Jesus’ disciples must learn to say “yes” to the life that comes from the Gospel and, at the same time, to oppose the proposals that lead to evil for themselves and for others. It is also important to know how to say “no”, that is, to discipline our hearts. We must say “yes” to the Lord who calls, but we must say “no” to the seductive proposals that only seem to offer a glimpse of something good for our lives.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
