Reading of the Word of God
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
Jeremiah 11, 18-20
Yahweh informed me and I knew it; you then revealed their scheming to me.
I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughterhouse, not knowing the schemes they were plotting against me, 'Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may no longer be remembered!'
Yahweh Sabaoth, whose judgement is upright, tester of motives and thoughts, I shall see your vengeance on them, for I have revealed my cause to you.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory
The prophet Jeremiah was called by God--when he was still a young man--to the task of calling the people to return to the Lord and to obey the law he had received. The prophet makes it clear: "It was the Lord who made it known to me, and I knew; then you showed me their evil deeds" (v.18). The prophet does not speak on his own from himself, not even his reflections. Enlightened by the Lord, he interprets the condition of the people. The denunciation of Israel's sins and the subsequent betrayal of the covenant are part of the prophecy revealed to the prophet which he will, in turn, repeat aloud. The prophet's preaching arouses strong opposition. This is true for Jeremiah, as it is for all prophets. Jeremiah was hated by many for his words. Wild conspiracies to lead him to prison and drag him into Egypt were unleashed against him. Despite all these trials, Jeremiah continues to fulfill his mission, he does not hold back, even if this puts a strain on his faith. And he vents before God with freedom and confidence. Weighed down by his own people, an innocent victim, Jeremiah compares himself to a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter; an image present also in the fourth song of the Suffering Servant (Is 53:7) and referred to the Messiah who will be persecuted. Jeremiah, though prostrated by suffering, entrusts his cause to the Lord. He knows that God is a righteous judge who "tries the heart and mind" (v.20). And he is certain that, beyond the injustices of men and the wickedness they cause him, his cause will triumph in the end. The example of Jeremiah helps us to understand Jesus whom we will soon accompany to the cross. In him we see all the prophets of yesterday and today who--despite the opposition of the evil one--continue to witness love and preach peace even at the cost of their lives. Surrounded by so many witnesses let us put ourselves- we who have certainly not given our blood as it is written in the Letter to the Hebrews- on the path of prophecy of love, in order to bring forth our contribution toward a more just world.
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
