Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Psalm 23, 1-6
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
“How happy are we to be in the hands of such a shepherd who looks after our true well being and who knows how to nourish us every hour,” writes Charles de Foucauld in his commentary on this Psalm. The shepherd about whom this Psalm is about is not just a simple guide, but mostly a traveling companion who shares in the life of all of his sheep, while also guiding and protecting them. In his hands he holds a rod and a staff to point the way and to strike any enemies. The Psalm captures two distressing situations that torment us most: our fear of danger and the uncertainty of the path that lies before us. Yet, in this Psalm there is no trace of distress, because the believer lives with a profound sense of certainty: “For you are with me” (v. 4b). The presence of the shepherd is loving and gratouitous: “He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake” (v. 3b). Believers walk securely for they rely on the firmness of God’s love more so than on their own strength Our path, however, becomes uncertain and our enemies more dangerous every time we presume to be our own shepherds, arrogantly guiding ourselves by our own habits and convictions. Only the Lord is the good shepherd who can gather us together into one flock. This image of the good shepherd, who looks after, defends and guides his flock to green pastures, reaches full realization in Jesus. In these pastures, as if to mock the enemies, he gathers and feeds us: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (v. 5). The Psalm closes with the certainty of the Lord’s faithful companionship: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all days of my life” (v. 6). The Hebrew word for felicity is tob, which means good, pleasing, beautiful, useful, and full of meaning. The Hebrew word to say grace’, hesed, means to love faithfully forever. For this reason, the psalmist’s joy comes from dwelling in the house of the Lordthat is, from being gathered together by the Lord in the community of believers just as the shepherd gathers his flock.
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
