Memorial of Joseph of Arimathea, disciple of the Lord who "was waiting for the kingdom of God" Read more
Memorial of Joseph of Arimathea, disciple of the Lord who "was waiting for the kingdom of God"
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 27,57-61
When it was evening, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be handed over. So Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean shroud and put it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away. Now Mary of Magdala and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Today the Church commemorates Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man, a landowner, and "a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God" (Mk 15:43). He is remembered by all four evangelists at the end of the account of the Passion. They note that he had become a disciple of Jesus, but in secret for fear of the Jews. He showed himself publicly at the moment of Jesus' death, when all the disciples had abandoned their Teacher. When everything might have seemed be at an end, Joseph found the courage to go to Pilate and ask for the body of Jesus. We may wonder, why does Joseph find such courage? Also Nicodemus, a disciple of Jesus but also a hidden one, finds the courage to manifest his love for the Teacher. The sun was setting and night was about to descend on Jerusalem. The light of that teacher's word was setting with the sun. Everything seemed to have ended with that shameful death. But Joseph of Arimathea finds the courage of standing out: his indignation for such death pushed him to come out and manifest his love for his Teacher. Evil, which until then had run its course unhindered, now found a good man opposed to its power. Mercy opposed fleeing, indifference and abandonment. This death was not in vain. A good man stood up to evil and revealed mercy. Joseph found Nicodemus, who was also secretly a disciple of Jesus, and together they showed their love for their Master publicly. The evangelist Mark notes that Joseph "took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock." On that Friday evening, while night seemed to be enveloping everything, these two disciples revealed a light that defeated fear and revealed the strength of love.
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
