Feast of Mary of Mount Carmel.
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Feast of Mary of Mount Carmel.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Judith 6,10-21
Holofernes having commanded his tent-orderlies to seize Achior, to take him to Bethulia and to hand him over to the Israelites,
the orderlies took him, escorted him out of the camp and across the plain, and then, making for the hill-country, reached the springs below Bethulia.
As soon as the men of the town sighted them, they snatched up their weapons, left the town and made for the mountain tops, while all the slingers pelted them with stones to prevent them from coming up.
However, they managed to take cover at the foot of the slope, where they bound Achior and left him lying at the bottom of the mountain and returned to their master.
The Israelites then came down from their town, stopped by him, unbound him and took him to Bethulia, where they brought him before the chief men of the town,
who at that time were Uzziah son of Micah of the tribe of Simeon, Chabris son of Gothoniel and Charmis son of Melchiel.
These summoned all the elders of the town. The young men and the women also hurried to the assembly. Achior was made to stand with all the people surrounding him, and Uzziah questioned him about what had happened.
He answered by telling them what had been said at Holofernes' council, and what he himself had said in the presence of the Assyrian leaders, and how Holofernes had bragged of what he would do to the House of Israel.
At this the people fell to the ground and worshipped God.
'Lord God of heaven,' they cried, 'take notice of their arrogance and have pity on the humiliation of our race. Look kindly today on those who are consecrated to you.'
They then spoke reassuringly to Achior and praised him warmly.
After the assembly Uzziah took him home and gave a banquet for the elders; all that night they called on the God of Israel for help.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Holofernes, sure of final victory, does not kill Achior immediately, as his advisers would wish, but has him taken to Bethulia, the city where the Jews had taken shelter. Holofernes believes that Death will overtake Achior once he has seen the extermination of the Jews which he on the other hand, had prophesied was impossible. Holofernes’ soldiers thus take Achior close to the walls of the city. The Jews, the moment they see the troop of soldiers, think it is an attack, and move against the small group of soldiers who, in reality, had no intention of attacking the city, but were only bringing a prisoner as a "gift" to the Jews. The soldiers are unaware that in this way they are making themselves God’s instrument for the salvation of Achior, who will be received in the city and particularly amongst the Hebrew people. The Jews seize the prisoner and lead him into the city to interrogate him. Upon hearing Achior’s account the Jews understand that what he had told Holofernes came from God. They receive him then as a member of the community. Moreover, knowing Holofernes’ purpose to destroy the whole people of Judah, they all begin to petition the Lord. At the end of the day, Uzziah, the head of the little city, celebrates a banquet as if it were a feast. It is striking that in a moment as difficult as the one the city is going through, they have a banquet. In truth, when there is faith in the Lord it is possible to make merry even if the times are difficult. For, faith reinforces our hope; believers know that the Lord will always intervene in favour of his people, and so they have nothing to fear. Israel well knows that in order not to succumb to the enemy they must recognize their own weakness and trust only in the Lord. Focus on the self -it makes no difference if it is oneself or one’s community- must give way to the Lord. The believer, or the community, must never substitute themselves for God. And we should be attentive because even virtues can become obstacles when they become reasons for pride or distinguishing oneself from others. The believer’s only assurance is the Lord. As we lift up our gaze from ourselves and direct it to the Lord, the more we find him attentive in the defence of our cause. The Jews recognize this in the prayer which they immediately make to the Lord: "Lord, God of heaven, look at their haughtiness, have pity on the humiliation of our race and look kindly on this day on the face of those who have consecrated themselves to you." The Lord helps those who take refuge in Him, the psalms often sing. And Paul the apostle will say: "God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are" (1Cor 1:28).
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
