Memory of St. Stephen (+1038), king of Hungary. He was converted to the Gospel and promoted the evangelization of his country.
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Memory of St. Stephen (+1038), king of Hungary. He was converted to the Gospel and promoted the evangelization of his country.
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
Matthew 19,16-22
And now a man came to him and asked, 'Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?'
Jesus said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.'
He said, 'Which ones?' Jesus replied, 'These: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness.
Honour your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'
The young man said to him, 'I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?'
Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.'
But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The question of how to obtain eternal life is the question of each one of us, who for the most part are children of the rich world, or at least attached to our things. As if to avoid any misunderstandings, Jesus immediately says that only God is good, not us. Nonetheless, the young man responds by saying that he has not broken any of the commandments. He thinks he is doing fine; what else is there to do? He thought he deserved eternal life. In reality, eternal life is not obtained through our own merits; it is not something that can be bought or something to which we have a right. Eternal life means choosing Jesus before every else, before even ourselves and our wealth. Jesus does not reply by giving an eleventh commandment, he simply says: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." He proposes a high ideal: "if you wish to be perfect." This is not a suggestion reserved for a few, for the best, or for the most courageous; the Lord’s school is not selective. Perfection is for everyone, and it is within everyone’s reach, because it involves the heart. The heart is perfect when it is totally God’s and not divided with anything else. The perfect man and the perfect woman are those who have understood that one cannot serve God and wealth (Mt 6:24). If we love God more than anything else, it is logical for us to give our wealth to the poor. Unfortunately, that young man did not have the courage to leave behind his wealth and begin following the Lord. He thought that happiness consisted in possessing wealth, but he was wrong. The evangelist notes that "he went away grieving." This Gospel passage still teaches us the way to salvation and happiness today: following the Lord, not being attached to our wealth.
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
