Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 7, 6.12-14
'Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs, or they may trample them and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.
'So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the Law and the Prophets.
'Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it;
but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This text brings together three of Jesus’ sayings without really connecting them. One is on holy things, one is on the golden rule, and the other on the narrow door. In this time, dogs and pigs were impure animals. It is not clear whether Jesus is talking about a certain category of people who are decisively hostile to the proclamation of the Kingdom. Doubtlessly, however, we understand that hostility, bald-faced inhospitality, and ostentatious and decisive refusal lead the disciples to address their proposal to others whose hearts are more open. Jesus does not hide the difficulty that can become opposition. The passage continues with a rule - called the "golden rule" - which is also present in other religious traditions: "In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you." When lived out by Jesus, these words take on the novelty of a love without limits: he has given to us his love without asking for anything in exchange from us. If we want other people to give their lives for us, then we should start by making our lives be lives of dedication and service to others, just as Jesus taught during the washing of the feet (Jn 13). The Gospel we heard concludes with the saying about the narrow door, that is, the very person of Jesus. In order to enter through the door of Jesus we have to make an effort - we have to lower ourselves, bend down, and make ourselves small and humble. The wide door, the world, at first sight seems more comfortable and wide, but this is just the impression of a dazed moment. Whoever tries to enter into the life of the world and remain there will encounter even greater weariness and, despite all her/his efforts, will remain the prisoner of a world that is becoming more and more harsh and pitiless.
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
