Memory of the first martyrs of the Roman Church during persecution of Nero. Read more
Memory of the first martyrs of the Roman Church during persecution of Nero.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 9, 1-8
He got back in the boat, crossed the water and came to his home town.
And suddenly some people brought him a paralytic stretched out on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, 'Take comfort, my child, your sins are forgiven.'
And now some scribes said to themselves, 'This man is being blasphemous.'
Knowing what was in their minds Jesus said, 'Why do you have such wicked thoughts in your hearts?
Now, which of these is easier: to say, "Your sins are forgiven," or to say, "Get up and walk"?
But to prove to you that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins,' -- then he said to the paralytic-'get up, pick up your bed and go off home.'
And the man got up and went home.
A feeling of awe came over the crowd when they saw this, and they praised God for having given such authority to human beings.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus seems to be shuttling back and forth from one shore to the other in order to be present everywhere there is need. After he returns to Capernaum, they bring him a paralysed man lying on a stretcher and place him at the centre of the scene. It is not just the physical centre, but also the centre of attention, interest, and concern for that sick man. This scene shows us how much our attention for ourselves should give way to attention for the weak. In this way, the love of these friends is the beginning of the miracle. The evangelist invites us to notice this by affirming that Jesus decides to intervene when he "saw their faith." This time, however, before performing the healing, he speaks words that no one had ever spoken to the paralysed man before: "Your sins are forgiven." Jesus does not want to insinuate that the paralysed man’s illness was caused by his sins, but he knows that this is what the scribes think. In fact, physical illness was considered the direct consequence of one’s own sins or those of one’s parents. And so, understandably, the scene is transformed into a theological debate. When they hear these words, the scribes who are present think badly of Jesus, even if, perhaps out of fear, they don’t say so. Regardless, they think that Jesus’ words are blasphemy. Only God can forgive. In their opinion, there could be no forgiveness without the elimination of the physical illness. But Jesus, who can read people’s hearts, unmasks them and shows them how far his mercy goes. "Stand up," he says to the paralysed man, "take your bed and go to your home." The Lord performed a double miracle for that sick man: he forgave his sins, and he healed his paralysis. By doing so, he showed those who had questioned him that his forgiveness had the healing effect they were looking for. Thus, he showed that the one who heals both body and heart had come among men and women. We need him today, too. How many sick people and sinners do not know to whom to go? And how few are those friends who bring those who need healing and love to Jesus! Everyone needs to rediscover Jesus’ strength in healing both the soul and the body, just as Christian solidarity for the sick needs to grow. Don’t we need to rediscover the strength of praying for healing?
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
