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
Luke 11, 5-13
He also said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, "My friend, lend me three loaves,
because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him;"
and the man answers from inside the house, "Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up to give it to you."
I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it to him for friendship's sake, persistence will make him get up and give his friend all he wants.
'So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; everyone who knocks will have the door opened.
What father among you, if his son asked for a fish, would hand him a snake?
Or if he asked for an egg, hand him a scorpion?
If you then, evil as you are, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
In the Gospel we heard yesterday Jesus gave us the "Our Father" prayer, a precious treasure which has become a daily companion of our prayer. Jesus however is familiar with the doubts that the disciples have concerning the effectiveness of prayer. And he wanted to clear these doubts up immediately, so important is prayer for believers. Thus, he tells two parables. The first, that of the inopportune friend, is almost a commentary on the fourth petition of the "Our Father," that is, "give us this day our daily bread." With it Jesus seems to push his disciples themselves to be importunate with the Father in prayer. We need to persevere in asking, because as Jesus says to the disciples: "Ask, and it will be given you." And that is what happens in the parable. Insistent prayer -Jesus saysseems to compel God to "get up" and grant our request. And God, Jesus continues with the second parable, will not only respond, but he will always give good things to his children. God always listens to those who turn to him in faith. Prayer, the prayer of a son who trusts totally in the Father, truly has an incredible strength - it is even able to "bend" God towards us. This is why in the whole tradition of the Church insistence on prayer is one of the indefeasible mainstays. Unfortunately-even due to the alienating pace of life todaywe are hard pressed to pray and often we do not persevere at all in prayer, especially common prayer. And not a few times our trust is truly limited. May our hearts be touched by this passage from the Gospel and we will discover the strength and the effectiveness of prayer for our lives and for the lives of those for whom we will pray. Prayer saves one’s life.
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
