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
Luke 21, 29-33
And he told them a parable, 'Look at the fig tree and indeed every tree.
As soon as you see them bud, you can see for yourselves that summer is now near.
So with you when you see these things happening: know that the kingdom of God is near.
In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away all will have taken place.
Sky and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel passage that we have heard is part of the last pericope of the eschatological discourse in the Gospel of Luke. The Church presents it as the liturgical year is about to end as if to connect us to Jesus’ thoughts as he lives his "last days." He is aware of this and prepares to live them so as to fulfil the Father’s will. And he does not fail to warn the disciples to be aware themselves of the times they must face. We can say that in the complexity of this, our world wounded by conflicts, wars, injustices, illnesses, hunger and so many other tragedies, Jesus invites us to not let ourselves be seized by fear and by turning in on ourselves, with the result that we resign ourselves to the power of evil. Jesus has come to save us from all forms of slavery, including resignation to Evil. With his presence the new time of liberation from evil and the establishment of salvation have begun. He is the dawn of a new world: his life, his love, his miracles, his resurrection are those sprouts that manifest the new spring in the world. Therefore, he exhorts the disciples: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near." Reading the Gospel and contemplating Jesus’ work, we know that a new world has already begun that of Jesus. And looking also at so many signs of love, perhaps as little as buds, we discern in them as already present and operative the world of the future, the one outlined by the Gospel, which Jesus continues to make ripen and grow. Where love sprouts, when forgiveness is shown, where mercy grows, where there is dialogue and where peace is established, there are the sprouts of the kingdom of God. Perceiving them, each one is called to make sprout also in his or her heart and life signs of love. This is how we hasten the full arrival of his kingdom. Jesus guarantees that his words are firm, firmer than heaven and earth. The Gospel of love, in fact, is the true rock, the true foundation, upon which to build one’s own life and that of the whole world.
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
