Remembrance of St. Therese of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun with a deep sense of mission of the Church. Read more
Remembrance of St. Therese of Lisieux, a Carmelite nun with a deep sense of mission of the Church.
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
1 Maccabees 1, 16-28
Once Antiochus had seen his authority established, he determined to make himself king of Egypt and the ruler of both kingdoms.
He invaded Egypt in massive strength, with chariots and elephants (and cavalry) and a large fleet.
He engaged Ptolemy king of Egypt in battle, and Ptolemy turned back and fled before his advance, leaving many casualties.
The fortified cities of Egypt were captured, and Antiochus plundered the country.
After his conquest of Egypt, in the year 143, Antiochus turned about and advanced on Israel and Jerusalem in massive strength.
Insolently breaking into the sanctuary, he removed the golden altar and the lamp-stand for the light with all its fittings,
together with the table for the loaves of permanent offering, the libation vessels, the cups, the golden censers, the veil, the crowns, and the golden decoration on the front of the Temple, which he stripped of everything.
He made off with the silver and gold and precious vessels; he discovered the secret treasures and seized them
and, removing all these, he went back to his own country, having shed much blood and uttered words of extreme arrogance.
There was deep mourning for Israel throughout the country:
Rulers and elders groaned; girls and young men wasted away; the women's beauty suffered a change;
every bridegroom took up a dirge, the bride sat grief-stricken on her marriage-bed.
The earth quaked because of its inhabitants and the whole House of Jacob was clothed with shame.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The author introduces King Antiochus Epiphanes who was determined to expand his kingdom. His first campaign is the conquest of Egypt. With a strong army, he faces and defeats Ptolemy, King of Egypt, and takes for himself a large booty. He then decides to head back North and on the way attacks Israel; he enters Jerusalem, goes up to the Temple and sacks it, taking away the golden altar, the lamp stand for the light, the table for the bread of the Presence and the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the sanctuary and all of the other gold and silver utensils. The author describes the scene with a bitter tone: “he stripped it all off”. Before Antiochus leaves Jerusalem, he carries out a massacre, as did Nebuchadnezzar (2 K 25:14-15). The author notes that in light of such an outrage, “Israel mourned deeply in every community”, connecting to the style found in Lamentations, of which he echoes sentences and expressions. He writes that all, excluding no one, groans under the weight of this tragedy, even the land trembles. Confusion reigns. Indeed, when Jerusalem and the Temple are devastated and therefore the life and worship are impeded there, it is a blow to the heart of the people of Israel. The foreign king seeks nothing but to continue enriching himself and his own dominion over others. For this reason he cuts at the roots any sign of faith and worship. This is a sad episode that unfortunately repeats itself throughout Christian history and continues today. We recall the frequent attacks on Christian communities in many parts of the world, even on churches when people have gathered for prayer. They are defenceless believers, and yet men and women who are blinded by an extremist ideology attack them. This is a result of the diabolic will to destroy those who work for mercy and peace among people. The tension of martyrdom that we see throughout Maccabees remains a steadfast dynamic of faith, especially in Christianity; as Jesus warned, “A disciple is not above his teacher” (Mt 10:24).
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
