Today the Byzantine Church venerates Saint Sabbas (532), “the Archimandrite of all the hermits of Palestine” Read more
Today the Byzantine Church venerates Saint Sabbas (532), “the Archimandrite of all the hermits of Palestine”
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 7, 21.24-27
'It is not anyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," who will enter the kingdom of Heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven.
'Therefore, everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on rock.
Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and hurled themselves against that house, and it did not fall: it was founded on rock.
But everyone who listens to these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand.
Rain came down, floods rose, gales blew and struck that house, and it fell; and what a fall it had!'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This Gospel passage brings us to the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ first major speech in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus warns his listeners that words are not enough, that external forms do not suffice - even perfect ones - in order to be truly his disciples and receive salvation: “Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (21). What saves us and what counts is not just the words that we say; we must “be” disciples, that is, put into practice the Gospel that we hear. This is why Jesus concludes the entire sermon with the parable of the house. He says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock,” while “everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” He continues with the parable: the rains pour down; the floods come; the wind blows down on both houses. Jesus is clearly talking about the tempests of life: the temptations that assault us; the difficulties that come our way; the problems that press on us; and so on. Indeed, the house built on rock - that is, on a life marked by faithfulness to the Gospel and to love - stands firm, whereas the other house, built on sand, crumbles. But what is sand, if not those countless number of vices and egocentric instincts that often make our lives empty, banal, inconsistent, mean, and violent? Only if we know how to welcome with faith the word of the Gospel, which is steady and very different from our wavering and instable emotions, can we build our lives and those of our brothers and sisters on a solid and stable foundation. Every day, the Lord invites us to nourish ourselves on the Gospel. In this way, our lives are not built on ourselves or on our emotions, which are as inconsistent and changing as the sand, but on the word of God, the true rock and foundation of life, both personally and communally.
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
