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
Numbers 24,2-7.15-17
Raising his eyes Balaam saw Israel settled tribe by tribe; the spirit of God came on him and he declaimed his poem, as follows: The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of the man with far-seeing eyes, the prophecy of one who hears the words of God. He sees what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened. How fair your tents are, Jacob, how fair your dwellings, Israel, like valleys that stretch afar, like gardens by the banks of a river, like aloes planted by Yahweh, like cedars beside the waters! A hero arises from their stock, he reigns over countless peoples. His king is greater than Agag, and his kingship held in honour. He then declaimed his poem, as follows: The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor, the prophecy of the man with far-seeing eyes, the prophecy of one who hears the words of God, of one who knows the knowledge of the Most High. He sees what Shaddai makes him see, receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened. I see him -- but not in the present. I perceive him -- but not close at hand: a star is emerging from Jacob, a sceptre is rising from Israel, to strike the brow of Moab, the skulls of all the children of Seth.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Israel is now reaching the end of the road in the desert. But their entrance into the land promised to them by God is hindered by Balak, the king of Moab. He firmly refuses to let the people of Israel pass through his land. And, to make his opposition even more effective, he hires Balaam, a well-known soothsayer from the region of Mesopotamia, to cast spells against Israel and curse them. But the Lord, who is close to the people and guides them with strength, intervenes and transforms this soothsayer - despite himself and the king who hired him - into a prophet for Israel. This passage from the book of Numbers offers several verses from the third and fourth oracles pronounced by Balaam. Despite his name, which means "devourer," and his origin, Balaam receives the spirit of God and reports what he receives from the Lord. The text reads: "one who hears the words of God, and knows the knowledge of the Most High" and "sees the vision of the Almighty." The Lord speaks to his people in every possible way; this time through a man called by the enemy. Balaam, a prophet despite himself, describes the prosperity and fertility of the land that Israel is about to receive. He exclaims: "How fair are your tents, O Jacob, your encampments, O Israel! Like palm groves that stretch far away, like gardens beside a river, like aloes that the Lord has planted, like cedar trees beside the waters." And then Balaam looks even further: "a star shall come out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel." With the image of the sceptre and star, this "prophet’ points to the Messiah who will bring salvation to the entire people. In the Christian tradition these words have been referred to Jesus. The liturgy of the Church invites us to meditate on them a few days before Christmas in preparation for welcoming the one who is coming to save the world from sin and death. We could say that the prophecy of Balaam, a prophet despite himself, actually is the cry for salvation that rises from every corner of the earth and from all people, especially those who are most oppressed. This prophecy resounds again today, this time for the entire world: may the world become a garden and may the Lord be the Father of all.
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
