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
1 Kings 18,41-46
Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go back now, eat and drink; for I hear the approaching sound of rain.' While Ahab went back to eat and drink, Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel and bowed down to the ground, putting his face between his knees. 'Now go up', he told his servant, 'and look out to sea.' He went up and looked. 'There is nothing at all,' he said. Seven times Elijah told him to go back. The seventh time, the servant said, 'Now there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, rising from the sea.' Elijah said, 'Go and say to Ahab, "Harness the chariot and go down before the rain stops you." ' And with that the sky grew dark with cloud and storm, and rain fell in torrents. Ahab mounted his chariot and made for Jezreel. But the hand of Yahweh had come on Elijah and, hitching up his clothes, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Israel’s return to the their covenant with God also means the end of drought in the region. God’s protection pours over his people again, like blessed rain. Hunger and thirst end. Ahabwho in the past had sought water in vainnow is called by Elijah. The prophet invites him to get up, that is to end his fast and start eating. The prophets of Baal have all been killed; therefore punishment can stop and leave space for reconciliation. The meal then not only signifies reconciliation between Ahab, Elijah and Yahweh, but also the familiarity that every meal brings. We can compare this meal on Mount Carmel to that which happens on Sinai: Moses and the elders of the people: "they beheld God, and they ate and drank" (Ex 24: 9-11). During this meal Elijah tells the king that the rain will come. He goes to the highest point and enters a state of deep prayer. Elijah sends his servant to look toward the sea. The servant is sent seven times and each time returns without news. At the end he returns saying, "Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea." Actually from the eastern top of Mount Carmelwhere the text seems to locate the event- - the Mediterranean Sea can be seen far off on the horizon. The other sides of the mountain are surrounded by deserts, which only produce suffocating heat and sand storms. From this scene, Jesus says in the Gospel: "When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, There will be scorching heat’; and it happens" (Lk 12: 54-55). There is in any case a sign: a small cloud. And from it comes rain for the entire country. The Word of God invites disciples to scan the heavens for the "signs of the times" to be able to understand the way to follow. In fact, the servant is sent to warn the king so he can take cover. And Elijah, protected by the hand of God, runs ahead and gets there first.
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
