Memorial of the apostle Barnabas, companion of Paul in Antioch and on his first apostolic journey. Read more
Memorial of the apostle Barnabas, companion of Paul in Antioch and on his first apostolic journey.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
1 Kings 19,19-21
Leaving there, he came on Elisha son of Shaphat as he was ploughing behind twelve yoke of oxen, he himself being with the twelfth. Elijah passed near to him and threw his cloak over him. Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah. 'Let me kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you,' he said. Elijah answered, 'Go, go back; for have I done anything to you?' Elisha turned away, took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He used the oxen's tackle for cooking the meat, which he gave the people to eat. He then rose and, following Elijah, became his servant.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After the encounter with God on Horeb, Elijah begins his return journey. He immediately meets Elisha, the successor chosen by God, while he is tilling the fields. Prophets did not come from a certain sector or particular group. Some, like Isaiah, were born in the city; others came from rural areas, like Amos and Micah; still others belonged to priestly families, as Jeremiah and Ezekiel did. Elisha was called while he was tilling his fields. In general calls are marked by a particular gesture which manifest a sign from God. For Isaiah, for example, one of the seraphs around God’s throne purified his lips with a hot coal (Is 6:6-7). God himself extended his hand on Jeremiah and touched his mouth while he communicated to him His words (Jer 1:9). The Lord made Ezekiel eat the scroll which tasted like honey to him (Ez 3:1-3). For Elisha, the prophet Elijah put a mantle on his shoulders: "Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him." Everything happened suddenly: we do not know if the two knew each other, but as soon as Elisha received the mantle "He left the oxen, ran after Elijah." So what happened? That mantle was not a regular mantle. Elisha understood that he was wrapped up in the spirit of the Lord, and that an inheritance which he was responsible for had been placed on his shoulders. He understood that he was not the one who chose, but that he was chosen by the Lord to announce His Word. In fact, the prophet never speaks about himself or for himself: everything is about God. The same will happen on the banks of Lake Galilee when Jesus began to call his first disciples. They too immediately left their nets and followed him. It is very true that Elijah welcomes Elisha’s desire to go and take leave of his parents. And there is no doubt that it is different from what Jesus said in an analogous circumstance: "To another he said, Follow me.’ But he said, Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’" (Lk 9: 58-62). The Gospel contains a radical feature that cannot be dulled or diluted. What counts, above all, is following the Lord. Having returned from his parents Elisha begins to follow Elijah. The mission of the prophetof every disciplerequires listening and following. It is about welcoming on one’s shoulders the Word of God and communicating it in our turn.
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
