Remembrance of Saint Ireneus, bishop of Lyon and martyr (130-202); he went to France from Anatolia to preach the Gospel. Read more
Remembrance of Saint Ireneus, bishop of Lyon and martyr (130-202); he went to France from Anatolia to preach the Gospel.
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
Amos 3,1-8.11-12
Listen, Israelites, to this prophecy which Yahweh pronounces against you, against the whole family which I brought up from Egypt: You alone have I intimately known of all the families of earth, that is why I shall punish you for all your wrong-doings. Do two people travel together unless they have agreed to do so? Does the lion roar in the forest if it has no prey? Does the young lion growl in his lair if it has caught nothing? Does a bird fall on the ground in a net unless a trap has been set for it? Will the net spring up from the ground without catching something? Does the trumpet sound in the city without the people being alarmed? Does misfortune come to a city if Yahweh has not caused it? No indeed, Lord Yahweh does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion roars: who is not afraid? Lord Yahweh has spoken: who will not prophesy? This is why -- Lord Yahweh says this- an enemy will soon besiege the land, he will bring down your strength and your palaces will be looted. Yahweh says this: As the shepherd rescues two legs or the tip of an ear from the lion's mouth, so will the children of Israel be salvaged who now loll in Samaria in the corners of their beds, on their divans of Damascus.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After condemning Israel for trampling on justice and the rights of the poor, hiding behind the observance of ritual precepts (2:6-15), the words of the prophet declare the voice of God, who cries out against the hardness of the heart of a people who, deaf to His word and to His calls, refuse to repent and to nurture the feelings of mercy God has had with them. Again the prophet recalls the benefits the people received from God with the deliverance from Egypt so that they may witness the greatness of divine mercy among all peoples. The theme of the election is central in the prophetic preaching, as well as throughout all Christian preaching. God is the source of salvation. Through seven examples the prophet urges the people to read history and its signs in depth The Word of God is likened to a lion’s roar: it is like an inner strength that comes with unstoppable force, inevitably causing the effect for which it was sent. God’s choice for His people is to give them a mission, namely to proclaim His Word to the ends of the earth. By sending Jesus this choice reaches its clearest climax. God has chosen Jesus, as He favoured the people of Israel, so that we welcome His word and become its proclaimers and witnesses. This word - God’s, not ours - has irresistible power and is not subject to human limits. It is sent to fertilize the land and does not return to God without effect, without achieving what God wishes and the goal for which it was sent, as the book of Isaiah says (55:10-11). If God has spoken, says Amos, who can but prophesy? When God speaks, if we listen, we cannot but be prophets in this world. The Word of God is a power that works miracles, that goes beyond the boundaries of the impossible, that undermines the greedy and narrow-minded realism that so often impedes God’s dream. Nothing is impossible to God and nothing is impossible to Jesus’ disciples if they listen to his word and live it. Amos’ final words call us to a new responsibility: "Because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God." It is the call for a new mission at the beginning of this new millennium.
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
