Muslims celebrate the end of fast for Ramadan (Aid-al-Fitr). Read more
Muslims celebrate the end of fast for Ramadan (Aid-al-Fitr).
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 5,20-26
'For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven. 'You have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You shall not kill; and if anyone does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you, anyone who is angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother "Fool" will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. In truth I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
"Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." God's righteousness saves, it does not condemn; it is to love without limits, not divide, even in equal measure. This way of thinking about righteousness is needed to enter the kingdom of heaven. And if this seems too difficult to the disciples in the words that follow Jesus shows the way to go. They are statements that no one had ever dared to speak the way Jesus spoke them. The first point is taken from the fifth commandment: "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, You shall not murder'...but I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgement." Jesus is not proposing a new case system or a new juridical procedure; he is proposing a new way of understanding relationships between people: it is love that counts. That is what it means to fulfil the law. We have to move from negative precepts to the positivity of friendship. Love has such a high value that, if it is lacking, it requires to stop the highest act of worship. Jesus says: "So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift." "Mercy" is worth more than "sacrifice;" worship, that is, relationship with God, cannot be separated from a relationship of love with men and women. This is true even in the context of the countless quarrels that arise among men and women. Jesus uses the example of a debt to pay or credit to give. And he urges his listeners to come to an agreement without taking the matter before a judge. It is obvious that this requires us to prize above all else brotherhood and love for others; the latter ones push back our selfish instincts, which drive us to satisfying our ego at all costs and pursue our own interest, and they grow love for others and most of all the superiority of reconciliation over indifference and conflict.
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
