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 10,7-15
And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those suffering from virulent skin-diseases, drive out devils. You received without charge, give without charge. Provide yourselves with no gold or silver, not even with coppers for your purses, with no haversack for the journey or spare tunic or footwear or a staff, for the labourer deserves his keep. 'Whatever town or village you go into, seek out someone worthy and stay with him until you leave. As you enter his house, salute it, and if the house deserves it, may your peace come upon it; if it does not, may your peace come back to you. And if anyone does not welcome you or listen to what you have to say, as you walk out of the house or town shake the dust from your feet. In truth I tell you, on the Day of Judgement it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After choosing the Twelve and entrusting them with the mission to announce the coming of the Kingdom of God, Jesus continues clarifying the content of the message to be announced to all whom they meet. Jesus says to them, "Proclaim the good news, "The kingdom of heaven has come near. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons" and adds, "let your peace come" upon the houses of everyone. This is an essential and binding point for those disciples and for the Church and for every Christian community in every time. It has to be the first and foremost concern of the disciples. Jesus warns them not to be overwhelmed by other worries, namely, "Gold, silver, copper, bags, two tunics, sandals, staff," even if they seem to be useful for the mission. Truly, in an insidious way such items often distance the disciple from the absolute primacy of the Gospel. It is necessary to meditate frequently on this Gospel passage in order to understand the true treasure entrusted to our hands: that our strength is only in Jesus, not in organisational structures, or programs, or strategies. Therefore, Jesus stresses peace as a gift that the disciples must bring to the cities, the villages and into the houses of the people. Luke, in a parallel passage, mentions "the greeting of peace" (10:5), a greeting which the world particularly needs today. The world is still marked by violence and conflicts which poison many lives. Often our houses and our families seek peace, that is fundamental for a more serene and happy life, and they do not find it. The Christian community is called to be a worker and peace-bearer in the conflicts which injure the peoples as well as the houses of our cities. The disciples of Jesus are into this world like lambs, that is as men and women who are weak, but peaceful and peace-making. This is does not happen without contrasts and opposition. The Gospel warns us, "If anyone will not welcome you..." The fact that the mission of the church - to proclaim the Gospel and bring peace to all - is rejected and not welcome diminishes neither the force nor the realization of that mission.
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
