Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Ruth 1,1.3-6.14-16
In the days when the Judges were governing, a famine occurred in the country and a certain man from Bethlehem of Judah went-he, his wife and his two sons -- to live in the Plains of Moab. Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died, and she and her two sons were left. These married Moabite women: one was called Orpah and the other Ruth. They lived there for about ten years. Mahlon and Chilion then both died too, and Naomi was thus bereft of her two sons and her husband. She then decided to come back from the Plains of Moab with her daughters-in-law, having heard in the Plains of Moab that God had visited his people and given them food. They started weeping loudly all over again; Orpah then kissed her mother-in-law and went back to her people. But Ruth stayed with her. Naomi then said, 'Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Go home, too; follow your sister-in-law.' But Ruth said, 'Do not press me to leave you and to stop going with you, for wherever you go, I shall go, wherever you live, I shall live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If the book of Judges is characterized by violence and war-even because of the conquest of the promised land by Israel --the book of Ruth is, instead, marked by peace and encounter. The text opens with the story of the return of Naomi to Bethlehem, where she left with her husband and children to emigrate to the land of the Moabites, a people that was believed to be an oppressor of Israel at the time of the Judges (Jud 3). In Moab Naomi can finally eat and survive, but she loses her husband and two children. She decides to go back: she had things, but she was alone. It is in this context of loneliness that Ruth's company starts in Naomi's story. Ruth was a Moabite woman who, although she could have remained among her people, chose to stay with Naomi and to follow her when she decided to return to Bethlehem. The other daughter in law did not do it and she remained tied to her own land. Ruth, because of her love for Naomi, gives up her identity as a Moabite--her culture and the religion of her family--and she chooses to live with the people, the culture, the religion and the family of her friend Naomi. The latter does not fail to point out the difficulties of such a choice, but Ruth has no doubts: "Where you live ... Where you go ... your people ... your God ... I want to live." Naomi arrives in Bethlehem, but even if she is without her husband, she is rich of a new friend. Seeing Naomi and her friend, the citizens of Bethlehem show more distrust than welcome, so much so that Naomi wants to change her name: "Call me no longer Naomi (sweet), call me Mara (bitter). ... I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty." In truth she was not "empty". The friendship with Ruth was her new wealth. And the story told in this little book shows the richness and providentialism of friendship. Ruth grows more and more aware of her choice. She knows that friendship is not something that can be taken for granted in life; it must be built up and pursued with tenacity, determination, and it requires growth in each other's personal consciences. In fact, at the beginning she is called the "foreigner," (2:10), then the "servant" (2:13), then the "worthy woman" (3:11), and finally "the woman who is coming into your house" (4:11), comparing her to the "mothers" of Israel. Ruth, for the strength of her friendship, becomes the hope of Naomi and Boaz.
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
