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
Isaiah 38,1-6.21-22.7-8
About then, Hezekiah fell ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came and said to him, 'Yahweh says this, "Put your affairs in order, for you are going to die, you will not live." ' Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and addressed this prayer to Yahweh, 'Ah, Yahweh, remember, I beg you, that I have behaved faithfully and with sincerity of heart in your presence and done what you regard as right.' And Hezekiah shed many tears. Then the word of Yahweh came to Isaiah, 'Go and say to Hezekiah, "Yahweh, the God of your ancestor David, says this: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I shall cure you: in three days' time you will go up to the Temple of Yahweh. I shall add fifteen years to your life. I shall save you and this city from the king of Assyria's clutches and defend this city for my sake and my servant David's sake." ' 'Bring a fig poultice,' Isaiah said, 'apply it to the ulcer and he will recover.' Hezekiah said, 'What is the sign to tell me that I shall be going up to the Temple of Yahweh?' 'Here', Isaiah replied, 'is the sign from Yahweh that he will do what he has said. Look, I shall make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the steps -- the steps to Ahaz's roof-room-go back ten steps.' And the sun went back the ten steps by which it had declined.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The story of illness and healing of Hezekiah paints the portrait of a king who puts all of his trust in God. Hezekiah turns to God when he is sick and near death, and he can truthfully remind Him of his past loyalty and obedience and ask Him for a sign, not out of doubt, but as a way of accepting the divine promise. Hezekiah was a great king for his people. He had fought for Israel to return to the Lord and abandon its idols. But "in the noontide of my days I must depart," the king begins, "I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years." Even wise and righteous men and women are touched by the difficulties of life. The king is sick and addresses a heartfelt prayer to God, describing his pain and asking for help: "O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security." The king understands that disease and difficulties are not a punishment from God. It is an awareness that comes from a spiritual reflection marked by the endless love of God for us. Sacred Scripture constantly teaches us to turn to God, to pray to Him in suffering and in difficulty, and to tell Him what is happening in our lives and our anxieties. God - who is a good Father - does not reject the child who turns to him; he is not deaf to the invocation of the poor and the oppressed. Great in love and mercy, God come to our help, heals and saves. The king's supplication is given an answer by the prophet: the Lord has heard his prayer, answered it, and extends it to Jerusalem: the Lord will also intervene on behalf of Jerusalem, and the king and the city will both be freed and protected (v. 6).
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
