Today the Byzantine Church venerates Saint Sabbas (+532), "the Archimandrite of all the hermits of Palestine." Read more
Today the Byzantine Church venerates Saint Sabbas (+532), "the Archimandrite of all the hermits of Palestine."
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
Luke 10,21-24
Just at this time, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.' Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them by themselves, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Coming back to Jesus at night, the seventy-two disciples told him about the prodigies they could perform among people. While listening to them, Jesus rejoiced as well and confirmed their experience, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning." It is the joy that is born in the Cristian community every time it proclaims the Gospel and see evil withdrawing as it is defeated by the power of love. It is in truth the true power the Lord entrusts his disciples of yesterday and of today: "I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you." These are words we should never forget as we instead often irresponsibly do: evil can do nothing facing the good raised by the Gospel. Hence the joy of Jesus' This joy is great already on earth in seeing the world changing, but it will be even greater in knowing that their names are written in heaven, that is nearby God's very heart. This means that in each gesture of love there is already completion, or we could say, the destination we are going to: the fulfilment of the kingdom. At this point, moved by what has happened, Jesus lifts his eyes to heaven and thanks the Father because he chose to entrust his plan of love in those poor disciples, who have entrusted themselves to him. It is a sweet prayer that springs from the deep love Jesus has for teh Father and for his disciples. After praying, he turns to thee seventy-two and speaks a beatitude that crosses the centuries: "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!" We too are granted the grace of "seeing," of living with Jesus in a direct way being part of the community of believers.
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
