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
1 Samuel 4,1b-11
The Philistines drew up their battle-line against Israel, the fighting was fierce, and Israel was beaten by the Philistines: about four thousand men in their ranks were killed on the field of battle. When the troops returned to camp, the elders of Israel said, 'Why has Yahweh caused us to be beaten by the Philistines today? Let us fetch the ark of our God from Shiloh so that, when it goes with us, it may save us from the clutches of our enemies.' So the troops sent to Shiloh and brought away the ark of Yahweh Sabaoth enthroned on the winged creatures; the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, came with the ark. When the ark of Yahweh arrived in the camp, all Israel raised a great war cry so that the earth resounded. When the Philistines heard the noise of the war cry, they said, 'What can this great war cry in the Hebrew camp mean?' And they realised that the ark of Yahweh had come into the camp. At this, the Philistines were afraid; for they said, 'God has come into the camp. Disaster!' they said. 'For nothing like this has ever happened before. Disaster! Who will rescue us from the clutches of this mighty God? This was the God who struck down Egypt with every kind of misfortune in the desert. But take courage and be men, Philistines, or you will become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been slaves to you. Be men and fight.' So the Philistines gave battle and Israel was defeated, each man fleeing to his tent. The slaughter was very great: on the Israelite side, thirty thousand foot soldiers fell. The ark of God was captured too, and Hophni and Phinehas the two sons of Eli died.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The passage reports the clash between the Israelites and the Philistines, regarded as the true owners of the land. In the first confrontation, the Israelites are totally and bitterly defeated. The elders attribute it to the absence of the ark among the people. When the people see the ark coming back among them, they scream so loud because of their enthusiasm that the Philistines begin to worry. They fear the God of Israel. They do not know God's name, but they feel that his power now dwells in Israel and is against them. The Philistines correctly interpret the history and the faith of Israel as they fearfully remember what happened to the Egyptians. However, the Philistines do not surrender. On the contrary, the fear of submission makes them regain their courage and boldness. They engage in battle and win a second time. Even the ark, in which Israel placed their trust and before which the Philistines trembled with fear, could not save Israel from defeat. The defeat cannot be understood as a consequence of the Lord-present in the ark-being absent; and yet the Lord permitted the defeat. Israel is very troubled by this. The problem, in fact, was not God's absence, but what Israel had done with their relationship with the Lord. The ark's capture and the killing of Eli's two sons, in charge of carrying the ark, reveal that an outward allegiance to the Lord is not enough if one's heart and behaviour are distant from the Law. If the heart is distant, then the presence or absence of the ark does not make any difference: Israel is still defeated. Of course, the second loss is even bitter. But the covenant with God only holds if there is a direct and personal relationship with Him. A bond of friendship, even more than ritual practices, substantiates faith. Yes, the ark is the place of God's presence, but a filial relationship with the Lord is what is required of the faithful, which the ark favours, but cannot replace.
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!
