Today the Byzantine Church venerates Saint Sabbas (+532), "the Archimandrite of all the hermitages of Palestine." Baca lebih lanjut
Today the Byzantine Church venerates Saint Sabbas (+532), "the Archimandrite of all the hermitages of Palestine."
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 9,35-10,1.5-8
Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers to his harvest.' He summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to drive them out and to cure all kinds of disease and all kinds of illness. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: 'Do not make your way to gentile territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go instead to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. 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.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus continues to travel through the cities and villages "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness." With these words, the evangelist Matthew wants to synthesize Jesus' mission and offer to the Christian communities a clear vision of their mission. Each word in this synthesis has its own importance. The evangelist uses one that gives reason of Jesus' mission: compassion. Jesus does not obey a rule, a commandment. God does not want executors, rather He wants people who have compassion and therefor they move. Gospel compassion is more than human compassion. The original Greek term (splanghizomai) indicated a visceral, deep compassion. It is he compassion for the crowds, which were left abandoned and without a shepherd, that moves Jesus to be their shepherd. with no one to help them. It is out of compassion for this crowd that the disciples' call is born, along with their mission. This Gospel passage questions the Christian communities about their compassion towards the crowds of this world, the large and abandoned peripheries, the poor who continue to grow because ofteh pandemic that hit the entire world. When Pope Francis asks for a missionary conversion of the Church, he means that we need to recuperate the power of the compassion that urges to go out and not to stay quiet in your own fold. Even more so today that the harvest is really abundant. The disproportion between the great mission to carry out and the small number of workers is even more evident, and worrisome. Jesus calls on his disciples-even today's- to invoke the Father to send forth His workers. Jesus himself chooses twelve men from his disciples, one for every tribe of Israel, so that none of them would be deprived of the Gospel. Consequently, they receive a real power to change hearts, to defeat evil, to gather together and love the poor, and to hasten the Kingdom of God. It is a power that does not come from money, bags, tunics, or any earthly things, but from the limitless love that God has poured into their hearts, that is divine compassion. And Jesus adds, "You received without payment; give without payment." This is a commandment as extraordinary as it is opposed to the materialistic mentality of our time. Christians are called to rediscover and witness to the gratuity of the gift, which is an essential part of evangelic love. This first mission described by Matthew in his Gospel is emblematic for every Christian generation: there is no other path for Jesus' disciples.
Doa merupakan jantung kehidupan Komunitas Sant'Egidio dan merupakan prioritas yang paling penting. Di penghujung hari, setiap Komunitas Sant'Egidio, besar maupun kecil, akan berkumpul di sekeliling Tuhan untuk mendengarkan sabda-Nya. Sesungguhnya Sabda Allah dan doa merupakan landasan seluruh kehidupan Komunitas. Para rasul tidak bisa tidak selain tetap di sekitar kaki Yesus, seperti yang dilakukan oleh Maria dari Bethani, untuk menerima kasih dan belajar cara-Nya (Fil. 2:5).
Sehingga setiap malam, ketika Komunitas kembali ke kaki Tuhan, Komunitas mengulangi kata-kata dari rasul tak bernama: "Tuhan ajarkanlah kami cara berdoa" Yesus, Sang Guru, terus menjawab: "Ketika kamu berdoa, katakanlah: Abba, Bapa". Hal itu bukanlah satu seruan sederhana. Dengan kata-kata ini, Yesus membiarkan para murid untuk berperan serta dalam hubungan mereka sendiri dengan Bapa. Oleh sebab itu, fakta bahwa sebagai anak-anak Bapa yang bertahta di surga, muncul sebelum kata-kata yang mungkin kita ucapkan. Jadi doa di atas segalanya merupakan cara untuk menjadi manusia. Ini untuk mengatakan bahwa kita anak-anak yang berpaling kepada Bapa dengan iman, dan yakin bahwa hal itu akan didengar.
Yesus mengajar kita memanggil Allah dengan sebutan "Bapa Kami" Tidak hanya "Bapa" atau "Bapaku" Para murid, meskipun mereka berdoa dengan cara mereka, tidak pernah terisolasi tidak juga menjadi yatim; mereka selalu menjadi anggota keluarga Tuhan.
Dalam doa bersama, di samping misteri anak Allah, ada juga misteri persaudaraan, seperti Bapa Gereja mengatakan: "Kamu tidak bisa memiliki Allah sebagai Bapa tanpa memiliki gereja sebagai ibu". Ketika berdoa bersama, Roh Kudus menyatukan para rasul di ruangan atas bersama dengan Maria, Bunda Allah, sehingga mereka dapat memusatkan pandangan mereka kepada wajah Tuhan dan belajar dari Dia rahasia hati-Nya.
Komunitas Sant'Egidio di seluruh dunia berkumpul bersama di berbagai tempat doa dan menghamparkan di hadapan Tuhan harapan dan penderitaan manusia yang lelah dan letih seperti yang di katakan oleh Injil (Mat. 9:37). Dalam kumpulan di masa lalu ini kita bisa melihat jumlah massa yang sangat besar di kota-kota modern ini, jutaan pengungsi yang terus melarikan diri dari negeri mereka, orang miskin yang terpinggirkan ke tepi kehidupan dan mereka yang menantikan seseorang yang akan merawat mereka. Berdoa bersama termasuk di dalamnya tangisan, seruan, permohonan, keinginan bagi damai, penyembuhan dan penebusan manusia di dunia ini. Doa tidak pernah sia-sia, doa terus menerus kepada Tuhan sehingga mengubah kecemasan menjadi harapan, air mata menjadi kegembiraan, putus asa menjadi kebahagiaan, dan kesepian menjadi persatuan. Semoga Kerajaan Allah hadir segera di antara manusia.
