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
Ecclesiastes 3,1-11
There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven: A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting what has been planted. A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building. A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing. A time for throwing stones away, a time for gathering them; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing. A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for discarding. A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking. A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace. What do people gain from the efforts they make? I contemplate the task that God gives humanity to labour at. All that he does is apt for its time; but although he has given us an awareness of the passage of time, we can grasp neither the beginning nor the end of what God does.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Therefore, being aware of the "time" is a sign of wisdom. By arranging the passage in seven pairs of polar-opposites, Qohelet wants to encompass the entirety of human life with its different "seasons" and "events." But human beings do not weave their own lives. We are not the ones who choose to be born or die, nor can we eliminate the "poles" that mark our lives. There is an order to everything, "for everything there is a season," Qohelet tells us. The list presented by the author is meant to eliminate the idea of disorder of human life and of creation. But it is not given to human beings to understand its meaning and even less to direct it. A lordly attitude towards time and creation has produced disorder and danger in human existence on earth. The text recalls the misery of human knowledge and the foolishness in reducing existence to a multiple and varied "doing" that is not only meaningless but often harmful. People labour to achieve results, to reach goals, to build the "world," but they are not its masters. Human beings even come to be a slave to their own destruction and disfigurement. Yet we continue to plunder creation. Why toil? Qohelet dismisses the idea that God is wrong and reminds us that "he has made everything suitable for its time;" it is therefore "suitable" to be born and "suitable" to die; it is "suitable" to love and also to hate, and so on. The whole of creation has its own intimate harmony that must not only be respected but also understood in its order. But God has put "eternity in their hearts." This is the truest sense of the biblical affirmation that we have been created in God's "image and likeness," having eternity in their hearts. It is true that man cannot understand the meaning of the "times" that follow one another, but he can grasp eternity, the "time" of God, if he lets love to ferment his days. We are all mortal, but the love that envelops us, the love of God, is not mortal.
Het gebed is het hart van het leven van de Gemeenschap van Sant’Egidio. Het is haar eerste “werk”. Aan het einde van de dag komt elke Gemeenschap, of die nu klein of groot is, samen bij de Heer om het Woord te beluisteren en zich tot Hem te richten in het gebed. De leerlingen kunnen niet anders dan aan de voeten van Jezus zitten, zoals Maria van Bethanië, om het “betere deel” te kiezen (Lc 10, 42) en van Hem zijn gezindheid te leren (vgl. Fil 2, 5).
Elke keer dat de Gemeenschap zich tot de Heer richt, maakt ze zich die vraag eigen van de anonieme leerling: “Heer, leer ons bidden!” (Lc 11, 1). En Jezus, meester in het gebed, antwoordt: “Wanneer jullie bidden, zeg dan: Abba, Vader”.
Wanneer we bidden, ook in de geslotenheid van ons eigen hart, zijn we nooit alleen of verweesd. Integendeel, we zijn leden van de familie van de Heer. In het gemeenschappelijk gebed wordt naast het mysterie van het kindschap, ook dat van de broederschap en zusterschap duidelijk.
De Gemeenschappen van Sant’Egidio, verspreid over de wereld, verzamelen zich op de verschillende plaatsen die gekozen zijn voor het gebed en brengen de hoop en het verdriet van de “uitgeputte en hulpeloze mensenmenigte” waarover het Evangelie spreekt (Mt 9, 37) bij de Heer. Deze oude menigte omvat de inwoners van onze hedendaagse steden, de armen die zich bevinden in de marge van het leven, en iedereen die wacht om als dagloner te worden aangenomen (vgl. Mt 20).
Het gemeenschappelijk gebed verzamelt de schreeuw, de hoop, het verlangen naar vrede, genezing, zin en redding, die beleefd worden door de mannen en vrouwen van deze wereld. Het gebed is nooit leeg. Het stijgt onophoudelijk op naar de Heer opdat verdriet verandert in vreugde, wanhoop in blijheid, angst in hoop, eenzaamheid in gemeenschap. En het rijk Gods zal spoedig temidden van de mensen komen.
