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
Sirach 6,5-17
A kindly turn of speech attracts new friends, a courteous tongue invites many a friendly response. Let your acquaintances be many, but for advisers choose one out of a thousand. If you want to make a friend, take him on trial, and do not be in a hurry to trust him; for one kind of friend is so only when it suits him but will not stand by you in your day of trouble. Another kind of friend will fall out with you and to your dismay make your quarrel public, and a third kind of friend will share your table, but not stand by you in your day of trouble: when you are doing well he will be your second self, ordering your servants about; but, if disaster befalls you, he will recoil from you and keep out of your way. Keep well clear of your enemies, and be wary of your friends. A loyal friend is a powerful defence: whoever finds one has indeed found a treasure. A loyal friend is something beyond price, there is no measuring his worth. A loyal friend is the elixir of life, and those who fear the Lord will find one. Whoever fears the Lord makes true friends, for as a person is, so is his friend too.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Sirach offers us a picture of friendship which helps us live the relationships with our neighbours according to the Bible. The text begins by showing an aspect of friendship which has to do with words: kindness and affability in speaking "multiplies friends" and builds friendship; hardness and rudeness on the contrary will never do. The exhortation to be at peace with everyone is wise, "but your advisers be one in a thousand." Indeed, there is a diversity in friendship, which does not convey distance or judgment, because everything must be marked by a peaceful relationship. There is a work in building friendship, which is put to the test especially in difficult moments. "And there are friends who sit at your table, but they will not stand by you in time of trouble," that is there are friends who are there in the nice moments, but they will be ashamed of your humiliation. But the text ends praising the "faithful" friend, for whom there is no price, who is "a safe refuge", a "treasure", "medicine which gives life." Friendship requires time and attention. Let us recall that Jesus himself called his disciples "friends" and no longer "slaves," and that "Abraham and Moses are called friends of God." This is why the passage ends by connecting faithful and true friendship to the "fear of the Lord": "Those who fear the Lord direct their friendship aright." Indeed, it is before God that each of us will receive the wisdom to live in friendship and to build bonds and relations with others. We could say that friendship is a great medicine for loneliness and victory over egocentrism, because it moulds us according to the humanity of God, friend of all men and women.
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
