Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Matthew 15,21-28
Jesus left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And suddenly out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, 'Lord, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.' But he said not a word in answer to her. And his disciples went and pleaded with him, saying, 'Give her what she wants, because she keeps shouting after us.' He said in reply, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.' But the woman had come up and was bowing low before him. 'Lord,' she said, 'help me.' He replied, 'It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to little dogs.' She retorted, 'Ah yes, Lord; but even little dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters' table.' Then Jesus answered her, 'Woman, you have great faith. Let your desire be granted.' And from that moment her daughter was well again.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Jesus entered pagan territory. He overcame boundaries and this says a lot about the universal vision of the Gospel: from the beginning Jesus crossed borders. That woman had certainly heard good things about Jesus. And she did not want to miss the opportunity to call for help for her daughter possessed by the devil. Jesus initially did not answer her. The evangelist explicitly notes: "But he did not answer her at all." Despite Jesus' silence, she did not give up. Jesus himself will tell the disciples to persevere in prayer, without getting tired. This is what the woman was already doing. And she also turned to the disciples so that they intercede for her. The disciples - and here there is an important note about the importance for the believers to intercede for those who are in need, like this woman - told Jesus: "Make her happy and send her away." Jesus' response to the disciples may seem harsh. The woman, not at all resigned, did not give in. She got closer to Jesus and prostrated in front of him. Then she cried only few words: "Lord, help me." And Jesus told her: "It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." The woman listened to him but dialogued with Jesus. She did not know that in the biblical tradition, the term "dogs" refers to enemies, sinners, and the idolatrous pagan nations. But the pagan woman took advantage of the literal meaning of Jesus' words and she dared to resist Jesus; in a certain sense, she started a fight with him. Praying is also fighting. We could say that her faith in that prophet is greater than the prophet's resistance. Consequently, Jesus responds with an expression that is unusual in the Gospels: this is "great faith," not "little faith." Not even God can resist a faith like this.
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
