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
Luke 14,1-6
Now it happened that on a Sabbath day he had gone to share a meal in the house of one of the leading Pharisees; and they watched him closely. Now there in front of him was a man with dropsy, and Jesus addressed the lawyers and Pharisees with the words, 'Is it against the law to cure someone on the Sabbath, or not?' But they remained silent, so he took the man and cured him and sent him away. Then he said to them, 'Which of you here, if his son falls into a well, or his ox, will not pull him out on a Sabbath day without any hesitation?' And to this they could find no answer.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
On a Saturday, Jesus is invited to a banquet at the home of one of the Pharisees. One could speak of a "magisterium of meals," a teaching that emanates from the set of meals that Jesus took with sinners, publicans, Pharisees, disciples, and the crowd. Jesus made the banquet shared by everyone the most expressive symbol of a new people that welcomes and lives the fullness of God's life. It was a provocative gesture, intentionally desired by Jesus. And in fact his meals - obviously as he transformed them - provoked an immediate reaction against him. This is what happened at the meal at the Pharisee's home. The evangelist notes from the beginning the hostility of those who were present. This is not the case for the man with dropsy who enters that house, goes directly to Jesus, and puts himself in front of him: he awaits healing. Dropsy, in ancient times, was particularly feared and in Judaism was considered a curse resulting from sins one had committed. As soon as Jesus sees this man in front of him, he asks the doctors of the Law and the Pharisees whether or not it is lawful to heal a sick person on a Saturday. The question is obviously rhetorical. And in any case he receives no answer from anyone: "But they were silent," notes the evangelist. Without delay, Jesus takes him by the hand and heals him from the disease. We could say that the poor cannot wait for disputes and debates. Love and compassion for the weak do not tolerate delays, as often unfortunately happens, and do not stop in the face of opposition. It is the third miracle, after those of the man with a withered hand and the curved woman, that Jesus performs on the Sabbath. For him, the Sabbath is truly a day of celebration, the day on which God's goodness and love for men and women, especially the weakest, are fully manifested.
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
