Memory of Saint John of Damascus, Father of the Church and monk, who lived in Damascus in the 8th century, gave away his possessions to the poor, and entered the Lavra of Saint Sabbas, near Jerusalem. Prayer for Christians in Syria. Read more
Memory of Saint John of Damascus, Father of the Church and monk, who lived in Damascus in the 8th century, gave away his possessions to the poor, and entered the Lavra of Saint Sabbas, near Jerusalem. Prayer for Christians in Syria.
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
Isaiah 25,6-10
On this mountain, for all peoples, Yahweh Sabaoth is preparing a banquet of rich food, a banquet of fine wines, of succulent food, of well-strained wines. On this mountain, he has destroyed the veil which used to veil all peoples, the pall enveloping all nations; he has destroyed death for ever. Lord Yahweh has wiped away the tears from every cheek; he has taken his people's shame away everywhere on earth, for Yahweh has spoken. And on that day, it will be said, 'Look, this is our God, in him we put our hope that he should save us, this is Yahweh, we put our hope in him. Let us exult and rejoice since he has saved us.' For Yahweh's hand will rest on this mountain, and Moab will be trodden under his feet as straw is trodden into the dung-heap.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Salvation is presented as a banquet prepared for all the peoples on mountain Zion. It is the prophecy given to us in this time of Advent that helps us to think of salvation not in an individual way, as it were only for oneself or one's group, but in a universal sense. In front of the prophecy of this banquet, there is a sharp contrast with the sad and cruel exclusion of many not only from "rich food" but also from the crumbs that fall from the table of the rich as Jesus says in the parable of the poor Lazarus. Globalization, which has brought so many benefits for many, has not meant the broadening of the table so that everyone may partake in it. This prophecy reveals the great The Lord sends His own Son to make this prophecy true: not only does anyone save him or herself alone, but there is no salvation only for some. As the prophet says, it is the Lord himself who is preparing it with his own hands, a banquet for all the peoples so that all can experience the sweetness of communion with God and among men and women. Aware of the prophetic tradition, Jesus too reproposes the vision of the kingdom of heaven to a banquet (Lk 14:15-24) to which God invites "the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame." In the banquet of which Jesus speaks the rich are absent, not because they are excluded but because they reject it. However, the banquet of the kingdom does not just come at the end of time. The Lord is already at work. In his banquet the "veil" of pain that covers the least of the earth is already removed.
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
