Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Mark 9,41-50
'If anyone gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not lose his reward. 'But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith, would be better thrown into the sea with a great millstone hung round his neck. And if your hand should be your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go to hell, into the fire thatnever be put out. And if your foot should be your downfall, cut it off; it is better for you enter into life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye should be your downfall, tear it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell where their worm will never die nor their fire be put out. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is a good thing, but if salt has become insipid, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
"For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward," says Jesus. In the name of Jesus, the disciples can receive that glass of water which indicates that we have been welcomed. Giving a drink was the gesture of welcome for the pilgrim and the wayfarer, they, Jesus says, receive it because they belong to Christ. It is Christ's those who decide to no longer belong to themselves, who choose freedom, but also the poverty of belonging to him. The poor, those who have nothing, the many little ones, for whom even giving a single cup of water (as Matthew's Gospel reports), can bring salvation to a whole life, they belong to Christ and will not lose their reward. Truly in hospitality and service, the one who is welcomed and the one who is served are mixed up. We should always remember that everything we do is always and only in his name and not in ours, and how much care, wisdom, intelligence we must use, knowing that we bear the name of Jesus, that we are Christians. Jesus uses harsh words towards those who scandalise "even one of these little ones" who believe in him! Harsh words, little hope, indifference to evil is scandal. Scandal is refusing that glass of water. Scandal is the laws designed not to save people at sea, to make solidarity difficult. It is the diabolical logic of "I come first." Scandal is always a concrete fact, for example hands raised against others, or kept closed out of avarice, eyes that turn away. That is why one must cut because there is no possible compromise with evil. And to cut is not to lose but to find: to gain a good eye, a generous hand, a step of love. It is better to lose something than to lose your heart and soul behind oneself.
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
