Gospel (Mk 7,14-23) - At that time, Jesus called the crowd again and said to them: «Listen to me, all of you, and understand well! There is nothing outside man which, by entering into him, can make him impure. But it is the things that come out of man that make him impure." When he entered a house, away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “So you are not able to understand either? Don't you understand that everything that enters a man from outside cannot make him impure, because it does not enter his heart but his belly and goes into the sewer?". Thus he made all foods pure. And he said: «What comes out of a man is what makes a man impure. In fact, from within, that is, from the hearts of men, evil intentions come out: impurity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deception, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these bad things come out from within and make man impure."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Today we remember the anniversary of the Community of Sant'Egidio. Exactly fifty-six years have passed since its inception. The first word that rises from our lips to the Lord on this day is that of thanksgiving for the precious gift that the Holy Spirit has given to the Church and to the world. The Gospel passage suggests that it is Jesus himself who "blesses" the Father because the Gospel has once again been "revealed to the little ones". The Community, born on the initiative of a young high school student, Andrea Riccardi, was made up of "little ones" not only because they were young students, but above all because in the original intuition there was the awareness of being first and foremost "children" of the Gospel, precisely , part of those "little ones" to whom the mystery of God has been revealed. In the heart of Sant'Egidio, a simple and basic intuition always remains firm: living the Gospel, without additions. The community is born and continually reborn from continually listening to the Gospel. The history of the communities that take their name from Sant'Egidio is in fact a history of prayer, a history of listening, a history of friendship with God, with brothers and with the poor. It is from this friendship that every action of the Community flows. That thanks of Jesus is today the thanks of all of us: "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and have revealed them to little ones". And it is precisely through the "little ones" that the Gospel has spread, as regards the life of the Community, from Rome to the whole world, always combining prayer and love for the poor. In every place the Community tries to experience the globalization of love that breaks down borders and divisions and creates the great people of the poor and humble, allies in helping each other to follow the Lord. In the history of the Community we experience the beauty and strength of the word of the Lord Jesus who says: "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light". What might have seemed like a burden and effort became an experience of sweetness and joy. It is a happy Christianity in a time full of challenges and commitments, but the certainty of the sweetness of the Lord's help supports us to live with trust and love in the way of the Gospel.