EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Word of god every day

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets

Memorial of Nunzia, a mentally disabled woman who died in Naples; with her we remember all the mentally disabled people who have fallen asleep in the Lord Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Wednesday, July 30

Memorial of Nunzia, a mentally disabled woman who died in Naples; with her we remember all the mentally disabled people who have fallen asleep in the Lord


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 13, 44-46

'The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off in his joy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.

'Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls;

when he finds one of great value he goes and sells everything he owns and buys it.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Gospel proclaimed to us is an insistent invitation to welcome the mystery of the kingdom of heaven in our hearts. The two parables illustrate the decision of the peasant and of the merchant to sell all that they have and wager everything on the treasure they have found. The first parable deals with a man who accidentally finds a treasure in the field where he is working. Since the field is not his own property, he has to buy it in order to get the treasure. Hence the decision to invest all that he has not to waste the really wonderful chance. The protagonist of the second parable is a rich merchant, probably an expert in pearls, who has found in a bazaar a pearl of great price. He decides to wager everything on that pearl, so much so that he sells all that he had. The choice to sell everything is clear and decisive; the purchase is incomparable with the two unexpected discoveries. The discovery requires an important and keen sense of business that is revealed in the restless sequence of the actions of the two men: each of them finds, hides, sells and buys. Above all, the discovery is so valuable that it is worth risking everything for it. Whatever is sold is insignificant compared with what is bought. The kingdom of heaven is worth this labour and the sale of less precious items. The message in the Gospel is evident: nothing is as worthy as the kingdom of heaven; it is worth investing all that we have. Moreover, such a choice is wise. How often we are ready to sell everything, even our soul, in order to get what we care for that is of little worth! The point is: if we really care for the Lord and His friendship and we can understand the joy and fullness of life unexpectedly offered to us, as the peasant and the merchant effectively show. We often believe that the Gospel imposes a renunciation, a sacrifice, and makes heavy and impersonal demands. On the contrary: thanks to the Providence of God, to find the Gospel is to find the most precious treasure in our life, and so, out of joy, we hurry to sell all that we have. We are afraid to lose the treasure and are ready to do whatever is needed to get it, because we need that treasure which is exactly what we were looking for. This is indeed the joy hidden in the words of Jesus: “Follow me.” This is the most precious treasure that leads us to the fullness of life and gives us all that we need!

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR

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!

WORD OF GOD EVERY DAY: THE CALENDAR