Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Orthodox Churches. Read more
Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Orthodox Churches.
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
Psalm 40, 7-10.17
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt-offering and sin-offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, Here I am;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me.
8 I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.’
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance
in the great congregation;
see, I have not restrained my lips,
as you know, O Lord.
16 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, Great is the Lord!’
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Oggi la liturgia ci fa pregare con le parole della parte centrale del Salmo 40. La Lettera agli Ebrei che stiamo ascoltando in questi giorni, si richiama a questo Salmo. Le parole dei versetti che oggi meditiamo seguono il «canto nuovo» del credente che nell'assemblea canta a Dio il suo ringraziamento: «Mi ha messo sulla bocca un canto nuovo, una lode al nostro Dio» (v. 4), e scorge la beatitudine che nasce dall'ascolto delle parole del Signore: «Beato l'uomo che ha posto la sua fiducia nel Signore e non si volge verso chi segue gli idoli né vToday the liturgy has us pray with the words of the central part of psalm 40. The Letter to the Hebrews, which we are listening to these days, refers to this psalm. The words of the verses that we meditate on today follow the “new song” of the believer in the assembly, who sings to God in thanksgiving: “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God” (v. 4) and intuits the beatitude that comes from listening to the words of the Lord: “Happy are those who make the Lord their trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go after false gods” (v. 5). These words reveal the beatitude of the believer who trusts in the Lord and his Word. The trust makes the believer so familiar with God, his friend, that he can speak freely with God and boldly tell Him: “Do not delay, O my God.” Friendship with God, which means giving our heart to the Lord, makes us understand that our relationship with the Lord is not a matter of external rites and religious practices, but indeed a matter of the heart, of love, faithfulness, and passion. With spiritual wisdom, the psalmist says, “Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin-offering you have not required. Then I said, Here I am’” (v. 7). These words were taken up in the Letter to the Hebrews that is announced to us in the liturgy these days. They are applied to Jesus. But they express the relationship that the believer should have with his or her Lord. God does not desire the sacrifice of animals or things, but openness to His will. And Jesus is the example of this obedience. Jesus himself would have sung the words of this psalm: “In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (v. 8-9). More than once Jesus repeated in the gospels that he had come not to do his own will but the will of his Father. And he asks the disciples to live with the same obedience. He exhorts them to pray with these words: “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:9-10). The disciples are urged to go out of themselves to concentrate on the Father, to accept and to live out his dream for the world. God’s will is in fact for all men and women to live in peace. This is the purpose of Jesus’ mission. We need to join the psalmist in singing, “I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord” (v. 10). Jesus never stopped communicating the Gospel of the Kingdom and never forgot to carry out the will of his Father.
erso chi segue la menzogna» (v. 5). Queste parole manifestano la beatitudine del credente che si affida al Signore e alla sua Parola. È una fiducia che porta il credente ad essere familiare di Dio, suo amico, sino a poter parlare liberamente con lui e a dirgli con audacia: «Dio mio, non tardare». L'amicizia con Dio, che vuol dire il dono del proprio cuore al Signore, gli fa capire che il rapporto con il Signore non è una questione esteriore, fatta di riti e di pratiche religiose, ma, appunto, è una questione di cuore, di amore, di fedeltà, di passione. Con sapienza spirituale il salmista dice: «Sacrificio e offerta non gradisci, gli orecchi mi hai aperto, non hai chiesto olocausto né sacrificio per il peccato. Allora ho detto: "Ecco io vengo"» (v. 7). Queste parole sono state accolte dalla Lettera agli Ebrei che in questi giorni ci viene annunciata nella liturgia. Esse sono state applicate a Gesù. Ma esprimono il rapporto che il credente deve avere con il suo Signore. Egli non vuole sacrifici di animali o di cose, ma la disponibilità alla sua volontà. E Gesù è l'esempio di questa obbedienza. Anche Gesù avrà cantato queste parole del Salmo: «Nel rotolo del libro su di me è scritto di fare la tua volontà: mio Dio, questo io desidero; la tua legge è nel mio intimo» (vv. 8-9). Più volte Gesù ha ripetuto nei Vangeli che lui era venuto per fare non la sua ma la volontà del Padre. E chiede ai discepoli di vivere questa stessa obbedienza. Li esorta a pregare così: «Voi dunque pregate così: Padre nostro che sei nei cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome; venga il tuo regno; sia fatta la tua volontà» (Mt 6,9-10). I discepoli sono esortati a uscire da loro stessi per concentrarsi verso il Padre, per accogliere e vivere il suo sogno sul mondo. La volontà di Dio infatti è che tutti gli uomini vivano nella pace. È questa la ragione della missione stessa di Gesù. Anche noi dobbiamo cantare con il salmista: «Ho annunciato la tua giustizia nella grande assemblea; vedi: non tengo chiuse le labbra, Signore, tu lo sai» (v. 10). Gesù non ha mai cessato di comunicare il Vangelo del regno e mai ha dimenticato di perseguire la volontà del Padre suo.
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
