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Memory of the Poor
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Memory of the Poor

Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Africa. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Poor
Monday, January 23

Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Africa.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Psalm 98, 1-6

1 O sing to the Lord a new song,
  for he has done marvellous things.
  His right hand and his holy arm
  have gained him victory.

2 The Lord has made known his victory;
  he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.

3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
  to the house of Israel.
  All the ends of the earth have seen
  the victory of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
  break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
  with the lyre and the sound of melody.

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
  make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Once again, the liturgy has us sing psalm 98, a hymn to God’s royalty. The psalmist might be referring to the end of the Babylonian exile. He imagines the return from exile of God himself, as if to suggest that God and His people are one and the same. One could say that God himself was defeated and exiled with His people to Babylon. Our thoughts go to the tragedy of the Holocaust and the terrible question: where was God? Many Jewish thinkers answered that God was in His humiliated and destroyed people. The psalmist sings that the Lord, the God of Israel, who seemed to have been defeated by the idols of Babylon, had won the victory, a victory that was clear in the eyes of all people: “The Lord has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations” (v. 2). And now the Lord, with those whom he has redeemed, returns to his capital and his palace like a triumphant king to claim his legitimate, universal kingdom. In the words of the psalmist we can see a triple invitation to acclaim the Lord. First, the assembly of the faithful must praise the Lord, because “He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel” (v. 3). And it is right for the assembly to gather together in praise of the Lord But the entire city is called to applaud the Lord: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises” (v. 4). Indeed, the assembly of believers is not disconnected from the people who inhabit the cities of the earth. Believers are responsible for the peace between peoples and for justice on the earth. The well-known opening of Gaudium et Spes from the Second Vatican Council reminds us of the meaning of this responsibility: “The joys and the hopes, the grieves and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the grieves and anxieties of the followers of Christ.” These words reveal the inevitable involvement of believers in the life of the world. Like her Lord, the Church does not live for herself, but for the salvation of all people. This is why Pope Francis now insists on a Church that “goes out,” a Church that spends herself to communicate to all, and particularly to the poor, the Gospel of love, the Gospel that saves from all sadness and slavery.

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!