EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Poor
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Poor
Monday, May 29


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

John 16,29-33

His disciples said, 'Now you are speaking plainly and not using veiled language. Now we see that you know everything and need not wait for questions to be put into words; because of this we believe that you came from God.' Jesus answered them: Do you believe at last? Listen; the time will come -- indeed it has come already -- when you are going to be scattered, each going his own way and leaving me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me. In the world you will have hardship, but be courageous: I have conquered the world.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The disciples assume that they already understand everything. Jesus opened his heart to them, revealing the beauty of his life with the Father and offering it to them in turn, and now they believe that they already posses it. They demonstrate the superficiality of those who think faith is just a simple question of understanding formulas on an intellectual level. Nonetheless, Jesus does not lose patience, as we would. He, who is a good and patient teacher, continues to speak to them to help them grow in knowledge and love. He does not leave his disciples at the mercy of their pride, and he does not want them to remain slaves to the presumptuous belief that they have already made it. Instead, he shows them their weakness, that is, the fragility of their lives that in a little while will make them flee for fear of being involved in their Teacher’s passion. This, too, is a sign of his tender mercy. He brings the disciples back to a true sense of themselves, because it is only by recognizing their need and their great limitations that they will be able to accept the help that he will continue to offer them. Jesus warns them that they will be scattered precisely because they do not entrust themselves to their Teacher and his teaching. Jesus will be left alone. It is the bitter story of his passion, right to the cross. Even his closest friends abandoned him. The only one who will stay close to the Son is the Father. Jesus is well aware of this, and, during his passion, the Father will be his only refuge. This unbreakable bond with the Father is true peace for Jesus. And he wants his disciples to be part of this peace too. True peace does not come from thinking we are free from all problems and limitations, it comes from the awareness that the Lord is ready to help us in any situation. We can trust in his good power, which has conquered death. This latter sad inheritance is no longer the last word of life, but the tribulation through which we have to pass in order to meet the Resurrection to the new life.

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!