EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer for peace
Word of god every day

Prayer for peace

The prayer for peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for peace
Monday, August 20

The prayer for peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.


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

Matthew 19,16-22

And now a man came to him and asked, 'Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?' Jesus said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.' He said, 'Which ones?' Jesus replied, 'These: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness. Honour your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' The young man said to him, 'I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?' Jesus said, 'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

How to reach eternal life is the question for each of us, who, for the most part are children of a rich world, or in any case, are attached to our belongings. To avoid any misunderstanding, Jesus immediately says that only God is good, not us. Perhaps he wants to help the man understand that he has found the only one who is truly good and that anything which is good comes from God. But the young man responds that he has always observed the commandments. Perhaps he feels restless but does not know how to go beyond rules. He understands that rules are not enough; perhaps he searches for other rules or only wants to be reassured. In reality eternal life is not acquired on one's merits. Eternal life is choosing Jesus over everything else, even over ourselves and our riches. In replying, Jesus does not add another commandment; he simply says, "If you want to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven, and come after me." He proposes a high ideal: "If you want to be perfect." Perfection is available to everyone because it is about heart. The heart is perfect when it loves and lets itself be loved. Only love can allow such a radical choice—the same as that made by the merchant who finds a pearl of great value or by the person who finds a treasure hidden in a field and full of joy, sells all that he owns and buys that field. The perfect believer is the one who loves like a child, who trusts and lets him or herself be loved, like one of the little ones that Jesus embraced. The human consequence of loving God above all things is that we will share our riches with the poor. Saint Francis is the perfect example of the perfect man, a young rich man who was not ashamed to give everything back to his father in order to love his Father in heaven, thus possessing everything because he was poor in everything. The kingdom starts in his joy, in that Franciscan happiness which is the fruit of total love for the Lord and therefore for all brothers and sisters and for the poor.

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