EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Tuesday, September 25


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Luke 8,19-21

His mother and his brothers came looking for him, but they could not get to him because of the crowd. He was told, 'Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.' But he said in answer, 'My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The evangelist Luke poses this episode immediately after the parable of the Sower and of the lamp which must make light. This is not random. He wants, in fact, to highlight the centrality of listening to the Word of God in the life of the Church and of every Christian community. The family of Jesus is composed of whoever listens to him and puts in practice his word. We could say that it is an alternative family, not in the sense of opposing blood bonds but that which poses at the base of all bonds, the very bond with Jesus which renders all of the others stronger and more solid. Luke narrates that Jesus' relatives—perhaps to take him away from the life he had undertaken which caused not a few inconveniences to the whole set of relatives—decide to look for him to dissuade him or in any case to stop his actions. When they reach the place where Jesus was, they see that he is surrounded by a lot of people, so many as to hinder them from getting close. Alerted of the presence of relatives, Jesus responds that his true family is made up of those that are inside, next to him to listen. Those who are "outside", even if relatives by blood, are not part of his family. The Gospel, in fact, creates a new family, not made of natural bonds but those much more solid which are the fruit of the Spirit's action. To be a part of this family requires listening to the Gospel and the commitment to put it into practice. The mother of Jesus, Mary, is an example for everyone. She was the first to believe in the Word of God, communicated to her by the angel, as Luke writes: "Let it be done to me according to your word." There is not at all any scorn for family bonds. Just the opposite; the presence of May shows that faith—which she had for her son—enriches the bonds of flesh, including—obviously—those of the family. Knowing Mary's faith, Elizabeth pronounces upon her the first beatitude of the Gospel, "Blessed are you who have believed in the fulfilment of what the Lord told to you." Mary remains the first of all believers, and also the mother of the Church, as Paul VI called her during the Second Vatican Council. This Gospel passage reminds us of the family dimension of salvation. Yes, the Lord does not save people individually, but gathering them in one family, the family of disciples who listen to his Word.

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