EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer of Easter
Word of god every day

Prayer of Easter

Memorial of Saint Adalbert, bishop of Prague. He suffered martyrdom in eastern Prussia where he had gone to preach the Gospel (†997). He spent time in Rome, where his memory is venerated in the basilica of Saint Bartholomew on the Tiberine Island. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer of Easter
Tuesday, April 23

Memorial of Saint Adalbert, bishop of Prague. He suffered martyrdom in eastern Prussia where he had gone to preach the Gospel (†997). He spent time in Rome, where his memory is venerated in the basilica of Saint Bartholomew on the Tiberine Island.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Christ is risen from the dead
and will die no more.
He awaits us in Galilee!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Acts 2,36-41

'For this reason the whole House of Israel can be certain that the Lord and Christ whom God has made is this Jesus whom you crucified.' Hearing this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'What are we to do, brothers?' 'You must repent,' Peter answered, 'and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise that was made is for you and your children, and for all those who are far away, for all those whom the Lord our God is calling to himself.' He spoke to them for a long time using many other arguments, and he urged them, 'Save yourselves from this perverse generation.' They accepted what he said and were baptised. That very day about three thousand were added to their number.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Christ is risen from the dead
and will die no more.
He awaits us in Galilee!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The words of this first preaching of the apostle Peter struck the hearts of those who heard him. The Book of Acts reports that: "They were cut to the heart." This should be the goal of all those who preach. They need to reach their listeners' hearts and cut them, that is, question them. The Later to the Hebrews will say that the Word of God is like a double-edged sword that cuts to the depths of the heart. Those who listened to Peter and were cut to the heart immediately asked him a simple but fundamental question: "What should we do?" It is the question every sermon should rise. Peter proposes the Gospel as the leaven of a new society, is the energy that leads to a new way of thinking about and of living out human relationships. In fact, the Gospel does not claim to be a program for constructing a socially perfect program. The Gospel asks for a conversion of one's heart. It is from changing the heart that the world can start changing. They are men and women with a heart that is not of stone anymore, but full of the love that urges them to give their lives for others. Those who welcome the Gospel are not slaves anymore of loneliness and selfishness, but they participate in the victory of love over hatred, of life over death. Luke notes that: "Those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added" (v. 41). The Gospel generated the Community and the characteristics of this new community are clearly stated: listening to the teaching of the apostle, fraternal unity, breaking of the bread and prayer, communion of goods. It is the description of every Christian community of yesterday and today. Each Christian generation, even ours, is called to question itself on this page of the Acts. And when people speak of reform of the Church what is intended is to take back that "form" of the first Church. It is the prophecy that Acts continue to tell us so that we may put it into practice.

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