EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Church
Word of god every day

Memory of the Church

Memory of St. Jerome, doctor of the Church, who died in Bethlehem in 420. He translated the Bible into the Latin language. Prayer that the voice of the Scripture may be heard in every language.
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Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Church

Memory of St. Jerome, doctor of the Church, who died in Bethlehem in 420. He translated the Bible into the Latin language. Prayer that the voice of the Scripture may be heard in every language.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Revelation 1,4-8

John, to the seven churches of Asia: grace and peace to you from him who is, who was, and who is to come, from the seven spirits who are before his throne,

and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the First-born from the dead, the highest of earthly kings. He loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood,

and made us a Kingdom of Priests to serve his God and Father; to him, then, be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

Look, he is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. Indeed this shall be so. Amen.

'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John addresses his prophecy to the seven Churches of Asia Minor (the coastlands of modern-day Turkey). Only a few of the Churches around Ephesus are named, but the apostle uses the symbolism of the number seven to indicate the universality of the Church. The Word of God is revealed to John so that he might communicate it to every single one of the communities - none excluded - and indeed to all peoples. The revelation of Jesus is always universal in scope. And every believer (every community) needs to breathe with this horizon in his or her heart. The disciple of Jesus feels the urgency created by the universal scope of the Gospel message in a personal way. John begins by greeting the Churches with the same words Jesus spoke to the apostles on the evening of Easter Day. And, as if in sweet repayment for what was said of him, he uses similar words to describe Jesus: the one "who loves us." Jesus is the One "who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father" (v. 5-6). Jesus’ love is not an abstraction, it is a powerful energy that frees men and women from loneliness and unites them in a community and a people. At the beginning of his prophecy, John announces that Jesus "is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail" (v. 7-8). It is the vision of Christ, Crucified and Risen, who appears in the heavens so that all people may look on him, letting their hearts be pierced and so gaining salvation. Indeed, in Jesus, the full manifestation of God’s love is revealed. The apostle refers to this mystery with the words spoken to Moses, "I am," and explains that they contain of all human history, from the beginning to the end: "the Alpha and the Omega." The glorious Crucified One is the "Almighty."

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