Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Europe and in the Americas. Read more
Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Christian communities in Europe and in the Americas.
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
Proverbs 8, 1-21
Is not Wisdom calling? Is not Understanding raising her voice?
On the heights overlooking the road, at the crossways, she takes her stand;
by the gates, at the entrance to the city, on the access-roads, she cries out,
'I am calling to you, all people, my words are addressed to all humanity.
Simpletons, learn how to behave, fools, come to your senses.
Listen, I have something important to tell you, when I speak, my words are right.
My mouth proclaims the truth, for evil is abhorrent to my lips.
All the words from my mouth are upright, nothing false there, nothing crooked,
everything plain, if you can understand, straight, if you have acquired knowledge.
Accept my discipline rather than silver, and knowledge of me in preference to finest gold.
For Wisdom is more precious than jewels, and nothing else is so worthy of desire.
'I, Wisdom, share house with Discretion, I am mistress of the art of thought.
(Fear of Yahweh means hatred of evil.) I hate pride and arrogance, wicked behaviour and a lying mouth.
To me belong good advice and prudence, I am perception: power is mine!
By me monarchs rule and princes decree what is right;
by me rulers govern, so do nobles, the lawful authorities.
I love those who love me; whoever searches eagerly for me finds me.
With me are riches and honour, lasting wealth and saving justice.
The fruit I give is better than gold, even the finest, the return I make is better than pure silver.
I walk in the way of uprightness in the path of justice,
to endow my friends with my wealth and to fill their treasuries.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Wisdom makes herself heard as the voice of someone calling her children. From atop the heights, at the crossroads, near the city gates, and by the doors of the houses, she travels all over to find her children. This is the Lord’s love, which never stops seeking men and women until they respond to his voice; like Jesus, who sends his servants throughout the city to call the guests to the wedding banquet: "To you, O people, I call, and my cry is to all that live." How often has the voice of God reached us and admonished us, and attempted to share with us the secret of life. In it we have found truth, justice, prudence, intelligence, good advice, success, and strength. These are some of wisdom’s characteristics, which make it extremely precious, more precious than gold or pearls. Wisdom is even a guide for good governance: "By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just; by me rulers rule, and nobles, all who govern rightly." It is worth our effort to invest in seeking wisdom, because she "love[s] those who love [her], and those who seek [her] diligently find [her]." This gives rise to a question for us all: how can we seek wisdom and where can we find her teachings? The book of Proverbs repeatedly identifies wisdom with God’s teachings. Does this only mean the Torah revealed by the Lord to the people of Israel? It seems that wisdom also includes all that the Lord has placed throughout world history and in each person’s conscience. The problem is to "seek" and not to let ourselves be guided by our instinct, habits, or personality, that is, by ourselves. The secret to wisdom is in God. It is a gift that is given to us every time we stand before God. Wisdom encompasses within it all the good, beautiful, and just things that God has put in the world. This is why Wisdom, with a capital "W", has existed with God from the beginning. For us Christians, she is definitively revealed in Jesus, who died and was raised - in his teaching, and in his word. There is nothing that compares to her, because she is God’s gift to humanity.
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!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
