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, March 6


Reading of the Word of God

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

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

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

1 Timothy 1, 8-11

We are well aware that the Law is good, but only provided it is used legitimately,

on the understanding that laws are not framed for people who are upright. On the contrary, they are for criminals and the insubordinate, for the irreligious and the wicked, for the sacrilegious and the godless; they are for people who kill their fathers or mothers and for murderers,

for the promiscuous, homosexuals, kidnappers, for liars and for perjurers -- and for everything else that is contrary to the sound teaching

that accords with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God, the gospel that was entrusted to me.

 

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

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

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Paul declares that the law is good because it had been given with the purpose of preparing the way to the Gospel: it was "our disciplinarian until Christ came," he writes to the Galatians (Gal 3:24). But Paul then adds that with the coming of Christ has come "the end of the law" (Rom 10:4). Certainly it is useful to the disciples, but only if understood as an aid for remaining faithful to the Gospel. The disciples of Jesus, in fact, taken away from sin, are received into the community where they live in the "agape", that is, the fulfilment of love. And in this love (agape) they find salvation. It is the "sound teaching" to which Paul refers; in this sense "sound" means that love makes people sound, heals, and makes people justified. Love, differently from the law, is much more radical in defeating evil and sin because it involves the heart and its change, and not merely the observance of some rules, even if righteous ones. The apostle, knowing that the law is for sinners, offers a list of the vices that were widespread in the Hellenic environment of the time: "the lawless and disobedient, the godless and sinful, the unholy and profaner, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers... ." The law was promulgated to stop the instincts that live "naturally" in the hearts of men and women who are wounded by sin. We all know that we are slaves of our own instincts. We should therefore not despise the law. Rather we should practice a severe discipline in order to remove the instinctive hardness, to avoid easy abuse of others, and not fall into the habits of wicked and violent thoughts, and so forth. The Gospel of love itself - far from being a new law - nevertheless requires a discipline of the heart so that we do not suffocate with our opposition the love that the Lord has poured out in our hearts. What saves us is the Lord’s love, but we should let it work in our lives. The Gospel which was entrusted to Paul is, precisely, to proclaim freedom from the law through welcoming the Gospel of love. So that all who think they are righteous and immune from evil, let them beware, for they risk not being able to receive the freedom of love, the only thing that can break our complicity with evil. Those who, on the other hand, acknowledge their sin and feel the need to be saved, will accept agape, that is "the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me." Love introduces us to the "blessed" God, in the blessing of God that is the fullness of love and happiness.

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