EVERYDAY PRAYER

Sunday Vigil
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Sunday Vigil
Saturday, July 14


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

1 Peter 2, 18-25

Slaves, you should obey your masters respectfully, not only those who are kind and reasonable but also those who are difficult to please.

You see, there is merit if, in awareness of God, you put up with the pains of undeserved punishment;

but what glory is there in putting up with a beating after you have done something wrong? The merit in the sight of God is in putting up with it patiently when you are punished for doing your duty.

This, in fact, is what you were called to do, because Christ suffered for you and left an example for you to follow in his steps.

He had done nothing wrong, and had spoken no deceit.

He was insulted and did not retaliate with insults; when he was suffering he made no threats but put his trust in the upright judge.

He was bearing our sins in his own body on the cross, so that we might die to our sins and live for uprightness; through his bruises you have been healed.

You had gone astray like sheep but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Peter, after his appeal to live respectfully in civic life, turns now to the various members of the family, as if to prescribe [or set forth] a small manual on "family morals". His first words address the most humble of classes, the slaves. Slavery was commonly accepted and yet the universality of the Gospel includes also the slaves, asking them what the Word of God asks everyone, to follow and imitate Jesus beyond one’s social condition. In truth, the apostle, with an exquisitely Biblical sensibility, reads to the slaves the model of the ideal Christian: the disciple, in essence, is the "servant of God" (2:16), and the more he humbles himself by enduring suffering, the more he becomes like Jesus, who made himself a servant, as Paul also affirms in his letter to the Philippians. His words to the slaves are therefore also addressed to all believers and to each of us. Peter wants to convince the Christians that to "endure pain" means for the disciple also to "be aware of God" (2:19-20). This is why he points to the image of the suffering Christ, who we should always keep before our eyes: "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps." The apostle wants to encourage the slaves (and us too along with them) not to turn our gaze away from Jesus. If we suffer, Christ suffered all the more: "When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten." So far no other writer of the New Testament has presented the suffering of Christ as Peter has. Peter knows well the instinctive reactions that we have to pain and insults. Often in fact violence responds to violence. But the disciple must look up to the teacher and imitate him. In a world such as the one in which we live, ready to engage in conflict and commit violent acts, these words resonate with full force. And the disciples of Jesus, right now, should give to the world a testimony like the one of their Teacher. Perhaps this is the greatest gift that Christians can give to the people of today: the weak strength of a love that knows no boundaries. It is not, as some people insinuate, the good feeling of hopeless people who lack strength or identity, rather it is the conviction that only love can save; only love can gather those who are dispersed, making of them a family and defeating evil with good. This is what Jesus did, he was moved by the tired and weary crowds and, like a good shepherd, he gathered them around himself.

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