EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer for peace
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for peace
Thursday, July 19


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

1 Peter 3, 18-22

Christ himself died once and for all for sins, the upright for the sake of the guilty, to lead us to God. In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life,

and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spirits in prison.

They refused to believe long ago, while God patiently waited to receive them, in Noah's time when the ark was being built. In it only a few, that is eight souls, were saved through water.

It is the baptism corresponding to this water which saves you now -- not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience given to God through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

who has entered heaven and is at God's right hand, with angels, ruling forces and powers subject to him.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The apostle recalls the example of Christ, who came into the world not to condemn sinners, but to save everybody from evil. His apologetic, therefore, is not to defend himself or a doctrine; rather, the apologetic is entirely aimed at saving us from sin and deceit. The life of the disciple then should imitate the life of Jesus, who never ceased from working for the salvation of sinners. Not even after death, we can say, did Jesus ever stop in his mission to save whoever was lost. The apostle Peter reminds us of Jesus’ preaching to the souls in hell, his communication of the Gospel to those who had died so as to free them from their imprisonment. A beautiful tradition, preserved with great care by the Orthodox Church, maintains that Jesus, on Holy Saturday, did not remain still in the sepulchre, but descended into hell to call upon all of the righteous from the First Testament, beginning with Adam. And he pulls all of them up with him to bring them in his kingdom. Jesus is the Saviour of the entirety of humanity, even of those who came before us on the earth. In his infinite goodness, he who shared death with us, comes to free us from the prison of death. In baptism we already participate in this salvation that we will be able to enjoy completely when the Kingdom will reach its fulfilment. Jesus’ descent to hell calls us, disciples of today, to descend into the many hells of this world to liberate the innumerable victims of evil: let us think of the sick who are alone, those dying from hunger, the victims of any violence, those condemned to death, the elderly abandoned in nursing homes, those suffering from AIDS, the exploited and abused children, and all those who are without hope for a better future. There is a need for the good news of God’s love to be brought to these hells that exist in numerous countries of today’s world. This is how we will give an accounting for the hope that is in us; we who first received the good news of the Gospel while we were sinners.

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