EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Word of god every day

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets

Memory of the patriarch Abraham. In faith he journeyed to a land that he did not know, but that was promised to him by God. Because of this faith, he is called the father of believers by Jews, Christians and Muslims. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Tuesday, October 9

Memory of the patriarch Abraham. In faith he journeyed to a land that he did not know, but that was promised to him by God. Because of this faith, he is called the father of believers by Jews, Christians and Muslims.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Genesis 12, 1-9

Yahweh said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your kindred and your father's house for a country which I shall show you;

and I shall make you a great nation, I shall bless you and make your name famous; you are to be a blessing!

I shall bless those who bless you, and shall curse those who curse you, and all clans on earth will bless themselves by you.'

So Abram went as Yahweh told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had amassed and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set off for the land of Canaan, and arrived there.

Abram passed through the country as far as the holy place at Shechem, the Oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were in the country at the time.

Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, 'I shall give this country to your progeny.' And there, Abram built an altar to Yahweh who had appeared to him.

From there he moved on to the mountainous district east of Bethel, where he pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to Yahweh and invoked the name of Yahweh.

Then Abram made his way stage by stage to the Negeb.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

In the confusion and dispersion of nations, the Lord never abandons men and women. Even though every nation had established a land limited by boundaries, with its own language, God called Abraham out from his own land, his country and his home. The history of salvation, that of Abraham with God begins with an exodus. The sacred author emphasizes God's command: “Go from your country ... into a land I will show you.” Only by listening to the Lord's invitation to come out of our borders can we receive the blessing, that is God's life, and be a source of blessing for others. In the beginning of the story of Abraham, the Bible seems to say that only by refusing to listen just to ourselves and our traditions can we accept the universal vision of life and of the world. In fact, Abraham, the man who in obedience to the Word of God left his land, has become the principle of unity and life for the whole world. He is the father of believers, of those who choose to listen to God and start down the path that the Lord himself indicates. It is the path of being part of a people, of meetings to be realized, of steps to go until we reach the promised land, the land of Canaan (as Palestine was called at that time). Once the promised land is entered, searching and listening to the Lord do not stop. God appears to Abraham just as he reaches the land of Canaan, and renews his promise to him. The company of God is indeed blessing, life and prosperity. And Abraham needs to remember that God is always with him. This memory, the heart of believers' lives, frees Abraham from slavery to idols. There is only one altar, next to the tent he plants. Abraham chooses to live next to his Lord; he does not want to be parted from the place of his presence. He knows that the Lord will not only accompany him on the path of life, but is, indeed, before him to show him the way. Abraham will move the tent and plant it wherever the Lord leads him. This is an example to believers: their dwelling is not to be with themselves, but with the Lord who accompanies them in the ways of the world.

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