EVERYDAY PRAYER

Good Friday
Word of god every day

Good Friday

Good Friday
Memory of Jesus' death on the cross.
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Libretto DEL GIORNO
Good Friday
Friday, March 29

Psalmody

Psalm 30

Antiphon

In your hands, Lord I entrust my spirit.

In you, O Lord, I take refuge.
Let me never be put to shame.

In your justice, set me free,
hear me and speedily rescue me.

Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mighty stronghold to save me,

for you are my rock, my stronghold.
For your name's sake, lead me and guide me.

Release me from the snares they have hidden
for you are my refuge, Lord.

Into your hands I commend my spirit.
It is you who will redeem me, Lord.

O God of truth, you detest
those who worship false and empty gods.

As for me, I trust in the Lord :
let me be glad and rejoice in your love.

You who have seen my affliction
and taken heed of my soul's distress,

have not handed me over to the enemy,
but set my feet at large.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I am in distress.

Tears have wasted my eyes,
my throat and my heart.

For my life is spent with sorrow
and my years with sighs.

Affliction has broken down my strength
and my bones waste away.

In the face of all my foes
I am a reproach,

an object of scorn to my neighbours
and of fear to my friends.

Those who see me in the street
run far away from me.

I am like a dead man, forgotten,
like a thing thrown away.

I have heard the slander of the crowd,
fear is all around me,

as they plot together against me,
as they plan to take my life.

But as for me, I trust in you, Lord,
I say :'You are my God.

My life is in your hands, deliver me
from the hands of those who hate me.

Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your love.

Let me not be put to shame for I call you,
let the wicked be shamed!

Let them be silenced in the grave,
let lying lips be dumb,

that speak haughtily against the just
with pride and contempt'

How great is the goodness, Lord,
that you keep for those who fear you,

that you show to those who trust you
in the sight of men.

You hide them in the shelter of your presence
from the plotting of men :

you keep them safe within your tent
from disputing tongues.

Blessed be the Lord who has shown me
the wonders of his love
in a fortified city.

'I am far removed from your sight'
I said in my alarm.

Yet you heard the voice of my plea
when I cried for help.

Love the Lord, all you saints.
He guards his faithful

but the Lord will repay to the full
those who act with pride.

Be strong, let your heart take courage,
all who hope in the Lord.

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