EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of Jesus crucified
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified
Friday, May 10


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

Colossians 1, 9-14

That is why, ever since the day he told us, we have never failed to remember you in our prayers and ask that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will

and so be able to lead a life worthy of the Lord, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects, bearing fruit in every kind of good work and growing in knowledge of God,

fortified, in accordance with his glorious strength, with all power always to persevere and endure,

giving thanks with joy to the Father who has made you able to share the lot of God's holy people and with them to inherit the light.

Because that is what he has done. It is he who has rescued us from the ruling force of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son that he loves,

and in him we enjoy our freedom, the forgiveness of sin.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Paul did not found the Church of Colossae and does not seem to know its members personally, but the love he has for them drives him to pray without stopping: “we have not ceased praying for you,” he writes. Prayer for our brothers and sisters demonstrates the depth of the bond that unites the disciples of Jesus, even if they are physically far from each other. Paul even specifies the intention of his prayer: that they “may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” The apostle knows that no one can have faith without listening to the Word of God every day. That is only way to have the “spiritual wisdom” and “understanding” that permit us to investigate and know God’s will. Knowledge of the Gospel is not a collection of theories, but the welcoming in our hearts of the plan of love God has for us and the world. This is the spiritual wisdom we have to acquire. And we obtain it by welcoming the Spirit, who, through Holy Scripture, reveals God’s will for the world. For the believer, this spiritual wisdom generates the strength to “lead lives worthy of the Lord.” The life of a believer is not the fruit of some great force of will; it is the consequence – perhaps with great effort – of loving the Lord and being “pleasing to him.” Yes, Christian life consists of being “fully pleasing” to God and bearing “fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.” From this knowledge of God, which is a communion of love, are born fruits of good works. Paul does not specify what he means by “good work.” But it is our entire way of life that becomes a witness to the truth of the Gospel (1:6), that is, of God’s strength that works in the community and in each believer. The apostle asks the believers to trust in God along the way, especially in moments of trial. Indeed, difficulties, failures, temptations, and many occasions for discouragement will not be lacking in the process of growth towards “the hope laid up for you in heaven.” In these moments, the apostle urges, believers should be magnanimous and merciful, because they know that their difficulties will not prevail. In fact, they are no longer under the yoke of evil; they have passed from the shadows of error and sin to the light, from the “world” to the community. Without any merit of our own, all of us who were once distant are now part of the multitude of saints who, from Abel to the end of history, make up redeemed humanity. It is a great people, no longer subject to the tyrannical power of Evil and free from the fear of falling prey to invisible cosmic powers. We have already been redeemed from every form of slavery: we are citizens of the Kingdom of the Son, where the only law is the law of love, the gift of the self to others.

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!