EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Church
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Church
Thursday, October 30


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Luke 13, 31-35

Just at this time some Pharisees came up. 'Go away,' they said. 'Leave this place, because Herod means to kill you.'

He replied, 'You may go and give that fox this message: Look! Today and tomorrow I drive out devils and heal, and on the third day I attain my end.

But for today and tomorrow and the next day I must go on, since it would not be right for a prophet to die outside Jerusalem.

'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused!

Look! Your house will be left to you. Yes, I promise you, you shall not see me till the time comes when you are saying: Blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord!'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

While Jesus is in Transjordan, a territory under the control of Herod, some Pharisees warn him that the king is trying to kill him. It is not the same Herod of Jesus’ childhood, but it is the same family. One could say that the opposition to the Gospel is a tradition that continues without interruption. The evil power of people is always scared of the power of the Gospel, both in the weakness of a child and in the weakness of a word that never fails to resound everywhere preaching clearly the primacy of love. This preaching is hampered by the Herod on duty. Jesus might flee to avoid the danger of being caught and killed, as it was the case with the Baptist. And it is likely that Jesus himself has now realized that it is increasingly dangerous to continue his journey to Jerusalem. Even the Pharisees who warn Jesus understood it. However, Jesus does not recede; he cannot betray the Gospel, he cannot stop his preaching. He knows, however, that his Gospel is stronger than the power of Herod. Indeed, it is necessary that the good news of the Kingdom is preached along the roads of Galilee and Judea till inside the walls of Jerusalem. This is why Jesus does not flee from Herod nor does he stop in front of dangers. He responds to the Pharisees: “It is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.” Immediately after, he expresses the sad lament over the Holy City that has turned away from God to no longer being able to receive the word of prophets. Unfortunately, this deafness is not without consequences. The failure to hear the word of God will lead Jerusalem to destruction. How much bitterness in these words of Jesus: “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” They are heartfelt words of the Lord that perhaps we have to repeat again today on many of our cities that are more and more wounded by violence. Only by accepting God’s prophecy, only if the words of love have citizenship in the hearts of men and women, our cities and our countries will be able to find the way of a more peaceful and serene coexistence. If the deafness to the Word of God coasts bitterly to the city, we must not forget that the disciples’ laziness in preaching the Word of God to the city of today costs more. As Jesus did then, believers even today must preach the Gospel in the life of the city. Knowing that it is still true what Jesus said, “It is impossible for a prophet to be killed away from Jerusalem.”

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