EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer of the Christmas season
Word of god every day

Prayer of the Christmas season

Memorial of the holy prophet David to whom some of the psalms are attributed. For centuries the psalms have nourished the prayer both of Jews and Christians. Memorial of Thomas Becket, defender of justice and of the dignity of the Church. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer of the Christmas season
Tuesday, December 29

Memorial of the holy prophet David to whom some of the psalms are attributed. For centuries the psalms have nourished the prayer both of Jews and Christians. Memorial of Thomas Becket, defender of justice and of the dignity of the Church.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Glory to God in the highest
and peace on earth to the people he loves.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

1 John 2,3-11

In this way we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, 'I know him' without keeping his commandments, is a liar, and truth has no place in him. But anyone who does keep his word, in such a one God's love truly reaches its perfection. This is the proof that we are in God. Whoever claims to remain in him must act as he acted. My dear friends, this is not a new commandment I am writing for you, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the message you have heard. Yet in another way, I am writing a new commandment for you -- and this is true for you, just as much as for him -- for darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever claims to be in light but hates his brother is still in darkness. Anyone who loves his brother remains in light and there is in him nothing to make him fall away. But whoever hates his brother is in darkness and is walking about in darkness not knowing where he is going, because darkness has blinded him.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The first reading of the daily liturgy in this time of Christmas invites us to meditate on the first letter of John, offering us words of love which emanate from the very mystery of Christ’s birth. Only a love like God’s can make us understand the beauty and strength of the mystery of the Child who has been born. And there is a deep correspondence with the desire for salvation which is rooted in the depth of every human heart. It is a desire which makes us restless. And such restlessness is the first step toward getting out of ourselves, out of our selfishness. The apostle John shows us a simple way to know the Lord. It is not through speculative efforts, but simply by observing his commandments. This is the only way to know the Lord. Whoever listens to His word and puts it into practice dwells in God himself, so much so as to be able to affirm, "In him the love of God is perfect." It is not through our own qualities that we are perfect, but through the perfect love which is given to us. Whoever welcomes this love is on the road of perfection precisely because he or she is led by the very love of God. The apostle highlights that the commandment of love is new and ancient at the same time. It is the very substance of the Gospel. That the love of God became flesh in Jesus marks the radical turn in human history. With Jesus a new perspective for humanity has begun, a new vision has been proposed, "a true light has appeared" which has dispersed the darkness enveloping the world. It is the light of the love of God which leads us to love everyone, without exception, even our enemies. Whoever does not welcome or live this love remains, "in the darkness and does not know where he goes, because the darkness has blinded his eyes." The Gospel of love is the true newness which changes 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