EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer of the Christmas season
Word of god every day

Prayer of the Christmas season

Remembrance of Laurindo and Madora, young Mozambicans who died because of the war. With them we remember all of the young people killed because of conflict and the violence of humanity. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer of the Christmas season
Wednesday, December 30

Remembrance of Laurindo and Madora, young Mozambicans who died because of the war. With them we remember all of the young people killed because of conflict and the violence of humanity.


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 2,12-17

I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven through his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who has existed since the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, because you have overcome the Evil One. I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, parents, because you have come to know the One who has existed since the beginning. I have written to you, young people, because you are strong, and God's word remains in you, and you have overcome the Evil One. Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone does love the world, the love of the Father finds no place in him, because everything there is in the world -- disordered bodily desires, disordered desires of the eyes, pride in possession -- is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world, with all its disordered desires, is passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains for ever.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The apostle John turns to all believers with a solemn triple allocution. He calls them "children" because they were generated to faith by him, but also "fathers" because at the same time they must generate new believers in the Church, and also "young people," who are strong because by keeping the Word of the Lord in their hearts, they have conquered evil. The apostle invites believers not to love the world nor the things of this world because in doing so they distance themselves from the love of God. In John’s language, the word "world" does not mean simply creation but the earthly reality in as much as it is subjugated to the power of evil (Jn 12:31) and therefore opposed to the reign of God, which is the reign of love, justice, and peace. We hear here the opposition explained by Jesus: "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Mt 6:24). Believers must pay attention not to let themselves be overtaken by the power of evil which takes root in the heart through the lust of the flesh which drives those who are its slaves to do evil. Even the Apostle Paul reminds the Christians of Rome: "Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires" (Rom 13:14). John exemplifies: lust of the flesh manifests itself in "the desire of the eyes, the pride of riches." Therefore, whoever lets himself be guided by these instincts distances himself from God and remains overwhelmed by the transience of the world. But the world passes, as both John and Paul remind us: "For the present form of this world is passing away," (1 Cor 7:31) Paul writes to the Corinthians. To the contrary, whoever does the will of God, "remains in eternal" that is, remains in love. The time of Christmas that we are living is a good time to let the Child grow in us: with Him we remain in love and hasten the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

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