EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of Jesus crucified
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified
Friday, December 9


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

Psalm 1,1-6

1 Happy are those
  who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
  or take the path that sinners tread,
  or sit in the seat of scoffers;

2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
  and on his law they meditate day and night.

3 They are like trees
  planted by streams of water,
  which yield their fruit in its season,
  and their leaves do not wither.
  In all that they do, they prosper.

4 The wicked are not so,
  but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
  nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6 for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
  but the way of the wicked will perish.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The liturgy has us singing the psalm that opens the entire psalter. We could say that from the very beginning the psalmist sings the blessing of the believer who listens to the Word of the Lord. Listening distinguishes the believer from the fool. Neither intelligence nor culture, nor the human qualities that one possesses, make someone a disciple. Only by listening can we be disciples. Fools, in contrast, avoid listening to the Word of the Lord and, by living only according to themselves, delude themselves into thinking that they are living life to the fullest and with freedom. Fools find themselves, however, with a life that becomes like “chaff” scattered by the wind (the Hebrew word for “chaff” signifies a thing without weight or roots that flutters about and dissipates). For this reason, the psalmist notes, the wicked “will perish.” The righteous, instead, who do not heed the advice of the wicked and who do not “sit in the seat of scoffers,” find their joy, in listening to the Lord. They love and meditate on the Law of the Lord day and night (the Hebrew word for “meditate” means to recite the sacred text, murmuring its words until they are committed to memory). The psalmist wants to suggest that God whispers His Word so that it may reach the heart of every believer and remain there where it can bear fruit. The righteous person is like a tree firmly planted along a stream: certainly it bears fruit in every season and condition, containing leaves which are evergreen. Spiritual experience tells us that from a heart that listens to the Word of God, wisdom, knowledge and prudence blossom and saintly deeds flow. The Word of God, in fact, not only procures joy for whoever listens to it, but also is a force that urges us to perform works of love and to change the world. Whoever distances him or herself from the Law of the Lord leads a sad, empty and fruitless life. From the very first Psalm, the Psalmist invites believers of every age to rediscover the primacy of listening because it is the foundation of our very lives. At the beginning of his ministry of preaching, Jesus will call “blessed” those who listen to his word and put it into practice, because by doing so they build their life on solid rock which resists adversities and grants safety.

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!