EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer for peace
Word of god every day

Prayer for peace

The prayer for peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for peace
Monday, July 17

The prayer for peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.


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 124, 1-8

1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
  —let Israel now say—

2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
  when our enemies attacked us,

3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
  when their anger was kindled against us;

4 then the flood would have swept us away,
  the torrent would have gone over us;

5 then over us would have gone
  the raging waters.

6 Blessed be the Lord,
  who has not given us
  as prey to their teeth.

7 We have escaped like a bird
  from the snare of the fowlers;
  the snare is broken,
  and we have escaped.

8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
  who made heaven and earth.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Psalm 124 is a common, choral proclamation of salvation, which becomes real as it is sung. The psalmist is a man who has experienced the power of evil even to the point of feeling near death: his enemies would have swallowed him alive, like the stormy waters that drown and submerge everything. Perhaps he refers to a war (“when our enemies attacked us”), from whose violence he escaped. For the psalmist, it is clear that his survival is due to God’s intervention. He repeats twice: “If it had not been the Lord who was at our side” (v. 1). Many times in the psalms we see people who, in difficult situations, such as illness, hostility or oppression, experience the liberating force of God. In psalm 118 a man surrounded by enemies sings of the mercy of God who saved him. And, psalm 71 sings of an elderly man who in his weakness finds refuge and repose in God, though everyone around him said that there was no hope for him. The submerging waters recall the Gospel episode of the disciples frightened by the storm (Mk 4:35-41). They were caught by anguish for the waves battering their boat and they turned to Jesus who was asleep: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” What would have happened if the Lord had not been with them? Like the tempestuous sea, life’s difficulties seem to overwhelm us, making us think that we cannot make it and we will be overwhelmed. Our prayers to the Lord sometimes end up being reproachful. All too easily we forget about the loving presence of the Lord near us, just as the disciples who thought that Jesus was not concerned about their dire situation. We should not be afraid to turn to God in prayer every day, not only when we discover our fragility, when the sea is stormy and life becomes too difficult. The Lord calms the sea and wind with his word. Blessed be the Lord who did not leave us prisoners to evil, but who liberated us. Truly our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

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