EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Church
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Church
Thursday, July 27


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

Daniel 3,52-56

29 ‘Blessed are you, O Lord, God of our ancestors,
  and to be praised and highly exalted for ever;

30 And blessed is your glorious, holy name,
  and to be highly praised and highly exalted for ever.

31 Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
  and to be extolled and highly glorified for ever.

32 Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne on the cherubim,
  and to be praised and highly exalted for ever.

33 Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
  and to be extolled and highly exalted for ever.

34 Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
  and to be sung and glorified for ever.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

We have before us a section of the long canticle of the three young men thrown into a burning furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar because of their loyalty to the Lord. Before their punishment, the three young men raise their voices to God and recognize his liberating strength. In this first part the Lord is proclaimed as “blessed,” while later in the canticle, the whole world and all the works of God are invited to unite in blessing what comes from God saying “Bless...” For the Bible and the Hebrew tradition it is the Lord, the “Blessed one,” who is at the origin of blessing, who extends his blessing to all creatures without distinction. He is blessed, the fount of blessing which is life for everyone who remains united to him. We could use the parable of the vine and branches to demonstrate the meaning of blessing which comes from God: whoever remains united to the vine, to Jesus Christ, remains in life and receives from him life force. It is also the same for whoever remains tightly united to the Lord, “the blessed one”, and receives blessing. The canticle begins by proclaiming the “Lord, God of our fathers” blessed, that it is he who made the history of Israel’s faith possible through their “fathers.” Then, “his glorious and holy name” is blessed, he “in his holy and glorious temple,” “on the throne of his kingdom.” The greatness of this blessed name is celebrated, the one who manifests in the temple and in his regality, who accomplishes justice for all, to whom all, above all the poor, can turn. “King of peace and justice” the prophet Isaiah calls him (Is 9:5-6). However, He is not far from the world, He is not disinterested from the heights of His almightiness. His gaze “penetrates the abysses” and He is blessed in “the firmament of the heavens.” The heavens and the abyss indicate the two opposite parts of the cosmos. Therefore, God’s blessing reaches everyone, as the three youth will sing in the rest of the song, which is a hymn to creation and to the history of his people’s salvation. Let us also unite in proclaiming our God “blessed,” He who manifested His glory in Jesus and who made us part of His life without end. No one is excluded from God’s blessing; no one is excluded from blessing Him to find in Him life and salvation.

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