EVERYDAY PRAYER

Feast of Mary, Mother of God
Word of god every day

Feast of Mary, Mother of God

Feast of Mary, Mother of God
The prayer for the sick is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
Prayer for peace in the world and for the end of every war.
Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Feast of Mary, Mother of God
Monday, January 1

Homily

Todays' liturgy invites us to look at Mary, to celebrate and venerate her as the Mother of God. Seven days have passed since Christmas and the Church feels the need to look at the Mother and celebrate her. Certainly, it is worth underlying the fact that we do not find her alone; she holds Jesus on her lap. As soon as the shepherds arrived in Bethlehem they "found Mary and Joseph, and the child." It is beautiful to imagine Jesus out of the manger and in Mary's arms. It is one of the most familiar and tender images of the mystery of the incarnation. In the tradition of the Eastern Church the relationship between that mother and child is so strong that it is impossible to find an image of Mary without Jesus; she exists for her Son; her task is to generate him and show him to the world.
The shepherds, once at the cave, saw a Child. After they saw him - we could say after contemplating him- "they made known what had been told them about this child." In this small scene is enclosed the entire life of a Christian. If in the previous night the angels spoke about the Child, it is not difficult to think that Mary spoke of her Son in the cave. Certainly, she presented him to them. Without her they could hardly have understood this mystery. Mary who "treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart," knew well what mystery was present in the child.
Like those shepherds, so we too return "glorifying and praising God." Perhaps we should wonder whether there are "shepherds" (and we should not forget that every believer is a "pastor" of other brothers and sisters) who know how to communicate the joy of encountering the child.
By now it is a tradition for the Church to gather in prayer on the first day of the year to invoke peace. It is like extending the blessing we heard from the reading in Numbers to the entire world, to the family of peoples: "The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace." There is need for the Lord to broaden his gaze on people. Unfortunately, conflicts seem to multiply and therefore we should intensify our prayer for peace. We know that peace requires a tenacious commitment from people, but peace is mostly a gift from on High. At the beginning of this year we gather the hymn of the angels on Christmas night: "On earth peace among those whom [God] favours!" It is our prayer at the dawn of this new year. May the Spirit of the Lord come in the hearts of believers and transform the hearts of our cities so that hatred, the abuse of power, and indifference may be driven away. May the Spirit transform the heart of the peoples at war, so that violent spirits may be disarmed and so that peacemakers may be strengthened. May the Spirit make the hearts of rich peoples compassionate so that they may not be blind in front of the needs of the poor peoples; May the Spirit transform the heart of every man and woman, so that we may all rediscover the face of the one God, the father of all.

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