EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Word of god every day

Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Today the Armenian Church remembers Metz Yeghern, "the "great Evil". It is the memorial of the massacre suffered during the First World War in which more than one million Armenians were killed. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Tuesday, April 24

Today the Armenian Church remembers Metz Yeghern, "the "great Evil". It is the memorial of the massacre suffered during the First World War in which more than one million Armenians were killed.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 10,22-30

It was the time of the feast of Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple walking up and down in the Portico of Solomon. The Jews gathered round him and said, 'How much longer are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us openly.' Jesus replied: I have told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name are my witness; but you do not believe, because you are no sheep of mine. The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from my hand. The Father, for what he has given me, is greater than anyone, and no one can steal anything from the Father's hand. The Father and I are one.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The festival of the Dedication was celebrated every year in Jerusalem during the winter. Jesus, the evangelist John tells us, finds himself at the portico of Solomon, which was one of the porticos looking out on the temple plaza, on the day of this festival. After the resurrection, this place will be where the first Christian community will gather for its meetings as a way of wanting to continue with what Jesus said and did there. Many have gathered under that portico to listen to Jesus and are asking him to tell them clearly if he is the Messiah or not. They no longer want to be uncertain or in doubt. Their requests seem legitimate: "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah,* tell us plainly." In truth, rather than seeking Jesus, or understanding his heart and his thoughts, therefore becoming involved in his mission, those Jews are seeking after their own security and tranquillity. Their search -which is somehow present - is far from the one of John the Baptist who, differently from them, left behind his certainties and his selfish tranquillity that prevents from seeking God seriously. His was a desire so deep that not even prison could stifle it. Our behaviours are very plain: rather than seeking truth and the good, we want to have an easy conscience free of any anxiety and responsibility. Nevertheless, searching for God requires that we abandon our certainties and habits so as to accept a word that comes from outside of us and that asks us to be welcomed with generosity. Jesus responded to their requests for clarification by saying that the works he had performed testify to him: "The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me." But their eyes were blurred by egoism and solitude. For this reason, Jesus says to them: "But you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep." The question is that without being familiar with the Gospel, no one can draw nearer to God's mystery. Whoever listens to the Gospel with an open heart will feel how great Jesus' love is and will understand that no one can rip it out of their hands. The Lord, indeed, is stronger than evil and death.

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!