EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Word of god every day

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets

Memory of Saint Ambrose (+397), bishop of Milan. Pastor of his people, defender of the poor and weak against every form of exploitation, he was a strong defender of the Church in the face of the emperor's arrogance. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Tuesday, December 7

Memory of Saint Ambrose (+397), bishop of Milan. Pastor of his people, defender of the poor and weak against every form of exploitation, he was a strong defender of the Church in the face of the emperor's arrogance.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Isaiah 40,1-11

'Console my people, console them,' says your God. 'Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and cry to her that her period of service is ended, that her guilt has been atoned for, that, from the hand of Yahweh, she has received double punishment for all her sins.' A voice cries, 'Prepare in the desert a way for Yahweh. Make a straight highway for our God across the wastelands. Let every valley be filled in, every mountain and hill be levelled, every cliff become a plateau, every escarpment a plain; then the glory of Yahweh will be revealed and all humanity will see it together, for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken.' A voice said, 'Cry aloud!' and I said, 'What shall I cry?' -'All humanity is grass and all its beauty like the wild flower's. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of Yahweh blows on them. (The grass is surely the people.) The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God remains for ever.' Go up on a high mountain, messenger of Zion. Shout as loud as you can, messenger of Jerusalem! Shout fearlessly, say to the towns of Judah, 'Here is your God.' Here is Lord Yahweh coming with power, his arm maintains his authority, his reward is with him and his prize precedes him. He is like a shepherd feeding his flock, gathering lambs in his arms, holding them against his breast and leading to their rest the mother ewes.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This passage opens the part of the book called "Deutero-Isaiah" like an introduction. The prophet does not let himself be overwhelmed by resignation or discouragement because of the situation of exile in which his people find themselves. Inspired by the Spirit of God, he speaks these words of consolation for the entire people. At the same time as he invites all to reflect on their weakness and the precariousness of life, he urges them to turn their eyes to the Lord who is coming in their succour. We urgently must open a road in the desert to allow the Lord to come. The desert for us is that of our hearts, that of the links among people that are turned in to desert for the lack of love and therefore of life. Our cities so often look like deserts without life where people, especially the poorest, are at the mercy of the adverse forces of evil, with no one who defends and consoles them. The Psalmist cries: "There is no one who consoles them!" and the prophet seems to respond to it: "Comfort, O comfort my people" and asks: "Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings." We could compare this dialogue to the prayer of the community of believers: on one side the invocation raises to God and from heaven the consoling Word of God comes down. And when it reaches the hearts of believers, it makes them flourish again. God himself has decided to come down among his people to console them, comfort them and free them from the slavery of sin and the oppression of evil. This is why the way that God himself will travel to reach us must be prepared: every valley must be filled, every hill lowered, every piece of land smoothed out. The Lord is coming like a strong and tender shepherd who knows his sheep; he calls them by name, one by one, and gathers them together so that none of them stays behind or aside. The shepherd brings them out of the desert and leads them to a grassy field. In this time of Advent, Christian communities and individual believers, we are all called to welcome the Word that is proclaimed to us: our hearts will blossom with good feelings and the desert of our cities will see love and peace broaden.

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