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Memory of the Mother of the Lord
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Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Churches of the Anglican communion. Többet

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Tuesday, January 21

Prayer for the unity of Christians. Particular memory of the Churches of the Anglican communion.


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

1 Samuel 16,1-13

Yahweh said to Samuel, 'How much longer do you mean to go on mourning over Saul, now that I myself have rejected him as ruler of Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have found myself a king from among his sons.' Samuel replied, 'How can I go? When Saul hears of it he will kill me.' Yahweh then said, 'Take a heifer with you and say, "I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh." Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I shall reveal to you what you must do; and you will anoint for me the one I indicate to you.' Samuel did what Yahweh ordered and went to Bethlehem. The elders of the town came trembling to meet him and asked, 'Seer, is your coming favourable for us,' 'Yes,' he replied. 'I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.' He purified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, he looked at Eliab and thought, 'This must be Yahweh's anointed now before him,' but Yahweh said to Samuel, 'Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him; God does not see as human beings see; they look at appearances but Yahweh looks at the heart.' Jesse then called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel, who said, 'Yahweh has not chosen this one either.' Jesse then presented Shammah, but Samuel said, 'Yahweh has not chosen this one either.' Jesse thus presented seven of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, 'Yahweh has not chosen these.' He then asked Jesse, 'Are these all the sons you have?' Jesse replied, 'There is still one left, the youngest; he is looking after the sheep.' Samuel then said to Jesse, 'Send for him, for we shall not sit down to eat until he arrives.' Jesse had him sent for; he had ruddy cheeks, with fine eyes and an attractive appearance. Yahweh said, 'Get up and anoint him: he is the one!' At this, Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him, surrounded by his brothers; and the spirit of Yahweh seized on David from that day onwards. Samuel, for his part, set off and went to Ramah.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Samuel must go into a new territory because there the Lord recognized a new king: "I have provided for myself a king among his sons." Samuel recognizes the risky nature of the business and objects: "If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." But the Lord suggests to go to Bethlehem to get around it. The inhabitants who know Samuel and think he could bring trouble to the city fear the sight of him. After calming them down, Samuel offers a sacrifice and meets Jesse who lines up his sons before Samuel. Jesse and the elders do not know that they are witnesses to a decisive event in the life of Israel. Eliab, the first of Jesse's sons, is comely and Samuel feels attracted by him; but the Lord, who speaks directly to the prophet, warns him not to pay attention to his physical appearance. Once Eliab is eliminated also the other sons of Jesse seem inadequate. There is the eighth son, however, the youngest. In his father's eyes he does not seem to count for anything, so much so that his father does not even bother to present him to Samuel. Samuel, however, asks that the boy be called and orders that no one will dine until the boy appears. This passage paints a singular scene: all the elders are standing waiting for this boy of whom no one has yet has even spoken his name. Finally, the young David arrives. He is the one the Lord chose to reign over Israel. David was "ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome" (v. 12). "This is the one," we hear the Lord say to Samuel. And the prophet immediately anoints him with oil. But now Israel has received from God a new king: "The spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward" (v. 13). The Lord and Samuel are now bound to this young boy who would come to reign over Israel. The anointing makes him an envoy from God. This is exactly what happens to every Christian anointed at Baptism: his greatness lies not in his stature nor in his wisdom, but only in God's predilection and love. The Lord is the one who works great wonders in his children through the power of his Spirit.

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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!

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