GEBED IEDERE DAG

Prayer for the sick
Woord van god elke dag

Prayer for the sick

The prayer for the Sick is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria Lees meer

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for the sick
Monday, February 6

The prayer for the Sick is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Genesis 1,1-19

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind sweeping over the waters. God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that light was good, and God divided light from darkness. God called light 'day', and darkness he called 'night'. Evening came and morning came: the first day. God said, 'Let there be a vault through the middle of the waters to divide the waters in two.' And so it was. God made the vault, and it divided the waters under the vault from the waters above the vault. God called the vault 'heaven'. Evening came and morning came: the second day. God said, 'Let the waters under heaven come together into a single mass, and let dry land appear.' And so it was. God called the dry land 'earth' and the mass of waters 'seas', and God saw that it was good. God said, 'Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees on earth, bearing fruit with their seed inside, each corresponding to its own species.' And so it was. The earth produced vegetation: the various kinds of seed-bearing plants and the fruit trees with seed inside, each corresponding to its own species. God saw that it was good. Evening came and morning came: the third day. God said, 'Let there be lights in the vault of heaven to divide day from night, and let them indicate festivals, days and years. Let them be lights in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth.' And so it was. God made the two great lights: the greater light to govern the day, the smaller light to govern the night, and the stars. God set them in the vault of heaven to shine on the earth, to govern the day and the night and to divide light from darkness. God saw that it was good. Evening came and morning came: the fourth day.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

We start today reading the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. The liturgy of the Church reproposes in the first eleven chapters Israel's thinking about creation and humanity. Genesis was not the first book to be written; it came about after the period of exile in Babylon. At that time the people of Israel started deeply reflecting on their past history to find an explanation for their existence as a people. While they pondered on this, they found answers to numerous issues around the meaning of creation, of the existence and of the mystery of evil in human life, of death and still more questions. The narration opens showing the power of the Word: God creates through His word; God speaks, and the world comes about. This proposed passage talks about the fourth day when the sun, moon and stars were created in order to bring "light" in the firmament; so that they may "be for signs and for seasons and for days and years." We are at the mid-point in the seven days of creation. Indeed, even though light was created on the first day, only on the fourth was its existence given a purpose for creation. Even if it is true that light and darkness serve to distinguish day from night, the author underlines the fact that they were created to regulate time for men and women so that they adapt to God's rhythm, that is liturgical feast days. Indeed, without feasts - as we will see more clearly in the Sabbath, the "seventh day" - creation does not reach its full completion. There is a huge difference between the clock time and "God's time," as it appears already in this passage. Human beings may be masters of everything, but time is not completely theirs. In a society like ours that is losing the sense and value of a feast day, the creation story reminds us not to put our work and doing at the centre of everything. Welcoming time for God in our day is critical for us and for our society in order to avoid violence and any kind of oppression. God's time saves humanity's time.

WOORD VAN GOD ELKE DAG: DE KALENDER

Het gebed is het hart van het leven van de Gemeenschap van Sant’Egidio. Het is haar eerste “werk”. Aan het einde van de dag komt elke Gemeenschap, of die nu klein of groot is, samen bij de Heer om het Woord te beluisteren en zich tot Hem te richten in het gebed. De leerlingen kunnen niet anders dan aan de voeten van Jezus zitten, zoals Maria van Bethanië, om het “betere deel” te kiezen (Lc 10, 42) en van Hem zijn gezindheid te leren (vgl. Fil 2, 5).

Elke keer dat de Gemeenschap zich tot de Heer richt, maakt ze zich die vraag eigen van de anonieme leerling: “Heer, leer ons bidden!” (Lc 11, 1). En Jezus, meester in het gebed, antwoordt: “Wanneer jullie bidden, zeg dan: Abba, Vader”.

Wanneer we bidden, ook in de geslotenheid van ons eigen hart, zijn we nooit alleen of verweesd. Integendeel, we zijn leden van de familie van de Heer. In het gemeenschappelijk gebed wordt naast het mysterie van het kindschap, ook dat van de broederschap en zusterschap duidelijk.

De Gemeenschappen van Sant’Egidio, verspreid over de wereld, verzamelen zich op de verschillende plaatsen die gekozen zijn voor het gebed en brengen de hoop en het verdriet van de “uitgeputte en hulpeloze mensenmenigte” waarover het Evangelie spreekt (Mt 9, 37) bij de Heer. Deze oude menigte omvat de inwoners van onze hedendaagse steden, de armen die zich bevinden in de marge van het leven, en iedereen die wacht om als dagloner te worden aangenomen (vgl. Mt 20).

Het gemeenschappelijk gebed verzamelt de schreeuw, de hoop, het verlangen naar vrede, genezing, zin en redding, die beleefd worden door de mannen en vrouwen van deze wereld. Het gebed is nooit leeg. Het stijgt onophoudelijk op naar de Heer opdat verdriet verandert in vreugde, wanhoop in blijheid, angst in hoop, eenzaamheid in gemeenschap. En het rijk Gods zal spoedig temidden van de mensen komen.

WOORD VAN GOD ELKE DAG: DE KALENDER