EVERYDAY PRAYER

Sunday Vigil
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Sunday Vigil
Saturday, January 14


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Psalm 19, 7-9.14

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
  reviving the soul;
  the decrees of the Lord are sure,
  making wise the simple;

8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
  rejoicing the heart;
  the commandment of the Lord is clear,
  enlightening the eyes;

9 the fear of the Lord is pure,
  enduring for ever;
  the ordinances of the Lord are true
  and righteous altogether.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
  be acceptable to you,
  O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The liturgy has us begin psalm 19 with praise for the Lord’s law: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (v. 8). In the previous verses, the psalmist encourages us to contemplate the love of the Lord as sung by the heavens and the stars, the day and the night. The song of creation spreads everywhere: “Yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (v. 5). It is a song that everyone can hear, great and small, men and women of one race or another, of one religion or another. All of creation, indeed, speaks of God and His love for humanity. Unfortunately, today the voice of creation seems to no longer be heard by men and women. An abusive exercise of power is bringing creation itself to destruction. Human beings, whom God has placed at the apex of creation, have arrogantly wanted to dominate it without recognizing their own limitations as creatures. Their concern only for themselves or for their nation has made them lose sight of respecting the rights of all peoples, of those today and tomorrow, and of the entire creation, by polluting and rendering it uninhabitable. Beyond the words of creation, however, there is also the Word of the Lord, God’s Law. That is what the psalmist wants us to contemplate today. God has spoken to His people, revealing to them His plans, thoughts, laws, and above all, His love. In the second part of the psalm, the psalmist sings a hymn to the Word of the Lord: it is perfect, reviving the soul; it is clear, enlightening the eyes; it is righteous, more desirable that gold and sweeter than honey. It seems as though the psalmist never tires of weaving a hymn of praise for God’s Word, both for its value and the effects it produces. The Word of God makes us live, makes us wise, rejoices the heart, and enlightens the eyes. Because of our pride, we often oppose it, covering and suffocating it, as Jesus says in his parable about the sower. For this reason, the psalmist's prayer is also on our lips: “Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me” (v. 14). Our pride always tries to silence the Word of God so that our will, our choices and our habits might prevail. If we welcome the Word of the Lord in our hearts and put it into practice, the Word will return to heaven and along with the psalmist we will sing, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation (murmuring, in Hebrew) of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (v. 15).

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