EVERYDAY PRAYER

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


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 6,16-21

That evening the disciples went down to the shore of the sea and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the sea. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming towards the boat. They were afraid, but he said, 'It's me. Don't be afraid.' They were ready to take him into the boat, and immediately it reached the shore at the place they were making for.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

During life's tempests, it is easy to be afraid and doubtful. Suffering upsets us. Natural disasters leave us speechless. It feels like this when the abyss of evil that seems to seize power over men and women frightens us, causing us to doubt and lose faith in our future and that of the world. But in truth Jesus is not far from us, even during the dark moments; he is not far from the world even in our more dramatic moments. Jesus continues to walk on the tumultuous waters of life even today and makes a path through the waves and doubts that assault us and make our life despondent and difficult. Rather, we are the ones to forget him or, worse, flee from him, as happens to the apostles that evening. The evangelist writes: "They saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified." Instead of allowing ourselves to be consoled and reassured by the Gospel and by our friends, we often prefer to remain alone with our fear, a feeling so natural and spontaneous that we recognize it as more "ours' than God's closeness. But another thing is true: Jesus' love for us is much more solid than our fear, even if we prefer to keep clutching the boat of our illusory security, believing proudly that by ourselves we will be able to weather life's hurricanes. Jesus draws near to the disciples and says to them: "It is I; do not be afraid." These are the good words that Jesus continues to repeat, even today to his disciples each time that the Gospel is proclaimed. And if we welcome it, as the disciples had done with Jesus, it will always lead us to tranquil waters. The disciples' security does not rely on their own strength or experience, but on entrusting themselves to the Lord. It is the Lord who comes to our aid, who gets into our boat and leads us safely to the port.

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