EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Poor
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Poor


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

Matthew 23,13-22

'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut up the kingdom of Heaven in people's faces, neither going in yourselves nor allowing others to gowho want to.

'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over sea and land to make a single proselyte, and anyone who becomes one you make twice as fit for hell as you are.

'Alas for you, blind guides! You say, "If anyone swears by the Temple, it has no force; but anyone who swears by the gold of the Temple is bound."

Fools and blind! For which is of greater value, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred?

Again, "If anyone swears by the altar it has no force; but anyone who swears by the offering on the altar, is bound."

You blind men! For which is of greater worth, the offering or the altar that makes the offering sacred?

Therefore, someone who swears by the altar is swearing by that and by everything on it.

And someone who swears by the Temple is swearing by that and by the One who dwells in it.

And someone who swears by heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by the One who is seated there.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Jesus continues his last speech to the crowd. He is speaking against the scribes and Pharisees, but he is not targeting them personally as much as criticizing their behaviour and especially their claim to be guides of the people. The true shepherd is the one who gives his life for the sheep, not the one who presumes to pile up heavy loads and external traditions on the backs of the people. Jesus’ love for the crowds is so great that he cannot stand for them to be crushed under the weight of the external traditions that the scribes and Pharisees place on them in the very name of Moses. They close the doors to happiness instead of opening them. Jesus came to free people from this heavy yoke. Today, we have listened to three of the seven curses that come one after the other in a persistent rhythm. They are all meant to unmask the falsity of those who claim to be shepherds by affirming themselves over others, perhaps imposing rules and practices that are born from a heart that is poor in love. Jesus lashes out against them with the first "woe to you." With their hypocritical attitude, the Pharisees narrow the doors of mercy, only leaving space for external formalities. But in doing so, they force other people out of the religion of love. Jesus continues to condemn fanatic and intolerant religiosity. It is not enough to "cross sea and land to make a single convert" if our heart is ruined by the arrogance of believing we are superior to others. With the third "woe to you," Jesus reveals the false religiosity of those who stop at rules and rituals and do not figure God into the equation, those, we could say, who participate in religious services but whose heart is far from the Lord. It is not simply our actions that count, but whether or not we turn our heart towards God.

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