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 21,23-27

He had gone into the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him and said, 'What authority have you for acting like this? And who gave you this authority?' In reply Jesus said to them, 'And I will ask you a question, just one; if you tell me the answer to it, then I will tell you my authority for acting like this. John's baptism: what was its origin, heavenly or human?' And they argued this way among themselves, 'If we say heavenly, he will retort to us, "Then why did you refuse to believe him?"; but if we say human, we have the people to fear, for they all hold that John was a prophet.' So their reply to Jesus was, 'We do not know.' And he retorted to them, 'Nor will I tell you my authority for acting like this.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Gospel presents to us Jesus, now nearing the end of his days, in a fierce argument with the religious authorities and intellectuals of his time. He had returned to Jerusalem and, as was his custom, had gone to the temple to reveal himself as the Messiah, the one sent by God. The high priests and the elders of the people had understood that Jesus was not just explaining a new doctrine or a new way of thinking about religion. Rather, he was presenting himself as the Messiah, the saviour. In fact, a day earlier he had effectively taken control of the temple by expelling the merchants from the atrium and healing many sick people. Now he was starting to teach. We could say that he had already fulfilled the first messianic sign, healing the sick, and now he was adding the second: speaking with authority and asking people to listen and obey. In fact, the Gospels note that Jesus had been speaking with authority since the very beginning of his preaching mission. His preaching was not the simple presentation of a few truths. Jesus asked people to change their hearts; he demanded a true and complete transformation of their lives. And so the high priests and the elders of the people asked him to explain this claim; does what you do come from God or not? In other terms, are Jesus and the Gospel false? In response, Jesus builds on their own objections and, through the example of the Baptist, explains once again that the way to salvation is found in listening to the Word of God and converting one’s heart. His opponents do not know what to say in response. In truth, beyond their "we do not know" hides a much more radical "we do not want to know." Is this not what happens to us? How often after listening to the Gospel, or after someone urges us to change an attitude that is far from the Gospel, do we say, "I can’t" or "I just can’t do it," which means in truth, "I do not want to"? As we approach Christmas, let us carefully listen to the Word of God that continues to speak to our lives, and let us allow it to enter our hearts and bear fruits of love, peace, mercy, forgiveness, and meekness.

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