EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Church
Word of god every day

Memory of the Church

Memory of Mary, mother of Jesus, suffering at the foot of the Cross and of all those who live the compassion with those who are crucified, alone, condemned. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Church

Memory of Mary, mother of Jesus, suffering at the foot of the Cross and of all those who live the compassion with those who are crucified, alone, condemned.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 19, 25-27

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.

Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son.'

Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Immediately after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the liturgy commemorates Our Blessed Lady of Sorrows. Although a relatively recent feast day, it plants its roots deeply into Calvary on that Holy Friday when Mary, mother of Jesus, was just one among a few who remained with Jesus crucified on the cross. With just a few lines, the Gospel of John narrates the extraordinary mystery of Mary’s presence. Deeply pained in her heart, she remains close to the Son and receives from him a new mission. Truly violence and betrayal mark the story of Jesus’ Passion, but that is not what the Passion is entirely about: it is also a song to life that springs up again. From up high on the cross, Jesus does not ask for consolation for himself, as we would have done. He concerns himself, rather, with the small group—his mother and the young disciple—standing below at the foot of the cross. In the young disciple’s face we can see the face of each one of us and Jesus is entrusting all of us to his mother, to Mary, to the Church, to the community of believers. And, likewise, he entrusts Mary to us. We are not abandoned to a society, which often is like a cruel mother with her children. Jesus asks Mary to be our mother, too. The evangelist writes: "And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home." This episode seems small, but it marks the first victory of life over death and is the first fruit of the cross, the fruit of a limitless love that is stronger than death. While everything seems lost and the enemies of justice and of the Gospel sing victoriously, from the voice of a defeated man arise a new friendship and solidarity between the young disciple and the older mother. It is the first sign of the resurrection, or we could say, the first fruit of Jesus’ death. On the cross, the law of self-love was defeated and a new friendship was born. A small family, united not by flesh and blood, but by the love of the crucified Lord was created.

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