EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of Jesus crucified
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified


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

Luke 9, 18-22

Now it happened that he was praying alone, and his disciples came to him and he put this question to them, 'Who do the crowds say I am?'

And they answered, 'Some say John the Baptist; others Elijah; others again one of the ancient prophets come back to life.'

'But you,' he said to them, 'who do you say I am?' It was Peter who spoke up. 'The Christ of God,' he said.

But he gave them strict orders and charged them not to say this to anyone.

He said, 'The Son of man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Peter’s profession of faith marks a turning point in the Gospel narratives: it prepares the beginning of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem. Luke does not specify where the scene takes place (Mark and Matthew situate it in Caesarea Philippi), but puts it in a context of prayer, a scene which is frequently repeated in the third Gospel. The evangelist seems to describe the moment when the Christian community gathers together for the common prayer: it is an indispensable time in order to live in intimacy with Jesus. On that occasion - the text notes - Jesus asks the disciples what the people think about him. And he is told what the buzz is, that which had reached even Herod Antipas. In reality, he wanted to know rather what they thought about him, now that they had been with him for some time. And Peter answered for everyone: "The Messiah of God." It is a solemn profession. And even clearer than the one reported in Mark’s parallel passage since "of God" is added to the word "Messiah." Truly Peter is the first, he who in the name of all professes the true faith. He is before us so that each one of us responds with the same words to the question which Jesus continues to ask us, too: "But you, who do you say I am?" It is not an abstract question, as if we were in front of a catechism text. It is Jesus himself who asks our mind and our heart to understand him and love him as the one who saves us. The secret about his person which Jesus commands the disciples to keep is not in order to hide himself, on the contrary, he does not want his mission to derail on worldly and false tracks. He in fact immediately adds what fate awaits him in Jerusalem: he must suffer much, be killed, but rise again on the third day. We know from the parallel Synoptic passages that Peter reacts negatively. Probably he had not paid attention to the word about the resurrection, as often happens to us when we select perhaps at will the Gospel words. In any case Jesus’ message was clear: the cross is indispensable for reaching the resurrection. It is the mystery of Jesus’ life, of that of the Church and of the disciple of every age. The victory of good over evil surpasses the way of the cross.

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