EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Tuesday, August 13


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Jeremiah 17, 1-8

'The sin of Judah is written with an iron pen, engraved with a diamond point on the tablet of the heart and on the horns of their altars,

while their children remember their altars and their sacred pole beside the green trees, on the lofty hills.

My mountain on the plain, your wealth and all your treasures I shall hand over to be plundered, because of the sin of your high places throughout your territory.

You will have to relinquish your heritage which I gave you; I will enslave you to your enemies in a country which you do not know, for my fiery anger kindled by you will burn for ever.'

Yahweh says this, 'Accursed be anyone who trusts in human beings, who relies on human strength and whose heart turns from Yahweh.

Such a person is like scrub in the wastelands: when good comes, it does not affect him since he lives in the parched places of the desert, uninhabited, salt land.

'Blessed is anyone who trusts in Yahweh, with Yahweh to rely on.

Such a person is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream: when the heat comes it has nothing to fear, its foliage stays green; untroubled in a year of drought, it never stops bearing fruit.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

What can be done in front of the strength and hardness of sin, which the prophet describes as “written with an iron pen; with a diamond point it is engraved on the tablet of their hearts, and on the horns of their altars?” What is the origin of this sin, so deeply rooted that it is indelibly engraved in the heart of the world? “Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their strength, whose hearts turn away from the Lord.” Here is the answer. When people trust in themselves, they irrevocably distance themselves from God. There is no alternative, as the Bible often reminds us: either the Lord or idols; either we listen to Him or we will listen to others. It is impossible to compromise between God and idols. When people put their trust in “flesh”, that is, in themselves or in the reasoning of the world, they condemn themselves to sadness and aridity. In a certain sense, they curse themselves. Those who distance themselves from God and so from the very source of life and love, inevitably become slaves of individualism and violence. And it is from this slavery that flow the sadness and violence that mark so many situations and upset the lives of so many people more and more each day. On the contrary, “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” This is what the Bible often repeats. “Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,” (Ps 1:1) the psalmist sings. All pages of the Bible show that true happiness lies in following the Lord every day. Blessing, in fact, is to be close to the Lord, to live in the company of his word. Indeed, those who trust in the Lord and turn to him in faith plant their roots in solid land. They do not fear evil, they do not get discouraged, even in moments of difficulty, like the famine mentioned by the prophet, and do not cease to bear fruits of love and peace. Their strength is in the Lord, as the Psalmist sings: “They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper” (Ps 1:3).

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