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, June 10


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

Matthew 5, 13-16

'You are salt for the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled under people's feet.

'You are light for the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden.

No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house.

In the same way your light must shine in people's sight, so that, seeing your good works, they may give praise to your Father in heaven.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Jesus tells his disciples that they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We are still at the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel, and the disciples surely cannot boast of acting in such an exemplary way that they deserve to be called “people of the Beatitudes.” And yet Jesus insists, “if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?” In this question is hidden a question about responsibility. Jesus seems to be saying: “I have no one else besides you to proclaim the Gospel,” or, “If your behaviour is bland and tasteless, I have no other way to proclaim the Gospel.” That is what happens when a lighted lamp is put under a basket (sometimes an upside down basket was used as a stand). There is nothing to be done: it is dark. We all know that we are poor men and women, full of limits and defects. And yet the Gospel insists: “You are the salt of the earth.” This is true, but we are not salt by ourselves. We are only salt if we remain united to the true salt and the true light, Jesus of Nazareth. Unlike other people, Jesus’ disciples are not condemned to hide their weakness and misery from God. Weakness and misery do not threaten God’s power; they do not erase it. If anything they exalt it. The first one not to be ashamed of our weakness is the Lord himself; his light is not extinguished by our shadows. And it is important to remember that there is no scorn for humanity in the Gospel; there is no antipathy on the Lord’s part. He knows everything about us. And he loves us as we are. Of course he loves us to make us different, to make us grow in love and not selfishness. God’s love for us is not sentimentality, but energy that changes, helps, sustains, and defends us. Jesus then adds: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” This is the invitation the Lord is making to us, now, in our time, that we might become workers for the Gospel. We are salt and light not by merit but by grace. The Lord, who has pulled us from loneliness and death by uniting us in communion with him and with our brothers and sisters, makes us part of his light and his life so that we might become a leavening of love and a light of hope for a world that is often disoriented and without a future.

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