EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of Jesus crucified
Word of god every day

Memory of Jesus crucified

Memory of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified
Friday, December 12

Memory of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico


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

Isaiah 48, 17-19

Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am Yahweh your God and teach you for your own good, I lead you in the way you ought to go.

If only you had listened to my commandments! Your prosperity would have been like a river and your saving justice like the waves of the sea.

Your descendants would have been numbered like the sand, your offspring as many as its grains. Their name would never be cancelled or blotted out from my presence.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Once again, the Lord wants to affirm his presence in a world that easily distances itself from him, thinking life is easier that way. But life is never good far from God. Rather, it immediately becomes sad and violent. The weakest know this best as they are left to themselves. The prophet's decision to repeat his reminder of God's presence and oneness, almost obsessively in this part of the book, is meant to break through our hard-headed close-mindedness and our lazy selfishness. We must immediately raise our eyes from ourselves and notice the Lord and his love for us. The prophet presents a God who is close to his people, who accompanies them, and who above all asks to be recognized and loved. We all know from experience how easy it is to be caught up in ourselves, our rhythms, and our worries and to forget the Lord and his love. And when we get used to living unaware of God's presence, it is easier to let ourselves be dragged into a dull and meaningless life. Only the Lord knows how to guide our steps towards peace. Through the prophets, he continues to speak to his people and to us so that we will pay attention to his commands and his word. Listening to the Word of God is a blessing for our lives. Illuminated by the Word, we will become a blessing for many, as happened to Abraham, who listened to the voice of the Lord, trusted in him, and became a blessing for many. Unfortunately, our persistent selfishness and the way we give in to the little idols of daily life distract us from the Lord and from listening to his Word. But when we do this, our lives become arid and we cease being signs of God and his presence.

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