EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer for peace
Word of god every day

Prayer for peace

Memorial of the prophet Elijah who was taken into heaven and left his mantle to Elisha. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for peace
Monday, July 20

Memorial of the prophet Elijah who was taken into heaven and left his mantle to Elisha.


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

Exodus 14, 5-18

When Pharaoh king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, he and his officials changed their attitude towards the people. 'What have we done,' they said, 'allowing Israel to leave our service?'

So Pharaoh had his chariot harnessed and set out with his troops,

taking six hundred of the best chariots and all the other chariots in Egypt, with officers in each.

Yahweh made Pharaoh king of Egypt stubborn, and he gave chase to the Israelites. The Israelites marched confidently away,

but the Egyptians, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, his horsemen and his army, gave chase and caught up with them where they lay encamped beside the sea near Pi-Hahiroth, facing Baal-Zephon.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up -- and there were the Egyptians in pursuit of them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to Yahweh for help.

To Moses they said, 'Was it for lack of graves in Egypt, that you had to lead us out to die in the desert? What was the point of bringing us out of Egypt?

Did we not tell you as much in Egypt? Leave us alone, we said, we would rather work for the Egyptians! We prefer to work for the Egyptians than to die in the desert!'

Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid! Stand firm, and you will see what Yahweh will do to rescue you today: the Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

Yahweh will do the fighting for you; all you need to do is to keep calm.'

Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Why cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to march on.

Your part is to raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, so that the Israelites can walk through the sea on dry ground,

while I, for my part, shall make the Egyptians so stubborn that they will follow them, and I shall win glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and all his army, chariots and horsemen.

And when I have won glory for myself at the expense of Pharaoh and his chariots and horsemen, the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Chapter 14 of the book of Exodus recounts the passage through the sea, the beginning of the long journey towards the promised land, the first stage of freedom. Pharaoh is irritated, because he is losing his slaves, and he cannot stand to be so greatly humiliated. Evil wants us as slaves, because its only interest is to exploit men and women. Evil ensnares us with its consequences. Evil increases fear, which paralyzes the people of Israel and makes them cower at the size of the Egyptian army, described in all of its strength, which wants to block the path towards freedom. Israel, a small nation, is frightened at the advance of the Egyptian army and cries out its complaint and protest to the Lord. Fear weakens. Israel looses faith in God’s strength, feels lost, and even begins to regret having been freed from slavery in Egypt! The road to freedom, the road of following God, is always a struggle, as all true things are. How easily we give up at the first difficulty. We give in to the common mentality of our time and we stop believing in the presence and protection of God, who does not abandon us. The people cry out against Moses, “What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” Moses, a man of God, invites the people of Israel to have faith and to be calm: God does not abandon his people in the midst of difficulty but saves them with his strength: “Do not be afraid,” is an invitation that often resounds in the Bible, spoken to fearful men and women. It is an invitation that Jesus himself repeats to his disciples. Fear is overcome with faith. And with faith we can fight against evil, even when it seems impossible.

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