EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer for the sick
Word of god every day

Prayer for the sick

The prayer for the sick is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for the sick
Monday, February 6

The prayer for the sick is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.


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

Psalm 104, 1.5-6.10.12.24.35

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul.
  O Lord my God, you are very great.
  You are clothed with honour and majesty,

5 You set the earth on its foundations,
  so that it shall never be shaken.

6 You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
  the waters stood above the mountains.

10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
  they flow between the hills,

12 By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
  they sing among the branches.

24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
  In wisdom you have made them all;
  the earth is full of your creatures.

35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
  and let the wicked be no more.
  Bless the Lord, O my soul.
  Praise the Lord!

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

With today’s liturgy we are chanting a few verses from psalm 104. Faced with the beauty of creation, the psalmist contemplates the Creator: “Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honour and majesty” (v. l). The Lord’s power is described with cosmological language: his mantle is light, he stretches out the heavens like a tent; he sets the earth on its foundations, the rivers are his paths; he sets an impassable boundary around the ocean, he looks on the earth and makes it quake, and he touches the mountains and they smoke. Even in just these few verses, there emerges a description of the variety of creatures and relationships among them which the Lord has established: the springs and the rivers together give the wild animals water to drink; the grass is ready for the cattle; the sun and the moon take turns marking the seasons; the fir trees rise up so that the stork can place its nest in their branches. According to the psalmist, creation is not a formless mass; it is a tightly-woven net of relationships, reciprocal service, and exchanged gifts. Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” comes to mind. The believer is enchanted before the variety of God’s gifts, before the care that he has for all life: "You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills " (v. 10). The amazement for this beauty of creation and for the greatness of God is transformed into gratitude so that it continues to sustain and direct that which it has created, to the point: "when you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust " (v. 29). The order of the things of earth is due to God’s faithfulness: “These all look to you to give them their food in due season; when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things” (v. 27-28). The Lord wants creation to rejoice: the birds sing among the leaves of the trees, the sea monsters play in the ocean (v. 26), and to men and women God gives bread that sustains and wine that gladdens (v. 15). God created for His own joy (v. 31), but also for the joy of men and women (v. 34), at whom he looks with care and tenderness: “People go out to their work and to their labour until the evening” (v. 23). The psalmist is attentive to God, who has turned his face towards his creatures: “When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground” (v.30). Men and women are invited to look at the world the same way God did when he created it: “And God saw that it was good” (Gen 1). The psalm ends with a threat that might surprise us but that reveals God’s plan: “Let the sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more” (v. 35). Evil exists and men and women need to join with God in fighting to eliminate it. The book of Sirach in its wisdom comments on this by saying, “Each supplements the virtues of the other. Who could ever tire of seeing his glory?...We could say more but could never say enough; let the final word be: ‘He is the all.’…For he is greater than all his works” (42:25; 43:27-28).

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