EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer for peace
Word of god every day

Prayer for peace

Monday of the Angel.
The prayer for peace is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.
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Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for peace
Monday, April 17

Monday of the Angel.
The prayer for peace 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

Matthew 28,8-15

Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples. And suddenly, coming to meet them, was Jesus. 'Greetings,' he said. And the women came up to him and, clasping his feet, they did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; there they will see me.' Now while they were on their way, some of the guards went off into the city to tell the chief priests all that had happened. These held a meeting with the elders and, after some discussion, handed a considerable sum of money to the soldiers with these instructions, 'This is what you must say, "His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep." And should the governor come to hear of this, we undertake to put things right with him ourselves and to see that you do not get into trouble.' So they took the money and carried out their instructions, and to this day that is the story among the Jews.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

As if it did not want us to leave Easter, the Gospel has us stay in the day of the resurrection. Matthew presents Jesus to us as he goes to meet the women while they were running toward the house where the disciples were staying. Jesus says to the women, “Do not be afraid, go tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me.” The Teacher wants the Gospel of the resurrection to be proclaimed and his “his brothers” to meet him. It is an invitation for to all of his disciples. Every generation, indeed, should go to its own Galilee to meet the Risen One. However, there is no lack of people who try to block the proclamation of Easter. The evangelist writes that the religious leaders, fearful of the guards’ story, bribe them and convince them to lie, saying that the disciples had taken the body of Jesus while they were asleep. There are two contradictory accounts: two poor women against the more credible guards. It is very striking to listen to this Gospel: the world wants the tombs sealed; it uses lies and corruption to keep the news of Jesus’ resurrection from spreading. The prince of evil is ready to employ any tactic to keep the liberating message of victory of life over death, of love for others over self-love, from spreading. Ever since then, anyone who proclaims this news may be dragged before kings and judges to be condemned. In our world there is a culture of death that begins in the very first years of life. It starts with teaching people to be selfish and to think only of themselves and leads to a complete disregard for the lives of others and the lives of those who suffer. The culture of death drugs the living, brutalizes them, and snuffs them out, making them into slaves. The culture of death justifies the market of death: food is hidden from the hungry, drugs are offered to the resigned, and weapons are sold to the angry. And people die, people die in many lands, in different ways, believing that it happens for different reasons, but it is all part of the same plan; the culture of death’s plan is for men and women to become stupid and selfish at a young age in order to make slaves of them. Intimidation and corruption want to silence the Gospel of life. They were not able to silence the Lord Jesus, so they killed him. They also want to silence his disciples. Do not be afraid! Even two poor women who are completely obedient to the Gospel are enough to defeat the plot of the leaders.

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