EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Wednesday, July 10


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Genesis 41,55-57; 42,5-7.17-24

But when all Egypt too began to feel the famine and the people appealed to Pharaoh for food, Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, 'Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.' There was famine all over the world. Then Joseph opened all the granaries and rationed out grain to the Egyptians, as the famine grew even worse in Egypt. People came to Egypt from all over the world to get supplies from Joseph, for the famine had grown severe throughout the world. Thus the sons of Israel were among the other people who came to get supplies, there being famine in Canaan. It was Joseph, as the man in authority over the country, who allocated the rations to the entire population. So Joseph's brothers went and bowed down before him, their faces touching the ground. As soon as Joseph saw his brothers he recognised them. But he did not make himself known to them, and he spoke harshly to them. 'Where have you come from?' he asked. 'From Canaan to get food,' they replied. Whereupon, he put them all into custody for three days. On the third day Joseph said to them, 'Do this and you will live, for I am a man who fears God. If you are honest men, let one of your brothers be detained where you are imprisoned; the rest of you, go and take supplies home for your starving families. But you must bring your youngest brother back to me; in this way, what you have said will be verified, and you will not have to die!' And this is what they did. And they said to one another, 'Clearly, we are being punished for what we did to our brother. We saw his deep misery when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen, and now this misery has come home to us.' Reuben retorted to them, 'Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen. Now comes the accounting.' They did not know that Joseph understood, because there was an interpreter between them. He turned away from them and wept. When he was able to speak to them again, he chose Simeon out of their number and had him bound while they looked on.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This Bible passage is part of the story of Jospeh who was sold by his brothers and then was called by Pharaoh to lead the Egyptians. The famine brings back together the brothers whom jealousy had divided, just as happened to the prodigal son, who found himself and his father's household when he was in the moment of greatest difficulty, when he was dying of hunger. Joseph's is in a house of plenty; he has bread while famine humiliates and destroys people. Joseph not only sold bread to the Egyptians, but to all those who were suffering from hunger. Joseph's solidarity allows him not only to support many from hunger but also to find his brothers, and is the first step to rebuilding their broken relationship. Love for our neighbours always helps us to rediscover fraternity. Joseph does not reveal himself to his brothers right away. Reconciliation is not only a feeling of the heart; it requires an itinerary of change of the heart. He puts his brothers to the test and helps them experience the suffering they had made him feel, which he still felt deep in their heart. Joseph's story reminds that of Jesus, the one who reconciles brothers and gives them the bread that saves. Jesus helps the disciples free their hearts from the burden of sin. He knows well what burdens our hearts and helps us understand it without humiliating or crashing us: with the help of his mercy and forgiveness not only are we freed from the burden of sin but we are also helped to change our heart so that is filled with his love.

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