EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of Jesus crucified
Word of god every day

Memory of Jesus crucified

Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom ("golden mouth"), bishop and doctor of the Church (†407). The most common liturgy of the Byzantine Church takes its name from him. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified
Friday, September 13

Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom ("golden mouth"), bishop and doctor of the Church (†407). The most common liturgy of the Byzantine Church takes its name from him.


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

1 Timothy 1,1-2.12-14

Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus appointed by the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, to Timothy, true child of mine in the faith. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength. By calling me into his service he has judged me trustworthy, even though I used to be a blasphemer and a persecutor and contemptuous. Mercy, however, was shown me, because while I lacked faith I acted in ignorance; but the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Recalling the mission entrusted to him to preach the Gospel, Paul remembers the moment when the Lord met him on the road to Damascus. And he thanks him for his great kindness and mercy because he called him when he was "a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man." Paul wonders how God has been able to choose him despite all this. He lives like a miracle the fact that he was judged worthy to serve the Gospel. Paul knows that the only reason for his mission comes from above: "I received mercy." As it is for every disciple. Paul, in any case, does not justify his past life because of his ignorance of the Gospel. He recognizes that he had let himself be guided by the blind force of evil that always leads to unjustified and unjustifiable violence. And this is why his gratitude to God is even greater for the overflowing gift he received. From that moment the apostle lives a new life in communion with Christ, from whom he draws the strength of faith and the urgency of charity. He does not forget the past life, which has now been restored, but this memory becomes a reason for humility and gratitude. He calls himself "the least of the apostles," not "unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (1Cor 15:9), "the very least of all the saints" (Eph 3:8). Paul has now become an example for the disciples of all time. He is the clear testimony that no one is so far from God that he cannot be reached by the mercy of God. The confession of praise ends in a prayer of thanksgiving. Of the king, how can I not make the greatest honour to the Lord who shows such a wide love for sinners?

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