EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer for peace
Word of god every day

Prayer for peace

The prayer for peace is held in the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for peace
Monday, September 16

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

1 Timothy 2,1-8

I urge then, first of all that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving should be offered for everyone, for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live peaceful and quiet lives with all devotion and propriety. To do this is right, and acceptable to God our Saviour: he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, himself a human being, Christ Jesus, who offered himself as a ransom for all. This was the witness given at the appointed time, of which I was appointed herald and apostle and -- I am telling the truth and no lie -- a teacher of the gentiles in faith and truth. In every place, then, I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The apostle recommends to Timothy "first of all" prayer; it is the first work of the believer. And prayer in common is particularly so. The four forms of prayer quoted - "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings" - show the richness with which the invocation of the community is expressed. The horizon of Christian prayer knows no boundaries and extends to all men and women. Christians, even in prayer, express the universality of the Gospel. As they are called to welcome all people, without boundaries or limitations of culture, ethnicity or kinship, so too their prayer raises up to God for the whole world. One could also say that prayer is marked by the geography of friends, the questions, the anguishes, the problems, the praise and the thanksgivings of the world. It refers to a love that goes beyond temporal, spatial and individual limits; it is a love that does not neglect anyone, even less excludes someone. As God embraces all men and women, and "makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous" (Mt 5:45), so the Christian community prays for everyone. Furthermore, there is a real community ministry in praying for the entire human family so that everyone's life may be "quiet and peaceable." Paul thus overshadows this ministry of intercession for the world and for peace. It is a task entrusted to the Church regardless of the convictions and behaviour of the civil authorities. And the apostle not by chance emphasizes that prayer for all people, including rulers, is "pleasing" to God, because he is the "Saviour" of all. And prayer made in the name of Jesus, the only mediator and saviour is effective. This bond with Jesus makes the Church's prayer truly "Catholic." And Paul entrusts this ministry to Timothy and to the disciples of all times. Prayer thus becomes the bond of fraternity and love among the Christian communities spread throughout the earth and their first ministry for the salvation of all.

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