EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of Jesus crucified
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified
Friday, October 23


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

Ephesians 4,1-6

I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you therefore to lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you were called. With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love. Take every care to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, over all, through all and within all.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Chapter four begins the second part of the Letter with a more exhortative character. Paul addresses the Christians of Ephesus passionately connecting God's work to their response: "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling you have been called." He knows that there can be no separation between the vocation they received and the behaviour that they should follow. The authenticity of faith is given by the witness of one's life. As it is for him, an apostle, so it is for every believer. Therefore Paul calls on Christians to live for the edification and growth of the Community in love and unity. Seven times the apostle repeats the numeral adjective "one" emphasizing the unity of the community. The apostle urges Christians to "maintain the unity of the Spirit" with a humble, gentle and patient behaviour. Why do these attitudes have priority? Because the apostle believes that through them unity is preserved. Humility places believers before God as those who expect everything from Him. Gentleness urges them not to respond with violence, and patience makes them similar to God who is patient with everyone. Jesus is the model to look at: he, "gentle and humble in heart" (Mt 11:29), came "to serve, and to give his life" (Mk 10:45) "obedient to the point of death " (Phil 2:8). The apostle asks the Ephesians to "maintain" unity, warning that any wound to the unity of the community is made to the very Body of Christ and thus it becomes a betrayal of our vocation to be one body, have one faith and one baptism, to recognize one God and Father of all. Unity springs from accepting the one Spirit in the hearts of believers. It is given to us when we become children of the Father, and children of the mother, the Church.

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