EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of Jesus crucified
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified
Friday, August 12


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

Ezekiel 16,1-15.60.63

The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows, 'Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her loathsome practices! Say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: By origin and birth you belong to the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. At birth, the very day you were born, there was no one to cut your navel-string, or wash you in water to clean you, or rub you with salt, or wrap you in swaddling clothes. No one looked at you with pity enough to do any of these things out of sympathy for you. You were exposed in the open fields in your own dirt on the day you were born. "I saw you kicking on the ground in your blood as I was passing, and I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live! and I made you grow like the grass of the fields. You developed, you grew, you reached marriageable age. Your breasts became firm and your hair grew richly, but you were stark naked. Then I saw you as I was passing. Your time had come, the time for love. I spread my cloak over you and covered your nakedness; I gave you my oath, I made a covenant with you -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- and you became mine. I bathed you in water, I washed the blood off you, I anointed you with oil. I gave you embroidered dresses, fine leather shoes, a linen headband and a cloak of silk. I loaded you with jewels, gave you bracelets for your wrists and a necklace for your throat. I gave you nose-ring and earrings; I put a beautiful diadem on your head. You were loaded with gold and silver and dressed in linen and silk and brocade. Your food was the finest flour, honey and oil. You grew more and more beautiful; and you rose to be queen. The fame of your beauty spread through the nations, since it was perfect, because I had clothed you with my own splendour -- declares the Lord Yahweh. "But you became infatuated with your own beauty and used your fame to play the whore, lavishing your debauchery on all comers. but I shall remember my covenant with you when you were a girl and shall conclude a covenant with you that will last for ever. and so remember and feel ashamed and in your confusion be reduced to silence, when I forgive you for everything you have done -- declares the Lord Yahweh." '

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The prophet describes the story of God?s covenant with his people using the metaphor of a king who rescues a new-born baby girl abandoned on the side of the road and takes care of her and raises her to make her his queen, even though she continues to sell herself as prostitute to other men. Through this metaphor, the prophet wants the people to become aware of their sin and especially of how great God?s love for them is. The sadness of exile in which the people of Israel find themselves is nothing other than the bitter consequence of their betrayal of their covenant with God. Recognizing our sin, our weakness, and the need for help and support that we all have is the prerequisite for being able to turn to God and ask for his help. In any case, the sad story of this baby abandoned at birth - we still hear about new-born babies abandoned in the bushes or even in dumpsters - is not meant to emphasize the unfortunate condition of the baby, but rather God?s decision to rescue and take care of her without ever abandoning her. Indeed, God made her a queen. The entire history of Israel - even if the people often forget - is marked by God?s love, which never abandons his people, despite their continued betrayal. The description of how the Lord is moved at the young girl?s growth is beautiful. God?s love accompanies us through the years and at the various stages of our lives finds ways to help us grow. The repetition of the phrase, "I passed by you again and looked on you" in the story demonstrates the continuity of a love that sees and does not pass by but rather stops and offers the help we need. The prophet?s words not only reveal the continuity of God?s mercy for his people and for each one of us, but also the fact that his mercy never fades through the different ages of our life and the different situations and circumstances in which we find ourselves. The Lord?s love is not just any love. It is a love that sees, a love that is moved, and a love that understands our lives more deeply than we do or can. If we trust in this love - despite all of our betrayals - we will be surrounded by it. God?s mercy is our salvation, not our faithfulness. Blessed are we if we let ourselves be seduced by such love.

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!