MODLITWA NA KAŻDY DZIEŃ

Memory of Jesus crucified
Słowo boże każdego dnia
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified
Friday, March 15


Reading of the Word of God

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Ezekiel 18,21-28

'If the wicked, however, renounces all the sins he has committed, respects my laws and is law-abiding and upright, he will most certainly live; he will not die. None of the crimes he committed will be remembered against him from then on; he will most certainly live because of his upright actions. Would I take pleasure in the death of the wicked -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- and not prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live? 'But if the upright abandons uprightness and does wrong by copying all the loathsome practices of the wicked, is he to live? All his upright actions will be forgotten from then on; for the infidelity of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, he will most certainly die. 'Now, you say, "What the Lord does is unjust." Now listen, House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust? When the upright abandons uprightness and does wrong and dies, he dies because of the wrong which he himself has done. Similarly, when the wicked abandons wickedness to become law-abiding and upright, he saves his own life. Having chosen to renounce all his previous crimes, he will most certainly live: he will not die.

 

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

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

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

The prophet Ezekiel responds to a proverb that said-we find it in the beginning of the chapter-"The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." And to verse 19: "Yet you say, 'Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?'" It is a mentality that is very common even today, when a person is judged for his or her family of origin or for some evil committed by others. And often such judgment becomes a condemnation that marks a person for life. The word of the prophet asserts instead with extreme clarity that the responsibility before good and evil is always personal. No one is right or wicked for the evil committed by another, unless he or she was an accomplice. Rather the text asserts that God is ready to forgive everyone if they convert, if they change their hearts and ways of acting, if they stop doing evil and commit themselves to doing good. The text shows the great mercy of God, who allows everyone to change and convert: "When the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die." God's mercy has no limits, because the Lord is always ready to forgive. But men and women must come to their senses, recognize the evil hidden in their hearts and turn to God with the trust of being listened to and aided. This is also valid for the righteous ones who distance themselves from the way of good: "When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die." The prophet helps us understand that we are all called to watch ourselves every day, because every day we choose between good and evil. No one is righteous and good per se. No one is evil per se. Each of us, every day must take on the responsibility before God of his or her actions and choices. God is always ready to forgive, but God asks each of us to be responsible for what we do. Facing good and evil the assurance of being righteous and good is not in itself a guarantee of life and goodness.

SŁOWO BOŻE NA KAŻDY DZIEŃ: KALENDARZ

Modlitwa jest sercem życia Wspólnoty Sant’Egidio, jej pierwszym „dziełem”. Na zakończenie dnia każda Wspólnota, niezależnie czy mała czy duża, zbiera się wokół Pana, aby słuchać Jego Słowa i zanosić do Niego swe prośby. Uczniowie nie mogą uczynić więcej niż siąść u stóp Jezusa jak Maria z Betanii, aby wybrać „najlepszą cząstkę” (Łk 10, 42) i uczyć się jak mieć te same co On uczucia (por. Flp 2,1-5).

 

Wracając do Pana za każdym razem Wspólnota czyni własną prośbę anonimowego ucznia: "Panie, naucz nas się modlić!”  (Łk 11, 1). I Jezus, nauczyciel modlitwy, nieprzerwanie odpowiada: „Kiedy się modlicie, mówcie: Ojcze nasz”.

 

Kiedy człowiek się modli, także w cichości własnego serca, nigdy nie jest odizolowany od innych czy opuszczony: zawsze jest członkiem rodziny Pana. W modlitwie wspólnotowej poza tajemnicą usynowienia jasno ukazuje się również tajemnica braterstwa.

 

Wspólnoty Sant’Egidio rozsiane po świecie zbierają się w różnych miejscach wybranych na modlitwę i przynoszą Panu nadzieje i cierpienia „znękanych i porzuconych tłumów”, o których mówi Ewangelia (por. Mt 9, 36-37). Należą do tych tłumów także mieszkańcy współczesnych miast, ubodzy zepchnięci na margines życia, wszyscy ci, którzy oczekują, że zostaną najęci choć na dzień (por. Mt 20).

 

Modlitwa Wspólnoty gromadzi wołania, dążenia, pragnienia pokoju, uzdrowienia, poczucia sensu i zbawienia, którymi żyją mężczyźni i kobiety tego świata. Modlitwa nigdy nie jest pusta. Nieustannie wznosi się do Pana, aby płacz zmienił się w radość, desperacja w pogodę ducha, przygnębienie w nadzieję, samotność w zjednoczenie. I aby Królestwo Boże jak najszybciej zamieszkało między ludźmi.