EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of Jesus crucified
Word of god every day

Memory of Jesus crucified

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr. He announced the Gospel in Germany and was killed while celebrating the Eucharist (†754). Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of Jesus crucified
Friday, June 5

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr. He announced the Gospel in Germany and was killed while celebrating the Eucharist (†754).


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

2 Timothy 3,10-16

You, though, have followed my teaching, my way of life, my aims, my faith, my patience and my love, my perseverance and the persecutions and sufferings that came to me in places like Antioch, Iconium and Lystra -- all the persecutions I have endured; and the Lord has rescued me from every one of them. But anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be persecuted; while these wicked impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others, and themselves deceived. You must keep to what you have been taught and know to be true; remember who your teachers were, and how, ever since you were a child, you have known the holy scriptures -from these you can learn the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and useful for refuting error, for guiding people's lives and teaching them to be upright.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Paul has just warned Timothy that in the end times there will be difficult moments due to a general degradation of habits: "For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power." Paul warns him: "Avoid them!" And he invites Timothy to remember--given that he has "closely followed" him-- his example, his way of living with faith, with love, with magnanimity, and also to take into account the persecutions and suffering that ensue. Rather the apostle clearly states that, "Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Timothy must be aware-- and we too--that all the disciples will have the same fate as Jesus. This is why Paul calls on the disciple with paternal solicitude: "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed." Our strength comes entirely from listening to the Holy Scriptures. Indeed, the Scriptures were inspired by God to be a living and pure source of a new wisdom. Holy Scriptures are useful for teaching, for convincing, for correcting and for building justice. Listening to the scriptures faithfully and continuously, forms the disciple according to the very thought of God. The scriptures have been sent by God himself "so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work."

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