EVERYDAY PRAYER

Prayer for the sick
Word of god every day

Prayer for the sick

The prayer for the sick is held in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Prayer for the sick
Monday, July 6

The prayer for the sick 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

Hosea 2,16.17-18.21-22

But look, I am going to seduce her and lead her into the desert and speak to her heart. There I shall give her back her vineyards, and make the Vale of Achor a gateway of hope. There she will respond as when she was young, as on the day when she came up from Egypt. When that day comes- declares Yahweh- you will call me, 'My husband', no more will you call me, 'My Baal'. I shall betroth you to myself for ever, I shall betroth you in uprightness and justice, and faithful love and tenderness. Yes, I shall betroth you to myself in loyalty and in the knowledge of Yahweh.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This week we are accompanied by some pages of the prophet Hosea, a prophet who sings of God's mercy with particular force. We know the story of Hosea's family, which is narrated in the first three chapters of his book, from which this passage is taken. He is married to Gomer, a woman who continues to practice prostitution. Yet, God forces the prophet to keep her as his wife. She represents Israel, which continues to break its covenant with the Lord. The Lord asks Hosea to keep her as his wife to demonstrate his love for Israel despite its betrayal. In this passage we can see the strength of God's love, who, even though he has been betrayed by his people, continues to court them until he brings them back to the covenant. God had given Israel everything: the earth with its goods ("my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink"), but Israel continued to follow idols, who had become like lovers that held its heart. The words of the prophet certainly accuse the people of having strayed from God and his love. But the Lord does not give up before the forgetfulness of his people or even their betrayal. He tries everything to win back his people's hearts: he accuses, speaks, tries to dissuade from going to the idols, and takes away the things he had given them as gifts. But everything seems useless because of the pride that makes the people of Israel feel secure and self-sufficient. Until he brings them to the desert. And here, in the place of deprivation and death, God speaks to the heart of his people and helps them rediscover the strength and the sweetness of the love with which they are loved.

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