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Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Word of god every day

Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Memorial of Saint Clare of Assisi (†1253), disciple of Saint Francis on the way of poverty and evangelic simplicity. Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Tuesday, August 11

Memorial of Saint Clare of Assisi (†1253), disciple of Saint Francis on the way of poverty and evangelic simplicity.


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Ezekiel 2,8-3,4

But you, son of man, are to listen to what I say to you; do not be a rebel like that rebellious tribe. Open your mouth and eat what I am about to give you.' When I looked, there was a hand stretch- ing out to me, holding a scroll. He un- rolled it in front of me; it was written on, front and back; on it was written 'Lamentations, dirges and cries of grief '. He then said, 'Son of man, eat what you see; eat this scroll, then go and speak to the House of Israel.' I opened my mouth; he gave me the scroll to eat and then said, 'Son of man, feed on this scroll which I am giving you and eat your fill.' So I ate it, and it tasted sweet as honey. He then said, 'Son of man, go to the House of Israel and tell them what I have said.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The prophet receives his mission from God through a kind of sacramental Liturgy. First, the Lord asks Ezekiel to listen and obey: "But you, mortal, hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious." He does not yet know what task the Lord will give him, but first he must obey the Word of the Lord. In front of the Lord, we are first called to welcome his word and put it into practice. This is the meaning of faith. We become believers precisely when we trust in the word of the Lord, listening to it faithfully and putting it into practice word for word. That is what makes us believers and then prophets, that is, people who communicate the Word of the Lord. Without this willingness to listen - which requires the humility of those who trust in someone else - we cannot receive any mission. We could say that trust in God is not only the requirement for mission, but the substance of the faith. The prophet sees the hand of God stretching out and handing him a scroll with writing on both front and back. It is a parchment with writing on both sides. The scroll bears the words the Lord wants communicated to the people, and they must descend into the depths of the prophet's heart, indeed, into his very flesh. He must be nourished by that scroll. It is his true food. Ezekiel must eat the scroll like bread: "O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel." The prophet does not speak on his own initiative, nor is he called to repeat an abstract lesson or promulgate a theory. A prophet has to be nourished by Holy Scripture until he or she becomes a living word. A prophet must communicate the Word of God through his or her very existence and behaviour. That is how a prophet gains authority. The scroll covered with writing on both sides represents a spiritual reading, that is, reading the words of the Bible and applying them to daily life: behind the literal meaning of what is written is hidden a spiritual meaning, that which the text says to my life and to the community in order to transform the world as God desires it.

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