EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the apostles
Word of god every day

Memory of the apostles

Feast of the Apostle Andrew Read more

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the apostles
Tuesday, November 30

Feast of the Apostle Andrew


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Matthew 4,18-22

As he was walking by the Lake of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast into the lake with their net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you fishers of people.' And at once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. And at once, leaving the boat and their father, they followed him.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If we die with him, we shall live with him,
if with him we endure, with him we shall reign.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Today the Church remembers the apostle Andrew, the first of those who were called. This memory reminds us that Christians are primarily disciples, believers who listen to the word of the Lord and follow him. This is why the story of the fist who was called - such as the narration of the Gospel of John presents us (1:40) - continues to be of example to us. Andrew, the son of Jonah and brother of Simon Peter, was from Bethsaida and worked as a fisherman with his brother. While he was mending the nets, Jesus, called him; he immediately left them and followed him. According to tradition Andrew proclaimed the Gospel in Syria, Asia Minor and Greece and he died in Patrassus crucified like his Master. Orthodoxy venerates him as the first bishop of the city of Constantinople. Jesus' invitation to follow him was a direct one: The Teacher explained God's future in the only way that those fishermen could understand, perhaps in the only way that can excite them, " Come and follow me, I will make you fish for people." Andrew and Simon, listen to the invitation, leave their nets and follow him. Andrew accepts Jesus' invitation. Jesus explains to the two their future in the only way they could understand, maybe the only one that could make them enthusiastic: You will still fish, but you will fish for people." It is an invitation that is addressed also to us in this time. In order to fish in this way, we need to leave the boat of always and start travelling not on the water anymore, but on the land of men and women of this time, a land even more fluid and uncertain than the waters of the lake. It is no longer the watery sea, but the sea of humanity often abandoned and lost. Jesu sis still looking for disciples like Andrew and this is why he continues to invite. Jesus himself is the first "fisher for people." He hopes also on us. It is not for us to decide whether we are worthy or not, or if anyone else is. From the Gospel's perspective, all we have to do is listen to the invitation, accept it, and respond. Following Jesus is not a choice for heroes or elected spirits. The first four disciples were simple fishermen: they listen to Jesus, trusted him and followed him

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