EVERYDAY PRAYER

Memory of the Church
Word of god every day
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Church
Thursday, June 23


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

2 Kings 24,8-17

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he came to the throne, and he reigned for three months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem. He did what is displeasing to Yahweh, just as his father had done. At that time the troops of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon advanced on the city and his generals laid siege to it. Jehoiachin king of Judah-he, his mother, his retinue, his nobles and his officials -- then surrendered to the king of Babylon, and the king of Babylon took them prisoner in the eighth year of his reign. The latter carried off all the treasures of the Temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the palace and broke up all the golden furnishings which Solomon king of Israel had made for the sanctuary of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold. He carried all Jerusalem off into exile, all the nobles and all the notables, ten thousand of these were exiled, with all the blacksmiths and metalworkers; only the poorest people in the country were left behind. He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon, as also the king's mother, his officials and the nobility of the country; he made them all leave Jerusalem for exile in Babylon. All the men of distinction, seven thousand of them, the blacksmiths and metalworkers, one thousand of them, all the men capable of bearing arms, were led off into exile in Babylon by the king of Babylon. The king of Babylon deposed Jehoiachin in favour of his paternal uncle Mattaniah, whose name he changed to Zedekiah.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

There is always a connection between the abandonment of God's Law and corruption, which roots itself increasingly in the life of the city. This is an experience that marks Israel's history and that the two books of Kings emphasize particularly. But it is also an experience in our own times: Abandoning God leads to the affirmation of ourselves, of our own groups, to the point of abuse and violence against others, especially the most weak and poor. It becomes even easier to create nets of corruption where individual interests prevail over those of all and in the end suffocate the very life of society. This episode in the Bible shows the capitulation of the king and the entire city of Jerusalem, which becomes impoverished and subjugated to the powerful Babylonian kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar—it is around 597 B.C.—besieges Jerusalem, and without waiting too long, sees King Jehoiachin surrender and give himself up. Nebuchadnezzar deported all rich people and despoiled the treasures of the temple. The passage notes sadly how only "the poorest people of the land" were left in Jerusalem. It is the sad story of the abandonment of the poorest who have always been left abandoned to themselves. This is why the Lord always presented himself as the defender of the widow, the orphan and the foreigner. The Babylonian king installed Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah as new leader of the kingdom of Judah making him change his name to Zedekiah. It is the sad ending of a king who after abandoning the Lord also abandons his city and is deported, dominated by his enemy. And yet we know that the Lord, despite the unfaithfulness of his people, does not abandon them and remains faithful to his covenant of love.

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