GEBED IEDERE DAG

Sunday Vigil
Woord van god elke dag
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Sunday Vigil
Saturday, August 8


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Habakkuk 1,12-2,4

Surely you, Yahweh, are from ancient times, my holy God, who never dies! Yahweh, you have appointed him to execute judgement; O Rock, you have set him firm to punish. Your eyes are too pure to rest on evil, you cannot look on at oppression. Why do you look on at those who play the traitor, why say nothing while the wicked swallows someone more upright than himself? Why treat people like fish of the sea, like gliding creatures who have no leader? They haul them all up on their hook, they catch them in their net, they sweep them up in their dragnet and then make merry and rejoice. And so they offer a sacrifice to their net, and burn incense to their dragnet, for by these they get a rich living and live off the fat of the land. Are they to go on emptying their net unceasingly, slaughtering the nations without pity? I shall stand at my post, I shall station myself on my watch-tower, watching to see what he will say to me, what answer he will make to my complaints. Then Yahweh answered me and said, 'Write the vision down, inscribe it on tablets to be easily read. For the vision is for its appointed time, it hastens towards its end and it will not lie; although it may take some time, wait for it, for come it certainly will before too long. 'You see, anyone whose heart is not upright will succumb, but the upright will live through faithfulness.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If you believe, you will see the glory of God,
thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Lord is not a silent God, mute, like the idols of this world. The prophet reports that God spoke these words, "For I am rousing the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous nation." Indeed, the Chaldeans, the people who had destroyed Jerusalem and put an end to the kingdom of Judah, are chosen by the Lord to establish justice. "O Lord," Habakkuk says to God, "you have marked them for judgement; and you, O Rock, have established them for punishment." In the first part of the oracle, Habakkuk describes the Chaldeans military forces, which no one can resist: they are ferocious ("wolves at dusk"), they easily seize prisoners, they capture cities and entire countries. It might seem that God is responding to violence with war, with more violence. And yet even if during the prophet's time war was understood as a proper means for eliminating injustice, the prophet shines light on its ambiguity. How can justice be brought about through the use of violence? He debates with God himself: even though he exalts its sense of justice and holiness, the prophet never stops describing the inhumanity of war, almost accusing God for having desired it and for continuing to permit injustice: "Your eyes are too pure to behold evil, and you cannot look on wrongdoing; why do you look on the treacherous, and are silent when the wicked swallow those more righteous than they?" In the midst of conflict, men and women lose their sense of humanity and are left as nothing more than enemies who are obliged to destroy each other. How often do conflicts arise from the desire to possess, to dominate others! In truth, war not only does not solve problems, it makes them worse. The prosperity of the victor becomes a condemnation to continue being violent. This is why war is truly the "mother of all poverty."

WOORD VAN GOD ELKE DAG: DE KALENDER

Het gebed is het hart van het leven van de Gemeenschap van Sant’Egidio. Het is haar eerste “werk”. Aan het einde van de dag komt elke Gemeenschap, of die nu klein of groot is, samen bij de Heer om het Woord te beluisteren en zich tot Hem te richten in het gebed. De leerlingen kunnen niet anders dan aan de voeten van Jezus zitten, zoals Maria van Bethanië, om het “betere deel” te kiezen (Lc 10, 42) en van Hem zijn gezindheid te leren (vgl. Fil 2, 5).

Elke keer dat de Gemeenschap zich tot de Heer richt, maakt ze zich die vraag eigen van de anonieme leerling: “Heer, leer ons bidden!” (Lc 11, 1). En Jezus, meester in het gebed, antwoordt: “Wanneer jullie bidden, zeg dan: Abba, Vader”.

Wanneer we bidden, ook in de geslotenheid van ons eigen hart, zijn we nooit alleen of verweesd. Integendeel, we zijn leden van de familie van de Heer. In het gemeenschappelijk gebed wordt naast het mysterie van het kindschap, ook dat van de broederschap en zusterschap duidelijk.

De Gemeenschappen van Sant’Egidio, verspreid over de wereld, verzamelen zich op de verschillende plaatsen die gekozen zijn voor het gebed en brengen de hoop en het verdriet van de “uitgeputte en hulpeloze mensenmenigte” waarover het Evangelie spreekt (Mt 9, 37) bij de Heer. Deze oude menigte omvat de inwoners van onze hedendaagse steden, de armen die zich bevinden in de marge van het leven, en iedereen die wacht om als dagloner te worden aangenomen (vgl. Mt 20).

Het gemeenschappelijk gebed verzamelt de schreeuw, de hoop, het verlangen naar vrede, genezing, zin en redding, die beleefd worden door de mannen en vrouwen van deze wereld. Het gebed is nooit leeg. Het stijgt onophoudelijk op naar de Heer opdat verdriet verandert in vreugde, wanhoop in blijheid, angst in hoop, eenzaamheid in gemeenschap. En het rijk Gods zal spoedig temidden van de mensen komen.

WOORD VAN GOD ELKE DAG: DE KALENDER