GEBED IEDERE DAG

Sunday Vigil
Woord van god elke dag
Libretto DEL GIORNO
Sunday Vigil
Saturday, October 3


Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Job 42,1-3.5-6.12-16

This was the answer Job gave to Yahweh: I know that you are all-powerful: what you conceive, you can perform. I was the man who misrepresented your intentions with my ignorant words. You have told me about great works that I cannot understand, about marvels which are beyond me, of which I know nothing. Before, I knew you only by hearsay but now, having seen you with my own eyes, I retract what I have said, and repent in dust and ashes. Yahweh blessed Job's latter condition even more than his former one. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand she-donkeys. He had seven sons and three daughters; his first daughter he called 'Turtledove', the second 'Cassia' and the third 'Mascara'. Throughout the land there were no women as beautiful as the daughters of Job. And their father gave them inheritance rights like their brothers. After this, Job lived for another one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and his children's children to the fourth generation.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Job meets with God personally. He understands that nothing is impossible with God. This is the recognition of a man of faith who relies on God's love even in difficult times, when everything seems impossible. This is why Job acknowledges that he dared to deal with things that exceeded his capacity, that he could not understand. For who can understand the divine mystery without listening to God's word? Job spoke at length, but now he understands that God is not far away and that his prayer should give room to God's presence and word. "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you," says Job. Many times we know God by the hearing of the ear or we claim to know Him because we have heard of Him since childhood, or perhaps because we have an idea of Him by what we heard. But who knows the God of the Bible? We can know God only when we meet Him. He is a person who comes to meet each one, who talks to everyone, who listens to whoever turns to Him. He is not a God who is known by hearsay. Job and his friends had engaged in a theological debate about God and his righteousness. Job now meets him, sees God next to him, not distant anymore as distant is one with whom we want to have a discussion. The central question of the Bible is how to meet God. The very biblical pages are the best place for this meeting to happen. The meeting will be fulfilled with the Lord Jesus. He will say: "Who has seen me has seen the Father." The book of Job ends as it opened. There is an unfathomable mystery, before which no one can claim to have understood everything. This is why in the end Job was ready to accept the divine word and manifestation, and to understand that he had not been left alone in suffering and trial. Job's restitution to his initial condition is the sign of God's blessing for every man and woman who continually turns to Him and does not lose hope in the benevolent presence of the Lord.

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