GEBED IEDERE DAG

Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Woord van god elke dag

Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Memorial of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The Ethiopian Church, one of the first among the African churches, venerates Saint Michael as its protector. Lees meer

Libretto DEL GIORNO
Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Tuesday, September 29

Memorial of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The Ethiopian Church, one of the first among the African churches, venerates Saint Michael as its protector.


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

Job 3,1-3.11-17.20-23

In the end it was Job who broke the silence and cursed the day of his birth. This is what he said: Perish the day on which I was born and the night that told of a boy conceived. Why was I not still-born, or why did I not perish as I left the womb? Why were there knees to receive me, breasts for me to suck? Now I should be lying in peace, wrapped in a restful slumber, with the kings and high viziers of earth who have built their dwellings in desolate places, or with princes who have quantities of gold and silver cramming their tombs; or, put away like an abortive child, I should not have existed, like little ones that never see the light. Down there, the wicked bustle no more, there the weary rest. Why give light to a man of grief? Why give life to those bitter of heart, who long for a death that never comes, and hunt for it more than for buried treasure? They would be glad to see the grave-mound and shout with joy if they reached the tomb. Why give light to one who does not see his way, whom God shuts in all alone?

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

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

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The silence of his friends (and how often - as we know from our own experience - we do not know what to say when faced with suffering!) is shattered by Job's cry, which, like the poor and the sick in the psalms, turns to God in prayer, and his prayer is like a great lament questioning the meaning of the existence of a person who is suffering. So begins Job's great protest, which questions divine justice, without lashing out against God. It is a recurrent question that human beings have been asking throughout history: why do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper? Job does not speak against God. He does not curse. He knows that his God is the Lord of life. But what senses does a life have when it is marked by death and suffering like his? Job calls into question his entire life, from birth to death. His words are sharp and hard. He begins by cursing his birth: why could he not have died before he was born, since all he has is darkness? In his words we can see the drama of so many suffering people whose lives are dangling by a thread and who seem to be doomed to death: children who are never born or who are sick, prisoners and those condemned to death, the terminally ill, and the elderly who are abandoned. Job's words also contain great wisdom: they help us think about the meaning of life and death, which seems inevitable. No one can escape it: it strikes the rich and the poor indiscriminately, the powerful and those who do not count, the prisoner and his jailer, the little and the great, the master and the slave. So why do we wear ourselves out chasing ourselves, Job seems to say. That is how fear enters human life: "Truly the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me."

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