The prayer for peace is held in the basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere

Reading of the Word of God

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Daniel 9,4-10

I pleaded with Yahweh my God and made this confession: 'O my Lord, God great and to be feared, you keep the covenant and show faithful love towards those who love you and who observe your commandments: we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have betrayed your commandments and rulings and turned away from them. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our chief men, our ancestors and all people of the country. Saving justice, Lord, is yours; we have only the look of shame we wear today, we, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in every country to which you have dispersed us because of the treachery we have committed against you. To us, our kings, our chief men and our ancestors, belongs the look of shame, O Yahweh, since we have sinned against you. And it is for the Lord our God to have mercy and to pardon, since we have betrayed him, and have not listened to the voice of Yahweh our God nor followed the laws he has given us through his servants the prophets.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

The words of the prophet Daniel begin with a sincere confession of the infidelity of the entire people who acknowledges their sin and feels ashamed: "Righteousness is on your side, O Lord, but open shame, as at this day, falls on us" (v. 7) Both those who remained in their own land and those who are in exile confess it. All in the same way, with no distinction of class, are finally aware of their grave sin that somehow accompanies the tragedies that have befallen on them. Certainly breaking the covenant would require a condemnation from God. The prophet is aware of it, but he becomes daring in prayer: he speaks to God and intercedes for the people so that He may have compassion of them in his great mercy. The confession of sins certainly opens the way for the request for forgiveness. The prophet identifies with the entire people and intercedes for the salvation of Jerusalem. His attitude reminds Abraham's who invokes God for the salvation of the city of Sodom and Moses' who faces God as the intercessor of the people. In the difficult moments of history, we need always to question ourselves about our unfaithfulness and responsibilities. When the gift of peace is wasted, people need to feel like Daniel, the shame of moving far from the Lord. The Lord will hear Daniel's prayer and indicate to him a complete time "to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity" (see Dan 9:24), seventy weeks after which there will be the jubilee forgiveness. Trust in the mercy of God is the reason for the efficacy of Daniel's prayer. It is what Jesus states many times to his disciples and to us.