(National feast in Malta
It-Twelid tal-Verġni Mqaddsa
Marija
Reading 1 - Micah 5:1-4a
The LORD says: You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah, too
small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who
is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times. (Therefore
the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has
borne, And the rest of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel.
L-Ewwel Qari:
Qari mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Mikea 5, 1-4a
Dan jgħid
il-Mulej: Int, Betlelhem, Efrata, ċkejkna
biex tkun fost il-familji ta' Ġuda,
minnek għad joħroġli dak li jkun jaħkem f'Iżrael; hu għandu l-bidu tiegħu
mill-qedem, sa minn
dejjem. Għalhekk il-Mulej jitlaqhom sa
ma teħles dik li hi fl-uġigħ tal-ħlas;
imbagħad il-bqija ta' ħutu jerġgħu lura fost ulied Israel , u hu joqgħod jirgħa l-merħla tiegħu bil-qawwa
tal-Mulej, bis-sebħ ta' isem il-Mulej, Alla tiegħu. U huma jgħammru, għax issa tkun kbira setegħtu sat-trufijiet
tal-art. U dan ikun is-sliem! Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm - Isaiah
13:6ab, 6c
R. (Isaiah
61:10) With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Though I trusted in your mercy,
let my heart rejoice in your salvation. R/
let my heart rejoice in your salvation. R/
Let me sing of the LORD,
"He has been good to me." R/
Salm Responsjorali - Salm
12
R/
Nifraħ b'ferħ kbir fil-Mulej!
Jien fit-tjieba tiegħek,
Mulej, ittamajt;
tifraħ qalbi
fis-salvazzjoni tiegħek. R/
Ngħanni lill-Mulej, għax
għamilli l-ġid;
ngħanni lill-isem
tal-Mulej, il-Għoli. R/
Reading 2 - Romans 8: 28-30
Brothers and sisters: We know that all
things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he also justified; and those he justified he
also glorified. This is the Word of The Lord.
It-Tieni Qari: mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl Appostlu
lir-Rumani 8, 28-30
Ħuti, aħna nafu li
Alla, ma' dawk li
jħobbuh, f'kollox jaħdem id f'id magħhom għall-ġid, ma dawk li huma msejħin skond il-providenza tiegħu. Għax lil dawk li hu għarafhom mill-bidu,
ippredestinahom ukoll biex jieħdu sura xbieha ta' Ibnu, ħalli dan ikun il-kbir
fost ħafna aħwa; lil dawk
li predestinahom, sejħilhom ukoll;lil dawk li sejħilhom, iġġustifikahom ukoll;
lil dawk imbagħad li ġġustifikahom,
sebbaħhom ukoll. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel - Matthew 1, 1-16, 18-23
This is the
genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham
was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah
and his brothers, Judah the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar, Perez the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram
the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of
Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of
Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of
King David. David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s
wife, Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the
father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, Asa the
father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram, Jehoram the father of
Uzziah, Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father
of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, Hezekiah the
father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, Amon the father of Josiah, and
Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to
Babylon. After the exile to Babylon: Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel
the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the father of
Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, Eliakim
the father of Azor, Azor the father of Zadok, Zadok the
father of Akim, Akim the father of Elihud, Elihud the
father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of
Jesus who is called the Messiah. This
is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged
to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be
pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph
her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to
public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But
after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home
as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy
Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All
this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the
prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will
call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
L-Evanġelju - Qari
mill-Evanġelju skont San Mattew 1, 1-16,
18-23
Ktieb in-nisel ta' Ġesu'
Kristu, Bin David, bin Abraħam. Abraħam nissel 'l Iżakk, Iżakk nissel 'il Ġakobb, Ġakobb nissel 'il Ġuda
u 'l ħutu, Ġuda nissel 'l Aram, Aram nissel 'il Għaminabad, Għaminabad nissel 'il Naħson, Naħson nissel
'il Salmon, Salmon nissel 'il Bogħoż,
minn Raħab, Bogħoż nissel 'il Għobed, minn Rut, Għobed nissel 'il Ġesse. Ġesse nissel lis-sultan David, David
nissel 'il Salamun, mill-mara ta' Urija,
Salamun nissel 'il Robogħam, Robogħam nissel 'l Abija, Abija nissel 'l
Asa, Asa nisel 'il Ġosafat, Ġosafat
nissel 'il Ġoram, Ġoram nissel 'il Għużżija,
Għużżija nissel 'il Ġoatam, Ġoatam nissel 'l Aħaż, Aħaż nissel 'il Ħeżekija, Ħeżekija nissel 'il
Manasse, Manasse nissel 'l Amon, Amon nissel 'il Ġosija, Ġosija nissel 'il Ġekonija
u l-ħutu; kien żmien l-eżilju f'Babel. Wara l-eżilju f'Babel, Ġekonija nissel 'il Salatjel, Salatjel nissel
'il Żorobabel, Żorobabel nissel 'l
Abihud, Abihun nissel 'l Eljakim, Eljakin nissel 'l Ażor, Ażor nissel 'il
Sadok, Sakok nissel 'l Akim, Akin missel
'l Elihud, Elihud nissel 'l Elgħażar,
Elgħażar nissel 'il Mattan, Mattan
nissel 'il Ġakobb, Ġakobb nissel 'il Ġużeppi, ir-raġel ta' Marija, li minnha
twieled Ġesu', li jsejħulu Kristu. It-tnissel ta' Ġesu' Kristu sar hekk: Ommu Marija, wara li tgħarrest ma' Ġużeppi, qabel ma marru joqgħodu flimkien, ħarġet
tqila bil-ħidma tal-Ispirtu s-Santu.
Żewġha Ġużeppi, li kien raġel ġust u li ma riedx ixandarha quddiem kulħadd,
għamel f'rasu li jibgħatha bil-moħbi tan-nies.
Wara li qatagħha li jagħmel hekk, deherlu anġlu tal-Mulej fil-ħolm u
qallu: "Ġużeppi, bin David, la
tibżax tilqa' għandek lil Marija martek,għax
dak li tnissel fiha ġie bil-ħidma tal-Ispirtu s-Santu. Hi jkollha iben,
u inti ssemmih Ġesu', għax hu jsalva l-poplu tiegħu minn
……………………
Commentary:
Birthday of Mary, the Mother of God
The Nativity of Our Lady, the Theotokos
This reading on
the nativity of Mary, Our Lady, known in the East as the Theotokos is an
excerpt from a discourse by St. Andrew of Crete and is used in the Roman Catholic Office of Readings
for the Feast of the Birth of the Virgin Mary on September 8.
Saint Andrew of
The
fulfilment of the law is Christ himself, who does not so much lead us away from
the letter but has lift us up to its spirit. For the law’s consummation was
this, that the very lawgiver accomplished his work and changed letter into
spirit, summing everything up in himself and, though subject to the law, living
by grace. He subordinated the law, yet harmoniously united grace with it, not
confusing the distinctive characteristics of the one with the other, but
effecting the transition in a way most fitting for God. He changed whatever was
burdensome, servile and oppressive into what is light and liberating, so that
we should be enslaved no longer under the elemental spirits of
the world, as the Apostle says, nor held fast as bondservants under the
letter of the law.
This is the highest, all-embracing benefit that Christ has bestowed on us. This is the revelation of the mystery, this is the emptying out of the divine nature, the union of God and man, and the deification of the manhood that was assumed. This radiant and manifest coming of God to men most certainly needed a joyful prelude to introduce the great gift of salvation to us. The present festival, the birth of the Mother of God, is the prelude, while the final act is the fore-ordained union of the Word with flesh. Today the Virgin is born, tended and formed and prepared for her role as Mother of God, who is the universal King of the ages.
Justly, then, do we celebrate this mystery since it signifies for us a double grace. We are led toward the truth, and we are led away from our condition of slavery to the letter of the law. How can this be? Darkness yields before the coming of the light, and grace exchanges legalism for freedom. But midway between the two stands today’s mystery, at the frontier where types and symbols give way to reality, and the old is replaced by the new. Therefore, let all creation sing and dance and unite to make worthy contribution to the celebration of this day. Let there be one common festival for saints in heaven and men on earth. Let everything, mundane things and those above, join in festive celebration. Today this created world is raised to the dignity of a holy place for him who made all things. The creature is newly prepared to be a divine dwelling place for the Creator.
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