Is-Sitt Ħadd matul is-Sena
Messalin A pp277
Lectionary: 76
Reading 1 SIRach 15:15-20
If you
choose you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live; he
has set before you fire and water to whichever you choose, stretch forth your
hand. Before man are life and death, good and evil,
whichever he chooses shall be given him. Immense is the wisdom of the
Lord; he is mighty in power, and
all-seeing. The eyes of God are on those who fear him; he understands man’s
every deed. No one does he command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin. This is
the Word of the Lord.
L-Ewwel
Lezzjoni - Qari mill-Ktieb ta' Bin Sirak
15, 15-20
Jekk
trid tista' tħares il-kmandamenti, u b'rieda tajba tista' tkun fidil. Hu qegħedlek quddiemek in-nar
u l-ilma; liema trid minnhom, midd idek għalih. Quddiem il-bniedem hemm
il-ħajja u l-mewt, u liema tixtieq qalbu lesta għalih. Għax
għerf il-Mulej hu bla qjies, qawwi f'setegħtu u jara kollox. Għajnejh fuq dawk
li jibżgħu minnu, u jagħraf kull ma jagħmel il-bniedem. Lil ħadd ma qabbad jgħix ħażin, u lil ħadd ma
rħielu jidneb. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm PSalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34
Blessed
are they whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R/ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
who walk in the law of the LORD.
Blessed are they who observe his decrees,
who seek him with all their heart.
R/ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
Oh, that I might be firm in the ways
of keeping your statutes!
R/ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Be good to your servant, that I may live
and keep your words.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R/ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Instruct me, O LORD, in the way of your statutes,
that I may exactly observe them.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
R/ Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!
Salm Responsorjali (Salm 118(119)
R/ Ħenjin
dawk li jimxu fil-liġi tal-Mulej
Ħenjin dawk li triqthom bla ħtija,
li jimxu fil-liġi tal-Mulej.
Ħenjin dawk li jħarsu l-preċetti tiegħek,
u lijfittxuh b'qalbhom kollha. R/
Int tajt il-preċetti tiegħek,
biex
inħarsuhom bir-reqqa.
Ħa
jżomm sħiħ il-mixi tiegħi
fil-ħarsien
tal-kmandamenti tiegħek! R/
Kun
twajjeb mal-qaddej tiegħek,
agħtini
li ngħix u nħares il-kelma tiegħek.
Iftaħli
għajnejja,
biex
nara l-għeġubijiet tal-liġi tiegħek. R/
Għallimni,
Mulej, it-triq tal-kmandamenti tiegħek,
jiena
rrid nibqa' fiha sa l-aħħar.
Feħemni
biex inħares il-liġi tiegħek
u
nagħmilha b'qalbi kollha. R/
Reading 2 1 CORinthians 2:6-10
Brothers
and sisters: We speak a wisdom to those
who are mature, not a wisdom of this
age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. Rather, we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious,
hidden, which God predetermined before the ages for our glory, and which none
of the rulers of this age knew; for, if they had known it, they would not have
crucified the Lord of glory. But as it
is written: What eye has not seen,
and ear has not heard, and what has not
entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him, this
God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit scrutinizes
everything, even the depths of God. This is the Word of the Lord.
It-Tieni
Lezzjoni - Qari mill-Ewwel
Ittra ta' San Pawl lill-Korintin 2, 6-10
Ħuti, aħna ngħallmu l-għerf fost dawk li huma
perfetti, imma mhux l-għerf ta' din
id-dinja, anqas l-għerf tal-priniċipati ta'din id-dinja, l;i sa
jintemmu fix-xejn. Ngħallmu l-għerf ta' Alla moħbi f'misteru, li Alla fassal qabel iż-żmien għall-glorja
tagħna. Ebda wieħed mill-mexxejja ta'
din id-dinja ma għarfu; kieku għarfuh,
qatt ma kienu se jsallbu lill-Mulej tal-glorja. Imma, bħalma hu miktub:
"Dak li għajn qatt ma rat u widna qatt ma semgħet, u dak li qatt ma
tnissel f'qalb il-bnedmin, dak Alla lesta għal dawk li jħobbuħ." Alla
rrivelahuna permezz ta' l-Ispirtu; għax l-Ispirtu jgħarbel kollox, sa fil-qiegħ ta' Alla.
Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel MatThew 5:17-37
Jesus
said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the
prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until
heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the
law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the
least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in
the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be
called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness
surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of
heaven. “You have heard that it was
said to your ancestors, You shall not
kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the
altar, and there recall that your
brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on
the way to court. Otherwise your
opponent will hand you over to the judge,
and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny. “You
have heard that it was said, You
shall not commit adultery. But I say
to you, everyone who looks at a woman
with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it
out and throw it away. It is better for
you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into
Gehenna. And if your right hand causes
you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is
better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body go into Gehenna. “It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a
bill of divorce. But I say to you, whoever
divorces his wife - unless the marriage is unlawful - causes her to
commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. “Again
you have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to
the Lord all that you vow. But I say
to you, do not swear at all; not by
heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by
the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem
L-Evanġelju
- Qari mill-Evanġelju skond San Mattew 5, 17 -37
F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu:
"Xejn taħsbu li ġejt inwanqqa'
l-Liġi jew il-Profeti; jien ma ġejtx biex inwaqqagħhom, iżda biex
inwassalhom għall-milja tagħhom.
Tassew, ngħidilkom, li sa ma
jkunu għaddew is-sema u l-art anqas l-iżgħar ittra jew tikka waħda mil-Liġi ma titneħħa sa ma jkun seħħ
kollox. Jekk mela xi ħadd iġib fix-xejn wieħed
mill-iżgħar minn minn minn minn
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Teacher of the Law
COMMENTARY for your personal reflection:
by Larry Broding, www.word-sunday.com
In 1994, a previously unpublished document
from the Dead Sea Scrolls saw the light of day. The Halakhic Scroll (4QMMT)
discussed many points of the Law, including the purity of liquid streams, a
rather esoteric subject, to say the least. However, this scroll forced many
Christian scholars to reassess their view of Palestinian culture in the time of
Jesus. Up to this point, that view was informed by Josephus, the Jewish
historian to the Roman world in the first century AD. Josephus described Jewish
life before the fall of Jerusalem Palestine Nazareth
In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus exclaimed he came
to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. As the note above stated, such fulfillment
could be seen as either an example or as a scribe/interpreter. In this context,
Jesus meant both. He was the primary example of a moral life AND he was the
primary teacher of the Law. He expected the leadership of the Christian
community to follow in his footsteps as examples and teachers of the Law.
As this Teacher figure, Jesus would be the
touchstone for interpretation the Christian community would follow. It is
interesting to note that both the faithful and loose teacher were saved, while
the Pharisees were implicitly not saved (“unless you have a righteousness
greater than that of Pharisees...”) In other words, not only were the Jewish
Christians to live by a higher moral standard than the Pharisees (i.e.,
example), he must have a better interpretation of the Law than the Pharisees
(scribe/interpreter). Jesus implied that the Pharisees’ interpretation of the
Law was illegitimate.
So, how did Jesus interpret the Law? We can
only answer that question in light of competing interpretations (as noted) and
the context of interpretation at the time of Jesus. As noted in the
introduction, past scholars read early Christianity through literary sources; these
sources were culturally dependent. In other words, these sources were filtered
through the philosophic world view of Greco-Roman culture. With the interest of
Jewish scholars in the New Testament that has occurred in the past twenty
years, there has been a reassessment of the world view Jesus lived in. Jesus’
world was affected by Greco-Roman culture, but was steeped in a real concern
for the Torah and its purity. So, Jesus in Matthew’s gospel was concerned with
following the Law, but a higher concern was interpreting the Law in its purest
sense. As we study the following precepts from the Law, keep in mind that each
one stands as God’s will, and, from a Jewish standpoint, really needs no other
reason to be obeyed. The question of interpretation is: how can one obey each
in a way that maintains the purity of that precept? This is how Jesus attempted
to interpret the Law.
With this caveat in mind, we can see how Jesus
interpreted the commandment against murder. Jesus did not address prohibition
against the taking of a life; that imperative was apparent in the commandment.
No, Jesus was concerned how breaking the commandment affected one’s
relationship with God. Remember, keeping the commandment of the “Law” not only
meant legal compliance, it meant living out the divine will. According to this
thinking, if I do what God wants me to do, I CAN experience God. Jesus used
extreme language to make his point. Simple insults violated the spirit of the
commandment. And, reconciling a relationship hurt by angry words even trumped
worship of God (after all, how can someone enjoy God’s presence when they are
either angry or feel guilty over angry words?). In this dual approach (against
even small insults and for reconciliation), Jesus addressed how one could keep
the commandment in its purest form.
Therefore
a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and
they will be one flesh. Why did Jesus oppose divorce? The only reason that made
any sense is the status of marriage in God’s creation. Genesis 2:24 inferred
the married couple were co-creators in the divine plan. The placement of this
teaching early on in the Torah, and its universal application to society made
marriage a divinely ordained institution. St.
Paul
Jesus’ commentary on Torah precepts continue
in 5:38-48 (Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A). As we continue the
study, let’s keep in mind the reason for the commentary in Matthew’s gospel:
Jesus sought to teach the purest notion of the Law. Such purity was meant to
lead the adherent into a fuller relationship with God. These interpretations
were idealistic, so they were meant as goal to reach.
How do you try to live out God’s Laws? How has
the effort brought you closer to God?
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