Is-Sitta u għoxrin
Ħadd matul is-Sena
Missalin A p
384
Thus says the LORD: You say, "The LORD's way is not
fair!" Hear now, house of Israel : Is it my
way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue
to commit iniquity, and dies, it is
because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, he does what is right and just, he shall
preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he has
committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. This is
the Word of The Lord.
L-Ewwel Lezzjoni
- Profeta Eżekjel 18,
25 -28
Dan
jgħid il-Mulej: "Intom tgħidu: "M'hijiex sewwa l-imġiba tal-Mulej!" Issa isimgħu dar Eżrael: Forsi l-imġiba tiegħek m'hijiex sewwa?
Mhux l-imġiba tagħkom li m'hijiex sewwa?
Jekk wieħed ġust jitbiegħed mill-ġustizzja tiegħu u jagħmel il-ħażen, u jmut minħabba dan, minħabba ħżunitu jkun
miet. Imma jekk il-midneb jerġa' lura
mid-dnub li jkun għamel,u jagħmel il-ħaqq u l-ġustizzja, hu jsalva ruħu. Għax
ikun intebaħ u rega' lura mid-dnubiet kollha li jkun għamel, u jibqa' ħaj u ma
jmutx." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14
R/ Remember
your mercies, O Lord.
Your ways, O
LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior. R/
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior. R/
Remember that
your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;
in your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD. R/
and your love are from of old.
The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;
in your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD. R/
Good and
upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way. R/
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way. R/
Salm Responsorjali
- Salm 24 (25)
R/ Ftakar fil-ħniena u t-tjieba tiegħek, Mulej.
Triqatek, Mulej, għarrafni,
il-mogħdijiet tiegħek għallimni.
Mexxini fis-sewwa tiegħek u għallimni,
għax int Alla tas-salvazzjoni tiegħi.
Għalik nixxennaq il-jum kollu. R/
Ftalar fil-ħniena u fit-tjieba tiegħek,
għax huma minn dejjem, Mulej.
Tiftakarx
fil-ħtijiet u fid-dnubiet ta' żgħożiti,
inti tajjeb, Mulej;
ftakar fija skond it-tjieba
tiegħek. R/
Tajjeb u sewwa l-Mulej;
għalhekk juri triqtu lill-ħatja.
Imexxi l-imsejkna fis-sewwa,
Jgħallem lill-fqajrin it-triq tiegħu. R/
Reading 2
philippians 2:1-11
Brothers and sisters: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation
in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind,
with the same love, united in heart,
thinking one thing. Do nothing out of
selfishness or out of vainglory; rather,
humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others. Have in you the same attitude that is also in
Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the
form of God, did not regard equality
with God something to be grasped. Rather, he
emptied himself, taking the form of a
slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled
himself, becoming obedient to the point
of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name which is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bend, of those in heaven and
on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This
is the Word of The Lord.
It-Tieni Lezzjoni - mill-Ittra lill-Filippin 2. 1
-11
Ħuti, jekk hemm fikom xi
faraġ fi Kristu, jekk hemm xi kelma ta'
ħlewwa fl-imħabba; jekk hemm xi xirka fl-Ispirtu; jekk hemm xi ħniena u
mogħdrija; kunu feħma waħda u mlewni
bil-ferħ! Ħa jkollkom l-istess imħabba, u ruħ waħda u ħsieb wieħed. Tagħmlu xejn b'pika ta' partit, anqas
għall-ftaħir fieragħ imma kunu umli u
kull wieħed minnkom iqis lill-ieħor aħjar
minnu. Ħadd minnkom ma għandu jfittex
li jaqbillu, imma li jaqbel lil ħaddieħor. Aħsbu
bħalma kien jaħseb Kristu Ġesu'; hu
li għad li kellu n-natura ta' Alla, ma
qagħadx ifittex tiegħu li hu daqs Alla, iżda
xejjen lilu nnifsu billi ħa n-natura ta' lsir;
sar jixbah lill-bnedmin, u deher minn barra bħala bniedem, ċekken lilu nnifsu, billi obda sal-mewt, anzi
sal-mewt tas-salib. Għalhekk Alla għollieh sas-smewwiet u żejnu bl-isem li hu
fuq kull isem, biex fl-isem ta'
Ġesu' -
fis-sema, fl-art u f'qiegħ l-art – il-ħlejjaq kollha jinżlu
għarkubbtejhom, u kull ilsien jistqar: "Ġesu' Kristu hu l-Mulej," għall-glorja ta' Alla l-Missier. Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej
Gospel matthew 21:28-32
Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What
is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not, ' but
afterwards changed his mind and went. The
man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, ‘but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God
L-Evanġelju - skond San Mattew 23, 28 – 32
F'dak
iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal lill-qassisin il-kbar u lix-xjuħ tal-poplu: "Intom
x'jidhrilkom? Kien hemm raġel li kellu
żewġ ulied. Resaq fuq il-kbir u qallu: "Ibni, llum mur aħdem l-għalqa
tad-dwieli." U dak qallu: "Ma rridx." Iżda mbagħad biddel il-fehma u mar.
Resaq fuq l-ieħor u qallu l-istess.
"Arani sejjer, sidi,"
qallu dan u ma mar xejn. Min minnhom it-tnejn għamel
kif ried il-missier?" "L-ewwel wieħed," weġbuh.
U qalilhom Ġesu': "Tassew, ngħidilkom, li l-pubblikani u n-nisa tat-triq
deħlin qabilkom fis-Saltna ta'
Alla. Għax Ġwanni ġie għandkom miexi
fit-triq tal-ġustizzja, u intom ma
emmintuħx iżda l-pubblikani u n-nisa tat-triq emmnuh; u għalkemm intom rajtu dan kollu, bqajtu sa l-aħħar
ma biddiltux il-fehma tagħkom, u ma emmintuħx. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
////////////////////
COMMENTARY:
Prostitutes Will Enter the Kingdom Before You
Gospel Commentary
by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM
Cap
This Sunday we hear Jesus' parable of the man who had two sons whom he asks to go to the vineyard to work. One son says "no" but then goes; one says "yes" and does not - "no" represents those who knew
God and followed his law to a certain extent but did not accept Christ, who was
"the fulfillment of the law." The son who says "no" and
does "yes" represents those who once lived outside the law and will
of God, but then, with Christ, thought again and welcomed the Gospel.
From
this Jesus draws the following conclusion before the chief priests and elders:
"Truly, I say to you, even the publicans and prostitutes will enter the Kingdom of God
No
saying of Christ has been more manipulated than this. Some have ended up
creating a kind of evangelical aura about prostitutes, idealizing them and
opposing them to those with good reputations, who are all regarded without
distinction as hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. Literature is full of
"good" prostitutes. Just think of Verdi's "La Traviata" or
the meek Sonya of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"!
But
this is a terrible misunderstanding. Jesus is talking about a limited case, as
it were. "Even" the prostitutes, he wants to say, are going to enter
the Kingdom of God
We
do not see that, moreover, idealizing the category of prostitute, we also
idealize that of publican, which is a category that always accompanies it in
the Gospel. The publicans, who were employees of the Roman tax collection
agencies, participated in the unjust practices of these agencies. If Jesus
links prostitutes and publicans together, he does not do this without a reason;
they have both made money the most important thing in life.
It
would be tragic if such passages from the Gospel made Christians less attentive
to combating the degrading phenomenon of prostitution, which today has assumed
alarming proportions in our cities. Jesus had too much respect for women to not
suffer beforehand for that which she will become when she is reduced to this
state. What he appreciates in the prostitute is not her way of life, but her
capacity to change and to put her ability to love in the service of the good.
Mary Magdalene, who converted and followed Jesus all the way to the cross, is
an example of this (supposing that she was a prostitute).
What
Jesus intends to teach with his words here he clearly says at the end: The
publicans and prostitutes converted with John the Baptist's preaching; the
chief priests and the elders did not. The Gospel, therefore, does not direct us
to moralistic campaigns against prostitutes, but neither does it allow us to
joke about it, as if it were nothing.
In
the new form under which prostitution presents itself today, we see that it is
now able to make a person a significant amount of money and do so without
involving them in the terrible dangers to which the poor women of previous
times, who were condemned to the streets, were subjected. This form consists in
selling one's body safely through cameras. What a woman does when she loans
herself to pornography and certain excessive forms of advertisement is to sell
her body to the eyes if not to contact. This is certainly prostitution, and it
is worse than traditional prostitution, because it is publicly imposed and does
not respect people's freedom and sentiments.
But
having denounced these things as we must, we would betray the spirit of the
Gospel if we did not also speak of the hope that these words of Christ offer to
women, who, on account of various circumstances (often out of desperation),
have found themselves on the street, for the most part victims of unscrupulous
exploitation. The Gospel is "gospel," that is, "glad tidings,"
news of ransom, of hope, even for prostitutes. Indeed, perhaps it is for them
first of all. This is how Jesus wanted it.
[Translation by Joseph G.
Trabbic] © Innovative Media Inc
No comments:
Post a Comment