It-12-il Ħadd
matul is-Sena
Messalin C pp322
Thus says the
LORD: I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem
L-Ewwel Qari - mill-Profeta
Żakkarija 12, 10-11; 13,3
Dan
jgħid il-Mulej: "Fuq id-dar ta'
David u fuq dawk li għammru f'Ġerusalemm insawwab spirtu ta' ħidma u talb. U huma jħarsu lejn dak li jkun nifdu, u jibkuh bħal wieħed li jibki lil ibnu
l-waħdieni, u jokorbu għalih bħal min
jikrob għal ibnu l-kbir. Dakinhar il-biki ta' Ġerusalemm ikun kbir daqs il-biki
ta' Ħadad-rimmon fil-wita ta' Megiddo
Responsorial Psalm - PSALM 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
R. (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. R/
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. R/
Thus have I
gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you. R/
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you. R/
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you. R/
You are my
help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me. R/.
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me. R/.
Salm
Responsorjali - Salm 62
R/ Ruħi bil-għatx għalik, Mulej, Alla tiegħi.
Alla,
Alla tiegħi int;
lilek
ħerqan infittex.
Ruħi
bil-għatx għalik,
għalik
imxennaq jiena,
bħal
art niexfa, maħruqa,bla ilma. R/
Għalhekk
ġejt narak fit-tempju mqaddes tiegħek,
biex
nigħaxxaq bis-setgħa u l-glorja tiegħek.
Għax
it-tjieba tiegħek aħjar mill-ħajja,
xufftejja
jxandru t-tifħir tiegħek. R/
Għalhekk
inbierkek tul ħajti kollha;
ngħolli
idejja u nsejjaħ ismek.
Bħal
b'ikel mill-aħjar li jsemmen nimtela,
u
jgħannilek fommi b'xuftejn ferrieħa. R/
Għax
int kont għajnuna għalija,
għad-dell
ta' ġwenħajk ngħanni bil-ferħ.
Miegħek
tingħaqad ruħi,
int
tweżinni bil-leminija tiegħek. R/
Reading 2 - Galatians 3:26-29
Brothers and sisters: Through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise. This is the Word of the Lord.
It-Tieni Lezzjoni - Galatin 3, 26-29
Ħuti,
intom ulied Alla lkoll kemm intom, permezz tal-fidi fi Kristu Ġesu'. Intom,li
intom mgħammda fi Kristu, il-bistu 'l Kristu. Issa
ma hemmx iżjed Lhudi u anqas Grieg, ma hemm ilsir u Anqas
ħieles, ma hemmx raġel u anqas mara, għax intom ilkoll
ħaġa waħda fi Kristu Ġesu'. Imma
jekk intom ta' Kristu,intom ukoll nisel Abraham, werrieta
skont il-wegħda.
Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel - Luke 9:18-24
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and
the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They
said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the
ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I
am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He rebuked them and directed
them not to tell this to anyone. He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and
be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed
and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come
after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” This is
the Word of the Lord
L-Evanġelju - skont San Luqa 9, 18-24
Darba,
waqt li Ġesu' kien qiegħed jitlob waħdu, kien hemm miegħu d-dixxipli tiegħu, u
hu staqsiehom: "Min
jgħidu n-nies li jien?" Huma weġbuh u qalulu: "Ġwanni l-Battita, oħrajn, Elija, u
oħrajn, li qam wieħed mill-profeti tal-imgħoddi." Qalilhom: "Imma intom min tgħidu li jien? Qabeż
Pietru u qallu: "Inti l-Messija ta' Alla." Imbagħad ikkmandhom u
qalilhom ħafna biex ma jgħidu lil ħadd
b'dan. U qalilhom: "Jeħtieġ li Bin il-bniedem ibati ħafna, jiċħduh ix-xjuħ
u qassisin il-kbar u l-kittieba, joqtluh, u fit-tielet jum iqum." Darba
qal lil kulħadd: "Jekk xi ħadd irid
jiġi warajja, għandu jiċħad lilu nnifsu,
jerfa' salibu kuljum, u jimxi warajja. għax min irid isalva ħajtu, jitilfa;
imma min jitlef ħajtu għall-imħabba
tiegħi, isalvaha." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
COMMENTARY
The Only Question that Matters —
A Biblical Reflection
by Fr. Thomas Rosica CSB, CEO Salt + Light Catholic Television Network.
by Fr. Thomas Rosica CSB, CEO Salt + Light Catholic Television Network.
The
second half of Luke’s Gospel is one great pilgrimage to Jerusalem Golgotha –where he
will demonstrate perfect obedience, perfect love and total self-giving.
The
disciples list a whole series of labels that people have applied to
Jesus. And these names reveal all the different expectations held about
him. Some thought of him as an Elijah, working toward a real confrontation with
the powers that be. Some saw him as one of the ancient prophets. When Jesus asks his disciples of their
perception of him, he asks what people are saying about him. How do they see
his work? Who is he in their minds? Probably taken aback by the
question, the disciples dredge their memories for overheard remarks, snatches
of shared conversation, opinions circulating in the fishing towns of the lake
area. Jesus himself is aware of some of this. The replies of the
disciples are varied, as are those of each of us today when Jesus, through
someone else’s lips, asks us the same question, and with increasing frequency
and intensity. To proclaim Jesus as the
Messiah was a loaded and dangerous statement. It was all that Jesus’
enemies needed to use against him, and already there were many who were ready
to enlist under the banner of a royal pretender. But, far more than this, such
a role was not Jesus’ destiny. He would not and could not be that kind of
militaristic or political Messiah.
Identifying
Jesus Today
The
struggle to identify Jesus and his role as Messiah continues today. Some
say the individual Christian and the whole church should be Elijah figures,
confronting systems, institutions, national policies. That was the way
Elijah saw his task. We only need to read the First Book of Kings
[Chapters 17 to 21] to confirm this fact. Some say, like Jeremiah, that
the domain of Christ, through his church, is the personal and private side of
life. Significantly Jesus probes beyond both and asks, “You, who do you
say I am.”
In
Peter’s answer, “You are Messiah,” blurted out with his typical impetuosity, we
are given a concept that involves both of the above ideas and goes beyond
them. The Messiah came into society, and into individual lives, in a
total way, reconciling the distinction between public and private. The quality
of our response to this question is the best gauge of the quality of our
discipleship.
If
you have ever tried to piece together an ancient mosaic, you would know of the
painstaking work involved in such an endeavor. During my biblical studies
in the Holy Land , I participated in several
archeological expeditions involving the discovery of ancient mosaics. Every
little fragment matters in putting the whole picture together. In a
similar way, when we attempt to answer Jesus’ question in today’s Gospel, “But
who do you say that I am?” [Luke 9:20], we are being invited to piece together
a magnificent mosaic.
One
of the most powerful and memorable reflections on Jesus’ identity took place on
the night of August 19, 2000 during the evening prayer vigil at Tor Vergata on Rome’s outskirts
during World Youth Day of the Great Jubilee. I shall never forget that hot
night, when silence came over the crowd of over one million young people as
Pope John Paul II asked them the only question that matters: “Who do you say that I am? The
elderly Pope addressed his young friends with those words that rang out over
the seeming apocalyptic scene before him:
What is the meaning of this
dialogue? Why does Jesus want to know what people think about him? Why does he
want to know what his disciples think about him? Jesus wants his
disciples to become aware of what is hidden in their own minds and hearts and
to give voice to their conviction. At the same time, however, he knows that the
judgment they will express will not be theirs alone, because it will reveal
what God has poured into their hearts by the grace of faith. This is what faith
is all about! It is the response of the rational and free human person to the
word of the living God. The questions that Jesus asks, the answers given by the
Apostles, and finally by Simon Peter, are a kind of examination on the maturity
of the faith of those who are closest to Christ.
…It is Jesus in fact that you
seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you
find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he
who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for
compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he
who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try
to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with
your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be
grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and
patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and
more fraternal.
He concluded his memorable address with these words:: Dear friends, at the dawn of the Third Millennium I see in you the “morning watchmen” (cf. Is 21:11-12). In the course of the century now past young people like you were summoned to huge gatherings to learn the ways of hatred; they were sent to fight against one another. The various godless messianic systems that tried to take the place of Christian hope have shown themselves to be truly horrendous. Today you have come together to declare that in the new century you will not let yourselves be made into tools of violence and destruction; you will defend peace, paying the price in your person if need be. You will not resign yourselves to a world where other human beings die of hunger, remain illiterate and have no work. You will defend life at every moment of its development; you will strive with all your strength to make this earth ever more livable for all people.
Who therefore is this Jesus for us? This is indeed the only question that really
matters.
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