Readings
L-Ewwel Ħadd ta' l-Avvent
Messalin A pp 63
Reading
1 ISaiah 2:1-5
This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem Zion shall go forth
instruction, and the word of the LORD
from Jerusalem
L-Ewwel Lezzjoni - Profeta Isaija 2, 1-5
Il-kelma li ġiet
f'dehra lil Isaija bin Amos, dwar Ġuda u Ġerusalemm. Għad jiġri fl-aħħar jiem
li l-għolja tad-dar tal-Mulej togħla 'l fuq mill-qċaċet tal-muntanji, u
tintrefa' 'l fuq mill-għoljiet, lejha għad jiġru l-ġnus kollha. Kotra ta' popli
għad jiġu u jgħidu: "Ħalli mmorru u nitilgħu fuq l-għolja tal-Mulej, lejn
id-dar ta' Alla ta' Ġakobb, biex jgħallimna triqatu, u nimxu fil-mogħdijiet
tiegħu." Għad min Sijon joħroġ it-tagħlim u l-kelma tal-Mulej minn
Responsorial Psalm PSalm 122: 1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7,
8-9
R. Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.
I rejoiced because they said to
me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem. R/
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem. R/
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD. R/
According to the decree for
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David. R/
Pray for the peace of
May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your walls,
prosperity in your buildings. R/
Because of my brothers and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
Because of the house of the LORD, our God,
I will pray for your good. R/
Salm Responsorjali - Salm 121 (122)
R/ Immorru ferħana f'dar il-Mulej
Fraħt meta qaluli:
"Sejrin f'dar il-Mulej!"
Diġa qegħdin riġlejna fi bwiebek Ġerusalemm! R/
Lejha t-tribujiet jitilgħu,
it-tribujiet tal-Mulej,
biex,
skond il-liġi ta' Iżrael,
ifaħħru
isem il-Mulej.
Għax
hekk twaqqfu t-tronijiet tal-ħaqq,
it-tronijiet
tad-dar ta' David. R\
Itolbu
s-sliem għal Ġerusalemm:
Ħa
jkollhom is-sliem dawk kollha li jħobbuk!
Ħa
jkun hemm is-sliem ġewwa l-ħitan tiegħek,
u
l-ġid fil-palazzi tiegħek. R/
Minħabba ħuti u ħbiebi,
ħallini
ngħidlek: "Is-sliem għalik!"
Minħabba
f'dar il-Mulej, Alla tagħna,
nixtieq
illi jkollok il-ġid. R/
Reading 2 ROMans 13:11-14
Brothers
and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep.
For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is
advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness and
put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not
in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and
jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the
desires of the flesh . This is the Word
of The Lord.
It-Tieni
Lezzjoni - mill-Ittra lir-Rumani - 13, 11-14a
Ħuti, waslet is-siegħa li
intom tqumu min-ngħas; għax is-salvazzjoni tagħna hi eqreb minn
Gospel MatThew 24:37-44
Jesus said to his
disciples: “As it was in the days of
Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In those days before the
flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to
the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and
carried them all away. So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man. Two
men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the
mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the
house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have
stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be
prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” This is the Word of The Lord.
L-Evanġelju
- skond San Mattew 24, 37-44
F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal
lid-dixxipli tiegħu: "Bħal fi żmien Noe', hekk tkun il-miġja ta' Bin
il-bniedem. Għax kif fiż-żmien ta' qabel id-dilluvju kienu jieklu u jixorbu,
jiżżewġu u jżewġu sa dakinhar li Noe' daħal fl-arka, u b'xejn ma' ntebħu sa ma
wasal id-dilluvju u ġarr lil kulħadd,
hekk tkun il-miġja ta' Bin il-bniedem. Imbagħad tnejn ikunu fl-għalqa:
wieħed jittieħed u l-ieħor jitħalla; żewġ nisa jkunu jitħnu flimkien: waħda
titieħed u l-oħra titħalla. Ishru, mela, għax ma tafux il-jum li fih jiġi
Sidkom. Kunu afu dan, li kieku sid
id-dar kellu jkun jaf f'liema sahra
tal-lejl se jiġi l-ħalliel, kien jishar u ma jħallix min jinfidlu l-ħitan ta'
daru. Mela kunu lesti intom ukoll,
għax qatt ma tistgħu tobsru s-siegħa li fiha jiġi Bin
il-bniedem." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
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COMMENTARY:
Stay Awake!
Gospel Commentary for 1st
Sunday of Advent by Pontifical Preacher Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap
The first year of the three year liturgical cycle, year
A, begins Sunday. Matthew's Gospel accompanies us through this year. This Gospel is characterized by its ample
reporting of Jesus' teachings -- the famous sermons, such as the Sermon on the
Mount -- and its attention to the relationship between the Law and Gospel (the
Gospel is the "New Law"). It is also considered the most
"ecclesiastical" Gospel because of its account of the primacy of
Peter and because of its use of the term "Church," which is not
encountered in the other Gospels.
The traditional answer is: "So that we will be vigilant, each one of us supposing that it will happen in his days" (St. Ephrem the Syrian). But the principal reason is that God knows us; he knows what terrible anxiety it would be for us to know beforehand the exact hour and to await its slow, inexorable coming. It is that which causes the most fear in regard to certain illnesses.
Today there are more people that die of unforeseen heart problems than those who die of incurable illnesses. But the latter cause more fear because they seem to take away the uncertainty that allows us to hope.
The uncertainty of the hour should not cause us to be careless but to be vigilant. If the liturgical year is at its start, the civil year is at its end. This is an optimal occasion for a sapiential reflection on the meaning of our existence. In autumn, nature itself invites us to reflect on time that passes. That which the poet Giuseppe Ungaretti said of the soldiers in the trenches on the Carso front in the First World War holds for all men: "They are on the trees as leaves in autumn." They are ready to fall at any moment. "Time passes," said our Dante Alighieri, "and man pays no attention."
An ancient philosopher expressed this fundamental experience with a celebrated phrase: "Everything is in flux." Life is like a television screen. The screen is a kind of palimpsest, one program follows and erases the previous one. The screen is the same but the images change. This is how it is with us: The world remains, but we come and go, one after the other. Of all the names, the faces, the news that fills the papers and television today -- of me, of you, of all of us -- what will remain in a few years or a decade? Nothing of nothing. Man is nothing but "a design created by a wave on the sand, which the next wave will wash away."
Let
us see what faith has to tell us about this fact that everything passes. "Yet the world and its enticement are
passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever" (1
John 2:17). There is someone who does not pass, God, and there is also a way
for us not to completely disappear: Do God's will, that is, believe and follow
God. In this life we are like a raft carried along by the current of a roaring
river headed for the open sea, from which there is no return.At a certain point the raft comes near to the bank. It is now or never and you leap onto the shore. What a relief when you feel the rock under your feet! This is the sensation often felt by those who come to the faith. We might recall at the end of this reflection the words left by St. Teresa of
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