Readings
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Ir-Raba'
Ħadd ta' l-Avvent
Messalin A pp 79
Reading 1 ISAIAH 7:10-14
The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. This is the Word of the Lord.
L-Ewwel Lezzjoni - Profeta Isaija 7, 10-14
F'dak iż-żmien, il-Mulej issokta jkellem lil Aħaż u jgħidlu: "Itlob sinjal għalik mingħand il-Mulej, Alla tiegħek, f'qiegħ l-art jew fl-għoli as-smewwiet." U Aħaż wieġeb: "Ma nitlobx, ma rridx nittanta lill-Mulej." U l-profeta wieġeb: "Isimgħu, mela, dar David! Mhux biżżejjed għalikom li tkiddu lill-bnedmin, biex issa se tkiddu lil Alla tiegħi? Għalhekk is-sinjal jagħtihulkom Sidi stess: Araw, ix-xebba titqal u tiled iben u ssemmih Għimmanu-El." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.
Responsorial Psalm - PSALM 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. (7c and 10b) Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.
The LORD’s are the earth and its
fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers. R/
Who can ascend the mountain of the
LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain. R/
He shall receive a blessing from
the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. R/
Salm
Responsorjali - Salm
23(24)
R/ Ħa jidħol il-Mulej, hu s-Sultan
tal-glorja.
Tal-Mulej
hi l-art u kull ma fiha,
id-dinja
u kull ma jgħix fiha.
Għax
hu fuq l-ibħra waqqafha
u
fuq ix-xmajjar fis-sod qegħedha. R/
Min
jista' jitla' fuq l-għolja tal-Mulej,
min
joqgħod fil-post imqaddes tiegħu?
Min
għandu idejh indaf u qalbu safja
min
ma jagħtix ruħu għall-frugħa. R/
Dan
ikollu barka mingħand il-Mulej,
u
l-ħlas li ħaqqu minn
Dan
hu n-nisel ta' dawk li jfittxuh;
li
jfittxu 'l wiċċek, Alla ta' Ġakobb. R/
Reading 2 ROMans 1:1-7
Paul,
a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an
apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the
gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but
established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit
of holiness
through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through
him we have received the grace of apostleship, to
bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the
Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to
all the beloved of God in Rome
It-Tieni
Lezzjoni - Ittra lir-Rumani 1,
1-7
Pawlu,
qaddej ta' Kristu Ġesu', imsejjah biex ikun appostlu, maħtur għall-Evanġelju ta
Alla. Dan
hu l-Evanġelju li Alla kien wiegħed permezz tal-profeti fil-Kotba Mqaddsa dwar
Ibnu Ġesu' Kristu Sidna li, skond
it-tnissil tal-ġisem, twieled min-nisel ta' David, u, skond l-Ispirtu s-Santu, ġie rivelat bħala l-Iben ta' Alla b'kull qawwa permezz tal-qawmien
mill-imwiet. Bih aħna rċevejna
l-grazzja ta' l-appostolat biex inwasslu
għall-ubbidjenza tal-fidi l-bnedmin fost il-ġnus kollha għall-ġieħ ta' ismu.
Fosthom tinsabu intom ukoll, imsejħin biex
tkunu ta' Ġesu' Kristu; lill-maħbubin kollha ta' Alla li jinsabu Ruma msejħin biex ikunu qaddisin: Grazzja lilkom u sliem
mingħand Alla Missierna u Sidna Ġesu' Kristu.
Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel MatThew 1:18-24
This
is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed
to Joseph,
but before they lived together, she was found with child
through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her
to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel
of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph,
son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is
through the Holy Spirit that this child has been
conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because
he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what
the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he
did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and
took his wife into his home. This is the Word of the Lord.
L-Evanġelju
- San Mattew 1,18-24
It-tnissel
ta' Ġesu' l-Messija sar hekk: ommu
Marija, wara li tgħarrset ma' Ġużeppi, qabel
ma marru joqogħdu flimkien, saret omm bil-ħidma ta' l-Ispirtu s-Santu. Żewġha Ġużeppi,
li kien raġel ġust u ma riedx ixandarha quddiem kulħadd, għamel il-ħsieb li jibgħatha bil-moħbi
tan-nies. Meta kien għadu qiegħed jaħsibha, deherlu anġlu tal-Mulej fil-ħolm u
qallu: "Ġużeppi, bin David, xejn
la tibża' tieħu għandek lil martek
Marija, għax dak li tnissel fiha ġej
mill-Ispirtu s-Santu. Hi se jkollha iben, u inti ssemmih Ġesu', għax hu jsalva
l-poplu tiegħu minn
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COMMENTARY:
This Is How the Birth of
Jesus Christ Came About
Gospel
Commentary for 4th Sunday of Advent - by Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap
There
is something that the three readings have in common this Sunday: In each one a
birth is spoken of: "Behold the Virgin will conceive and will give birth
to a son and he shall be called Emmanuel, God-with-us" (first reading);
"Jesus Christ ... was born from the line of David according to the
flesh" (second reading); "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came
about ..." (Gospel). We could call it the "Sunday of births!"
We
cannot avoid immediately asking: Why are so few children born in Italy
The
reason is deeper: It is the lack of hope, and the lack of what hope brings with
it, namely, confidence in the future, vital drive, creativity, poetry and joie
de vivre. If you wed, it is always an act of faith; bringing a child into the
world is always an act of hope. Nothing can be done in the world without hope.
We need hope like we need oxygen to breathe. When someone is about to faint we
say, "Give them something strong to help them breathe." Something
similar should be done for a person who is about to let themselves go, to give
up on life: "Give them a reason for hope!" When hope is reborn in a
human situation, everything looks different, even if nothing in fact has changed.
Hope is a primordial force. It literally works miracles.
The
Gospel has something essential to offer our people in this moment of history:
Hope with a capital "H," the theological virtue that has God himself
as its author and guarantee. Earthly hopes -- home, employment, health,
successful children, etc. -- even if they are realized, will inexorably delude
us if there is not something deeper that supports them and keeps them going.
Consider what goes into the making of a spider web. The spider web is a work of
art. It is perfect in symmetry, elasticity, functionality. The threads that
stretch out horizontally on all sides make it taut. But it is held upright in
its center by a thread that comes down from above, the thread that the spider
had spun to lower itself down. If one of the threads on the side breaks, then
the spider repairs it. But if you break the thread that comes from above down
to the center, everything is destroyed. The spider knows that there is nothing
it can do and goes away. In our lives the theological virtue of Hope is the
thread from above, that which sustains the whole plot of our lives.
In
this moment in which we feel the need for hope so strongly, the feast of
Christmas can be the occasion for us to change our tendencies. Let us recall
what Jesus said one day: "He who welcomes a child in my name welcomes
me." This also holds for whoever welcomes a poor and abandoned child, for
whoever adopts and feeds a child of the Third World ;
but it holds above all for two Christian parents who, loving each other, in
faith and hope, open themselves to a new life. Many couples who are lost in joy
at the moment the pregnancy announces itself are certain to then make their own
the words of Isaiah's Christmas prophecy: "You have spread joy, you have
made happiness increase, because a child is born for us, a son is given
us!"
[Translation by Joseph G.
Trabbic]
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