Readings
Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Solennita' ta’ l-Imqaddsa Omm Alla Marija Messalin A pp 111
Reading
The LORD said to
Moses: “Speak to Aaron and his
sons and tell them: This is how
you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look
upon you kindly and give you peace! So shall they invoke my name upon the
Israelites, and I will bless
them.” This is the Word of the Lord.
L-Ewwel
Lezzjoni - Qari mill-Ktieb tan-Numri 6 22-27
22 Il-Mulej
kellem lil Mose' u qallu: 23 "Kellem
lil Aron u lil uliedu u għidilhom:
"Meta tbierku lil ulied Iżrael, hekk ghandkom tgħidulhom: 24 Ibierkek
il-Mulej u jħarsek! 25 Jixħet
il-Mulej id-dija ta' wiċċu fuqek, u jurik il-ħniena! 26 Iħarsek lejk
il-Mulej bi mħabba, u jagħtik
is-sliem!" Hekk huma jsejħu ismi
fuq ulied Iżrael u jiena nberikhom. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial
Psalm
- PSalm 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8
R/ (2a) May God bless us in his mercy.
May God have pity on us and bless us;
may he let his face shine upon us.
So may your way be known upon earth;
among all nations, your salvation.
R/ May God bless us in his mercy.
May the nations be
glad and exult
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R/ May God bless us in his mercy.
because you rule the peoples in equity;
the nations on the earth you guide.
R/ May God bless us in his mercy.
May the peoples
praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R/ May God bless us in his mercy.
may all the peoples praise you!
May God bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth fear him!
R/ May God bless us in his mercy.
Salm
Responsorjali - (Salm 66 (67)
R/. (2a) Iħenn għalina Alla, u jberikna.
2Iħenn
għalina Alla, u jberikna;
idawwar
għal fuqna d-dija ta' wiċċu!
3 Biex jingħarfu fuq l-art triqatek,
fost il-ġnus kollha
s-salvazzjoni tiegħek. R/.
5 Jithennew il-ġnus u jgħannu bil-ferħ,
għax trieġi l-popli
bis-sewwa,
u l-ġnus fuq l-art inti
tmexxihom. R/.
6 Ifaħħruk il-popli, o Alla,
ifaħħruk
il-popli kollha.
8 Iberikna
Alla, u tibża' minnu
l-art kollha minn
Reading
2 - GALatians 4:4-7
Brothers and
sisters: When the fullness of time had come,
God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as
sons. As proof that you are sons, God
sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir,
through God. This is the Word of the Lord.
It-Tieni Lezzjoni - Qari mill-Ittra ta' San
Pawl Appostlu lill-Galatin 4, 4-7
Ħuti, 4meta
waslet il-mija taż-żmien, Alla bagħat lil Ibnu,
imwieled minn
The shepherds went
in haste to Bethlehem
L-Evanġelju - Qari
mill-Evanġelju skond San Luqa 2, 16-21
F'dak
iż-żmien, ir-rgħajja 16marru
jgħaġġlu, u sabu lil Marija u lil Ġużeppi, bit-tarbija mimduda f'maxtura. 17 Kif raw dan, bdew igħarrfu b'kull ma kien intqal lilhom dwar
dik it-tarbija, 18 u kull min semgħhom baqa' mistgħġeb b'dak li qalulhom
ir-rgħajja. 19Marija,
min-naħa tagħha, baqgħet tgħożż f'qalbha
dawn il-ħwejjeġ kollha utaħseb
fuqhom bejnha u bejn ruħha. 20
Ir-rgħajja bagħad reġgħu lura, isebbħu u jfaħħru lil Alla għal
kull ma kienu raw u semgħu, kif l-anġlu kien qalilhom. Meta wasal it-tmien jum biex lit-tifel jagħmlulu
ċ-ċirkonċiżjoni, semmewh Ġesu', bl-isem li
kien tah l-anġlu qabel ma tnissel
fil-ġuf. Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
COMMENTARY
Here is a translation of a commentary
by the Pontifical Household preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, on
the liturgical readings for the solemnity of Holy Mary, Mother of God.
AND MARY MEDITATED ON ALL THESE THINGS IN HER HEART
The Council taught us to look upon Mary as a "figure" of the Church, that is, as the Church's perfect exemplar, as the first fruits of the Church. But can Mary be a model of the Church even as "Mother of God," the title with which she is honored this day? Can we become mothers of Christ?
Not only is this possible, but some fathers of the Church have said that, without this imitation, Mary's title is useless to me: "What does it matter," they said, "if Christ was once born to Mary inBethlehem
Jesus himself was the first to apply this title, "Mother of Christ," to the Church when he declared: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice" (Luke 8:21).
Today's liturgy presents Mary to us as the first of those to become mother of Christ through attentive listening to his word. The Church has chosen for this feast the Gospel passage where it is written that "Mary, for her part, treasured all these words, meditating on them in her heart." How one concretely becomes a mother of Christ is explained to us by Jesus himself: hearing the word and putting it into practice.
There are two types of incomplete or interrupted motherhood. One is the old one which we know: early termination of the pregancy. This happens when a woman conceives a life but does not give birth to it because, in the meantime, either for natural causes or the sin of men, the child dies. Until a short time ago this was the only known form of incomplete motherhood.
Today, however, we know another which consists, on the contrary, in giving birth to a child without having conceived it. This happens when child is first conceived in a test tube and then inserted into the womb of a woman. In some terrible and squalid cases, the womb is borrowed, sometimes rented, to bear a human life conceived elsewhere. In this case, that which the woman gives birth to does not come from her, is not "first conceived in her heart."
Unfortunately, also on the spiritual plane there are these two sad possibilities. There are those who conceive Jesus without giving birth to him. Such are those who welcome the word without putting it into practice, those who have one spiritual abortion after another, formulating plans for conversion which are then systematically forgotten and abandoned at the halfway point; they behave toward the word as hasty observers who see their faces in a mirror and then go away immediately forgetting what they looked like (cf. James 1:23-24). In sum, these are those who have faith but not works.
On the other hand, there are those who give birth to Christ without having conceived him. Such are those who do many works, perhaps even good ones, which do not come from the heart, from love of God and right intention, but rather from habit, from hypocrisy, from the desire for their own glory or interests, or simply from the satisfaction of doing something, acting. In sum, these are those who have works but not faith.
These are the negative cases of an incomplete maternity. St. Francis ofAssisi
We -- the saint says -- conceive Christ when we love him with sincerity of heart and with rectitude of conscience, and we give birth to him when we accomplish holy works that manifest him to the world.
The Council taught us to look upon Mary as a "figure" of the Church, that is, as the Church's perfect exemplar, as the first fruits of the Church. But can Mary be a model of the Church even as "Mother of God," the title with which she is honored this day? Can we become mothers of Christ?
Not only is this possible, but some fathers of the Church have said that, without this imitation, Mary's title is useless to me: "What does it matter," they said, "if Christ was once born to Mary in
Jesus himself was the first to apply this title, "Mother of Christ," to the Church when he declared: "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice" (Luke 8:21).
Today's liturgy presents Mary to us as the first of those to become mother of Christ through attentive listening to his word. The Church has chosen for this feast the Gospel passage where it is written that "Mary, for her part, treasured all these words, meditating on them in her heart." How one concretely becomes a mother of Christ is explained to us by Jesus himself: hearing the word and putting it into practice.
There are two types of incomplete or interrupted motherhood. One is the old one which we know: early termination of the pregancy. This happens when a woman conceives a life but does not give birth to it because, in the meantime, either for natural causes or the sin of men, the child dies. Until a short time ago this was the only known form of incomplete motherhood.
Today, however, we know another which consists, on the contrary, in giving birth to a child without having conceived it. This happens when child is first conceived in a test tube and then inserted into the womb of a woman. In some terrible and squalid cases, the womb is borrowed, sometimes rented, to bear a human life conceived elsewhere. In this case, that which the woman gives birth to does not come from her, is not "first conceived in her heart."
Unfortunately, also on the spiritual plane there are these two sad possibilities. There are those who conceive Jesus without giving birth to him. Such are those who welcome the word without putting it into practice, those who have one spiritual abortion after another, formulating plans for conversion which are then systematically forgotten and abandoned at the halfway point; they behave toward the word as hasty observers who see their faces in a mirror and then go away immediately forgetting what they looked like (cf. James 1:23-24). In sum, these are those who have faith but not works.
On the other hand, there are those who give birth to Christ without having conceived him. Such are those who do many works, perhaps even good ones, which do not come from the heart, from love of God and right intention, but rather from habit, from hypocrisy, from the desire for their own glory or interests, or simply from the satisfaction of doing something, acting. In sum, these are those who have works but not faith.
These are the negative cases of an incomplete maternity. St. Francis of
We -- the saint says -- conceive Christ when we love him with sincerity of heart and with rectitude of conscience, and we give birth to him when we accomplish holy works that manifest him to the world.
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