It-2
Ħadd tal-Avvent Sena 'B'
Nindmu
u Ninbidlu
Messalin B pp80
Reading 1 ISaiah 40:1-5,
9-11
Comfort,
give comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem Zion ,
herald of glad tidings; cry out at the top of your voice, Jerusalem Judah
L-Ewwel Qari - mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija 40, 1-5, 9-11
Farrġu,
farrġu l-poplu tiegħi, igħid Alla tagħkom.
Kellmu lil qalb
Ġerusalemm u ħidulha li ntemm il-jasar tagħha, tħallset ħżunitħa, ħadet minn
Responsorial Psalm PSalm 85:9-10,
11-12, 13-14
R/ (8) Lord,
let us see your kindness, and grant us your salvation.
I will hear what
God proclaims;
the LORD—for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land. R/
the LORD—for he proclaims peace to his people.
Near indeed is his salvation to those who fear him,
glory dwelling in our land. R/
Kindness and
truth shall meet;
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven. R/
justice and peace shall kiss.
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
and justice shall look down from heaven. R/
The LORD himself
will give his benefits;
our land shall
yield its increase.
Justice shall walk before him,
and prepare the way of his steps. R/
Justice shall walk before him,
and prepare the way of his steps. R/
Salm Responsorjali
- Salm 84
R/ Uri
lilna, Mulej, it-tjieba tiegħek, u s-salvazzjoni tiegħek agħtina.
Ħa nisma’ x’igħid Alla;
il-Mulej is-sliem ixandar,
għal-poplu u l-ħbieb tiegħu.
Qrib tassew is-salvazzjoni tiegħu
għal dawk li jibżgħu minnu,
biex tgħammar is-sebħ f’artna. R/
It-tjieba
u l-fedelta’ jiltaqgħu.
Il-ġustizzja
u s-sliem jitbewsu.
Il-fedelta'
mill-art tinbet,
u l-ġustizzja mis-sema tixref.. R/
Il-Mulej ukoll jagħti l-ġid tiegħu,
u artna tagħti l-frott tagħha.
Il-ġustizzja quddiemu timxi,
u s-sliem fuq il-passi tiegħu. R/
Reading 2 - 2 PeTer 3:8-14
Do
not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a
thousand years and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his
promise, as some regard “delay,” but he is patient with you, not wishing that
any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a
thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a mighty roar and the elements
will be dissolved by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be
found out. Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, what sort of
persons ought you to be, conducting yourselves in holiness and devotion, waiting
for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens
will be dissolved in flames and the elements melted by fire. But according to his promise we await new
heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved,
since you await these things, be eager to be found without spot or blemish
before him, at peace. .”
This is the Word of the Lord.
It-Tieni Qari - mit-Tieni Ittra
ta’ San Pietru 3, 8-14
Ħuti egħżież,
dan għandkom tkunu tafu, li quddiem
il-Mulej jum wieħed hu bħal elf sena, u elf sena bħal jum wieħed. Mhux għax
jiddawwar il-Mulej li jtemm il-wegħdiet tiegħu, kif jaħsbu xi wħud; imma qiegħed
jistabar bikom għax ma jridx li xi ħadd jintilef, imma, li kulħadd jersaq għall-indiema. Jasal, tabilħaqq, Jum il-Mulej, bħal ħalliel;.
jintemmu mbagħad
is-smewwiet bi ħsejjes kbar, jinħallu
bin-nar l-elementi tad-dinja, u l-art b’kull ma fiha tkun maħruqa min-nar.. Ladarba hekk kollox għandu jintemm, araw daqsxejn kif għandkom iġġibu ruħkom, kemm għandha tkun
qaddisa u tajba ħajjitkom, waqt li tistennew b'ħerqa kbira l-miġja tal-Jum ta'
Alla. Hu minħabba f’dan il-Jum li s-smewwiet
jinħarqu u jinħallu. u l-elementi tad-dinja jinqerdu
bin-nar. imma aħna, skont
il-wegħda tiegħu, nistennew smewwiet ġodda u art ġdida, li fihom tgħammar il-ġustizzja. Għalhekk, ħuti egħżież,
waqt li nistennew dan kollu, qisu li
jsibkom fis-sliem, bla tebgħa u bla dnub, Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej
Gospel - MarK 1:1-8
The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of
you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying out in the
desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” John the Baptist appeared in
the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. People
of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were going out to him and were being
baptized by him in the Jordan River as they
acknowledged their sins. John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt
around his waist. He fed on locusts and wild honey. And this is what he
proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop
and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” This is the Word of the Lord.
L-Evanġelju - skond San Mark 1, 1-8
Bidu tal-Evanġelju ta’ Ġesu’
Kristu, l-Iben ta’ Alla. Bħalma hu miktub fil-ktieb ta’ Isaija l-profeta: “Ara, jien nibgħat qablek il-ħabbar tiegħi
biex iħejji triqtek. Leħen ta’ wieħed igħajjat fid-deżert: Ħejju t-triq
tal-Mulej, iddrittaw il-mogħodijiet tiegħu." Hekk Ġwanni deher jgħammed
fid-deżert u jxandar magħmudija ta’
ndiema għall-maħfa tad-dnubiet. U kienet
tmur għandu l-Lhudija kollha u n-nies
kollha ta’ Ġersalemm, jitgħammdu minnu
fix-xmara Ġordan waqt li jistqarru
dnubiethom. Ġwanni kien jilbes libsa tax-xagħar
tal-ġemel, bi
ħżiem tal-ġild madwar qaddu, u kien
jiekol ġradijiet u għasel selvaġġ. U kien ixandar u jgħid: “Ġej warajja min hu aqwa minni, li jien ma
nistħoqqlix nitbaxxa quddiemu u nħoll
il-qfieli tl-qorq tiegħu. Jiena ghammidtkom bl-ilma, iżda huwa jgħammidkom
bl-Ispirtu s-Santu.’’ Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
///////////////////////
John the Baptizer, the Advent
Prophet
A reflection by Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB
CEO, Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation
CEO, Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation
One of the great stars of
the Advent and Christmas stories, John the Baptizer, makes his appearance on
the biblical stage today. Let us consider some of the details of John’s life
and see how he is such a good model for us.
John the Baptist didn’t
mince words. He got right to the point and said what needed to be said. He
would speak with equally straightforward words to us – words that would zero in
on the weak points of our lives. John the Baptist was a credible preacher of
repentance because he had first come to love God’s word that he heard in the
midst of his own desert.
He heard, experienced and
lived God’s liberating word in the desert and was thus able to preach it to
others so effectively because his life and message were one. One of the most
discouraging things we must deal with in our lives is duplicity. How often are
our words, thoughts and actions not coherent or one. The true prophets of Israel
The desert wilderness
Throughout biblical
history, leaders and visionaries have gone to the desert to see more clearly,
to listen intently for God’s voice, to discover new ways to live. The Hebrew word for wilderness, midvar, is derived from a Semitic root
that means, “To lead flocks or herds to
pasture.” Eremos, the Greek word
used to translate midvar, denotes a desolate and thinly populated area and, in
a stricter sense, a wasteland or desert. The term “wilderness” has two
different but related meanings, referring to something judged to be wild and
bewildering. It is probably the unknown (bewildering) and uncontrolled (wild)
character of the place that earned it the name “wilderness.” There is also
another way of understanding the meaning of desert or wilderness.
A careful look at the root
of the word midvar reveals the word davar meaning “word” or “message.” The
Hebraic notion of “desert” or “wilderness” is that holy place where God’s word
is unbound and completely free to be heard, experienced and lived. We go to the
desert to hear God’s Word, unbound and completely free.
The Spirit of God enabled
the prophets to feel with God. They were able to share God’s attitudes, God’s
values, God’s feelings, God’s emotions. This enabled them to see the events of
their time as God saw them and to feel the same way about these events as God
felt. They shared God’s anger, God’s compassion, God’s sorrow, God’s
disappointment, God’s revulsion, God’s sensitivity for people, and God’s
seriousness. They did not share these things in the abstract; they shared God’s
feelings about the concrete events of their time.
John the Baptist is the
Advent prophet. His image is often portrayed in the finger pointing to the one
who was coming: Jesus Christ. If we are to take on John’s role of preparing the
way in today’s world, our lives also will become the pointing fingers of living
witnesses who demonstrate that Jesus can be found and that he is near. John
gave the people of his time an experience of forgiveness and salvation, knowing
full well that he himself was not the Messiah, the one who could save. Do we
allow others to have experiences of God, of forgiveness and of salvation?
John the Baptist came to
teach us that there is a way out of the darkness and sadness of the world and
of the human condition, and that way is Jesus himself. The Messiah comes to
save us from the powers of darkness and death, and to put us back on the path
of peace and reconciliation so that we might find our way back to God.
The late Jesuit
theologian, Father Karl Rahner, once wrote: “We have to listen to the voice of
the one calling in the wilderness, even when it confesses: I am not he. You
cannot choose not to listen to this voice, ‘because it is only the voice of a
man.’ And, likewise, you cannot lay aside the message of the Church, because
the Church is ‘not worthy to untie the shoelaces of its Lord who goes on before
it.’ It is, indeed, still Advent.”
We may not have the luxury
of traveling to the wilderness of Judah
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