"Mary Meditated on All These Things in Her Heart"

READINGS FOR JANUARY 1, 2015

The Octave Day of Christmas  Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God Solennita ta’ Marija Omm Alla,  Omm il-Paċi Messalin Ċ pp 123

Reading 1                         Numbers 6:22-27

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 Qari -   Qari mill-Ktieb tan-Numri 6, 22-27

Il-Mulej kellem ‘il Mose’ u qallu: “Kellem lil Aron u ‘l uliedu u għidilhom: Meta tbierku ‘l ulied Israel,  hekk għandkom tgħidulhom: ‘Ibierkek il-Mulej u jħarsek! Jixħet il-Mulej id-dija ta’ wiċċu fuqek  u jurik il-ħniena! Iħares lejk il-Mulej bi mħabba, u jagħtik is-sliem!” Hekk huma jsejħu ismi fuq ulied Irael,  U jien nberikhom.”              Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                   PSALM 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8

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.

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.

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!

May God bless us in his mercy.

Salm Responsorjali                    Salm 66 (67)  

                Iħenn għalina Alla, u jberikna.

Iħenn għalina Alla, u  jberikna;

idawwar għal fuqna d-dija ta’ wiċċu!

Biex jingħarfu fuq l-art triqatek,

fost il-ġnus kollha s-salvazzjoni tiegħek.              R/

Jithennew il-ġnus u jgħannu bil-ferħ,

għax trieġi l-popli bis-sewwa,

u l-ġnus fuq l-art inti tmexxihom.                            R/

Ifaħħruk il-popli o Alla,

ifaħħruk il-popli kollha.

Iberikna Alla, u tibża minnu

l-art kollha minn tarf għall-ieħor!                             R/

Reading II                                                                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 Qari                                     Qari mill-ittra lill-Galaltin  4, 4-7

Ħuti, meta waslet il-milja taż-żmien,  Alla bagħat lil Ibnu, imwieled minn mara, imwieled taħt il-Liġi, biex jifdi lil  dawk li kienu taħt il-Liġi, biex ikollna l-adozzjoni ta’ wlied . U għax intom ulied,  Alla bagħat l-Ispirtu ta’  Ibnu f’qalbna jgħajjat”“Abba Missier!” U hekk m’intix iżjed ilsir, iżda iben, werriet ukoll bil-grazzja ta’ Alla.   Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel                                                                                Luke 2:16-21

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message  that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen  just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.  This is the Word of The Lord.

Evanġelju  - Qari skond San Luqa  2, 16-21)

F’dak iż-żmien: ir-rgħajja marru jgħaġġlu, u sabu lil Marija u lil Ġużeppi,  bit-tarbija mimduda f’maxtura. Kif raw dan, bdew igħarrfu b’kulma kien  intqal lilhom dwar dik it-tarbija, u kull min semgħhom baqa’ mistagħġeb b’dak li qalulhom ir-rgħajja. Marija, min-naħa tagħha, baqgħet tgħożż f’qalbha  dawn il-ħwejjeġ kollha u taħseb fuqhom bejnha u bejn ruħha. Ir-rgħajja mbagħad reġgħu lura, isebbħu u jfaħħru lil Alla għal kulma  kienu raw u semgħu,  kif l-anġlu kien qalilhom. Meta wasal it-tmien jum biex lit-tifel  jgħmlulu ċ-ċirkonċiżjoni, semmewh Ġesu’, bl-isem li kien tah l-anġlu qabel ma tnissel fil-ġuf.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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COMMENTARY:

Fr Raniero Cantalamessa on the Mother of God       

" Can we become mothers of Christ? “

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 on the first day of 2015? 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 Bethlehem but is not born by faith in my soul?"

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).

Thursday'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 Assisi describes for us the positive case of a complete maternity which makes us resemble Mary: "We are mothers of Christ," he writes, "when we carry him in our hearts and our bodies through divine love and pure and sincere conscience; we give birth to him through holy works, which should shine as an example before others!"

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.     © Innovative Media Inc.