December 25, 2014 | - Mass During The Day
It-Twelid ta' Sidna Ġesu' Kristu
Quddiesa ta' bi Nhar
Messalin
A pp 101
How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings, announcing
peace, bearing good news, announcing salvation, and saying to Zion, “Your God
is King!” Hark! Your sentinels raise a
cry, together they shout for joy, for they see directly, before their eyes, the LORD
restoring Zion Jerusalem Jerusalem
L-Ewwel Lezzjoni - Qari
mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija 52, 7-10
Kemm huma sbieħ fuq il-muntanji r-riġlejn ta' min iħabbar
il-bxara, ta' min ixandar is-sliem, ta' min iħabbar ir-riżq, ta' min ixandar
is-salvazzjoni, u jgħid lil Sijon:
"Alla tiegħek isaltan." Imbagħad l-għajta! l-għassiesa tiegħek għollew leħenhom, lkoll
flimkien jgħajtu bil-ferħ, għax raw b'għajnejhom lill-Mulej rieġa' lura
f'Sijon. Intom, ħerbiet ta' Ġerusalemm, għajtu lkoll bil-ferħ, għar faraġ il-Mulej il-poplu tiegħu, feda lil
Ġerusalemm. Kixef il-Mulej id-driegħ tiegħu qaddis, quddiem il-ġnus kollha, u raw it-truf kollha ta'
l-art is-salvazzjoni ta' Alla tagħna. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm PSALM 98:1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6
R/ (3c) All the ends of
the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Sing to the LORD
a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm. R/
for he has done wondrous deeds;
his right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm. R/
The LORD has made
his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house ofIsrael
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of
All the ends of
the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise. R/
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise. R/
Sing praise to
the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD. R/.
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD. R/.
Salm Responsorjali (Salm 97
(98)
R/ Raw it-truf kollha ta' l-art
is-salvazzjoni ta' Alla tagħna.
Għannu lill-Mulej għanja ġdida,
Għax għamel ħwejjeġ ta' l-għaġeb.
Ġibitlu r-rebħa l-leminija tiegħu,
u d-driegħ imqaddes tiegħu. R/
Għarraf il-Mulej is-salvazzjoni tiegħu,
f'għajnejn il-ġnus wera l-ġustizzja tiegħu.
Ftakar fit-tjieba u l-fedelta' tiegħu
mal-poplu ta' Iżrael. R/
L-art
kollha, minn
rat
is-salvazzjoni ta' Alla tagħna.
Għajtu
bil-ferħ lill-Mulej fl-art kollha,
infexxu
fil-hena, ifirħu u għannu! R/
Għannu
lill-Mulej biċ-ċetra,
biċ-ċetra
u bil-ħlewwa ta' l-għana,
bit-trombi
u bid-daqq tat-trumbetti;
għajtu
bil-ferħ quddiem il-Mulej is-sultan! R/
Reading 2 HEBREWS 1:1-6
Brothers and
sisters: In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors
through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the
Son, whom he made heir of all things and through whom he created
the universe, who is the refulgence of his glory, the very imprint of his
being, and who sustains all things by his mighty word. When he had accomplished
purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on
high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more
excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say: You are
my son; this day I have begotten you? Or again: I will be a father to him, and he
shall be a son to me? And again, when he leads the firstborn into the
world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him. This
is the Word of The Lord.
It-Tieni
Lezzjoni - Bidu ta' l-Ittra lil-Lhud 1,1-6
Alla
fl-imgħoddi kellem lil missirijietna ħafna drabi u b'ħafna manjieri permezz tal-profeti. Issa
f'dan l-aħħar żmien, huwa kellimna permezz ta' Ibnu, li hu għamlu werriet ta'
kollox , u li bih ukoll għamel il-ħolqien.
Hu, l-Iben, li hu d-dija tal-glorja ta'
Alla u x-xbieha ta' l-essenza tiegħu, u
li jżomm id-dinja kollha bil-kelma setgħana
tiegħu, wara li naddafna minn dnubietna, qagħad
fuq il-lemin tal-kobor ta' alla fl-għoli
tas- smewwiet, u b'hekk sar daqshekk aqwa mill-anġli daqs kemm ogħla minn
Gospel JOHN 1:1-18
In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was in
the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without
him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was
the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness
has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony,
to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was
not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which
enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the
world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what
was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to those who did accept
him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his
name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice
nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made
his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only
Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying,
“This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead
of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all
received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through
Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen
God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him. This is
the Word of The Lord.
L-Evanġelju - skond San Ġwann
1, 1-18
Fil-bidu kien il-Verb, u
l-Verb kien ma' Alla, u l-Verb kien Alla. Hu kien fil-bidu ma' Alla. Kollox bih
sar, u xejn ma sar mingħajru; kull ma sar kellu l-ħajja fih, u l-ħajja kienet
id-dawl tal-bnedmin. Id-dawl jiddi fid-dlam, imma d-dlam ma għelbux. Kien hemm raġel
mibgħut minn minn
/////////////////////// From an unpublished personal reflection on the Incarnation -
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/////////////////////// From an unpublished personal reflection on the Incarnation -
In the beginning...
Why did God do it?
In my mind I was transported to a higher
plane, a place where I could feel safe
from any danger yet there was nothing to hold me from falling. Was I in a sort
of heaven? I felt, though I did not clearly see, a presence - three
rather - who seemed reassuringly present. They seemed to invite me to look at
my world and feel it. Yes, feel it. Not only see it.
At first all I could see were the millions
on millions of people in my view. Men
and women of different sizes, shapes, rich and poor; old and young. People
speaking different languages. Some being born, others dying; some running and
playing, others sick and suffering. Some laughing, others crying. Some
screaming and shouting, others praying and singing.
I slowly was able to focus on them
individually not as a mass. White,
black, brown, red, yellow. They had different skins and different
clothing. But they were still the basic male
and female that I knew. As I seemed to
be encouraged to look closer I noticed that some were happy and others not.
Some troubled and worried; others
pushing their troubles away to try and take hold of their life. Others were letting troubles get the better
of them and fell prey to desperation. Some taking their lives with their own
hands.
As I began to feel that a sense of sadness
crept into me as well, I saw that among the darkness there were pockets of
light, it was as if night had descended and one could see the city lights from here. These were the many persons who were carrying
the light to the 'others' through their actions, their beliefs, their prayers,
their lives.
Although I could hear no sound I felt like
someone was speaking to me... directly to my heart and mind. I could understand that I was being invited
to partake of a Trinitarian moment, when God Himself was letting me see things
from His viewpoint. How the way we lived
caused Him to cry for us. Yes, I realised - without being actually told - that
God, Jesus, knew what it was like to feel pain and to be hurt. He knew the pain
of crying for some beloved that was being lost.
It reminded me of how I felt when our family dog was dying in front of
me. Her eyes said it all as she lay helpless not having totally recovered from
an operation yet still alive, as life slowly ebbed from her.
Now I was able to understand - and feel -
why God the human had cried for Lazarus, his friend. I was Lazarus. We are Lazarus. But the name Lazarus in Hebrew means God is
merciful, so God was crying for humanity, his creation; his crying was one of
mercy not sorrow or desperation at how things had got all mixed up thanks to
sin.
I felt as if I was being encouraged to
delve deeper. Like someone was inviting
me to think how do the Three Divine Persons respond to the joys and sufferings
of the world? How does the God who is Love respond to us, God's children, who
are lost, aimless, suffering, sinning, confused, and hurting?
I always seemed to have this impression of
God majestically sitting on Cloud 9 and looking down on us from on high....as I
now was too. Perhaps it was an idea that came from my youth studies of Greek
mythology. Perhaps it was also as a result of my further adult studies that
were influenced by the Book of Revelation.
Yet I was to realise that God - Jesus - would not let His acquired
humanity be just a passing phase. But He
continued to live it alongside his divine Self.
He did not reside on Cloud 9 - or any other Cloud for that matter - but
He resided among the people of the world I was looking at.
With this realisation I seemed to be
transported down among the babble of the people. One moment in the big
city. Another in the deep forest. Or the high mountains. Where people were eking
their way of life as best they could because they did not know - or believe -
that a God - their God, their Jesus, His Spirit - were by their side and could
help them. They worked hard but did not
trust the freely given Love and Wisdom that could open up doors for them if
they only asked for it.
Then there was a booming sound. Like three loud voices speaking out at once
as in a performance of a Greek tragedy. I think I realised at that point that
the Divine Persons had spoken. They were saying, "Let us work the redemption of the whole
human race; let us respond to the groaning of all creation."
They were not talking to me. They were making a statement. As if to say "We will not let them
go. We have loved them from when we willed
them into creation. And we will continue
to love them and save them for ever more"
I was speechless. What could I say? Was I, after all, expected
to say something in the first place?
Then part of a psalm came to mind...
and I hummed it in my soul....
Shepherd me O God, beyond my wants,
beyond my fears, from death unto life. ...
Though I shall wander the Valley Death
I fear no evil for you are at my side.
Your rod and your staff my comfort and hope.
(C) 2011 JRP
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