Power From Above

readings for May 24, 2015

Pentecost Sunday

Solemnity of the coming of the Holy Spirit

Ghid il-Hamsin   (Quddiesa tal-Jum)

SOLENNITA’ TAL-MIGJA TA’ L-ISPIRTU S-SANTU

Messalin B 320

Reading 1          ACTS 2:1-11

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.  Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.  At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”  This s the Word of the Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni  -  Qari mill-Atti tal-Appostli.i 2, 1-11

Meta wasal jum Għid il-Ħamsin, huma kienu lkoll flimkien  f'post wieħed.   F'daqqa waħda ġie mis-sema ħoss bħal ta'  riħ qawwi, u mela d-dar kollha fejn kienu qegħdin.    U dehrulhom ilsna qishom tan-nar, li tqassmu u qagħdu fuq  kull wieħed minnhom.   Imtlew lkoll bl-Ispirtu s-Santu u bdew  jitkellmu b'ilsna oħra, skont ma l-Ispirtu kien jagħtihom li jitkellmu. F'Ġerusalemm kien hemm xi Lhud, nies twajba minn kull  nazzjon li hawn taħt is-sema.   Malli nstama' dan il-ħoss,  inġabret kotra kbira,  ilkoll imħawdin għax kull wieħed  minnhom kien jismagħhom jitkellmu bl-ilsien tiegħu.   Miblugħin u mistagħġbin, bdew jgħidu:  "Dawn li qegħdin   jitkellmu mhumiex ilkoll mill-Galilija?  Mela kif kull wieħed  minna qiegħed jismagħhom jitkellmu bi lsien art twelidu?    Partin, Medin u Għelamin, nies mill- Mesopotanja,  mil-Lhudija, mill-Kappadoċja, minn Pontu, mill-Asja, mill-Friġja, mill-Pamfilja, mill-Eġittu, mill- inħawi  tal-Libja madwar Ċireni, nies li ġew minn Ruma, kemm Lhud u kemm proseliti,  oħrajn minn Kreta u  Għarab, aħna lkoll qegħdin nisimgħuhom ixandru  bl-ilsna tagħna l-għeġubijiet ta' Alla!" Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                PSalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34

Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
the earth is full of your creatures;
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or: R. Alleluia.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD be glad in his works!
Pleasing to him be my theme;
I will be glad in the LORD.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or: R. Alleluia.

If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or: R. Alleluia.

Salm Responsorjali                                    Salm 103(104)

Bierek ruħ tiegħi, lill-Mulej!

Mulej, Alla tiegħi, inti kbir bil-bosta!

Kemm huma kotrana l-għemejjel tiegħek, Mulej!

Mimlija l-art bil-ħlejjaq tiegħek.             

     R/  Ibgħat l-Ispirtu tiegħek, Mulej, u ġedded il-wiċċ ta' l-art.

Jekk teħdilhom nifishom, imutu,

u lejn it-trab jerġgħu jmorru.

Malli tibgħat in-nifs tiegħek, jinħolqu,

u inti ġġedded il-wiċċ ta' l-art.

     R/  Ibgħat l-Ispirtu tiegħek, Mulej, u ġedded il-wiċċ ta' l-art.

Jibqa' sebħ il-Mulej għal dejjem!

Jifraħ il-Mulej bl-għemejjel tiegħu!

Ħa togħġbu l-għanja tiegħi,

Għax jien fil-Mulej l-hena tiegħi.

     R/  Ibgħat l-Ispirtu tiegħek, Mulej, u ġedded il-wiċċ ta' l-art.

Reading 2             GALatians 5:16-25

Brothers and sisters, live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.For the flesh has desires against the Spirit,and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want. But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, lust, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.  This s the Word of the Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni  -  Qari mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl lill-Galatin 5  16-25

Ħuti, jien ngħidilkom, imxu fl-Ispirtu u taqgħux għall-passjonijiet tal-passjoniet tal-ġisem huma kontra l-ġisem;  dawn it-tnejn huma kontra xulxin, ;biex ma jħallukomx tagħmlu dak li tixtiequ. Jekk lilkom imexxikom l-Ispirtu, m'intomx taħt il-liġi. L-għemejjel tal-ġisem huma magħrufa:   żina, faħx, nuqqas ta' rażan, idolatrija, seħer, mibegħda, ġlied, għira, korla, ambizzjoni, firda, partiti, invidja, sokor, tbaħrid, u ħwejjeġ bħal dawn.   Inwissikom, bħalma wissejtkom  qabel, min jagħmel dawn il-ħwejjeġ ma jiritx is-saltna ta' Alla.  Il-frott tal-Ispirtu huma:  l-imħabba, l-hena,  is-sliem, is-sabar, il-ħniena, it-tjieba, il-fidi, il-ħlewwa, ir-rażan.   Kontra dawn ma hemmx liġi.   Dawk li huma ta' Kristu Ġesu' sallbu l-ġisem bil-ġibdiet u l-passjonijiet tiegħu.   Jekk ngħixu bl-Ispirtu, ħalli  nimxu bl-Ispirtu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Sequence — Veni, Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;

In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;

Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia.

Sekwenza

Spirtu s-Santu, ejja fina,                               

raġġ ta'  dawl qaddis agħtina,   

xerrdu f'ruħna mis-smewwiet.

O Missier il-foqra tiegħek,

inti ġġib id-doni miegħek,

tagħni b'dawklek qalb l-ulied.

Inti l-aqwa faraġ tagħna,

fik kull hena xħin tkun magħna,

tħossok fewġa ħelwa r-ruħ 

Fl-għaja, lejn is-serħ twassalna;

jekk imħeġġa wisq, trażżanna;

mil-għajnejn tixxotta d-dmugħ.

O dawl ħieni ta' qdusija,

nitolbuk li bik mimlija

tkun il-qalb ta' kull fidil.

Mingħajr dawlek li jmexxina

ebda ħajr ma jkum hemm fina,

ebda safa fl-għemil.

Naddaf kull fejn hemm it-tbajja',

fejn hemm nixfa reġġa' l-ħajja,

lill-miġruħ agħtih fejqan.

Rattab fina l-ebusija,

agħti lill-berdin bżulija,

għin fit-triq lil min beżgħan.

Agħti s-seba' doni tiegħek

lil min jimxi fidil miegħek

u li fik jistrieħ kull hin.

Agħti 'l kull virtu' sabiħa

ħlas ta' salvazzjoni sħiħa,

agħti  l-ġenna lit-tajbin.

Ammen.  Hallelujah.

Gospel              JohN 15:26-27; 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples:  “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.“ I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.” This s the Word of the Lord.

L-Evanġelju  -  Qari skont San Ġwann 15, 26-27; 16,12-15

F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu:  "Meta jiġi d-Difensur, li se nibagħtilkom mingħand il-Missier, l-Ispirtu tal-verita', li ġej mill-Missier, huwa jixhed għalija.  U intom ukoll tixhduuu, għax intom kontru miegħi sa mill-bidu. Baqagħli ħafna ħwejjeġ  x'ngħidilkom, imma għalissa ma tifilħux għalihom.     Meta jiġi hu, l-Ispirtu tal-verita', iwassalkom għall-verita' kollha; għaliex hu ma jgħid xejn minn tiegħu, imma jgħid dak li jisma', u jħabbrilkom il-ġejjieni.   Hu jagħtini glorja,  għaliex jieħu minn dak li hu tiegħi u jħabbru lilkom.   Dak kollu li għandu l-Missier huwa tiegħi.   Għalhekk għedt li jieħu minn  dak li hu tiegħi u jħabbru lilkom. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

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Power From Above

Gospel Commentary for Feast of Pentecost By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

 Everyone has on some occasion seen people pushing a stalled car trying to get it going fast enough to start. There are one or two people pushing from behind and another person at the wheel. If it does not get going after the first try, they stop, wipe away the sweat, take a breath and try again. ... Then suddenly there is a noise, the engine starts to work, the car moves on its own and the people who were pushing it straighten themselves up and breathe a sigh of relief.

This is an image of what happens in Christian life. One goes forward with much effort, without great progress. But we have a very powerful engine ("the power from above!") that only needs to be set working. The feast of Pentecost should help us to find this engine and and see how to get it going.

The account from the Acts of the Apostles begins thus: "When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all together in the same place."

From these words, we see that Pentecost pre-existed Pentecost. In other words, there was already a feast of Pentecost in Judaism and it was during this feast that the Holy Spirit descended. One cannot understand the Christian Pentecost without taking into account the Jewish Pentecost that prepared it.

In the Old Testament there were two interpretations of the feast of Pentecost. At the beginning there was the feast of the seven weeks, the feast of the harvest, when the first fruits of grain were offered to God, but then, and certainly during Jesus' time, the feast was enriched with a new meaning: It was the feast of the conferral of the law and of the covenant on Mount Sinai.

If the Holy Spirit descends upon the Church precisely on the day in which Israel celebrated the feast of the law and the covenant, this indicates that the Holy Spirit is the new law, the spiritual law that sealed the new and eternal covenant. A law that is no longer written on stone tablets but on tablets of flesh, on the hearts of men.

These considerations immediately provoke a question: Do we live under the old law or the new law? Do we fulfill our religious duties by constraint, by fear and habit, or rather by an intimate conviction and almost by attraction? Do we experience God as a father or a boss?

I conclude with a story. At the beginning of the last century a family from southern Italy emigrated to the United States. Not having enough money to pay for meals at restaurants, they took bread and cheese with them for the trip. As the days and weeks passed the bread became stale and the cheese moldy; at a certain point their child could not take it anymore and could do nothing but cry.

The parents took the last bit of money that they had and gave it to him so that he could have a nice meal at a restaurant. The child went, ate and came back to his parents in tears. The parents asked: "We have spent all the money we had left to buy you a nice meal and you are still crying?"

"I am crying because I found out that one meal a day was included in the price and this whole time we have been eating bread and cheese!"

Many Christians go through life with only "bread and cheese," without joy, without enthusiasm, when they could, spiritually speaking, every day enjoy every good thing of God, it all being included in the price of being Christians.

The secret for experiencing that which John XXIII called "a new Pentecost" is called prayer. That is where we find the "spark" that starts the engine!

Jesus promised that the heavenly Father would give the Holy Spirit to those who asked for him (Luke 11:13). Ask then! The liturgy of Pentecost offers us magnificent words to do this:

"Come, Holy Spirit ...
Come, O Father of the poor,
Ever bounteous of Thy store,
Come, our heart's unfailing light.
Come, Consoler, kindest, best,
Come, our bosom's dearest guest,
Sweet refreshment, sweet repose.
Rest in labor, coolness sweet,
Tempering the burning heat,
Truest comfort of our woes!"

Come Holy Spirit!

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]