"What do you wish me to do for you?"

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Id-29 Ħadd matul is-Sena

Messalin  B p 492

Reading 1       -          Isaiah 53:10-11

The LORD was pleased to crush him in infirmity. If he gives his life as an offering for sin,  he shall see his descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD shall be accomplished through him. Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear. This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Ewwel Qari   -    mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija 53, 10-11

Il-Mulej għoġbu jgħakksu bil-mard. Jekk joffri ruħu b'sagrifiċċju ta' riparazzjoni, huwa għad jara nisel u jtawwal jiemu; u r-rieda tal-Mulej isseħħ bih. Wara t-tbatija tiegħu għad jara d-dawl, jixba' bit-tagħrif tiegħu. Il-ġust jiġġustifika lill-qaddej tiegħu quddiem  il-kotra, u l-ħażen tagħhom jitgħabba bih hu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                       PSALM 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22

R. (22) Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in you.

Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.      R/

See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.                                  R/

Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.                                 R/

Salm Responsorjali    -      Salm 32 (33)

                R/     Ħa tkun,   Mulej,  it-tjieba tiegħek fuqna, kif fik hi t-tama tagħna.

Sewwa hi l-kelma tal-Mulej,

kollox bil- fedelta' huwa  għamel;

Hu jħobb id-drit u s-sewwa;

bit-tjieba tal-Mulej mimlija l-art.                            R/

Ara, għajnejn il-Mulej fuq dawk li jibżgħu minnu,

fuq dawk li jittamaw fit-tjieba tiegħu.

Biex jeħilsilhom mill-mewt ħajjithom,

u jaħjihom fi żmien il-ġuħ.                                          R/

Ruħna tixxennaq għall-Mulej,

hu l-għajnuna u t-tarka tagħna,

Ħa tkun, Mulej, it-tjieba tiegħek fuqna,

kif fik hi t-tama tagħna.                                 R/           

Reading 2                             Hebrews 4:14-16

Brothers and sisters: Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. This is the Word of The Lord.

It-Tieni Qari     -         mill-Ittra lill-Lhud 4, 14-16

Ħuti,  meta aħna għandna l-qassis il-kbir, li hu tassew kbir, qassis li daħal fis-smewwiet, Ġesu' Bin Alla, ħa nżommu sħiħa l-fidi tagħna u nistqarruha. Għax aħna ma għandniex qassis il-kbir li ma  jistax jagħder in-nuqqas ta' ħila tagħna,  imma għandna wieħed li kien imġarrab   bħalna f'kollox, minbarra d-dnub.   Ħa nersqu, mela, b'qalbna qawwija lejn it-tron tal-grazzja,  biex naqilgħu ħniena u nsibu f'waqtha l-grazzja li neħtieġu.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel           -           Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee,  came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?" They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."  This is the Word of The Lord.

L-Evanġelju    -    i mill-Evanġelju ta' San Mark 10, 35-46

F'dak iż-żmien,  (Ġakbu u Ġwanni, ulied Żebedew, resqu lejn lejh u qalulu: "Mgħallem, dak li se nitolbuk irriduk tagħtihulna." "Xi triduni nagħmlilkom?" staqsiehom. U huma weġbuh:  "Ħallina noqogħdu wieħed fuq  il-lemin tiegħek u l-ieħor fuq  ix-xellug fil-glorja tiegħek." Imma Ġesu' qalilhom:  "Ma tafux x'intom titolbu. Għandkom ħila tixorbu l-kalċi li se nixrob jien, u titgħammdu bil-magħmudija li biha se nitgħammed jien?"  "Għandna", qalulu. Imbagħad  qalilhom Ġesu':   "Il-kalċi li se nixrob jien tixorbuh, iva,  u titgħammdu ukoll bil-magħmudija li  biha se nitgħammed jien;    imma li wieħed  joqgħod fuq il-lemin u x-xellug tiegħi, din mhix ħaġa tiegħi li nagħtiha jien, imma hi għal dawk li għalihom kienet imħejjija." Il-għaxra l-oħra, meta semgħu dan,  saħnu għal Ġakbu u għal Ġwanni.) Imma Ġesu' sejħilhom  u qalilhom: "Tafu intom, dawk in-nies li l-bnedmin igħodduhom  bħala  kapijiet tal-pagani, jaħkmu fuqhom, u  l-kbarat tagħhom iħaddmu s-setgħa tagħhom fuqhom.   Fostkom ma għandux ikun hekk,  imma min irid ikun kbir fostkom,  għandu jkun qaddej tagħkom, u  min irid ikun l-ewwel fostkom,  għandu joqgħod ilsir ta' kulħadd.   Għax hekk  ukoll Bin il-bniedem,  hu ma ġiex biex ikun moqdi,  imma biex jaqdi u biex jagħti  ħajtu b'fidwa għall-kotra." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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Commentary:

Father Cantalamessa on Power

The Great Exercise Power

After the Gospel on riches, this Sunday's Gospel gives us Christ's judgment on another of the great idols of the world: power.  Power, like money, is not intrinsically evil. God describes himself as "the Omnipotent" and Scripture says "power belongs to God" (Psalm 62:11).    However, given that man had abused the power granted to him, transforming it into control by the strongest and oppression of the weakest, what did God do?

To give us an example, God stripped himself of his omnipotence; from being "omnipotent," he made himself "impotent."  He "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:7). He transformed power into service. The first reading of the day contains a prophetic description of this "impotent" Savior. "He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth. ... He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity."

Thus a new power is revealed, that of the cross: "Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise" (1 Corinthians 1:27). In the Magnificat, Mary sings in advance this silent revolution brought by the coming of Christ: "He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones" (Luke 1:52).

Who is accused under this denunciation of power? Only dictators and tyrants? Would that it were so! It would refer, in this case, to exceptions. Instead, it affects us all. Power has infinite ramifications, it gets in everywhere, as certain sands of the Sahara when the sirocco wind blows. It even gets into the Church.

The problem of power, therefore, is not posed only in the political realm. If we stay in that realm, we do no more than join the group of those who are always ready to strike others' breast for their own faults. It is easy to denounce collective faults, or those of the past; it is far more difficult when it comes to personal and present faults.

Mary says that God "dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart; he has thrown down the rulers from their thrones" (Luke 1:51ff.). She singles out implicitly a precise area in which the "will to power" must be combated: our own hearts.

Our minds -- the thoughts of the heart -- can become a kind of throne on which we sit to dictate laws and thunder against those who do not submit to us. We are, at least in our wishes if not in deeds, the "mighty on thrones."

Sadly, in the family itself it is possible that our innate will to power and abuse might manifest itself, causing constant suffering to those who are victims of it, which is often -- not always -- the woman.

What does the Gospel oppose to power? Service: a power for others, not over others!

Power confers authority, but service confers something more, authority that means respect, esteem, a true ascendancy over others. The Gospel also opposes power with nonviolence, that is, power of another kind, moral, not physical power.

Jesus said that he could have asked the Father for twelve legions of angels to defeat his enemies who were just about to crucify him (Matthew 26:53), but he preferred to pray for them. And it was in this way that he achieved victory.

Service is not always expressed, however, in silence and submission to power. Sometimes it can impel one to raise one's voice against power and its abuses. This is what Jesus did. In his life he experienced the abuse of the political and religious power of the time. That is why he is close to all those -- in any environment (the family, community, civil society) --who go through the experience of an evil and tyrannical power.

With his help it is possible not "to be overcome by evil," as he was not -- more than that, to "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).           [Translation by ZENIT] © Innovative Media Inc.
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Correction: Last week's commentary by Father Cantalamessa should have read: "However, it is clear that today almsgiving and charity is no longer the only way to use wealth for the common good, or perhaps the most advisable." The word "only" was inadvertently omitted from the English translation. We apologize for the error.

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