Readings for Sunday, December 27, 2015

The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

Lectionary: 17

Reading 1   1Samuel 1, 20-22, 24-28

She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel. “Because I asked the LORD for him. ”The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vows, Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the LORD and leave him there forever.”  Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the LORD in Shiloh .After they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the child to Eli. Then Hannah spoke up: “Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the LORD.I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.” Then they worshiped there before the LORD.   This is the Word of he Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni    -     mill-Ewwel Ktieb ta' Samwel 1, 20-22, 24-28

F'dak iż-żmien Anna tqalet, u meta wasal żmienha wildet iben usemmietu Samwell "għaliex – kif qalet hi – tlabtu lill-Mulej." Elkana bil-familja kollha tala' joffri s-sagrifiċċju ta' kull  sena lill-Mulej u jtemm il-wegħda tiegħu.     Imma Anna ma telgħetx, għaliex qalet lil żewġha:  "Meta nkun ftamt it-tifel, imbagħad nieħdu biex jidher quddiem il-Mulej, u jibqa' hemm għal dejjem." U meta fatmitu, Anna tellgħet 'il binha magħha fid-dar tal- Mulej f'Silo.   Ħadet magħha gendus ta' tliet snin, efa dqiq u żaqq inbid, u marret bitii-tfajjel magħha.   Hemm qatlu  l-gendus, u ressqu t-tifel quddiem Għeli, u qaltlu: "Nitolbok, sidi; daqskemm int ħaj, sidi, jien dik il-mara li Kienet  wieqfa hawn ħdejk titlob lill-Mulej.   Għal dan it- tifel kont tlabt, u l-Mulej laqa' t-talba tiegħi u tani li tlabtu. U issa jien se nagħtih lill-Mulej il-jiem kollha ta' ħajtu, u kemm idum ħaj ikun tal-Mulej."    U qiemu lill-Mulej hemmhekk.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm     PSalm 84

R/  Blessed are those who dwell in your house!

How lovely your dwelling,

O LORD of hosts!^a

My soul yearns and pines

for the courts of the LORD.^b        /R

Blessed are those who dwell in your house!

They never cease to praise you.

Blessed the man who finds refuge in you,

in their hearts are pilgrim roads.            R/

LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;

listen, God of Jacob.^*

O God, watch over our shield;

look upon the face of your anointed.^d        R/

Salm Responsorjali                    Salm 83 b(84)

R/  Ħenjin dawk li jgħammru f'darek, Mulej                    

Kemm hi għażiża d-dar tiegħek,

Mulej tal-eżerċti!

Tixxennaq u tinfena ruħi għat-tempju tal-Mulej;

ngħanni ferħan b'ruħi u ġismi lil Alla l-ħaj.                          R/.

Ħenjin dawk li jgħammru f'darek;

huma jfaħħruk għal dejjem.

Ħenjin dawk li jsibu fik il-qawwa tagħhom,

li għandhom għal qalbhom il-pellegrinaġġ għat-tempju.           R/

Mulej, Alla tal-eżerċti, isma talbi;

agħti widen, Alla ta' Ġakobb.

Ħares, o Alla, lejn it-tarka tagħna,

ħares lejn is-sultan, il-midluk tiegħek.                  R/

Reading 2       1 JOHN 3, 1 – 2, 21-24

See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us. This is the Word of he  Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni    -   Qari mill-1 Ittra ta' San Ġwann Appostlu 3, 1 – 2, 21-24

Għeżież, araw b'liema għożża ħabbna l-Missieri; nistgħu nissejħu wlieid Alla, u hekk aħna tassew! Għalhekk id-dinja ma tagħrafniex, għax ma għarfitx lilu... Għeżież, issa aħna wlied Alla, imma x'se nkunu 'l quddiem Mhuwiex irrivelat lilna.   Madankollu nafu li meta jidher hu, aħna nkunu bħalu, għax narawh kif inhu. Għeżież, jekk il-kuxjenza  ma ċċanfarniex, aħna qalbna qawwija Quddiem Alla, u kulma nitolbu naqilgħuh mingħanduuuu, għax Qegħdin inżommu l-kmandamenti tiegħu u nagħmlu dak li Jogħġob lilu. Dan hu l-kmandament tiegħu:  li nemmnu fl-isem ta' Ibnu Ġesu' Kristu, u nħobbu ;l xulxin, kif wissiena hu.  Min iżomm il- kandamenti tiegħu jgħammar f'Alla u Alla fih.  B'hekk  nagħrfu li hu jgħammar fina; bl-Ispirtu li hu tana. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel   LuKe 2:41-52

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover,  and when he was twelve years old,  they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning,  the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,  but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,  but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple,  sitting in the midst of the teachers,  listening to them and asking them questions,  and all who heard him were astounded  at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished,  and his mother said to him,  “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favour before God and man. This is the Word of he Lord.

Evanġelju   -  Qari skond San Luqa, 2,41-52

Ta' kull sena l-ġenituri ta' Ġesu kienu jmorru Ġerusalemm għall-festa tal-Għid..  Meta kellu tnax-il sena telgħu wkoll, skont id-drawwa ta' dik il-festa.  Wara li għaddew dawk il- ġranet qabdu t-triq lura, imma t-tfajjel Ġesu' baqa'  Ġerusalemm bla ma kienu jafu fit-triq magħhom; iżda meta  wara jum mixi fititxewh fost qrabathom u n-nies li kienu  jafuhom, ma sabuhx, u għalhekk reġgħu  lura Ġerusalemm  ifittxuh. Wara tlitt ijiem sabuh fit-tempju, bilqiegħda f'nofs l- galliem, jismagħhom u jistaqsihom; u kull min  smgħu baqa' mistagħġeb bid-dehen  u t-tweġibiet tiegħu. Kif rawh, instamtu, u ommu qaltlu:  "Ibni, dan  għaliex  għamiltilna hekk?   Ara, missierek u jien konna qiegħdin  infittxuk b'qalbna maqsuma."   U hu qalilhom:  "U għaliex   kontu qegħdin tfittxuni?   Ma tafux li jiena għandu nkun f'dak  li hu ta' Missieri?   Iżda kliemu ma fehmuhx. Imbagħad niżel magħhomu raġa mar Nażaret; u kien jobdihom.   U ommu kienet tgħożż f'qalbha hawn il-ħwejjeġ kollha.   U hekk  Ġesu' baqa' jikber fl-għerf, fis-snin u fil-grazzja, quddiem  Alla u quddiem il-bnedmin Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

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A Glimpse of What Can Be

A reflection  by Larry Broding 

As the New Year approaches, what do you see this coming year?

 Explain your answer to yourself.

"Happy New Year"

These words ring out at this time each year. Words that cause us to take stock of the past. Words that inspire us to look for hope in the future. Words of reflection and anticipation. Words of conservation and of change. Words of the old and the new.

Like last week, Luke presented the tension between the old and the new. Last week, Elizabeth, representing the old, honored the new in Mary. This week, Jesus himself proclaimed his place in God's new order, as he honored the old traditions.  As Luke presented a maturing Jesus, he began to paint the tension between the old (Jewish traditions) and the new (the way of the Nazarene). While Jesus stood firmly within the traditions of Judaism, his words revealed something far greater. God had indeed begun to act in the world.

Again, Luke used an account in the infancy narrative to bridge from the old to the new, from the people's daily traditions to the realization of God's Son. In the set up of the account, Luke stressed continuity with Jewish tradition within a family. Joseph and Mary traveled with their clan to Jerusalem for Passover. The capital had the one place where the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob definitely dwelt: the Temple. The importance of the city and its Temple gave a focal point to Jewish spirituality. Both realized the fulfillment of God's promise to Father Abraham for a nation and its land. The family tradition of pilgrimage reinforced the Jewish spiritual focus. Joseph and Mary walked, like their Exodus ancestors, to a place that symbolized Judaism's history and aspirations. The pilgrimage had spiritual overtones, but so did its end point.

Luke mixed images of Jesus in the narrative. At first, Luke introduced Jesus as a young man, a "son of the Law" who had all the rights and the obligations of an adult male. As such, Jesus accompanied Joseph and Mary to the festival in Jerusalem. Yet, when Jesus stayed behind, Luke referred to him as a "young boy," a term that had overtones of enslavement. Whom was he enslaved to? The answer would come later in the narrative.

The search for Jesus heightened the tension between the image of the "son of the Law" and the enslaved minor. The Holy Couple sought for Jesus among his clan, where everyone thought his place should be. (Remember that members of his own clan and his townsfolk would later reject Jesus in Luke 4:14-30) The old would define his place within his family. But the new would define the place of Jesus within a new family, with a new Father.

Joseph and Mary returned to the place where, according to tradition, the Messiah would be revealed in his glory. This was the second of two narrative accounts in which Luke used the place and the people to emphasize that point. In Luke 2:22-38, the parents presented the child at the Temple. And two prophets proclaimed the Good News that the Messiah had been born.

In this second account, Jesus himself revealed his Messiahship with an enigmatic answer. "Did you not know that it was necessary (for) me to be in the (things) of my Father?" As the note mentioned above, the phrase can refer to place (the Temple) or to affairs (his teaching ministry). In either case, Jesus acted in the role God had given him. While Jesus might have been an enfranchised Jewish male, he, as the only Son of God, was enslaved to the will of his Father. Jesus did not really belong to the clan from Nazareth. He belonged to his true Father. Jesus' place was in the Father's house (i.e., building and family). Jesus' mission was to teach the people the way back to the Father. He amazed the teachers just as he would amaze the people along his mission road. But Joseph and Mary did not understand his reasoning.

The tension between the parents and the child began to fulfill the prophecy Simeon made to Mary and foreshadowed Jesus' death and resurrection. The search caused Mary pain and anxiety (one of the swords that pierced her heart). The climax of the story occurred three days after the celebration of Passover (a foreshadowing of the Resurrection).

Despite the confrontation, Jesus grew in honou (wisdom, size, and reputation). Jesus was a faithful Jew as he honoued his parents and obeyed the Fourth Commandment. He existed within the old, the Jewish tradition. But all signs pointed to the new. He was the Messiah. And he would reveal God acting in a new way, with a new people.

 

The hallmark of Jesus' life before his baptism was silence. He lived an ordinary life, doing what ordinary people did at the time. He was a Jew, obedient to his faith, his family, and his profession. In that way, Jesus lived as we live. The silence of his early years stressed his solidarity with our human condition. But that silence also sowed the seeds of his ministry, his obedience to the Father.

The finding of Jesus in the Temple is the only break to that silence. As we saw above, that narrative looked to that ordinary life, but also looked forward to an extraordinary ministry.

How has God broken through the daily routine of your life to reveal himself?

How has he proclaimed himself Lord?

"Happy New Year!"   This is a time to set aside daily routine and take a glimpse of what can be. Jesus gave his mother and foster father such a glimpse. The vision may have jolted the couple, but it pointed to what would be. We, too, need a time to seek God's will, to take a peek at the future. What we see may jolt us, too. But, that vision will lead to joy and to hope.

Take a few moments now to pray for the coming year.

What requests do you have this year? Write down all your thoughts and put them away. Review them next year at this time. You will be surprised what God has in store.

May God bless us all this coming year!

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