IL-32 Ħadd matul is-Sena
Messalin C
pp 438
Reading 1 - 2 Macabees 7:1-2, 9-14
It happened that seven brothers with their
mother were arrested and tortured with whips and Scourges by the king, to force
them to eat pork in violation of God's law. One of the brothers, speaking for the others,
said: "What do you expect to achieve by questioning us? We are ready to die rather than transgress the
laws of our ancestors." At the point of death he said: "You accursed
fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world
will raise us up to live again forever. It is for his laws that we are
dying." After him the third suffered their cruel sport. He put out his
tongue at once when told to do so, and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke
these noble words: "It was from Heaven that I received these; for the sake
of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again." Even the
king and his attendants marveled at the young man's courage, because he
regarded his sufferings as nothing. After he had died, they tortured and
maltreated the fourth brother in the same way. When he was near death, he said,
"It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of
being raised up by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to
life." This is the
Word of the Lord.
L-1 Lezzjoni - Qari
mit-Tieni Ktieb tal-Makkabej 7, 1-2, 9-14
F'dak iż-żmien, qabdu sebat aħwa
u 'l ommhom; u
s-sultan beda biex jisfurzhom bid-daqqiet tas-swat u u tan-nerv biex
jieklu l-laħam tal-majjal li ma jiswiex. Wieħed minnhom beda jitkellem f'isem
l-oħrajn u qal: "X'int tfittex tistaqsi u trid taf minna? Aħna lest mmutu, imma m'aħniex lesti niksru l-liġijiet
ta' missirijietna." U t-tieni wieħed, kif kien fl-aħħar nifs, qallu:
"Int, bniedem mill-agħar, int se
ċċaħħadna mill-ħajja ta' issa, imma s-sultan tad-dinja għad iqajjimna
għall-ħajja ta' dejjem, lilna li se mmutu għal-liġijiet tiegħu." Imbagħad
wara dan bdew jittorturaw it-tielet wieħed u malli talbuh ħareġ minnufih
ilsienu u bla biża' ta' xejn midd idejh u ta' qalbieni li kien għajjat:
"Mis-sema ksibthom ksibthom dawn, u
għal-liġijiet tiegħu jien nistmerrhom,
għax mingħandu nittama li għad nerġa' niksibhom." Saħansitra s-sultan u dawk ta' madwaru
stagħġbu bil-qawwa ta' dan iż-żgħażugħ, kif l-uġiegħ ma kien iqisu xejn.Meta
miet dan bdew jittorturaw u jbiċċru r-raba' wieħed bl-istess mod. Meta wasal fl-aħħar qal: "Aħjar li wieħed imut b'idejn
il-bnedmin Meta
jkollu t-tama mingħand Alla li għad iqajmu mill-ġdid. Imma għalik
m'hemmx qawmien għall-ħajja." Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm
17:1, 5-6, 8, 15
R.
(15b) Lord, when your glory appears, my
joy will be full.
Hear, O LORD, a just
suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. R/
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit. R/
My steps have been steadfast in your paths,
my feet have not faltered.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word. R/.
Keep me as the apple of your eye,
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking I shall be content in your presence. R/
hide me in the shadow of your wings.
But I in justice shall behold your face;
on waking I shall be content in your presence. R/
Salm
Responsorjali - Salm 16
(17)
R/ Meta nqum nithenna bid-dehra
tiegħek.
Isma', Mulej, il-kawża ġusta tiegħi,
ilqa' l-għajta tiegħi,
agħti widen għat-talb tiegħi;
bla qerq huma xuffetejja. R/
Il-mixi tiegħi żammejt fi triqatek,
qatt ma għotru riġlejja.
Insejjaħlek, għax int tweġibni, o Alla;
ressaq
widintek lejja, isma kliemi. R/
Għad-dell
ta' ġwenħajk kenninni.
Jien,
fil-ħaqq, għad nara
meta
nqum, nithenna bid-dehra tiegħek. R/
Reading 2 - 2 Thessalonians
2:16-3:5
Brothers and sisters: May our Lord Jesus
Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting
encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and
strengthen them in every good deed and word. Finally, brothers and sisters,
pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified, as
it did among you, and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people,
for not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and
guard you from the evil one. We are confident of you in the Lord that what we
instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of
God and to the endurance of Christ. This is
the Word of the Lord.
It-Tieni Lezzjoni - Qari mit-Tieni Ittra lit-Tessalonikin 16-17; 3, 1-5
Ħuti, Sidna Ġesu' Kristu stess u Alla Missierna, li
ħabbna u tana l-kuraġġ ta' dejjem u t-tama
sħiħa bil-grazzja, jqawwilkom qalbkom u
jsaħħaħkom f'kull għemil u kelma tajba. Mill-bqija, ħuti, itolbu għalina
biex il-kelma tal-Mulej tiġri l-ġirja tagħha u tkun milqugħa bil-ġieħ bħalma
ġara fostkom. Itolbu biex inkunu meħlusa
minn nies ħżiena u bla liġi. Għax mhux
kulħadd għandu l-fidi. Iżda l-Mulej hu fidil
hu jwettaqkom u jħariskom mill-Ħażin. Aħna żguri minnkom fil-Mulej,
jiġifieri, li intom qegħdin tagħmlu u għad tagħmlu dak li ordnajielkom. Jalla l-Mulej iwassal lil qlubkom
għall-imħabba ta' Alla u s-sabar ta' Kristu. Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej.
Gospel - Luke 20:27-38
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is
a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, "Teacher,
Moses wrote for us, If someone's brother
dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up
descendants for his brother.Now there were seven brothers; the
first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married
her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that
woman be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "The
children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to
attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor
are given in marriage. They can no longer die,
for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they
are the ones who will rise. That the
dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he
called out 'Lord, ' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;
and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are
alive." This is the
Word of the Lord.
L-Evanġelju - Qari
skont San Luqa 20, 27-38
F'dak
iż-żmien, resqu fuqu xi wħud mis-sadduċej, dawk li jiċħdu l-qawmien
mill-imwiet, u staqsewh: "Mgħallem, Mose' ħallielna miktub: 'Jekk wieħed
imutlu ħuħ miżżewweġ u dan ikun bla tfal, dak
ikollu jiżżewweġ l-armla biex inissel ulied lil ħuħ. Issa jkun hemm
sebat aħwa, u l-kbir iżżewweġ u miet bla
tfal. It-tieni wieħed, u mbagħd
it-tielet, f'kelma waħda, is-sebgħa li kienu, ħadu l-armla, u mietu
bla ma ħallew tfal. Fl-aħħar mietet
il-mara wkoll. Issa din, fil-qawmien
tal-imwiet,mart min minnhom tkun? Għax
is-sebgħa jkunu żżewġuha." Weġibhom Ġesu':
"Il-bnedmin f'din id-dinja jiżżewġu u jżewġu; imma dawk li jkun
jistħoqqilhom jgħaddu għad-dinja l-oħra u jqumu mill-imwiet, dawn la jżewġu u
lanqas jiżżewġu. Għax anqas jistgħu jmutu iżjed, għaliex
ikunu bħall-anġli, u huma wlied Alla
ladarba qamu mill-imwiet. U li l-mejtin
iqumu, Mose' wkoll urieh, fir-rakkont tax-xitla tal-għollieq, għax lill-Mulej
isejjaħlu Alla ta' Abraħam, Alla
ta' Iżakk, u Alla ta' Ġakobb. Issa hu
mhuwiex Alla tal-mejtin, iżda
tal-ħajjin, għax għalih kulħadd jgħix. Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej
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COMMENTARY:
Life in the Resurrection and the
Christian faith in the resurrection has met
with incomprehension and opposition from the very beginning. On no point does
the Christian faith encounter more opposition than on the resurrection of the
body. The question of the resurrection is vital not only to the Christian
faith but to all people who reflect on life and death.
No spirit of inquiry
Judaism has never been monolithic, and to say
"the Jews believed" is to be misinformed and to misinform. In Sunday's
Gospel (Luke 20:27-38) we encounter the Sadducees, one of several groups or
parties within Judaism. Sadducees were of the priestly class, many of them
aristocratic, wealthy, and theologically conservative. Scripture for them
consisted of only the five books of Moses. No teaching was authoritative if it
was not found in the Pentateuch, and they found no doctrine of the resurrection
in the books of Moses.
These Jerusalem
Belief in the resurrection
The Pharisees and many of the Lord's
contemporaries hoped for the resurrection. They not only included the prophets
and the writings in their Scripture but also believed in the authority of the
oral tradition from Moses. The basis for belief in the resurrection was found
in that oral tradition. The subject was heatedly debated between the two
parties of Pharisees and Sadducees, a fact that Paul made use of to draw
attention away from himself during his trial before the Jewish Council (Acts
23:6-10).
The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection.
Their question in Sunday's Gospel, based on the law of levirate marriage
recorded in Deuteronomy 25:5-10, details the duty of a man toward a deceased
brother. The Sadducees ridicule the idea of the resurrection. Jesus rejects
their naïve understanding of the resurrection (vv. 35-36) and then argues on
behalf of the resurrection of the dead on the basis of the written law (vv.
37-38) that the Sadducees accept.
Jesus' answer is twofold. The first part (vv.
34-36) simply points out the inappropriateness of the question, given the
difference between life in this age and the age to come. In this age, the fact
of death makes marriage and perpetuation of life essential. However, in the age
to come there is no death, but those who attain to the resurrection are equal
to the angels, they are children of God.
In the second part of his answer, Jesus draws
on the Sadducees' own Bible, the book of Moses (vv. 37-40). Jesus answers them
with Exodus 3:6: God is a God of the living and not of the dead. It follows
then, says Jesus, that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are living, not dead.
The two parts of Jesus' answer to the Sadducees
constitute an argument from reason (condition of this life do not constitute
proof of conditions in the next) and Scripture (Exodus 3:6) for the belief in
the resurrection of the dead. In this belief Jesus was in agreement with the
Pharisees. The argumentation has to do with the resurrection of Jesus, not with
a doctrine of resurrection in general.
Acquaintance and true knowledge
In Jesus time, The Pharisees and the Sadducees
were externally acquainted with Jesus, they learned his teaching and knew many
details about him but they did not know him in his truth. The members of
these groups or parties know him, but superficially; they know various things
about him, but they do not really know him.
On the other hand, the Twelve Apostles have at
least understood in substance and begun to discover who Jesus is. This
different manner of knowing still exists today: There are learned people who
know many details about Jesus and never get to really know and love him. Many
such people have even studied theology! There are also many simple, unlearned
people who have no knowledge of these details but have known him in the
fullness of his truth and beauty.
Marriage has as its natural end the procreation
of children, it assures the continuance of the human race and the creation of
new beings, since human beings are destined to die and need to leave
successors. How many times did Pope John Paul II tell us, "The future of
humanity passes through the family"?
A prayer for us this week
May our
Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us
everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage our hearts
and strengthen them in every good deed and word. Our Lord is faithful; he will
strengthen us and guard us from the evil one. May he direct our hearts to the
love of God and to the endurance of Christ (Thessalonians 2:16-3:5)
Lord, when
your glory appears, my joy will be full. Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide
me in the shadow of your wings. But I in justice shall behold your face; on
waking I shall be content in your presence. (Psalm 17:1, 5-6, 8, 15)
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