Ir-Raba' Ħadd ta' l-Avvent
Messalin A pp 79
The
LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as
the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then
Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary
people, must you also weary my God? Therefore
the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. This is the Word of the Lord.
L-Ewwel Lezzjoni
Qari mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija 7, 10-14
F'dak
iż-żmien, il-Mulej
issokta jkellem lil Aħaż u jgħidlu:
"Itlob sinjal għalik mingħand il-Mulej,
Alla tiegħek, f'qiegħ
l-art jew fl-għoli as-smewwiet." U Aħaż
wieġeb: "Ma
nitlobx, ma rridx nittanta lill-Mulej." U l-profeta wieġeb: "Isimgħu, mela, dar
David! Mhux biżżejjed għalikom li tkiddu
lill-bnedmin, biex issa se tkiddu lil Alla tiegħi? Għalhekk
is-sinjal jagħtihulkom Sidi stess: Araw, ix-xebba titqal u tiled
iben u ssemmih Għimmanu-El." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.
Responsorial
Psalm
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.
Salm 23(24)
Tal-Mulej
hi l-art u kull ma fiha,
id-dinja
u kull ma jgħix fiha.
Għax
hu fuq l-ibħra waqqafha
u
fuq ix-xmajjar fis-sod qegħedha.
R/ Ħa jidħol il-Mulej, hu
s-Sultan tal-glorja.
Min
jista' jitla' fuq l-għolja tal-Mulej,
min
joqgħod fil-post imqaddes tiegħu?
Min
għandu idejh indaf u qalbu safja
min
ma jagħtix ruħu għall-frugħa.
R/ Ħa jidħol il-Mulej, hu
s-Sultan tal-glorja.
Dan
ikollu barka mingħand il-Mulej,
u
l-ħlas li ħaqqu minn
Dan
hu n-nisel ta' dawk li jfittxuh;
li
jfittxu 'l wiċċek, Alla ta' Ġakobb.
R/ Ħa jidħol il-Mulej, hu
s-Sultan tal-glorja.
Paul,
a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel
of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel
about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as
Son of God in power according to the
Spirit of holiness through resurrection
from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the
obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among
whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved
of God in Rome
It-Tieni
Lezzjoni
Bidu ta' l-Ittra ta' San
Pawl Appostlu lir-Rumani 1, 1-7
Pawlu,
qaddej ta' Kristu Ġesu', imsejjah biex ikun appostlu, maħtur
għall-Evanġelju ta Alla. Dan
hu l-Evanġelju li Alla kien wiegħed permezz tal-profeti
fil-Kotba Mqaddsa dwar Ibnu Ġesu' Kristu Sidna li,
skond it-tnissil tal-ġisem, twieled min-nisel ta'
David, u, skond l-Ispirtu s-Santu, ġie
rivelat bħala l-Iben
ta' Alla b'kull qawwa permezz
tal-qawmien mill-imwiet. Bih aħna
rċevejna l-grazzja ta' l-appostolat biex inwasslu għall-ubbidjenza
tal-fidi l-bnedmin fost il-ġnus kollha għall-ġieħ
ta' ismu. Fosthom
tinsabu intom ukoll, imsejħin biex tkunu ta' Ġesu' Kristu;
lill-maħbubin kollha ta' Alla li jinsabu Ruma msejħin biex ikunu qaddisin: Grazzja lilkom u sliem
mingħand Alla Missierna u Sidna
Ġesu'
Kristu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
This
is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed
to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was
found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a
righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his
intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and
said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary your wife into your
home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that
this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name
him Jesus, because he will save his
people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall
conceive and bear a son,and they shall name him Emmanuel, which
means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had
commanded him and took his wife into his home. This is the Word of the Lord.
L-Evanġelju
Qari mill-Evanġelu skond San Mattew 1,18-24
It-tnissel
ta' Ġesu' l-Messija sar hekk: ommu Marija, wara li tgħarrset
ma' Ġużeppi, qabel ma
marru joqogħdu flimkien, saret omm bil-ħidma ta'
l-Ispirtu s-Santu. Żewġha Ġużeppi,
li kien raġel ġust u ma riedx ixandarha
quddiem kulħadd, għamel
il-ħsieb li jibgħatha bil-moħbi
tan-nies. Meta kien għadu qiegħed
jaħsibha, deherlu
anġlu tal-Mulej fil-ħolm u qallu: "Ġużeppi,
bin David, xejn la tibża' tieħu
għandek lil martek
Marija, għax dak li tnissel
fiha ġej mill-Ispirtu s-Santu. Hi se jkollha iben, u inti
ssemmih Ġesu', għax hu jsalva
l-poplu tiegħu minn
//////////////////////////////////////////////
COMMENTARY:
Emmanuel: the Plea and the Promise
Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB
On this coming Fourth
Sunday of Advent, we listen attentively to the words of the prophet Isaiah, to
the dream of Joseph, and the promise of the eternal God that takes flesh in the
womb of the Virgin. The birth of Jesus into human history was the true fulfilment
of the hopes and longings, dreams and desires of the people of ancient Israel
In the first
reading from the prophet Isaiah (7:10-14), King Ahaz expresses in a
hypocritical way his preference for depending upon the might of Assyria rather than upon God (v 12). The sign proposed by
Isaiah (v 14) was concerned with the preservation of Judah in the midst of
distress but more especially with the fulfilment of God’s earlier promise to
David (2 Samuel 7:12-16) in the coming of Emmanuel as the ideal king (cf.
Isaiah 9:5-6; 11:1-5).
Matthew’s entire
Gospel is about the scriptures being fulfilled in Jesus. In the genealogy
(1:1-17), Jesus is the culmination point toward which Israel’s long covenant
history has been leading, particularly its puzzling and tragic latter phase.
Matthew agrees with his Jewish contemporaries that the exile was the last
significant event before Jesus; when the angel says that Jesus will “save his
people from their sins” (1:21), liberation from exile is in view. Matthew’s
infancy narrative (1:1-2:23) forms the prologue of his Gospel.
Consisting of a
genealogy and five stories, Matthew’s Gospel presents the coming of Jesus as
the climax of Israel’s history, and the events of his conception, birth, and
early childhood as the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. Matthew tells us
that Jesus’ birth in human history fulfills at least three biblical themes. He
brings Israel Bethlehem
The first story
of Matthew’s infancy narrative (vv. 18-25) spells out what is summarily
indicated in Matthew 1:16. The virginal conception of Jesus is the work of the
Spirit of God. Joseph’s decision to divorce Mary is overcome by the heavenly
command that he take her into his home and accept the child as his own. The
natural genealogical line is broken but the promises to David are fulfilled;
through Joseph’s adoption the child belongs to the family of David. Matthew
sees the virginal conception as the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14.
Betrothal (v. 18)
was the first part of the marriage, constituting a man and woman as husband and
wife. Subsequent infidelity was considered adultery. The betrothal was followed
some months later by the husband’s taking his wife into his home, at which time
normal married life began. We are told that Joseph was a righteous man (v. 19),
a devout observer of the Mosaic law. Joseph wished to break his union with
someone whom he suspected of gross violation of the law. It is commonly said
that the law required him to do so, but the texts usually given in support of
that view, such as Deuteronomy 22:20-21, do not clearly pertain to Joseph’s
situation.
God
is with us
In Matthew 1:23
we have the evocative word “Emmanuel” — “God is with us.” God’s promise of
deliverance to Judah
In the name
“Emmanuel,” we find the answer to humanity’s deepest longings for God
throughout the ages. Emmanuel is both a prayer and plea (on our behalf) and a
promise and declaration on God’s part. When we pronounce the word, we are
really praying and pleading: “God, be with us!” And when God speaks it, the
almighty, eternal, omnipresent Creator of the world is telling us: “I am with
you” in this Child. In the baby Jesus, God is “with us,” not merely to bless us
in some sort of cameo appearance at one difficult moment in history. Nor is God
with us in that he is going to use Jesus to help us, protect us, rescue us from
danger and guide us. No — the little Lord Jesus asleep in the manger of Bethlehem
More than the
other evangelists, Matthew takes great care to note that events in Jesus’ life
happened “so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled”
(2:23). Finally in Verse 25, we find the expression “until she (Mary) bore a
son.” Matthew the evangelist is concerned to emphasize that Joseph was not
responsible for the conception of Jesus. The Greek word translated “until” does
not imply normal marital conduct after Jesus’ birth, nor does it exclude it.
This week, we
again continue to look at Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, especially the section
that speaks about “The eschatological dimension of the word of God.”
“14.
In all of this, the Church gives
voice to her awareness that with Jesus Christ she stands before the definitive
word of God: he is “the first and the last” (Rev 1:17). He has given creation
and history their definitive meaning; and hence we are called to live in time
and in God’s creation within this eschatological rhythm of the word; “thus the
Christian dispensation, since it is the new and definitive covenant, will never
pass away; and no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious
manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Tim 6:14 and Tit 2:13)”.
Saint John of the
Cross expresses this truth magnificently: “Since he has given us his Son, his
only word (for he possesses no other), he spoke everything at once in this sole
word – and he has no more to say… because what he spoke before to the prophets
in parts, he has spoken all at once by giving us this All who is his Son. Any person
questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only
of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely
on Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty”.
No comments:
Post a Comment