Take up your cross and follow me!

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

                           It-Tnejn u Għoxrin Ħadd matul is-Sena                            

Missalin A  p 363

Reading 1                           

jer 20:7-9

You duped me, O LORD, and I let myself be duped; you were too strong for me, and you triumphed. All the day I am an object of laughter; everyone mocks me. Whenever I speak, I must cry out, violence and outrage is my message; the word of the LORD has brought me derision and reproach all the day. I say to myself, I will not mention him, I will speak in his name no more. But then it becomes like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it. This is the Word of the Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni

Qari mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Ġeremija 20, 7 -9 

Qarraqtni Mulej, u jien tqarraqt: kont aqwa minni, u għelibtni.  Jien sirt id-daħka ta'  kuljum, kulħadd jiddieħek bija. Kull meta niġi nitkellem, jien ngħajjat, u nxandar, "Moħqrija u ħsara!" Il-Kelma tal-Mulej saret għalija tagħjir u tmaqdir kuljum. U jien għedt:  "Ma nsemmihx aktar, ma nitkellimx aktar f'ismu." Iżda f'qalbi hemm bħal nar jaqbad, magħluq f'għadmi. Għejejt inżommu magħluq ġo fija, ma niflaħx aktar għalih. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm                                                                         psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

R/ (2b) My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.

O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water.     R/

Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you.                                              R/

Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you.      R/                                           

You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me.                                       R/

Salm Responsorjali                                                                                     

Salm 62 (63)

    R/   Għalik imxennaq jiena, Mulej, Alla tiegħi.

Alla,  Alla tiegħi int; lilek ħerqan infittex.

Ruħi bil-għatx għalik,

għalik imxennaq  jiena,

bħal art niexfa, maħruqa, bla ilma.                  R/

Għalhekk ġejt narak fit-tempju mqaddes tiegħek,

biex nitgħaxxaq bis-setgħa u l-glorja tiegħek.

Għax it-tjieba tiegħek aħjar mill-ħajja,

xufftejja jxandru t-tifħir tiegħek.                        R/

Għalhekk inbierkek tul ħajtikollha;

ngħolli idejja u nsejjah ismek.

Bħal b'ikel mill-aħjar li jsemmen nimtela,

u jgħannilek fommi b'xofftejn ferrieħa.            R/

Għax int kont għajnuna għalija,

għad-dell ta' ġwenħajk ngħanni bil-ferħ.

Miegħek  tingħaqad ruħi,

int tweżini bil-leminija tiegħek.             R/

reading 2                                     

rom 12:1-2

I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.  Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. This is the Word of the Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni

Qari mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl Appostlu lir-Rumani 12, 1-2

Nitlobkom ħuti, għall-ħniena ta' Alla,  offru ġisimkom b'sagrifiċċju ħaj, qaddis, jogħġob lil Alla, jiġifieri l-qima spiritwali tagħkom. Timxux max-xejra ta' din id-dinja, iżda nbidlu skond it-tiġdid ta' fehmietkom, biex iseħħilkom tagħrfu x'inhi r-rieda ta' Alla, x'inhu t-tajjeb li jogħġbu,  x'inhu perfett. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel             

mt 16:21-27

Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.  Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”  He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?  Or what can one give in exchange for his life?  For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay all according to his conduct.” This is the Word of the Lord.

L         L-Evanġelju

           Qari skond San Mattew 16, 21 – 27

F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' beda juri lid-dixxipli tiegħu li kien meħtieġ għalih li jmur Ġerusalemm, isofri ħafna mix-xjuħ u l-qassisin il-kbar u l-kittieba, joqtluh, u fit-tielet jum iqum. Pietru ġibdu lejh u beda jlumu u jgħidlu: "Allaħares, Mulej!  Ma jkun qatt li dan jgħaddi minn għalik!"   Iżda Ġesu' dar u  qal lil Pietru:   "Itlaq minn quddiemi, ja xitan! Int tfixkil għalija, għax m'intix tqis il-ħwejjeġ ta' Alla,  imma qiegħed taħsibha ta' bniedem li int!"  Imbagħad qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu:  "Jekk xi ħadd irid jiġi warajja, għandu jiċħad lilu nnifsu, jerfa' salibu, u jimxi warajja.   Għax min irid isalva ħajtu, jitlifha,  imma min jitlef ħajtu għall-imħabba tiegħi, isibha.    Għax xi jkun jiswielu l-bniedem jekk jikseb  id-dinja kollha  u mbagħad jitlef ħajtu? Jew xi  prezz se jagħti l-bniedem biex isalva ħajtu? Għax Bin il-bniedem għandu jiġi fil-glorja ta' Missieru flimkien ma' l-anġli tiegħu, u mbagħad  irodd lil kull wieħed skond ma wieħed ikun għamel." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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The Language of Love

Gospel Commentary by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, Pontifical Household Preacher

In this Sunday’s Gospel we hear Jesus who says: “Whoever wants to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. Because whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

What does it mean to “deny" yourself? And why should you deny yourself? We know about the indignation of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche over this the request of this Gospel.

I will begin answering these questions with an example. During the Nazi persecution, many trains full of Jews traveled from every part of Europe to the extermination camps. They were induced to get on the trains by false promises of being taken to places that would be better for them, when, in fact, they were being taken to their destruction. It happened at some of the stops that someone who knew the truth, called out from some hiding place to the passengers: “Get off! Run away!” Some succeeded in doing so.

The example is a hard one, but it expresses something of our situation. The train of life on which we are traveling is going toward death. About this, at least, there are no doubts. Our natural “I,” being mortal, is destined for destruction. What the Gospel is proposing to us when it exhorts us to deny ourselves, is to get off this train and board another one that leads to life. The train that leads to life is faith in him who said: “Whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.”

Paul understood this transferring from one transport to another and he describes it thus: “It is no longer I who lives, Christ lives in me.” If we assume the “I” of Christ we become immortal because he, risen from the dead, dies no more. This indicates the meaning of the words of the Gospel that we have heard. Christ’s call for us to deny ourselves and thus find life is not a call to abuse ourselves or reject ourselves in a simplistic way. It is the wisest of the bold steps that we can take in our lives.

But we must immediately make a qualification. Jesus does not ask us to deny “what we are,” but “what we have become.” We are images of God. Thus, we are something “very good,” as God himself said, immediately after creating man and woman. What we must deny is not that which God has made, but that which we ourselves have made by misusing our freedom -- the evil tendencies, sin, all those things that have covered over the original.

Years ago, off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy, there were discovered two encrusted masses that vaguely resembled human bodies. They were removed from the sea and carefully cleaned and freed. They turned out to be bronze statues of ancient warriors. They are known today as the Riace Warriors and are on display at the National Museum of Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria. They are among the most admired sculptures of antiquity.

This example can help us understand the positive aspect of the Gospel proposal. Spiritually, we resemble the condition of those statues before their restoration. The beautiful image of God that we should be is covered over by the seven layers of the seven capital sins.

Perhaps it is not a bad idea to recall what these sins are, if we have forgotten them: pride, greed, lust, wrath, gluttony, envy and sloth. St. Paul calls this disfigured image, “the earthly image,” in contrast to the “heavenly image,” which is the resemblance of Christ.

“Denying ourselves,” therefore, is not a work of death, but one of life, of beauty and of joy. It is also a learning of the language of true love. Imagine, said the great Danish philosopher Kierkegaard, a purely human situation. Two young people love each other. But they belong to two different nations and speak completely different languages. If their love is to survive and grow, one of them must learn the language of the other. Otherwise, they will not be able to communicate and their love will not last.

This, Kierkegaard said, is how it is with us and God. We speak the language of the flesh, he speaks that of the spirit; we speak the language of selfishness, he that of love.

Denying yourself is learning the language of God so that we can communicate with him, but it is also learning the language that allows us to communicate with each other. We will not be able to say “yes” to the other -- beginning with our own wife or husband -- if we are not first of all able to say “no” to ourselves.

Keeping within the context of marriage, many problems and failures with the couple come from the fact that the man has never learned to express love for the woman, nor she for the man. Even when it speaks of denying ourselves, we see that the Gospel is much less distant from life than it is sometimes believed.

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Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa is a Franciscan Capuchin Catholic priest, born in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, 22 July 1934, ordained in 1958. A Divinity Doctor and Doctor in classical literature, in 1980 he was appointed by Pope John Paul II Preacher to the Papal Household in which capacity he still serves, preaching a weekly sermon in Advent and Lent.

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