The kingdom of Heaven

Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is-Sitta u għoxrin Ħadd matul is-Sena

Missalin A  p 384

Reading 1 

Ezekiel 18:25-28

Thus says the LORD: You say, "The LORD's way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, he does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life; since he has turned away from all the sins that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. This is the Word of the Lord.

L-Ewwel Lezzjoni

Qari mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Eżekjel          , 18, 25 -28

Dan jgħid il-Mulej: "Intom tgħidu: "M'hijiex sewwa l-imġiba tal-Mulej!" Issa isimgħu dar Eżrael:  Forsi l-imġiba tiegħek m'hijiex  sewwa?   Mhux l-imġiba tagħkom li m'hijiex sewwa? Jekk wieħed ġust jitbiegħed mill-ġustizzja tiegħu u jagħmel il-ħażen, u jmut minħabba dan, minaba ħżunitu jkun miet.  Imma jekk il-midneb jerġa' lura mid-dnub li jkun għamel,u jagħmel il-ħaqq u l-ġustizzja, hu jsalva ruħu. Għax ikun intebaħ u rega' lura mid-dnubiet kollha li jkun għamel, u jibqa' ħaj u ma jmutx." Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm 

Psalm 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14.

Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Remember that your compassion, O LORD,
and your love are from of old.
The sins of my youth and my frailties remember not;
in your kindness remember me,
because of your goodness, O LORD.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
and teaches the humble his way.
R. Remember your mercies, O Lord.

Salm Responsorjali                                                          

(Salm 24 (25)

     R/   Ftakar fil-ħniena u t-tjieba tiegħek, Mulej.

Triqatek, Mulej, għarrafni,

il-mogħdijiet tiegħek għallimni.

Mexxini fis-sewwa tiegħek u għallimni,

għax int Alla tas-salvazzjoni tiegħi.

Għalik nixxennaq il-jum kollu.              R/

Ftalar fil-ħniena u fit-tjieba tiegħek,

għax huma minn dejjem, Mulej.

Tiftakarx  fil-ħtijiet u fid-dnubiet ta' żgħożiti,

inti tajjeb, Mulej;

ftakar  fija skond it-tjieba tiegħek.                    R/

Tajjeb u sewwa l-Mulej;

għalhekk juri triqtu lill-ħatja.

Imexxi l-imsejkna fis-sewwa,

jgħallem lill-fqajrin it-triq tiegħu.                       R/

Reading 2 

Philippians 2:1-11

Brothers and sisters: If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others. Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  This is the Word of the Lord.

It-Tieni Lezzjoni

Qari mill-Ittra ta' San Pawl Appostlu lill-Filippin l 2. 1 -11

Ħuti, jekk hemm fikom xi faraġ fi Kristu,  jekk hemm xi kelma ta' ħlewwa fl-imħabba; jekk hemm xi xirka fl-Ispirtu; jekk hemm xi ħniena u mogħdrija;  kunu feħma waħda u mlewni bil-ferħ!   Ħa jkollkom l-istess imħabba, u ruħ waħda u ħsieb wieħed. Tagħmlu xejn b'pika ta' partit, anqas għall-ftaħir fieragħ imma kunu umli u kull wieħed minnkom iqis lill-ieħor aħjar minnu.    Ħadd minnkom ma għandu jfittex li jaqbillu, imma li jaqbel lil ħaddieħor. Aħsbu bħalma kien jaħseb Kristu Ġesu'; hu li għad li kellu n-natura ta' Alla, ma qagħadx ifittex tiegħu li hu daqs Alla, iżda xejjen lilu nnifsu billi ħa n-natura ta' lsir; sar jixbah lill-bnedmin, u deher minn barra bħala bniedem, ċekken lilu nnifsu, billi obda sal-mewt, anzi sal-mewt tas-salib . għalhekk Alla għollieh sas-smewwiet u żejnu bl-isem li hu fuq kull isem, biex fl-isem ta' Ġesu'  fis-sema, fl-art u f'qiegħ l-art – il-ħlejjaq kollha jinżlu għarkubbtejhom, u kull ilsien jistqar: "Ġesu' Kristu hu l-Mulej," għall-glorja ta' Alla l-Missier. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel 

Matthew 21:28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' He said in reply, 'I will not, ' but afterwards changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?" They answered, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the wa y of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him." This is the Word of the Lord.

L-Evanġelju

Qari mill-Evanġelju skond San Mattew  23, 28 – 32

F'dak iż-żmien, Ġesu' qal lill-qassisin il-kbar u lix-xjuħ tal-poplu: "Intom x'jidhrilkom?  Kien hemm raġel li kellu żewġ ulied. Resaq fuq il-kbir u qallu:   "Ibni, llum mur aħdem l-għalqa tad-dwieli." U dak qallu:  "Ma rridx."   Iżda mbagħad biddel il-fehma  u mar. Resaq fuq l-ieħor u qallu l-istess.   "Arani sejjer, sidi,"  qallu dan u ma mar xejn.   Min minnhom it-tnejn għamel kif ried il-missier?" "L-ewwel wieħed,"  weġbuh.  U qalilhom Ġesu':  "Tassew, ngħidilkom, li l-pubblikani u n-nisa tat-triq deħlin qabilkom fis-Saltna ta' Alla.  Għax Ġwanni ġie għandkom miexi fit-triq tal-ġustizzja, u intom  ma emmintuħx iżda l-pubblikani u n-nisa tat-triq emmnuh;  u għalkemm intom rajtu dan kollu, bqajtu sa l-aħħar ma biddiltux il-fehma tagħkom, u ma emmintuħx. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej    

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Prostitutes Will Enter the Kingdom Before You

Gospel Commentary for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, Pontifical Household Preacher

"Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: ‘What is your opinion? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, "Son, go out and work in the vineyard today." He said in reply, "I will not," but afterward changed his mind and went. The man came to the other son and gave the same order. He said in reply, "Yes, sir," but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?' They answered, ‘The first.'"

The son who says "yes" and does "no" represents those who knew God and followed his law to a certain extent but did not accept Christ, who was "the fulfillment of the law." The son who says "no" and does "yes" represents those who once lived outside the law and will of God, but then, with Christ, thought again and welcomed the Gospel.

From this Jesus draws the following conclusion before the chief priests and elders: "Truly, I say to you, even the publicans and prostitutes will enter the Kingdom of God before you."

No saying of Christ has been more manipulated than this. Some have ended up creating a kind of evangelical aura about prostitutes, idealizing them and opposing them to those with good reputations, who are all regarded without distinction as hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. Literature is full of "good" prostitutes. Just think of Verdi's "La Traviata" or the meek Sonya of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"!

But this is a terrible misunderstanding. Jesus is talking about a limited case, as it were. "Even" the prostitutes, he wants to say, are going to enter the Kingdom of God before you. Prostitution is seen in all its seriousness and taken as a term of comparison to point out the gravity of the sin of those who stubbornly reject the truth.

We do not see that, moreover, idealizing the category of prostitute, we also idealize that of publican, which is a category that always accompanies it in the Gospel. The publicans, who were employees of the Roman tax collection agencies, participated in the unjust practices of these agencies. If Jesus links prostitutes and publicans together, he does not do this without a reason; they have both made money the most important thing in life.

It would be tragic if such passages from the Gospel made Christians less attentive to combating the degrading phenomenon of prostitution, which today has assumed alarming proportions in our cities. Jesus had too much respect for women to not suffer beforehand for that which she will become when she is reduced to this state. What he appreciates in the prostitute is not her way of life, but her capacity to change and to put her ability to love in the service of the good. Mary Magdalene, who converted and followed Jesus all the way to the cross, is an example of this (supposing that she was a prostitute). 

What Jesus intends to teach with his words here he clearly says at the end: The publicans and prostitutes converted with John the Baptist's preaching; the chief priests and the elders did not. The Gospel, therefore, does not direct us to moralistic campaigns against prostitutes, but neither does it allow us to joke about it, as if it were nothing.

In the new form under which prostitution presents itself today, we see that it is now able to make a person a significant amount of money and do so without involving them in the terrible dangers to which the poor women of previous times, who were condemned to the streets, were subjected. This form consists in selling one's body safely through cameras. What a woman does when she loans herself to pornography and certain excessive forms of advertisement is to sell her body to the eyes if not to contact. This is certainly prostitution, and it is worse than traditional prostitution, because it is publicly imposed and does not respect people's freedom and sentiments.

But having denounced these things as we must, we would betray the spirit of the Gospel if we did not also speak of the hope that these words of Christ offer to women, who, on account of various circumstances (often out of desperation), have found themselves on the street, for the most part victims of unscrupulous exploitation. The Gospel is "gospel," that is, "glad tidings," news of ransom, of hope, even for prostitutes. Indeed, perhaps it is for them first of all. This is how Jesus wanted it.  [Translated from the Italian original by Zenit]           

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