Is-Sitta
u għoxrin Ħadd matul is-Sena
Missalin A p
384
Ezekiel 18:25-28
Thus says the LORD: You say, "The
LORD's way is not fair!" Hear now, house of Israel
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.
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/
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
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
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
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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