PEACE AND MERCY BE TO ALL

                                                                                 Sunday, July 7, 2019

 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 102

 L-Erbatax-il Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena

Reading 1   Isaiah 66:10-14c

Thus says the LORD: Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her,  all you who love her; exult, exult with her, all you who were mourning over her! Oh, that you may suck fully of the milk of her comfort,  that you may nurse with delight at her abundant breasts!  For thus says the LORD: Lo, I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.  As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms, and fondled in her lap;  as a mother comforts her child,  so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.  When you see this, your heart shall rejoice and your bodies flourish like the grass; the LORD's power shall be known to his servants.

Qari I       mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija 66, 10-14ċ

Ifirħu lil Ġerusalemm, thennew biha, intom ilkoll ħbieb tagħha! Aqbżu bil-ferħ, intom ilkoll li qsamtu swied il-qalb magħha! Hekk intom terdgħu u tixbgħu minn sider il-faraġ tagħha; terdgħu u titgħaxxqu mis-sider mimli tagħha. Għaliex dan jgħid il-Mulej: “Arani! Se nifrex fuqha s-sliem bħal xmara, u bħal xmara tfur il-ġid tal-ġnus. U intom terdgħu u fuq id-dirgħajn tintrefgħu, u jżiegħlu bikom fuq l-irkupptejn. Bħalma omm tfarraġ lil binha, hekk jiena nfarraġ lilkom u f’Ġerusalemm titfarrġu. Taraw u tifraħ qalbkom, u għadamkom bħal ħaxix iħaddar; u jagħrfu fil-qaddejja tiegħu id il-Mulej”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

 

Responsorial Psalm    PSALM 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
 sing praise to the glory of his name;
 proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, "How tremendous are your deeds!"
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
"Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
 sing praise to your name!"
Come and see the works of God,
 his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
He has changed the sea into dry land;
 through the river they passed on foot;
 therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare
 what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
 my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.

Salm Responsorjali    SALM 65 (66), 1-3a.4-5.6-7a.16 u 20

R/. (1): Għajtu bil-ferħ lil Alla

Għajtu bil-ferħ lil Alla,

bnedmin tad-dinja kollha;

għannu s-sebħ ta’ ismu,

xandru s-sebħ u t-tifħir tiegħu.

Għidu lil Alla: “Kemm int tal-biża’ f’għemilek!” R/.

“L-art kollha tagħtik qima,

tgħannilek u tgħanni lil ismek”.

Ejjew, araw l-għemejjel ta’ Alla;

tal-biża’ f’għemilu fost il-bnedmin. R/.

Biddel il-baħar f’art niexfa,

għaddew bil-mixi minn nofs ix-xmara.

Għalhekk, nifirħu bih!

Hu jsaltan bil-kobor tiegħu għal dejjem! R/.

Ejjew, isimgħu, u ngħidilkom,

intom ilkoll li tibżgħu minn Alla,

ngħidilkom x’għamel miegħi.

Imbierek Alla, li ma warrabx it-talba tiegħi;

ma warrabx minn fuqi t-tjieba tiegħu! R/.

 

Reading 2    Galatians 6:14-18

Brothers and sisters: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision, but only a new creation.  Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule
and to the Israel of God. From now on, let no one make troubles for me; for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Qari II          Għeluq tal-Ittra lill-Galatin 6, 14-18

Ħuti, ngħid għalija, ma jkun qatt li niftaħar jekk mhux bis-salib ta’ Sidna Ġesù Kristu, li bih id-dinja hi msallba għalija u jien għad-dinja. Għaliex, biċ-ċirkonċiżjoni jew mingħajrha, xejn ma hemm ta’ siwi, ħlief il-ħolqien ġdid. U dawk kollha li jimxu fuq din ir-regola, is-sliem u l-ħniena fuqhom, u wkoll fuq Iżrael ta’ Alla. Mil-lum ’il quddiem ħadd ma għandu jħabbatni iżjed; jien inġib f’ġismi l-marki ta’ Kristu. Il-grazzja ta’ Sidna Ġesù Kristu tkun magħkom, ħuti. Ammen. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

 

Gospel     Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.  Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.  Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.' Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, 'The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.' Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town." The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to 'tread upon serpents' and  scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.  Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."

Evanġelju       Qari skont San Luqa 10, 1-12.17-20

F’dak iż-żmien, il-Mulej għażel tnejn u sebgħin oħra u bagħathom tnejn tnejn qablu f’kull belt u post fejn kien se jmur hu. U qalilhom: “Il-ħsad huwa kbir, imma l-ħaddiema ftit! Itolbu mela lil Sid il-ħsad biex jibgħat ħaddiema għall-ħsad tiegħu! Morru: araw, qiegħed nibgħatkom bħal ħrief qalb l-ilpup. Teħdux magħkom la but, la ħorġa u lanqas qrieq, u fit-triq issellmu lil ħadd.  Fid-dar fejn tidħlu, l-ewwel għidu: “Is-sliem lil din id-dar”. U jekk fiha jkun hemm min iħobb is-sliem, jistrieħ is-sliem tagħkom fuqu; jekk le, it-tislima tagħkom terġa’ lura għandkom. Ibqgħu għand dik il-familja, u kulu u ixorbu milli jkollhom huma, għax il-ħaddiem ħaqqu ħlasu. Toqogħdux idduru minn familja għal oħra. F’kull belt li fiha tmorru u jilqgħukom, kulu dak li jqegħdulkom quddiemkom; fejqu l-morda li jkun hemm; u lin-nies għidulhom: “Is-Saltna ta’ Alla waslitilkom”. Imma l-belt li fiha tidħlu u ma jilqgħukomx, oħorġu fil-pjazez tagħha u għidu: “Sat-trab ta’ beltkom infarfru minn ma’ riġlejna, u nħalluh għalikom. Imma kunu afu dan: is-Saltna ta’ Alla waslet”. Ngħidilkom li dak il-jum ikun eħfef għal Sodoma milli għal dik il-belt”. It-tnejn u sebgħin reġgħu lura ferħana jgħidu: “Mulej, ix-xjaten ukoll joqogħdu għalina minħabba f’ismek”. U hu qalilhom: “Iva, jien kont narah lix-Xitan jaqa’ bħal berqa mis-sema. Araw, tajtkom is-setgħa li tirfsu fuq sriep u skorpjuni u li tegħlbu kull qawwa tal-għadu u ebda ħsara ma jagħmlulkom. Madankollu mhux b’dan ifirħu, li l-ispirti joqogħdu għalikom, imma ifirħu għax għandkom isimkom miktub fis-smewwiet”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

REFLECTION  //////////    Father Cantalamessa on the Kingdom of God          Here is a translation of a commentary by the Pontifical Household preacher, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, on the readings from this Sunday’s liturgy. 

The Kingdom of God is at Hand!
Again we will comment on Sunday’s Gospel with the help of Benedict XVI’s book on Jesus. First, however, I would like to make an observation of a general nature. The criticism that has been made of the Pope’s book by some is that it sticks to what the Gospels say without taking into account the findings of modern historical research which, according to them, would lead to very different conclusions.

What we have here is a widespread idea that is nourishing a whole literature like Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code” and popularizing historical works based on the same presupposition.
I think that it is important to shed light on a fundamental equivocation in all of this. The idea of an historical investigation into Jesus that is unified, rectilinear, that moves unswervingly toward completely illuminating him, is a pure myth that some are trying to convince people of but which no serious historian today believes possible.

I quote one of the more well-known representatives of historical research on Jesus, the American Paula Fredriksen: “In recent scholarship, Jesus has been imagined and presented as a type of first-century shaman figure; as a Cynic-sort of wandering wise man; as a visionary radical and social reformer preaching egalitarian ethics to the destitute; as a Galilean regionalist alienated from the elitism of Judean religious conventions (like Temple and Torah); as a champion of national liberation and, on the contrary, as its opponent and critic — on and on.

“All these figures are presented with rigorous academic argument and methodology; all are defended with appeals to the ancient data. Debate continues at a roiling pitch, and consensus — even on issues so basic as what constitutes evidence and how to construe it — seems a distant hope.”

Often an appeal is made to new data and recent discoveries which would finally put historical research in an advantageous place with regard to the past. But the variety of the consequences that can be drawn from these new historical sources appears from the fact that they have given rise to two opposed and irreconcilable images of Christ that are still in play. On one hand, a Jesus who “is in all and for all Jewish”; on the other hand, a Jesus who is a child of the Helenized Galilee of his time, strongly influenced the philosophy of cynicism.

In light of this fact I ask: What was the Pope supposed to do, compose yet another historical reconstruction in which all the contrary objections debate and combat each other? What the Pope chose to do was to positively present the figure and teaching of Jesus as he is understood by the Church, taking his point of departure from the conviction that the Christ of the Gospels is, even from the historical point of view, the figure that is the most credible and certain.

After these clarifications, let us turn to this Sunday’s Gospel. It is the episode of the sending out of 72 disciples on mission. After having told them how they are supposed to go out (two by two, like lambs, without money), Jesus explains to them what they must say: “Tell them: ‘The kingdom of God is at hand.'”

We know that the phrase “The kingdom of God is at hand” is at the heart of Jesus’ preaching and is the premise of each of his teachings. The kingdom of God is at hand, so love your enemies; the kingdom of God is at hand, so if your hand is a scandal to you, cut it off. It is better to enter the kingdom of God without a hand than to remain outside of it with both hands. Everything takes its meaning from the kingdom.

There has always been discussion about what, precisely, Jesus meant by the expression “kingdom of God.” For some it would be a purely interior kingdom consisting in a life conformed to the law of God; for others, on the contrary, it would be a social and political kingdom to be realized by man, even by struggle and revolution if necessary.

The Pope reviews these various interpretations of the past and points to what they have in common: The center of interest moves from God to man; it is no longer a kingdom of God but a kingdom of man, who is its principal architect. This is an idea of a kingdom that, at the limit, is also compatible with atheism.

In Jesus’ preaching the coming of the kingdom of God means that, sending his Son into the world, God has decided, so to speak, to personally take in hand the fortunes of the world, to compromise himself with it, to act in the world from the inside. It is easier to intuit what the kingdom of God means than to explain it because it is a reality that transcends every explanation. The idea is still much diffused that Jesus expected the end of the world to be imminent and therefore the kingdom of God that he preached is not to be realized in this world but in the one we call the “hereafter.”
In effect, the Gospels contain some affirmations that lend themselves to this interpretation. But if we look at the whole of Jesus’ teaching this does not jibe. According to C.H. Dodd, Jesus’ teaching is not an ethics for those who are expecting a rapid end to the world, but for those who have experienced the end of this world and the coming into it of the kingdom of God.

It is for those who know that “the old things are past” and that the world has become a “new creation,” since God has descended as king. In other words, Jesus did not announce the end of “the” world but the end of “a” world, and in that the facts have not told against him. But John the Baptist also preached this change, speaking of an imminent judgment of God. In what, then, consists the newness of Christ? The newness is entirely enclosed within an adverb of time: “now.” With Jesus the kingdom of God is no longer only something “imminent.” It is present. “The new and exclusive message of Jesus,” the Pope writes, “consists in the fact that he says: God acts now — this is the hour in which God, in a way that goes beyond all previous modalities, reveals himself in history as its Lord, as the living God.”

From here flows that sense of urgency that is present in all of Jesus’ parables, especially the so-called parables of the kingdom. The decisive moment of history has arrived, now is the moment to make the decision that saves; the feast is ready; to refuse to enter because you have just taken a wife or bought a pair of oxen or for some other reason, is to be excluded forever and see your place taken by others.

From this last reflection let us move to a practical and contemporary application of the message we have heard. What Jesus said to the people of his time is also valid for us today. That “now” and “today” will remain immutable until the end of the world (Hebrews 3:13).

That means that the person who today hears, perhaps by chance, Christ’s word: “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; convert and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15), finds himself faced with the same choice as those who heard it 2000 years ago in a Galilean village: Either believe and enter the kingdom or refuse to believe and remain outside.

Unfortunately, the first option — believing — seems to be the last concern of many who read the Gospel and write books about it. Rather than submitting themselves to Christ’s judgment, many judge him. Today more than ever Jesus is on trial. It is a kind of “universal judgment” turned upside down. Scholars run this risk above all. The scholar must “dominate” the object of the science that he cultivates and remain neutral before it; but how is one supposed to “dominate” or remain neutral before an object when it is Jesus Christ? In this case one must let himself instead be dominated by, and not be the dominator of his object.

The kingdom of God was so important for Jesus that he taught us to pray every day for its coming. We turn to God saying, “Thy kingdom come,” but God also turns to us and says through Jesus: “The kingdom of God is at hand, do not wait, enter!”
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