BE HUMBLE, BE MODEST

« Sunday, September 2 »

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 126

It-Tnejn u Ghoxrin Hadd taz-Zmien ta’ Matul is-Sena

Reading 1   Sirak 3:17-18, 20, 28-29

My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.  What is too sublime for you, seek not, into things beyond your strength search not.  The mind of a sage appreciates proverbs, and an attentive ear is the joy of the wise.  Water quenches a flaming fire,

 and alms atone for sins.

QARI I      mill-Ktieb ta’ Bin Sirak 3, 17-20.28-29

Ibni, kun gwejjed fix-xoghol li taghmel, u tkun mahbub iktar minn wiehed milqugh min-nies. Akbar m’int, iktar ghandek iccekken ruhek, u ssib grazzja quddiem il-Mulej. Hafna huma l-imkabbrin u l-imsebbhin, imma l-Mulej jikxef lill-umli l-misteri tieghu. Ghax kbira hi s-setgha tal-Mulej, imma hu msebbah min-nies umli. Mhemmx duwa ghall-bniedem kollu kburija, ghax din haxixa hazina b’gheruqha mxenxla fih. Min ghandu l-gherf jifhem il-proverbji u l-gharef herqan li jkollu min jisimghu.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej  

Responsorial Psalm    Psalm 68:4-5, 6-7, 10-11

The just rejoice and exult before God;

they are glad and rejoice.

Sing to God, chant praise to his name;

whose name is the LORD.

R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.

The father of orphans and the defender of widows

is God in his holy dwelling.

God gives a home to the forsaken;

he leads forth prisoners to prosperity.

R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.

A bountiful rain you showered down, O God, upon your inheritance;

you restored the land when it languished;

your flock settled in it;

in your goodness, O God, you provided it for the needy.

R. God, in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor.

SALM RESPONSORJALI         Salm 67 (68), 4-5ac. 6-7ab. 10-11    

R/. (ara 11b) O Alla, int hejjejt dar ghall-fqajjar

Il-gusti jithennew quddiem Alla,

jifirhu u jaqbzu bil-ferh.

Ghannu lil Alla, fahhru ismu.

Tghaxxqu fil-Mulej, aqbzu bil-ferh quddiemu. R/.

Missier l-iltiema u difensur tar-romol,

hekk hu Alla fl-ghamara mqaddsa tieghu.

Alla jaghti d-dar lil dawk li huma wehidhom,

u lill-habsin bir-rizq johroghom. R/.

Xita bil-kotra inti bghatt, o Alla, fuq l-art, wirt tieghek,

u meta kienet bil-ghatx inti hjejtha.

Il-poplu tieghek ghammar fiha,

fi tjubitek, o Alla, ghall-fqajjar hejjejtha. R/.

Reading 2    Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24a

Brothers and sisters: You have not approached that which could be touched and a blazing fire and gloomy darkness and storm and a trumpet blast and a voice speaking words such that those who heard begged that no message be further addressed to them. No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and the sprinkled blood that speaks more eloquently than that of Abel.

QARI II      mill-Ittra lil-Lhud 12, 18-19. 22-24a

Huti, intom ma rsaqtux lejn in-nar materjali u jheggeg tas-Sinaj; lejn dak is-swied u d-dlam u r-riefnu; lejn dak id-daqq ta’ tromba u hoss ta’ kliem li dawk li kienu jisimghuh talbu bil-herqa biex ma jkellimhomx aktar. Imma intom ersaqtu lejn il-muntanja ta’ Sijon u lejn il-belt ta’ Alla l-haj, li hi Gerusalemm tas-sema; ersaqtu lejn eluf ta’ angli f’gemgha ferrieha; lejn il-gemgha tal-ulied ewlenin li isimhom hu miktub fis-sema; lejn Alla l-imhallef ta’ kulhadd; lejn l-erwieh ta’ nies tajba u perfetti; lejn Gesù l-medjatur ta’ patt gdid. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel      Luke 14:1, 7-14

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. He told a parable to those who had been invited, noticing how they were choosing the places of honour at the table. "When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honour. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, 'Give your place to this man,' and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place. Rather, when you are invited, go and take the lowest place so that when the host comes to you he may say, 'My friend, move up to a higher position.' Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Then he said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbours, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet,invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

EVANGELJU          Qari  skont San Luqa 14, 1.7-14

Darba, kien is-Sibt, Gesù dahal ghand wiehed mill-kapijiet tal-farizej biex jiekol ghandu, u huma qaghdu ghajnejhom fih. Billi ra b’ghajnejh kif il-mistednin bdew jaghzlu l-postijiet ta’ quddiem fil-mejda, qalilhom din il-parabbola: “Meta wiehed jistiednek ghal xi festa ta’ tieg, tmurx toqghod fil-post ta’ quddiem, li ma jkunx hemm xi mistieden aqwa minnek, u dak li jkun stieden lilek u lilu jigi fuqek jghidlek: “Aghti l-post lil dan”, u int imbaghad, b’reghxa ta’ misthija fuqek, ikollok tiehu l-post tal-ahhar. Ghall-kuntrarju, meta tkun mistieden, mur inxtehet fil-post tal-ahhar, biex meta jigi dak li stiednek jghidlek: “Habib, itla f’post aktar ‘il fuq”. U dan ikun ta’ gieh ghalik quddiem dawk kollha li jkunu fil-mejda mieghek. Ghax kull min jitkabbar, jiccekken; u min jiccekken, jitkabbar”. Imbaghad qal ukoll lil dak li kien stiednu: “Meta taghti ikla jew pranzu, tistedinx lil hbiebek jew lil hutek jew lil qrabatek, u anqas girien ghonja, ghax ghandhom mnejn imbaghad jistiednu lilek huma, u hekk iroddulek il-pjacir li tkun ghamiltilhom. Ghall-kuntrarju, meta taghmel ikla, stieden il-foqra, il-maghtubin, iz-zopop u l-ghomja, u hieni int, ghax dawn ma ghandhomx minn fejn iroddulek pjacir bi pjacir, imma jroddhulek Alla meta l-gusti jqumu ghall-hajja”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

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Father Cantalamessa on Modesty

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

* * *

Be Modest in What You Do!

The beginning of this Sunday’s Gospel helps us to correct a widely diffused prejudice: “One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.” Reading the Gospel from a certain angle we have ended up making the Pharisees the prototype for all vices: hypocrisy, duplicity, falsity; Jesus’ enemies par excellence. The terms “Pharisee” and “Pharisaical” have entered into the vocabulary of many languages with negative connotations.

Such an idea of the Pharisees is not correct. There were certainly many among them who corresponded to this negative image and it is with these that Jesus has serious problems. But not all of them were like this. Nicodemus, who comes to see Jesus one night and who later defended him before the Sanhedrin, was a Pharisee (cf. John 3:1; 7:50ff.). Saul was a Pharisee before his conversion and was certainly a sincere and zealous person then, if misguided. Gamaliel, who defended the apostles before the Sanhedrin, was a Pharisee (cf. Acts 5:34ff.).

Jesus’ relationships with the Pharisees were not only conflictual. They often shared the same convictions, such as faith in the resurrection of the dead and the love of God and neighbor as the first and most important commandment of the law. Some, as we see in Sunday’s Gospel, even invited Jesus to dinner at their house. Today there is agreement that the Pharisees did not want Jesus to be condemned as much as their rival sect, the Sadducees, who belonged to Jerusalem’s priestly caste.

For all these reasons, it would be a very good thing to stop using the terms “Pharisee” and “Pharisaical” in a disparaging way. This would also help dialogue with the Jews who recall with great respect the role played by the Pharisees in their history, especially after the destruction of Jerusalem.

During the dinner that Sabbath, Jesus taught two important things: one directed to those who were invited and the other to their host. To the host Jesus says (perhaps privately or only in the presence of his disciples): “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours …” This is what Jesus himself did when he invited the poor, the afflicted, the meek, the hungry, the persecuted — the persons named in the beatitudes — to the great banquet of the kingdom.

But this time I would like to focus on what Jesus says to the invitees. “When you are invited to a wedding feast, do not take a place of honour …” Jesus does not intend to give a lesson in good manners here. Neither does he wish to encourage the subtle calculation of those who take a lower place with the secret hope of gaining a more honourable place from the host. The parable could deceive us if we do not think about the banquet and the host that Jesus has in mind. The banquet is the most universal one of the kingdom and God is the host.

In life, Jesus wants to say, Choose the last place, try to work more for the benefit of others than for your own benefit. Be modest in evaluating your merits, allow others to do this instead (“No one is a good judge of his own case”), and already in this life God will lift you up. He will lift you up in his grace; he will make you rise in the ranks of Jesus’ friends and true disciples, which is the only thing that really matters.

He will also exalt you in the esteem of others. It is a surprising fact but a true one: It is not only God who “comes to the humble but holds the proud at a distance” (cf. Psalm 107:6); men do the same, whether or not they are believers. Modesty, when it is sincere and not affected, conquers, makes those who practice it loved, makes their company desirable, their opinion appreciated. True glory flees from those who seek it and seeks those who flee from it.

We live in a society that has an extreme need to hear this Gospel message of humility again. Running to take the first seats, perhaps without scruple using others as steppingstones, being opportunistic and viciously competitive — these are things that are universally condemned but, unfortunately, they are also universally practiced. The Gospel has an impact on society, even when it speaks of humility and modesty.

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Will We All Be Saved?

« Sunday, August 25 »

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 123

Il-Wiehed u Ghoxrin Hadd taz-Zmien ta’ Matul is-Sena

Reading 1    Isaiah 66:18-21

Thus says the LORD: I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them; from them I will send fugitives to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the LORD in clean vessels.  Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.

QARI I    mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija Is 66, 18-21

Dan jghid il-Mulej: “Ghad nigi nigbor il-gnus kollha, u l-popli ta’ kull ilsien; dawn jigu u jaraw is-sebh tieghi. Jiena ngholli ghalihom sinjal, u nibghat lil xi whud mill-fdal ta’ Izrael ghand il-gnus, f’Tarsis, Put, Lud, u Mesek, Ros, Tubal u Gawan, u lejn ix-xtut imbieghda li qatt ma semghu bija, u qatt ma raw is-sebh tieghi, u huma jxandru s-sebh tieghi qalb il-gnus. U jgibu lil hutkom kollha minn kull gens, bhala offerta lill-Mulej; igibuhom fuq zwiemel u karrijiet, fuq suggetti u bghula u igmla, ghal fuq il-muntanja qaddisa tieghi, f’Gerusalemm, jghid il-Mulej: bhalma wlied Izrael igibu l-offerti tal-qmuh taghhom f’garar indaf fit-tempju tal-Mulej. U lil xi whud minnhom nehodhom b’qassisin u leviti, jghid il-Mulej”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm     Psalm 117:1, 2

Praise the LORD all you nations;

glorify him, all you peoples!

R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

.

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,

and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.

SALM RESPONSORJALI     Salm 116 (117), 1.2

R/. (Mk 16, 15): Morru fid-dinja kollha, xandru l-Evangelju

Fahhru l-Mulej, intom gnus kollha,

sebbhuh, intom popli lkoll! R/.

Ghax kbira hi t-tjieba tieghu maghna,

il-fedeltà tal-Mulej tibqa’ ghal dejjem. R/.

Reading 2      Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13

Brothers and sisters, You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: "My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges." Endure your trials as "discipline"; God treats you as sons. For what "son" is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it. So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.

QARI II       mill-Ittra lil Lhud 12, 5-7. 11-13

Huti, insejtuha ghalkollox il-kelma ta’ twissija li qalilkom ta’ wlied li intom: “Ibni, la twarrabx it-twiddib tal-Mulej, u la taqtax qalbek meta jcanfrek; ghax il-Mulej iwiddeb lil min ihobb, jolqot lil kull min jilqa’ b’ibnu”. Hu ghall-edukazzjoni taghkom li intom qeghdin tbatu! Alla qieghed jimxi maghkom ta’ wlied. Min hu dak l-iben li missieru ma jwiddbux? Tassew li bhalissa kull twiddiba ma tferrahniex, imma tnikkitna; izda mbaghad, lil dawk li jkunu tharrgu biha, hija troddilhom il-frott ta’ hajja mimlija bis-sliem u l-gustizzja. Mela erfghu l-idejn merhija u l-irkupptejn mitluqa taghkom, u aqbdu triq dritta ghal riglejkom, biex min hu zopp, ma johrogx mit-triq, imma jerga’ jiehu sahhtu.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel   Luke 13:22-30

Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.

Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.'  He will say to you in reply, 'I do not know where you are from. And you will say, 'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.' Then he will say to you, 'I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first,  and some are first who will be last."

EVANGELJU       Qari skont San Luqa 13, 22-30

F’dak iz-zmien, huwa u sejjer lejn Gerusalemm, Gesù ghadda jghallem f’xi bliet u rhula. U kien hemm wiehed qallu: “Mulej, jaqaw ftit huma dawk li jsalvaw?”. U huwa wegibhom: “Thabtu biex tidhlu mill-bieb id-dejjaq, ghax kif nghidilkom jien, hafna ghad ifittxu li jidhlu u ma jirnexxilhomx. Ghax meta sid id-dar ikun qam jaghlaq il-bieb, intom tibqghu barra, u tibdew thabbtu l-bieb u tghidu: “Mulej, ifthilna!”. Izda hu jwegibkom u jghid: “Ma nafx mnejn intom”. Imbaghad taqbdu tghidulu: “Kilna u xrobna mieghek ahna, u int ghallimt fil-pjazez taghna”. Hu jwiegeb u jghidilkom: “Ma nafx mnejn intom; morru minn quddiemi, intom ilkoll li taghmlu dak li mhux sewwa!”. Hemmhekk ikun hemm il-biki u tghazziz tas-snien, meta taraw lil Abraham u lil Izakk u lil Gakobb u l-profeti kollha fis-Saltna ta’ Alla, u intom imkeccija ’l barra. U jigu nies mil-Lvant u mill-Punent, mit-Tramuntana u min-Nofsinhar, u joqoghdu ghall-mejda fis-Saltna ta’ Alla. U araw, hawn min hu tal-ahhar u ghad ikun l-ewwel, u hawn min hu tal-ewwel u ghad ikun l-ahhar”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

       ////////  REFLECTION:

 Father Cantalamessa on 

The Narrow Gate

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

* * *

There is a question that has always nagged believers: Will there be many or few people saved? During certain periods this problem became so acute as to cause some people terrible anxiety. This Sunday’s Gospel informs us that Jesus himself was once asked this question. “Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, ‘Lord, will only a few people be saved?'”

The question, as we see, focuses on the number — How many will be saved? Will it be many or few? In answering the question, Jesus shifts the focus from “how many” to “how” to be saved, that is, by entering “through the narrow gate.”

We see this same attitude in regard to Jesus’ second coming. The disciples ask “when” the return of the Son of Man will happen and Jesus answers indicating “how” we should prepare ourselves for that return, and what to do during the time of waiting (cf. Matthew 24:3-4).

Jesus’ way of responding to these questions is not strange or discourteous. He is just acting in the way of one who wants to teach his disciples how to move from a life of curiosity to one of true wisdom; from the allure of idle questions to the real problems we need to grapple with in life.

From this we already see the absurdity of those who, like the Jehovah Witnesses, believe they know the precise number of the saved: 144,000. This number, which recurs in the Book of Revelation has a purely symbolic value (the square of 12 — the number of the tribes of Israel — multiplied by 1,000) and is explained by the expression that immediately follows: “A great multitude that no man could number” (Revelation 7:4, 9).

Above all, if 144,000 is really the number, then we can both close up shop. Above the gate to heaven there must be a sign like the ones parking lots put up: “Full.”

If, therefore, Jesus is not so much interested in revealing to us the number of the saved as he is in telling us how to be saved, we can understand what he is trying to tell us here. In substance, there are two things: one negative and the other positive.

It is useless, or rather it is not enough, to belong to a certain ethnic group, race, tradition, or institution, not even the chosen people from whom the Saviour himself comes. What puts us on the road to salvation is not a title of ownership (“We ate and drank in your presence…”), but a personal decision, followed by a consistent way of life. This is even more clear in Matthew’s text which contrasts two ways and two gates, one narrow and the other wide (cf. Matthew 7:13-14).

Why are these ways respectively called “narrow” and “wide”? Is it perhaps that the way of evil is always easy and pleasant to follow and the way of goodness always hard and tiresome?

Here we must be careful not to cede to the usual temptation of believing that here below everything goes magnificently well for the wicked and everything goes terribly for the good.

The way of the wicked is wide, but only at the beginning. As one goes down this way it gradually becomes narrow and bitter. In any case, it becomes very narrow at the end because it finishes in a blind alley.

The joy that is experienced in it has the characteristic of diminishing more and more as one tastes it, and it finally causes nausea and sadness. We see this in certain forms of intoxication experienced in drugs, alcohol and sex. A larger dose or stronger stimulation is needed each time to produce pleasure of the same intensity.

Finally the organism no longer responds and it begins to break down, even physically.

The way of the just is instead narrow at the beginning, when one starts off on it, but it then becomes a spacious boulevard because hope, joy and peace of heart are found in it.

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