September 8 2019
It-Twelid tal-Imqaddsa Verġni Marija
Solennità
Reading
1 Micah 5: 1-4a
You, O
Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you
shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of
old, from ancient days. Therefore, he shall give them up until the time when
she who is in labour has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return
to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength
of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
QARI
I mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Mikea 5: 1-4a
Dan jgħid
il-Mulej: Int, Betlehem Efrata, ċkejkna biex tkun fost il-familji ta’ Ġuda,
minnek għad joħroġli dak li jkun ħakem f’Israel; hu għandu l-bidu tiegħu
mill-qedem, sa minn dejjem. Għalhekk il-Mulej jitlaqhom sa ma teħles dik li hi
fl-uġigħ tal-ħlas; imbagħad il-bqija ta’ ħutu jerġgħu lura fost ulied Israel, u
hu joqgħod jirgħa l-merħla tiegħu bil-qawwa tal-Mulej, fis-sebħ ta’ isem
il-Mulej, Alla tiegħu. Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej.
RESPONSORIAL
PSALM Psalm 13:6ab, 6c
Though I
trusted in your mercy,
let my
heart rejoice in your salvation. R/.
With
delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Let me
sing of the LORD, "He has been good to me."
R. With
delight I rejoice in the Lord.
SALM
RESPONSORJALI Salm 12
Jien
fit-tjieba tiegħek, Mulej, ittamajt;
tifraħ
qalbi fis-salvazzjoni tiegħek. R/.
Ngħanni
lill-Mulej, għax għamilli l-ġid:
ngħanni
lill-isem tal-Mulej, il-Għoli.
R/. Nifraħ
b’ferħ kbir fil-Mulej!
Reading
2 Romans
8:28-30
Brothers
and sisters: We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who
are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to
be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he might be the firstborn among
many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; and those he called he
also justified; and those he justified he also glorified.
QARI
II mill-Ittra
li-Rumani Rum 8: 28-30
Ħuti: Aħna
nafu li Alla, ma’ dawk li jħobbuh, ma’ dawk li huma msejjħin skond il-provvidenza
tiegħu,f’kollox
jaħdem id f’id għall-ġid tagħhom. Għax lil dawk li hu għarafhom mill-bidu, ippredestinahom ukoll biex jieħdu s-sura fuq ix-xbieha ta’ Ibnu, ħalli
dan ikun il-kbir fost ħafna aħwa; lil dawk li ppredestinahom, sejħilhom ukoll; lil dawk li sejħilhom, iġġustifikahom
ukoll; lil dawk imbagħad li ġġustifikahom, igglorifikahom ukoll. Il-Kelma
tal-Mulej.
GOSPEL Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23
The Book
of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham
became the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of
Judah and his brothers. Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah, whose
mother was Tamar. Perez became the father of Hezron, Hezron the father of Ram, Ram
the father of Amminadab. Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the
father of Salmon, Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab. Boaz
became the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth. Obed became the father of
Jesse, Jesse the
father of David the king. David became the father of Solomon, whose mother had
been the wife of Uriah. Solomon became the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the
father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asaph. Asaph became the father of
Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah. Uzziah
became the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of
Hezekiah. Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amos, Amos
the father of Josiah. Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at
the time of the Babylonian exile. After the Babylonian exile, Jechoniah became
the father of Shealtiel, Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel the
father of Abiud. Abiud became the father of Eliakim, Eliakim the father of
Azor, Azor the father of Zadok. Zadok became the father of Achim, Achim the
father of Eliud, Eliud the father of Eleazar. Eleazar became the father of
Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband
of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ. Now this is how the
birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy
Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to
expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention
when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph,
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is
through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will
bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from
their sins." All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through
the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they
shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us."
EVANĠELJU Qari skont San Mattew 1: 1-16. 18-23
Ktieb
in-nisel ta’ Ġesù Kristu, Bin David, bin Abraham. Abraham nissel ’l Iżakk,
Iżakk nissel ’il Ġakobb, Ġakobb nissel ’il Ġuda u ’l ħutu, Ġuda nissel ’l Aram,
Aram nissel ’il Għaminadab, Għaminadab nissel ’il Naħson, Naħson nissel ’il
Salmon, Salmon nissel ’il Bogħoż, minn Raħab, Bogħoż nissel ’il Għobed, minn
Rut, Għobed nissel ’il Ġesse. Ġesse
nissel lis-sultan David, David nissel ’il Salamun, mill-mara ta’ Urija, Salamun
nissel ’il Robogħam, Robogħam nissel ’l Abija, Abija nissel ’l Asa, Asa nissel
’il Ġosafat, Ġosafat nissel ’il Ġoram, Ġoram nissel ’il Għużżija, Għużżija
nissel ’il Ġoatam, Ġoatam nissel ’l Aħaż, Aħaż nissel ’il Ħeżekija, Ħeżekija
nissel ’il Manasse, Manasse nissel ’l Amon, Amon nissel ’il Ġosija, Ġosija
nissel ’il Ġekonija u ’l ħutu; kien żmien l-eżilju f’Babel. Wara l-eżilju
f’Babel, Ġekonija nissel ’il Salatjel, Salatjel nissel ’il Żorobabel, Żorobabel
nissel ’l Abihud, Abihud nissel ’l Eljakim, Eljakim nissel ’l Ażor, Ażor nissel
’il Sadok, Sadok nissel ’l Akim, Akim nissel ’l Elihud, Elihud nissel ’l
Elgħażar, Elgħażar nissel ’il Mattan, Mattan nissel ’il Ġakobb, Ġakobb nissel
’il Ġużeppi, ir-raġel ta’ Marija, li minnha twieled Ġesù, li jsejħulu Kristu. It-tnissil
ta’ Ġesù Kristu sar hekk: Ommu Marija, wara li tgħarrset ma’ Ġużeppi, qabel ma
marru joqogħdu flimkien, ħarġet tqila bil-ħidma tal-Ispirtu s-Santu. Żewġha
Ġużeppi, li kien raġel ġust u li ma riedx ixandarha quddiem kulħadd, għamel
f’rasu li jibgħatha bil-moħbi tan-nies. Wara li qatagħha li jagħmel hekk,
deherlu anġlu tal-Mulej fil-ħolm u qallu: “Ġużeppi, bin David, la tibżax tilqa’
għandek lil Marija b’martek, għax dak li tnissel fiha ġie bil-ħidma tal-Ispirtu
s-Santu. Hi jkollha iben, u inti ssemmih Ġesù, għax hu jsalva l-poplu tiegħu
minn dnubiethom”. Dan kollu ġara biex iseħħ li kien qal il-Mulej permezz
tal-profeta, meta qal: ‘Ara, ix-xebba tnissel u jkollha iben, u jsemmuh
Għimmanu-El’, li bi lsienna jfisser ‘Alla magħna’. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.
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If anyone follows me ...
A reflection on the Sunday Gospel by
Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, Pontifical Household Preacher
The Gospel
reading for this Sunday (though not the one specially for Malta where the
solemnity of the birth of Mary is celebrated) is one of those that we would be
tempted to smooth out and sweeten because it seems too hard for men of today:
"If anyone follows me without hating his father, his mother."
Let us
immediately make one thing clear: It is true that the Gospel is sometimes
provocative, but it is never contradictory. A little further on in the same
Gospel of Luke Jesus firmly re-emphasizes the duty of honouring father and
mother (Luke 18:20), and in regard to husband and wife he says that they must
be one flesh and that man does not have a right to separate that which God has
joined together. How, then, can he tell us to hate father and mother, wife,
children, brothers and sisters?
We need to
keep in mind a certain fact. The Hebrew language does not have comparatives --
it is not possible in Hebrew, for example, to speak of loving something
"more" or "less" than another thing. It is only possible to
speak of loving or hating. The phrase, "If anyone follows me and does not
hate father and mother" should be understood in this way: "If anyone
follows me, without preferring me to father and mother." To see that this
is so we only need to look at the same matter in the Gospel of Matthew where
Jesus says: "Whoever loved father and mother more than me is not worthy of
me" (Matthew 10:37).
It would
be a big mistake to think that this love for Christ enters into competition
with the different human loves: for parents, husband and wife, children,
brothers and sisters. Christ is no one's rival in love and he is not jealous of
anyone.
In Paul
Claudel's play "The Satin Slipper," the female protagonist, a fervent
Christian, who is deeply in love with Rodrigo, exclaims to herself, almost
finding it hard to believe: "Is it permitted, then, this love between
creatures? Truly, God is not jealous?" And her guardian angel answers:
"How could he be jealous of what he himself has made?" (Act 3, Scene
8).
Love for
Christ does not exclude the other loves, but rather orders them. Indeed, it is
in him that every genuine love finds its foundation and support and the
necessary grace to be fully lived out. This is the meaning of the "grace
of state" that the sacrament of marriage confers to Christian husbands and
wives. It assures that in their love they will be sustained and guided by the
love that Christ had for his Church.
Jesus does
not disappoint nor deceive anyone; he asks everything because he wants to give
everything; indeed, he has given everything. Someone might ask themselves:
"But what right does this man have, who lived 20 centuries ago in an
obscure corner of the world, to ask this absolute love of everyone? We do not
need to look too far to find the answer, which is in his earthly life about
which history tells us: It is because he first gave everything for man.
"He loved us and gave himself up for us" (cf. Ephesians 5:2).
In the
same Gospel Jesus reminds us what the benchmark and sign is of true love for
him: "taking up your own cross." Taking up our own cross does not
mean seeking out suffering.
Jesus did
not seek out his cross; he took on himself in obedience to the Father what men
put on his shoulders and with his obedient love transformed it from an
instrument of torture into a sign of redemption and glory.
Jesus did
not come to make human crosses heavier, but rather to give them meaning. It has
been rightly said that "whoever looks for Jesus without the cross will
find the cross without Jesus," that is, he will certainly find the cross
but not the strength to carry it.
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