WAITING FOR THE SON.....

« December 22 »

Fourth Sunday of Advent

Lectionary: 10

Ir-Raba’ Ħadd tal-Avvent – Sena A

Reading 1      Isaiah 7:10-14

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, "I will not ask!  I will not tempt the LORD!" Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

Qari I      mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Isaija  7, 10-14

F’dak iż-żmien, il-Mulej issokta jkellem lil Aħaż u jgħidlu: “Itlob sinjal għalik mingħand il-Mulej, Alla tiegħek, f’qiegħ l-art jew fl-għoli tas-smewwiet”. U Aħaż wieġeb: “Ma nitlobx: ma rridx nittanta lill-Mulej”. U l-profeta wieġeb: “Isimgħu, mela, dar David! Mhux biżżejjed għalikom li tkiddu lill-bnedmin, biex issa se tkiddu lil Alla tiegħi? Għalhekk is-sinjal jagħtihulkom Sidi stess: Araw, ix-xebba titqal u tiled iben, u ssemmih Għimmanu-El”.Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm    Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6.

R. (7c and 10b) Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.

The LORD's are the earth and its fullness;

the world and those who dwell in it.

For he founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the rivers.

R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?

or who may stand in his holy place?

One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,

who desires not what is vain.

R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,

a reward from God his savior.

Such is the race that seeks for him,

that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

R. Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory.

Salm Responsorjali          Salm 23 (24), 1-2.3-4ab.5-6

R/. (7c.10b): Ħa jidħol il-Mulej, hu s-Sultan tal-glorja

Tal-Mulej hi l-art u kull ma fiha,

id-dinja u kull ma jgħix fiha.

Għax hu fuq l-ibħra waqqafha

u fuq ix-xmajjar fis-sod qegħedha. R/.

Min jista’ jitla’ fuq l-għolja tal-Mulej,

min joqgħod fil-post imqaddes tiegħu?

Min għandu idejh indaf u qalbu safja,

min ma jagħtix ruħu għall-frugħa. R/.

Dan ikollu barka mingħand il-Mulej,

u l-ħlas li ħaqqu minn Alla, is-Salvatur tiegħu.

Dan hu n-nisel ta’ dawk li jfittxuh;

li jfittxu ’l wiċċek, Alla ta’ Ġakobb. R/.

Reading 2       Romans 1:1-7

I, Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised previously through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel about his Son, descended from David according to the flesh, but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness through resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we have received the grace of apostleship, to bring about the obedience of faith, for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles, among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Qari II       Bidu tal-Ittra Lir-Rumani 1, 1-7

Pawlu, qaddej ta’ Kristu Ġesù, imsejjaħ biex ikun appostlu, maħtur għall-Evanġelju ta’ Alla. Dan hu l-Evanġelju li Alla kien wiegħed permezz tal-profeti fil-Kotba Mqaddsa dwar Ibnu Ġesù Kristu Sidna li, skond it-tnissil tal-ġisem, twieled min-nisel ta’ David, u, skond l-Ispirtu s-Santu, ġie rivelat bħala l-Iben ta’ Alla b’kull qawwa permezz tal-qawmien mill-imwiet. Bih aħna rċevejna l-grazzja tal-appostolat biex inwasslu għall-ubbidjenza tal-fidi l-bnedmin fost il-ġnus kollha għall-ġieħ ta’ ismu. Fosthom tinsabu intom ukoll, imsejħin biex tkunu ta’ Ġesù Kristu; lill-maħbubin kollha ta’ Alla li jinsabu Ruma msejħin biex ikunu qaddisin: grazzja ilkom u sliem mingħand Alla Missierna u Sidna Ġesù Kristu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel       Matthew 1:18-24

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 fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us."When Joseph awoke,he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Evanġelju        Qari skond San Mattew 1, 18-24

It-tnissil ta’ Ġesù l-Messija sar hekk: ommu Marija, wara li tgħarrset ma’ Ġużeppi, qabel ma marru joqogħdu flimkien, saret omm bil-ħidma tal-Ispirtu s-Santu. Żewġha Ġużeppi, li kien raġel ġust u ma riedx ixandarha quddiem kulħadd, għamel il-ħsieb li jibgħatha bil-moħbi tan-nies. Meta kien għadu qiegħed jaħsibha, deherlu anġlu tal-Mulej fil-ħolm u qallu: “Ġużeppi, bin David, xejn la tibża’ tieħu għandek lil martek Marija, għax dak li tnissel fiha ġej mill-Ispirtu s-Santu. Hi se jkollha iben, u inti ssemmih Ġesù, għax hu jsalva l-poplu tiegħu minn dnubiethom”. Dan kollu ġara biex iseħħ dak 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”. Ġużeppi, meta qam, għamel kif ordnalu l-anġlu tal-Mulej, u ħa lil martu għandu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

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////////////////////Gospel reflection:

This Is How the Birth of Jesus Christ Came About

By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, 

Pontifical Household preacher.

There is something that the three readings have in common this Sunday: In each one a birth is spoken of: “Behold the Virgin will conceive and will give birth to a son and he shall be called Emmanuel, God-with-us” (first reading); “Jesus Christ … was born from the line of David according to the flesh” (second reading); “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about …” (Gospel). We could call it the “Sunday of births!”

We cannot avoid immediately asking: Why are so few children born in Italy and other Western countries? The principal reason for the scarcity does not have to do with economic factors. From an economic point of view, the births should increase as we move up through the levels of society, or as we move from the global South to the global North; but we know that the contrary is true.

The reason is deeper: It is the lack of hope, and the lack of what hope brings with it, namely, confidence in the future, vital drive, creativity, poetry and joie de vivre. If you wed, it is always an act of faith; bringing a child into the world is always an act of hope. Nothing can be done in the world without hope. We need hope like we need oxygen to breathe. When someone is about to faint we say, “Give them something strong to help them breathe.” Something similar should be done for a person who is about to let themselves go, to give up on life: “Give them a reason for hope!” When hope is reborn in a human situation, everything looks different, even if nothing in fact has changed. Hope is a primordial force. It literally works miracles.

The Gospel has something essential to offer our people in this moment of history: Hope with a capital “H,” the theological virtue that has God himself as its author and guarantee. Earthly hopes — home, employment, health, successful children, etc. — even if they are realized, will inexorably delude us if there is not something deeper that supports them and keeps them going. Consider what goes into the making of a spider web. The spider web is a work of art. It is perfect in symmetry, elascticity, functionality. The threads that stretch out horizontally on all sides make it taut. But it is held upright in its center by a thread that comes down from above, the thread that the spider had spun to lower itself down. If one of the threads on the side breaks, then the spider repairs it. But if you break the thread that comes from above down to the center, everything is destroyed. The spider knows that there is nothing it can do and goes away. In our lives the theological virtue of Hope is the thread from above, that which sustains the whole plot of our lives.

In this moment in which we feel the need for hope so strongly, the feast of Christmas can be the occasion for us to change our tendencies. Let us recall what Jesus said one day: “He who welcomes a child in my name welcomes me.” This also holds for whoever welcomes a poor and abandoned child, for whoever adopts and feeds a child of the Third World; but it holds above all for two Christian parents who, loving each other, in faith and hope, open themselves to a new life. Many couples who are lost in joy at the moment the pregnancy announces itself are certain to then make their own the words of Isaiah’s Christmas prophecy: “You have spread joy, you have made happiness increase, because a child is born for us, a son is given us!”  [Translation from the Italian by Joseph G. Trabbic]

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