« Sunday, July 5 »
L-Erbatax-il Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena
Reading 1 ZECHARIAH 9:9-10
Thus says the LORD: Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for
joy, O daughter Jerusalem! See, your king shall come to you; a just saviour is
he, meek, and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass. He shall banish
the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; the warrior’s bow shall
be banished, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations. His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and
from the River to the ends of the earth.
Qari I mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Żakkarija 9, 9-10
Dan jgħid il-Mulej: “Ifraħ kemm tiflaħ, bint Sijon, għajjat bil-ferħ, bint Ġerusalemm! Ara, is-sultan tiegħek ġej għandek; ġust u rebbieħ, umli u riekeb fuq ħmar, fuq felu ta’ ħmara. Hu jeqred il-karru minn Efrajm u ż-żiemel minn Ġerusalemm; jinqered il-qaws tal-gwerra. Hu jxandar il-paċi lill-ġnus, il-ħakma tiegħu tkun minn baħar sa baħar, u mix-xmara tal-Ewfrat sat-trufijiet”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm PSALM
145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13-14
I will extol you, O my God and King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day will I bless you, and I will praise your name forever and ever. R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness. The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works. R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
The LORD is faithful in all his words and holy in all his works. The LORD lifts up all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. R. I will praise your name for ever, my king and my God.
Salm Responsorjali Salm 144 (145), 1-2.8-9.10-11.13cd-14
R/. (1): Mulej, inbierek ismek għal dejjem
Ħa nkabbrek, Alla tiegħi, sultan, u nbierek ismek għal dejjem ta’ dejjem. Kuljum irrid inbierkek, u nfaħħar ismek għal dejjem ta’ dejjem. R/.
Twajjeb u ħanin il-Mulej,
idum biex jagħdab u kollu tjieba.
Twajjeb ma’ kulħadd il-Mulej, tjubitu fuq kull ma għamel. R/.
Kull ma għamilt iroddlok ħajr, Mulej; iberkuk il-ħbieb tiegħek kollha. Is-sebħ tas-saltna tiegħek ixandru, fuq is-setgħa tiegħek jitkellmu. R/.
Ta’ kelmtu l-Mulej fil-wegħdiet tiegħu kollha, twajjeb f’dak kollu li għamel. Iwieżen il-Mulej lil kull min se jaqa’, iqajjem lil kull min hu mitluq. R/.
Reading 2 ROMANS 8:9, 11-13
Brothers and sisters: You are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you. Consequently, brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Qari II mill-Ittra lir-Rumani 8, 9.11-13
Ħuti, intom ma intomx taħt il-ħakma tal-ġisem, imma tal-Ispirtu, ladarba hemm l-Ispirtu ta’ Alla jgħammar fikom. Jekk xi ħadd ma għandux fih l-Ispirtu ta’ Kristu, dan mhuwiex tiegħu. Jekk l-Ispirtu ta’ dak li qajjem lil Ġesù mill-imwiet jgħammar fikom, Alla stess li qajjem lil Kristu mill-imwiet iqajjem għall-ħajja wkoll il-ġisem mejjet tagħkom, bis-saħħa tal-Ispirtu li jgħammar fikom. Hekk mela, ħuti, aħna m’aħniex midjunin mal-ġisem biex ngħixu skond il-ġisem. Għax jekk tgħixu skond il-ġisem, tmutu; imma jekk tmewtu l-għemil tal-ġisem bl-Ispirtu, tgħixu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel
MATTHEW 11:25-30
At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Evanġelju Qari skond San Mattew 11, 25-30
F’dak iż-żmien Ġesù qabad u qal: “Infaħħrek, Missier, Sid is-sema u l-art, għax inti dawn il-ħwejjeġ ħbejthom lil min għandu l-għerf u d-dehen u wrejthom liċ-ċkejknin. Iva, Missier, għax lilek hekk għoġbok. Kollox kien mogħti lili minn Missieri, u ħadd ma jagħraf lill-Iben jekk mhux il-Missier, kif ħadd ma jagħraf lill-Missier jekk mhux l-Iben u dak li lilu l-Iben irid jgħarrafhulu. Ejjew għandi, intom ilkoll li tinsabu mħabbtin u mtaqqlin, u jiena nserraħkom. Ħudu fuqkom il-madmad tiegħi u tgħallmu minni, għaliex jiena ta’ qalb ħelwa u umli, u intom issibu l-mistrieħ għal ruħkom. Għax il-madmad tiegħi ħelu u t-toqol tiegħi ħafif”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
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Gospel Commentary by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, Pontifical Household Preacher
This Sunday’s Gospel, among the most intense and profound of Gospel passages, has 3 parts: a prayer -- "I bless you, Father" -- a declaration of Jesus about himself -- "Everything has been given to me by my Father" -- and an invitation -- "Come to me all who labour."
I will limit my remarks to the first element, the prayer, because it contains a revelation of extraordinary importance: "I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you kept these things hidden from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to the little ones. Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure."
The best comment on these words of Jesus is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians: "Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God" (1:26-29).
Christ’s and Paul’s words shed a singular light on today’s world. It is a situation that is repeated. The wise and the intelligent keep their distance from faith, they often look with pity upon the crowds of believers who pray, who believe in miracles, who crowd around Padre Pio. Not all scholars do this, certainly, and perhaps not even the majority of them, but undoubtedly the most influential ones do, the ones who have the most powerful microphones, the group with the access to the major media.
Many of them are honest and intelligent persons and their position is more the fruit of education, environment and life experience, than of resistance to truth. So, I am not judging individuals. I know some such persons and I hold them in great esteem. But this should not stop us from pointing to the heart of the problem. The closure to every revelation from above, and thus to faith, is not caused by intelligence but by pride, a special pride that refuses all dependence and claims an absolute autonomy.
They entrench themselves behind the magic word "reason" but in reality it is not the famous "pure reason" that demands it, nor is it demanded by a "sovereign" reason. It is demanded rather by an enslaved reason, by wings that have been clipped.
Consider what certain philosophers who cannot be accused of a lack of intelligence and dialectical ability have said on this score. Blaise Pascal observed: "Reason’s supreme act is in recognizing that there are an infinite number of things that surpass it."
Soren Kierkegaard wrote: "It has always been said that science, which seeks to understand, is not satisfied when it is claimed that this or that thing cannot be understood. Here is the mistake.
"The opposite must be said: if human science does not want to admit that there is something that it cannot understand, or -- to put it more precisely -- that there is something that it can clearly ‘understand that it cannot understand,’ then there are problems.
"Therefore it is the task of human knowledge to understand that there are things that it cannot understand and what these are."
Those who do not admit this ability of going beyond are putting limit on reason and humiliating it. But this is not what the believer does since he is open to this possibility of transcending.
What I have said explains why modern thought, after Nietzsche, no longer values "truth," but rather the "pursuit" of truth and thus sincerity, which has replaced truth. Sometimes this attitude is taken to be one of humility -- being content with what philosophers like Gianni Vattimo call "weak thought" -- but this is a superficial judgment.
So long as the person is seeking, he is the one who is the protagonist, he is the one who sets down the rules of the game. But once truth is found, it is truth that takes the throne and the seeker must bow before truth and this requires -- when it is a matter of transcendent truth -- the "sacrifice of the intellect."
Jesus’ statements in John’s Gospel -- "I am the truth"; "No one comes to the Father but through me"; "Come to me all you who labour and have heavy burdens and I will give you rest" -- are provocations to our contemporary culture. But these are invitations not reproofs and they are also addressed to those who are tired of seeking and finding nothing, to those who have gone through life knocking up against the rock of mystery.
The psychologist C.G. Jung, in a book of his, says that all patients of a certain age to came to him suffered from something that could be called an "absence of humility" and could not be healed until they acquired an attitude of respect in the face of a reality greater than them, that is, an attitude of humility.
Jesus also repeats to the many honest intelligent and wise people
of the world of today his invitation full of love: "Come to me all you who
labour and have heavy burdens and I will give you rest and that peace that you
seek in vain in your tormented reasoning." [Translation
by Joseph G. Trabbic]
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