Readings for Sunday, November 21, 2021

The Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 161

 L-Erbgħa u Tletin Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena
Solennità ta’ Sidna Ġesù Kristu, Sultan tal-Ħolqien Kollu

 

Reading 1           DANIEL 7:13-14

As the visions during the night continued, I saw one like a Son of man coming,on the clouds of heaven; when he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship; all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.  His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

QARI 1              mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Danjel 7:13-1

Billejl deherli qiegħed nara bħal iben ta’ bniedem, ġej mis-sħab tas-sema, li baqa’ sejjer sax-Xiħ fl-għomor u ressquh quddiemu. U tawh ħakma, ġieħ, u saltna, biex lilu jaqdi kull ġens, u poplu, u lsien. Ħakmietu ħakma għal dejjem li ma tgħaddix, u saltnatu li ma tinqeridx.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

Responsorial Psalm            PSALM 93:1, 1-2, 5

The LORD is king, in splendor robed;
    robed is the LORD and girt about with strength.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.

And he has made the world firm,
    not to be moved.
Your throne stands firm from of old;
    from everlasting you are, O LORD.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.

Your decrees are worthy of trust indeed;
    holiness befits your house,
    O LORD, for length of days.
R. The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.

SALM RESPONSORJALI             Salm 92(93):1ab,1ċ-2,5

R/. (1a): Il-Mulej isaltan; il-kobor libes.

Il-Mulej isaltan; il-kobor libes,
libes il-Mulej u tħażżem bil-qawwa. R/.

Iżomm sħiħa d-dinja; qatt ma titħarrek.
Imwaqqaf it-tron tiegħek fis-sod minn dejjem;
minn dejjem ta’ dejjem int. R/.

Il-kmandamenti tiegħek ta’ min joqgħod fuqhom;
qdusija lil darek tixraq, Mulej,
sakemm itul iż-żmien. R/. 

Reading 2            REVELATIONS 1:5-8

Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever.  Amen. Behold, he is coming amid the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. All the peoples of the earth will lament him. Yes.  Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, " says the Lord God, "the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty."

QARI 2              mill-Ktieb tal-Apokalissi ta’ San Ġwann Appostlu 1:5-8 

 Ġesù Kristu hu x-xhud fidil, il-Kbir fost il-mejtin, il-Prinċep tas-slaten tad-dinja. Lil Dak li ħabbna, u li ħallna minn dnubietna bis-saħħa ta’ demmu, u li għamilna saltna, qassisin għal Alla tiegħu Missieru, lilu l-glorja u s-setgħa għal dejjem ta’ dejjem. Amen. Arawh, ġej fis-sħab, u l-għajnejn kollha jarawh, ukoll dawk li kienu nifduh; u r-razez kollha tal-art jibdew iħabbtu fuq sidirhom minħabba fih. Iva. Amen! Jiena huwa l-Alfa u l-Omega, jgħid il-Mulej Alla, li hu, u li kien, u li għad irid jiġi, Dak li jista’ kollox! Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

Gospel             JOHN 18:33b-37

Pilate said to Jesus, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you say this on your own or have others told you about me?" Pilate answered, "I am not a Jew, am I?  Your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me.  What have you done?"  Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.  But as it is, my kingdom is not here."  So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king.  For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

EVANĠELJU              Qari skont San Ġwann 18:33b-37

F’dak iż-żmien, Pilatu sejjaħ lil Ġesù u qallu: “Inti s-sultan tal-Lhud?”. Ġesù wieġeb: “Dan qiegħed tgħidu int minn moħħok, jew kienu oħrajn li qalulek dan fuqi?”. Pilatu wieġeb: “Mela jiena Lhudi? Kien il-poplu tiegħek u l-qassisin il-kbar li tawk f’idejja. X’għamilt?”. Ġesù wieġeb: “Is-saltna tiegħi mhijiex ta’ din id-dinja. Li kieku saltnati kienet ta’ din id-dinja, l-għases tiegħi kienu jiġġieldu biex ma ningħatax f’idejn il-Lhud; imma tabilħaqq saltnati mhijiex ta’ hawn”. Pilatu qallu: “Mela int sultan?”. U Ġesù wieġeb: “Int qiegħed tgħidu; jien sultan. Jien għalhekk twelidt, u għalhekk ġejt fid-dinja, biex nixhed għall-verità. U kull min iħobb il-verità jisma’ leħni”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

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Eight-minute  Gospel reflection by Fr Antony Kadavil   

GOD WILL BE WITH US ALL OUR LIFE

Central theme: 

Sunday’s readings give us the assurance that our God will be with us all the days of our lives and that we will have the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst, guiding, protecting, and strengthening us in spite of our necessary uncertainty concerning the end time when “Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” Each year at this time, the Church asks us to consider the “four last things” – Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell – as happening to ourselves.

Scripture lessons summarized: 

The readings invite us to focus our attention on the threefold coming of Jesus: 1) His first coming according to the flesh, as Redeemer. 2) His second coming, either at our death, or at the end of time and the world, which will bring our salvation to completion. 3) His coming into our lives each time we step forward in genuine Christian living.

The first reading, taken from the prophet Daniel (167 BC), was originally given to comfort and give hope to the Jewish people persecuted by a cruel pagan king. It advises us to live wisely and justly in the present time, instead of worrying about the unknown future. Through the Psalm Response for today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 16), the Holy Spirit has us sing our Faith affirmation, “You are my inheritance, O Lord!” 

In this coming Sunday’s second reading, the author of the Letter to the Hebrews challenges us to look to the future with hope and serenity because Jesus, having secured the forgiveness of our sins and our sanctification through the sacrifice on the cross, sits forever at God’s right hand as the one Mediator between man and God.

Sunday’s Gospel, taken from Mark (AD 69), offered hope to early Christians persecuted by the Roman Emperor Nero, by reminding them of Jesus’ words about His glorious return to earth with great power and glory as Judge to gather and reward the elect. Daniel and Mark continue to remind us that God will ensure that the righteous will survive the ordeal and will find a place with Him. Through the parable of the fig tree, Jesus warns us all to read the “signs of the time,” reminding us that we must be ever prepared to give an account of our lives to Jesus when He comes in glory as our Judge, because we cannot know “either the day or the hour” of His Second Coming.

Life messages:

 1) Let us recognize the “second coming” of Jesus in our daily lives through everyday occurrences, always remembering that Jesus comes without warning. But let us not get frightened at the thought of Christ’s Second Coming, because Jesus is with us every day, abiding with the Father and the Holy Spirit in our hearts, dwelling in our Church in the Holy Eucharist, teaching us in the Holy Bible, and unifying us with Him and each other in our worshipping communities. We will be able to welcome Jesus in His Second Coming as long as we faithfully do the will of God by daily serving our brothers and sisters, recognizing Christ’s presence in them, and by being reconciled with God and with our brothers and sisters every day.

2) We need to “learn the lesson from the fig tree.” This means that we are to watch and wait in a state of readiness. Instead of worrying about the endtime events, we are asked to live every day of our lives loving God living in others, by our committed service to them with sacrificial agape love.

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