LEARNING FROM THE HOLY FAMILY

//////////////////////  Readings for Sunday, December 26, 2021

Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Lectionary: 17


Il-Ħadd fl-Ottava tal-Milied
Festa tal-Familja Mqaddsa ta’ Ġesù, Marija u Ġużeppi 

 

Reading 1               1 Sm 1:20-22, 24-28

In those days Hannah conceived, and at the end of her term bore a son whom she called Samuel, since she had asked the LORD for him. The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the LORD and to fulfill his vows, Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the LORD and to remain there forever; I will offer him as a perpetual nazirite.” Once Samuel was weaned, Hannah brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the temple of the LORD in Shiloh. After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull, Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said: “Pardon, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request. Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.” Hannah left Samuel there.

QARI 1              mill-Ewwel Ktieb ta’ Samwel 1, 20-22.24-28

F’dak iż-żmien Anna tqalet, u meta wasal żmienha wildet iben u semmietu Samwel “għaliex – kif qalet hi – tlabtu lill-Mulej”. Elkana bil-familja kollha tala’ joffri s-sagrifiċċju ta’ kull sena lill-Mulej u jtemm il-wegħda tiegħu. Imma Anna ma telgħetx, għaliex qalet lil żewġha: “Meta nkun ftamt it-tifel, imbagħad nieħdu biex jidher quddiem il-Mulej, u jibqa’ hemm għal dejjem”. U meta fatmitu, Anna tellgħet ’il binha magħha fid-dar tal-Mulej f’Silo. Ħadet magħha gendus ta’ tliet snin, efa dqiq u żaqq inbid, u marret bit-tfajjel magħha. Hemm qatlu l-gendus, u ressqu t-tifel quddiem Għeli, u qaltlu: “Nitolbok, sidi; daqskemm int ħaj, sidi, jien dik il-mara li kienet wieqfa hawn ħdejk titlob lill-Mulej. Għal dan it-tifel kont tlabt, u l-Mulej laqa’ t-talba tiegħi, u tani li tlabtu. U issa jien se nagħtih lill-Mulej il-jiem kollha ta’ ħajtu, u kemm idum ħaj ikun tal-Mulej”. U qiemu lill-Mulej hemmhekk. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

 Responsorial Psalm             PSALM 84:2-3, 5-6, 9-10.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
    My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD.
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
R. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

Happy they who dwell in your house!
    Continually they praise you.
Happy the men whose strength you are!
    Their hearts are set upon the pilgrimage.
R. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

O LORD of hosts, hear our prayer;
    hearken, O God of Jacob!
O God, behold our shield,
    and look upon the face of your anointed.
R. Blessed are they who dwell in your house, O Lord.

SALM RESPONSORJALI              Salm 83 (84), 2-3. 5-6. 9-10
R/. (5a): Henjin dawk li jgħammru f’darek, Mulej

Kemm hi għażiża d-dar tiegħek,
Mulej tal-eżerċti!
Tixxennaq u tinfena ruħi għat-tempju tal-Mulej;
ngħanni ferħan b’ruħi u ġismi lil Alla l-ħaj. R/.

Henjin dawk li jgħammru f’darek;
huma jfaħħruk għal dejjem.
Henjin dawk li jsibu fik il-qawwa tagħhom,
li għandhom għal qalbhom il-pellegrinaġġ għat-tempju. R/.

Mulej, Alla tal-eżerċti, isma’ talbi;
agħti widen, Alla ta’ Ġakobb.
Ħares, o Alla, lejn it-tarka tagħna,
ħares lejn is-sultan, il-midluk tiegħek. R/.

Reading 2             1 JOHN 3:1-2, 21-24

Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. And so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he gave us.

QARI 2              mill-Ewwel Ittra ta’ San Ġwann Appostlu 3, 1-2, 21-24

Għeżież, araw b’liema għożża ħabbna l-Missier; nistgħu nissejħu wlied Alla, u hekk aħna tassew! Għalhekk id-dinja ma tagħrafniex, għax ma għarfitx lilu. Għeżież, issa aħna wlied Alla, imma x’se nkunu ’l quddiem mhuwiex irrivelat lilna. Madankollu nafu li meta jidher hu, aħna nkunu bħalu, għax narawh kif inhu. Għeżież, jekk il-kuxjenza tagħna ma ċċanfarniex, aħna qalbna qawwija quddiem Alla, u kulma nitolbu naqilgħuh mingħandu, għax qegħdin inżommu l-kmandamenti tiegħu u nagħmlu dak li jogħġob lilu. Dan hu l-kmandament tiegħu: li nemmnu fl-isem ta’ Ibnu Ġesù Kristu, u nħobbu ’l xulxin, kif wissiena hu. Min iżomm il-kmandamenti tiegħu jgħammar f’Alla u Alla fih. B’hekk nagħrfu li hu jgħammar fina: bl-Ispirtu li hu tana. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel             LUKE 2:41-52

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him,  “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favour before God and man.

EVANĠELJU          Qari skond San Luqa 2, 41-52

Ta’ kull sena l-ġenituri ta’ Ġesù kienu jmorru Ġerusalemm għall-festa tal-Għid. Meta kellu tnax-il sena telgħu wkoll, skont id-drawwa ta’ dik il-festa. Wara li għaddew dawk il-ġranet qabdu t-triq lura, imma t-tfajjel Ġesù baqa’ Ġerusalemm bla ma kienu jafu l-ġenituri tiegħu. Huma ħasbuh qiegħed ma’ xi wħud li kienu fit-triq magħhom; iżda meta wara jum mixi fittxewh fost qrabathom u n-nies li kienu jafuhom, ma sabuhx, u għalhekk reġgħu lura Ġerusalemm ifittxuh. Wara tlitt ijiem sabuh fit-tempju, bilqiegħda f’nofs l-għalliema, jismagħhom u jistaqsihom; u kull min semgħu baqa’ mistagħġeb bid-dehen u t-tweġibiet tiegħu. Kif rawh, instamtu, u ommu qaltlu: “Ibni, dan għaliex għamiltilna hekk? Ara, missierek u jiena konna qegħdin infittxuk b’qalbna maqsuma”. U hu qalilhom: “U għaliex kontu qegħdin tfittxuni? Ma tafux li jiena għandi nkun f’dak li hu ta’ Missieri?”. Iżda kliemu ma fehmuhx. Imbagħad niżel magħhom u raġa’ mar Nazaret; u kien jobdihom. U ommu kienet tgħożż f’qalbha dawn il-ħwejjeġ kollha. U hekk Ġesù baqa’ jikber fl-għerf, fis-snin u fil-grazzja, quddiem Alla u quddiem il-bnedmin. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

///////////////////////////////////////////////
Eight-minute  Gospel reflection by Fr Antony Kadavil   

Offering our own families on the altar to God

Central theme:

On the last Sunday of the calendar year, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. On this feast day we are offering our own families and all their members on the altar to ask God’s blessing on them and to obtain for them the guidance of the Holy Family. 

Scripture lessons summarized:

The first reading, taken from the First Book of Samuel, describes how Elkanah and Hannah presented their child Samuel in the Temple, consecrated him to the service of the Lord as a perpetual Nazarite, and left him in the Temple under the care of Eli, the priest. In Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 128), the Psalmist reminds us that happy homes are the fruit of our faithfulness to the Lord. 

In the second reading, John reminds us that, as children of God the Father, we are members of God’s own family, and as such we are expected to obey the greatest commandment of God: “Love one another,” so that we may remain united to God in the Holy Spirit. 

In today’s Gospel, Luke concludes his detailed story of Christ’s infancy, with the events of Jesus’ visit to the Temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve to become “a son of the Law” and to take up the obligations of the Law. Jesus lingered behind in the Temple, attending the Sanhedrin classes on religious and theological questions as an eager student of Mosaic Law. Finally, when Mary and Joseph had found him in the Temple after three days of anxious search, Jesus reminded them that He “had to be” in his Father’s House. It was as if Jesus had had a blaze of realization about His Divine Sonship. 

The Gospel then summarizes the next 18 years of Jesus’ life, stating that Jesus grew up at Nazareth like any other young man, obeying his parents, faithfully discharging all his duties to God, to his parents, and to the community, “advancing in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”

Life messages:

1) We need to learn lessons from the Holy Family: The Church encourages us to look to the Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph for inspiration, example and encouragement. They were a model family in which both parents worked hard, helped each other, understood and accepted each other, and took good care of their Child so that He might grow up not only in human knowledge but also as a Child of God.

2) We need to make the family a confessional rather than a courtroom. A senior Judge of the Supreme Court congratulated the bride and groom in a marriage and gave them a pertinent piece of advice: “See that you never convert your family into a courtroom; instead let it be a confessional. If the husband-and-wife start arguing like attorneys in an attempt to justify their behavior, their family becomes a court of law and nobody wins. On the other hand, if the husband and the wife — as in a confessional — are ready to admit their faults and try to correct them, the family becomes a Heavenly one.”

3) Parents need to examine their consciences: On the Feast of the only perfect Family that ever lived on this earth, all parents might examine themselves to see how well they are fulfilling the grave responsibility which God has placed on them. As they heard during their marriage ceremony: “children are a gift from God to you” for whom their parents are accountable before God, as they must, in the end, return these, His children, to Him. Let us pray for the grace of caring for one another in our own families, for each member of our parish family, and for all families of the universal Church. May God bless all our families in the New Year!
 
///////////////////////////////////   https://frtonyshomilies.com/