Readings for Sunday, September 17, 2023
Lectionary: 130
l-Erbgha u Ghoxrin Hadd taz-Zmien ta’ Matul is-Sena
Reading 1 SIRACH 27:30—28:7
Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor's injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven. Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD? Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins? If one who is but lesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins? Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin! Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbour; remember the Most High's covenant, and overlook faults.
Qari 1 mill-Ktieb ta’ Bin Sirak 27, 30 – 28, 7
Ghadab u qilla, dawn ukoll ta’ min jistmerrhom, u l-bniedem midneb mimli bihom. Min ifittex jithallas b’idejh, isib hlasu minghand il-Mulej, li jifli sewwa dnubietu. Ahfer il-proxxmu dnubietu, u mbaghad titlob u dnubietek jinhafrulek. Bniedem irawwem ghadab ghal iehor, u mbaghad se jfittex fejqan minghand il-Mulej? Minn bniedem bhalu m’ghandux hniena, u mbaghad se jitlob ghal dnubietu? Jekk bniedem jibqa’ mghaddab, min se jpattilu ghal dnubietu? Ftakar fl-ahhar ta’ hajtek, u ieqaf mill-mibeghda; ftakar fit-tahsir u l-mewt, u oqghod ghall-kmandamenti. Ftakar fil-kmandamenti u tobghodx il-proxxmu; ftakar fil-patt tal-Gholi u aghlaq ghajnejk ghall-offiza. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm PSALM 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion.
R/. (8): Hanin u twajjeb il-Mulej
Bierek, ruh tieghi, il-Mulej!
B’qalbi kollha nbierek l-isem qaddis tieghu.
Bierek, ruh tieghi, il-Mulej,
u la tinsiex il-gid kollu li ghamel mieghek. R/.
Hu jahfer dnubietek kollha;
ifejjaq il-mard tieghek kollu;
jifdi lil hajtek mill-qabar;
ihaddnek bit-tjieba u l-hniena. R/.
Ma joqghodx jitlewwem maghna,
u anqas jinkorla ghal dejjem.
Ma mexiex maghna skond ma haqqhom htijietna;
ma hallasniex skond ma haqqha hzunitna. R/.
Daqskemm huma s-smewwiet ’il fuq mill-art,
hekk hi kbira tjubitu ma’ min jibza’ minnu;
daqs kemm hu mbieghed il-Lvant mill-Punent,
hekk hu jbieghed minna htijietna. R/.
Brothers and sisters: None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
QARI 2 mill-Ittra lir-Rumani 14, 7-9
Huti, hadd minna ma jghix ghalih innifsu, u hadd ma jmut ghalih innifsu. Jekk nghixu, nghixu ghall-Mulej; jekk immutu, immutu ghall-Mulej. Sew jekk nghixu, mela, sew jekk immutu, ahna tal-Mulej. Kristu ghalhekk miet u rxoxta, biex ikun Sid kemm tal-hajjin u kemm tal-mejtin. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel MATTHEW 18:21-35
Peter approached Jesus and asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.' Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt. Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."
EVANGELJU Qari skond San Mattew 18, 21-35
F’dak iz-zmien, Pietru resaq lejn Gesù u qallu: “Mulej, xi kemm-il darba jrid jonqosni hija biex jiena nahfirlu? Sa seba’ darbiet?”. Wiegbu Gesù: “Ma nghidlekx sa seba’ darbiet, imma sa sebgha u sebghin darba. Ghalhekk is-Saltna tas-Smewwiet nistghu nxebbhuha ma’ wiehed sultan, li ried jaghmel il-kontijiet mal-qaddejja tieghu. Kif beda jaghmel dan, hadulu quddiemu wiehed li kellu jaghtih ghaxart elef talent. Billi ma kellux minn fejn irroddhomlu, is-sinjur ordna li jinbieghu hu, martu, uliedu u kull ma kellu, halli b’hekk jithallas id-dejn. Imma l-qaddej inxtehet quddiemu jitolbu u jghidlu: “Sinjur, stabar ftit bija, kollox irroddlok”. Is-sinjur gietu hasra minn dak il-qaddej, baghtu u hafirlu dejnu. Mela dak il-qaddej johrog, u jiltaqa’ ma’ wiehed minn shabu, li kellu jaghtih mitt dinar; qabdu minn ghonqu u beda jaghfsu. “Hallas dejnek,” qallu. Il-qaddej siehbu nxtehet quddiemu jitolbu bil-hniena u jghidlu: “Stabar ftit bija u rroddlok”. Imma dak ma riedx jaf, mar u xehtu l-habs sa ma jrodd kull ma kellu jaghtih. Shabu l-qaddejja raw il-grajja kollha u sewdu qalbhom hafna; marru ghand is-sinjur taghhom u tarrfulu kull ma kien gara. Imbaghad is-sinjur baghat ghalih u qallu: “Ja qaddej hazin, meta jiena hfirtlek dak id-dejn kollu wara li tlabtni bil-hniena, ma kienx imissek int ukoll thenn ghal siehbek kif hennejt jien ghalik?”. U sahan bl-ahrax is-sinjur ghalih, u tah f’idejn min jahqru sa ma jrodd kull ma kellu jaghti. Hekk jaghmel lilkom Missieri li hu fis-Smewwiet jekk ma tahfrux lil xulxin minn qalbkom”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
////////////////////////////////////
Eight-minute Homily by Fr Tony Kadavil
FORGIVING AND RECONCILING
Introduction: .
Our readings for this Twenty-Fourth Sunday concern forgiving those who wound us and being reconciled with them. All three readings today remind us of the path to forgiveness, mercy, and reconciliation and challenge us to walk this, the only Way to Life. (An anecdote may be added here)
Scripture lessons summarized:
Sirach, in the first reading, reminds his listeners that if they don’t heal and forgive and show mercy, they can’t expect to receive mercy from God in return. It is unwise to nurse grudges and wise to forgive because our life span is very short and our eternal destiny is decided by how we forgive, how we work for reconciliation with those who wound us, and how we render humble and loving service to them. In today’s Psalm, (Ps 103), the Psalmist sings, “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness.”
In the second reading, Paul reminds us that we have to forgive others because we belong to Christ who, by his own example in forgiving those who killed Him, taught us how we must forgive in our turn. Since we humans are related to each other as brothers and sisters of Jesus, we are in the family of God, so hatred and bitterness toward anyone should have no place in our hearts.
In today’s Gospel, through the parable of the two debtors, Jesus teaches us that there should be no limit to our forgiveness and no conditions attached to our reconciliation. We represent the greater debtor in the parable because we commit sins every day and, hence, we need God’s forgiveness every day. But we must forgive in order to be forgiven. Jesus explains, after teaching us the prayer Our Father, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father also will forgive you. “
Life messages:
1) We need to forgive, forget, and be reconciled: In the light of eternity and considering the shortness of our span of life, harbouring old grudges is pointless. The forgiveness that we offer others is the indispensable condition which opens our hearts to love and makes it possible for us to receive God’s forgiveness and to pray meaningfully: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” What God expects from us, He offers us grace to accomplish in us: His Own limitless forgiving and a willingness to overlook faults and to keep on loving even in the face of insults.
2) We may never forget the hurt we have experienced, but we can, with His ongoing grace, choose to forgive and pray for our offenders. As life goes on and we remember an incident that was hurtful and roused great anger in us, we need to remind ourselves that, with God’s grace, we have already forgiven the one that hurt us. Time does heal memories. Forgiveness finally changes us from being prisoners of our past to being liberated and at peace with our memories.
Forgiveness allows us to move beyond the pain, the resentment, and the anger. When we forgive, we make the choice that heals. We can forgive the offender by wishing him God’s blessings and by offering that individual to God by simply saying, “Help so-and-so and me to mend our relationship.” When we withhold forgiveness, we remain the victim. When we offer forgiveness, we are doing it also for our own well-being.
////////////////////////////////////// © https://frtonyshomilies.com
No comments:
Post a Comment