Readings for Sunday, April 28, 2024
Il-Hames Ħadd tal-Għid
Reading 1 Acts of the Apostles 9:26-31
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles, and he reported to them how he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. He moved about freely with them in Jerusalem, and spoke out boldly in the name of the Lord. He also spoke and debated with the Hellenists, but they tried to kill him. And when the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him on his way to Tarsus. The church throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria was at peace. It was being built up and walked in the fear of the Lord, and with the consolation of the Holy Spirit it grew in numbers.
QARI 1 mill-Ktieb tal-Atti tal-Appostli 9, 26-31
F’dak iż-żmien, meta Sawl wasal Ġerusalemm beda jfittex li jissieħeb mad-dixxipli. Imma lkoll kienu jib!għu minnu, għax ma kinux emmnu li tassew ikkonverta. Imbagħad Barnaba qabdu u ħadu miegħu għand l-appostli. Hu qalilhom kif Sawl kien ra lill-Mulej fit-triq u semgħu jkellmu, u kif f’Damasku kien tkellem b’wiċċu minn quddiem fl-isem ta’ Ġesù. Għalhekk Sawl baqa’ magħhom, dieħel u ħiereġ Ġerusalemm, u kien jitkellem bil-miftuħ f’isem il-Mulej. Kien jitħaddet mal-Lhud Griegi u jiddiskuti magħhom; iżda huma kienu jfittxu li joqtluh. Meta l-aħwa saru jafu b’dan, niżżluh lejn Ċesarija u bagħtuh Tarsu. Il-Knisja kienet fis-sliem fil-Lhudija u l-Galilija u s-Samarija kollha; kienet dejjem tikber u timxi ’l quddiem bil-biża’ tal-Mulej, u tiżdied fl-għadd bl-għajnuna tal-Ispirtu s-Santu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
I will fulfil my vows before those who fear the LORD.
The lowly shall eat their fill;
they who seek the LORD shall praise him:
"May your hearts live forever!"
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the LORD;
all the families of the nations
shall bow down before him.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or: R. Alleluia.
To him alone shall bow down
all who sleep in the earth;
before him shall bend
all who go down into the dust.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or: R. Alleluia.
And to him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
or: R. Alleluia.
SALM RESPONSORJALI Salm 21 (22), 26b-27.28.30.31-32
R/. 26 (a): Mulej, nagħtik it-tifħir tiegħi f’ġemgħa kbira
jew R/. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Irrodd il-wegħdiet tiegħi
quddiem dawk li jibżgħu minnu.
Jieklu l-fqajrin u jixbgħu;
ifaħħru l-Mulej dawk li jfittxuh.
Ħa tgħix qalbhom għal dejjem! R/.
Jiftakru t-truf kollha tal-art,
u jerġgħu lura lejn il-Mulej;
u quddiemu jinxteħtu r-razez kollha tal-ġnus.
Lilu jqimu l-bnedmin, li jmutu;
quddiemu jmil kull min nieżel ġot-trab.
U għalih tgħix ruħi. R/.
Lilu jaqdi n-nisel tiegħi.
Ixandru ’l Sidi lin-nisel li għad jiġi,
ixandru l-ġustizzja tiegħu
lill-poplu li għad jitwieled:
“Dan għamlu l-Mulej!” R/.
Reading 2 1 JOHN 3:18-24
Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 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, 18-24
Uliedi, ma nħobbux bil-kliem u t-tpaċpiċ, imma bl-għemil u bis-sewwa. Minn dan naslu li nagħrfu li aħna fil-verità, u quddiem Alla nserrħu l-kuxjenza tagħna, jekk il-kuxjenza ċċanfarna, għax Alla hu aqwa mill-kuxjenza tagħna, u hu jaf kollox. Għeżież, jekk il-kuxjenza tagħna ma ċċanfarniex, aħna qalbna qawwija quddiem Alla, u kull ma 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
Jesus said to his disciples: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."
EVANĠELJU Qari skont San Ġwann 15, 1-8
F’dak iż-żmien, Ġesù qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu: “Jiena d-dielja vera u Missieri l-bidwi. Kull fergħa fija li ma tagħmilx frott jaqtagħha; u kull waħda li tagħmel il-frott jiżborha u jnaddafha, biex tagħmel frott aktar. Intom ġa ndaf minħabba l-kelma li għedtilkom. Ibqgħu fija, u jiena nibqa’ fikom. Kif il-fergħa ma tistax tagħmel frott minnha nfisha jekk ma tibqax fid-dielja, hekk anqas intom jekk ma tibqgħux fija. Jiena d-dielja, intom il-friegħi. Min jibqa’ fija u jiena fih, dan jagħmel ħafna frott; għax mingħajri ma tistgħu tagħmlu xejn. Jekk wieħed ma jibqax fija, jintrema barra bħal fergħa, u jinxef; imbagħad, friegħi bħal dawn jiġbruhom u jixħtuhom fin-nar u jinħarqu. Jekk tibqgħu fija u kliemi jibqa’ fikom, itolbu kull ma tridu, u jingħatalkom. Din hi l-glorja ta’ Missieri, li intom tagħmlu ħafna frott u tkunu dixxipli tiegħi”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
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An 8-minute Reflection on Sunday's Readings by Fr Anthony Kadavil
Introduction:
Sunday’s Scripture selections emphasize the need for Christians to abide in Christ as a condition for producing the Spirit’s fruits of kindness, mercy, charity, and holiness.
The scripture lessons summarized:
The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, testifies to the abundance of spiritual fruits yielded by the apostles because of their close bond with the risen Lord. The reading tells us how the Lord pruned the former fanatical Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, who had persecuted the Church, to produce a fruit-bearing branch called Paul, the zealous Apostle to the Gentiles, a man now entirely dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel. Even Paul’s forced return to Tarsus for a brief period is an example of God’s pruning of the vine to bring forth a greater harvest, namely, the mission to the Gentiles.
In Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm we sing the end of Ps 22, “ … to Him My soul shall live … let the coming generation be told of the Lord that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born the Justice Hs has shown,” drawing our strength from Jesus’ courage and trust in His Father. In today’s second reading, John, in his first letter to the Church, explains that only if we remain united with Christ by putting our Faith in him and drawing our spiritual strength from him, will we be able to obey God’s commandments, especially the commandment of love.
In the Gospel, taken from the Last Supper discourse, Jesus uses God’s Old Testament image of the vine and branches to help his disciples to understand the closeness of their relationship with him and the necessity of their maintaining it. They are not simply rabbi and disciples. Their lives are mutually dependent – as close as a vine and its branches. In fact, in using this image, Jesus is explaining to them and to us what our relationship with him should become.
Sunday’s reading describes the aftermath of his transformation from enemy of the early Christian movement to God’s chosen instrument for bringing the Gospel to non-Jews. Jesus himself pruned away the former Saul — the Saul who had persecuted the Church — to make Paul, a man whose life was entirely dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel. But when Paul, after preaching in Damascus for “a long time” (v 23), came to Jerusalem, the disciples in Jerusalem were afraid of him. Finally, they recognized the transforming power of the Spirit of God operating in Paul and gave their full support to him. Because Paul had become a vigorous witness for Christ, the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews), tried to kill him. When Paul’s life was threatened, the other apostles helped him to leave Jerusalem and return to Tarsus. But even this setback in Paul’s missionary work turned out to be just one more example of God’s pruning of Paul – the vine-branch – to bring forth a greater harvest: the mission to the Gentiles.
Life messages:
1) We need pruning in our Christian life. Cutting out of our lives everything that is contrary to the spirit of Jesus and renewing our commitment to Christian ideals in our lives every day is the first type of self-imposed pruning expected of us. A second means of pruning is practicing self-control over our evil inclinations, sinful addictions and aberrations. Cordial mingling in our neighborhood and society with people of different cultures, races, religions and orientations enables us, with God’s grace, to prune away our selfish, judgmental, prejudicial tendencies so that we can treat others in our society with Christian charity and openness. Jesus prunes, purifies and strengthens us by enabling us to face with the courage of our Christian convictions, the pain and sufferings, contradictions and difficulties which He permits to enter our lives.
2) Let us abide in Christ and let Christ abide in us: The four Gospels teach us how to become true disciples of Jesus and how to abide in him as branches abide in the main trunk of the vine and how to draw their life from the vine. Personal and liturgical prayers, frequenting of the Sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation, daily and meditative reading of the Bible, and selfless, loving acts of kindness, mercy and mutual loving forgiveness, all the fruits of God’s Grace acting within us, assist us in abiding in Jesus, the true Vine, as fruit-bearing branches.
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