FOR HUMANS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE - BUT NOT FOR GOD

 Readings for Sunday, October 13,  2024 

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 143

It-Tmienja u Għoxrin Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena

Reading 1                 WISDOM 7:7-11

 I prayed, and prudence was given me;  I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.  I preferred her to scepter and  throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,  nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;  because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,  and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.  Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.  Yet all good things together came to me in her company, and countless riches at her hands.

QARI 1                   mill-Ktieb tal-Għerf 7:7-11

Jien tlabt u qlajt l-għaqal; sejjaħt, u ġie fuqi l-ispirtu tal-għerf. Dan l-għerf qistu aqwa minn kull xettru u tron, u ntbaħt li l-għana mhu xejn ħdejh. Ma xebbahtx miegħu l-ħaġra l-aktar prezzjuża, għax id-deheb kollu ħdejh mhuwiex ħlief ftit ramel,  u l-fidda quddiemu qisha ftit tajn.  Aktar mis-saħħa u s-sbuħija ħabbejtu, u għoġobni aktar mid-dawl; għax id-dija tiegħu ma tgħib qatt. Mal-għerf ġieni l-ġid kollu, u miegħu ġiebli għana bla qies. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

Responsorial Psalm                 PSALM 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17

R. (14)    Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Return, O LORD! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Make us glad, for the days when you afflicted us,
for the years when we saw evil.
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

Let your work be seen by your servants
and your glory by their children;
and may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!
R. Fill us with your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!

SALM RESPONSORJALI                   Salm 89(90):12-13,14-15,16-17

R/. (14): Imliena bit-tjieba tiegħek, Mulej.

Għallimna ngħoddu jiem ħajjitna,
sabiex aħna nimxu bil-għaqal.
Dur lejna, Mulej! Kemm se ddum?
Ħenn għall-qaddejja tiegħek. R/.

Imliena kmieni bit-tjieba tiegħek,
biex nifirħu u nithennew ħajjitna kollha.
Ferraħna daqskemm għakkistna,
għas-snin li fihom rajna l-ħsara. R/.

Ħa jidher għemilek quddiem il-qaddejja tiegħek,
u l-kobor tiegħek quddiem uliedhom.
Ħa tkun fuqna l-grazzja ta’ Alla Sidna!
Wettqilna inti x-xogħol ta’ jdejna,
wettaq, iva, xogħol idejna. R/.

Reading 2                  HEBREWS 4:12-13

Brothers and sisters:  Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

QARI 2                 Qari mill-Ittra lil-Lhud 4:12-13

Ħuti, il-kelma ta’ Alla hi ħajja u qawwija, taqta’ aktar minn xabla b’żewġt ixfar; hija tinfed sa tifred minn xulxin ir-ruħ u l-ispirtu u l-ġogi u l-mudullun; u tgħarbel il-ħsibijiet u l-fehmiet tal-qalb. Xejn ma hemm fil-ħolqien li hu moħbi għalih, imma kollox hu miftuħ għal għajnejn Alla, li lilu rridu nagħtu kont.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

Gospel                 MARK 10:17-30 or 10:17-27

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honour your father and your mother."  He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in Heaven; then come, follow me."  At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"  The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."  They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.  All things are possible for God."  Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you."  Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come."

EVANĠELJU                 Qari skond San Mark 10:17-27

F’dak iż-żmien, Ġesù kien se jaqbad it-triq lejn Ġerusalemm, meta mar fuqu wieħed jgħaġġel, niżel għarkupptejh quddiemu u qallu: “Mgħallem tajjeb, x’għandi nagħmel biex nikseb il-ħajja ta’ dejjem?”.  Qallu Ġesù: “Għaliex qiegħed issejjaħli tajjeb? Ħadd mhu tajjeb ħlief Alla biss. Inti l-kmandamenti tafhom: la toqtolx, la tiżnix, la tisraqx, la tixhidx fil-falz, la tiħux bil-qerq dak li hu ta’ ħaddieħor; weġġaħ lil missierek u ’l ommok”.  U dak wieġbu u qallu: “Mgħallem, jiena dan kollu ili nħarsu minn żgħożiti”. Imbagħad Ġesù xeħet fuqu ħarsa ta’ mħabba u qallu: “Ħaġa waħda tonqsok: mur bigħ li għandek, agħtih lill-fqar, u jkollok teżor fis-sema; imbagħad ejja u imxi warajja”. Imma għal dan il-kliem ir-raġel qarras wiċċu u telaq b’qalbu sewda, għaliex kellu bosta ġid.  Ġesù mbagħad ħares ħarsa madwaru u qal lid-dixxipli tiegħu: “Kemm hi iebsa għall-għonja li jidħlu fis-Saltna ta’ Alla!”. Id-dixxipli stagħġbu għal din il-kelma, imma Ġesù raġa’ qalilhom: “Kemm hi iebsa, uliedi, li wieħed jidħol fis-Saltna ta’ Alla! Eħfef li ġemel jgħaddi minn għajn ta’ labra milli wieħed għani jidħol fis-Saltna ta’ Alla”. Huma stagħġbu wisq aktar, u bdew jgħidu wieħed lill-ieħor: “Mela min jista’ jsalva?”. Ġesù ħares lejhom u qalilhom: “Għall-bnedmin dan ma jistax ikun, imma għal Alla iva; għax għal Alla kollox jista’ jkun”.  Qabeż Pietru u qallu: “Tajjeb! Aħna ħallejna kollox u ġejna warajk”. Qallu Ġesù: “Tassew ngħidilkom, li fost dawk kollha li minħabba fija u l-Evanġelju jħallu lil darhom jew lil ħuthom jew lil ommhom jew lil missierhom jew lil uliedhom jew l-għelieqi tagħhom, ma hemm ħadd fosthom li minn issa, f’din id-dinja stess, ma jirċevix, għal mitt darba iktar, djar, aħwa, subien u bniet, ommijiet, ulied u għelieqi flimkien ma’ persekuzzjonijiet, u l-ħajja ta’ dejjem fiż-żmien li ġej”.  Il-Kelma tal-Mulej.

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An 8-minute Reflection on Sunday's Readings by Fr Anthony Kadavil         

PRIORITISING OUR LIVES FOR GOD

Central theme: 

We must give priority to God in our lives, not to our possessions. Sunday's  day’s readings remind us that we do not possess anything in our life that we refuse to surrender to the Lord.  These things often possess us, for when we give our “things” top priority in our lives, we become the prisoners of our possessions. Thus, we violate the First Great Commandment, “You shall not have other gods beside me” which demands that we give absolute and unconditional priority to God.

Scripture lessons summarized: 

The First Reading advises us to use the God-given virtue of prudence in order to seek true wisdom and to distinguish them from vanishing earthly realities, like riches or political and social influence. Solomon chose Wisdom before everything else — and he received “everything else” along with it! Since Jesus is Wisdom Incarnate, when we put following Jesus ahead of everything else, we, too, receive “everything else” along with Jesus. In the Responsorial Psalm(Ps 90), we beg God to teach us how to make proper judgments and choices in our lives that we may live with Him forever.

The Second Reading warns us that we are accountable to God for our use, or misuse, of His blessings, and that the “living and effective word of God” must be our guide in evaluating our use of His blessings.

In Sunday’s Gospel selection (Mk 10:17-30), we find three sections: a narrative about Jesus’ encounter with a rich man, Jesus’ sayings about wealth as a possible obstacle to discipleship, and Jesus’ promise of reward for those who share their material possessions with the needy. Reminding the rich man of the commandments that deal with relationships with other people, Jesus challenged him to sell what he had, and to give the money to the poor. The disciples were shocked by this challenge. But Jesus declared that true religion consisted in one’s sharing one’s blessings with others rather than hoarding and/or getting inordinately attached to them.

Life messages:

##1) We need to accept the invitation to generous sharing. Initially, Jesus, in generous, sacrificial love, gave us His very self; in response, we find rising in our hearts the desire to give Jesus our own total selves, and so to enter the Faith relationship which Jesus offers us. God does not ask us to give up our riches, but He does ask us to use them wisely in His service, not allowing them to gain control over our hearts. God gives us time, talents, health, wealth, and riches that we may use them as good stewards in the service of others.

 ##2) Let us make a check list of our priorities and attachments, and give God top priority: Are anger, lust, gluttony, evil habits, addictions, jealousy, holding grudges, infidelity, or cheating among our habits as priorities? Let us invite God into our lives daily by praying for His strengthening grace and the anointing of His Holy Spirit so that we may give God top priority, keeping Bible as our guide. 3) We need to gain eternal life by living out our Faith in Jesus as our God and Savior, and, with God’s strengthening grace, detaching ourselves from unnecessary attachments.

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