"By your perseverance you will secure your lives."

« Sunday, November 17 »

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 159

It-Tlieta u Tletin Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena

 

Reading 1  Malachi 3:19-20a

Lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven, when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,  and the day that is coming will set them on fire,  leaving them neither root nor branch,  says the LORD of hosts.  But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays.

Qari I       mill-Ktieb tal-Profeta Malakija 3, 19-20a

Ara, jiġi l-Jum, jaqbad qisu forn, u l-kburin kollha u dawk kollha li jagħmlu l-ħażen ikunu tiben, u l-jum li ġej għad jaħraqhom, jgħid il-Mulej tal-eżerċti: hekk li ma jħallilhom la għerq u lanqas fergħa. Imma għalikom li tibżgħu minn ismi titla’ x-xemx tal-ġustizzja, bis-salvazzjoni fuq ġwenħajha. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej   

Responsorial Psalm    Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9

Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,

with the harp and melodious song.

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.

R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.

Let the sea and what fills it resound,

the world and those who dwell in it;

let the rivers clap their hands,

the mountains shout with them for joy.

R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.

Before the LORD, for he comes,

for he comes to rule the earth,

he will rule the world with justice

and the peoples with equity.

R. The Lord comes to rule the earth with justice.

Salm Responsorjali         Salm 97 (98), 5-6.7-8.9a.9bċ

R/. (ara 9): Il-Mulej jagħmel ħaqq mill-popli

Għannu lill-Mulej biċ-ċetra,

biċ-ċetra u bil-ħlewwa tal-għana,

bit-trombi u bid-daqq tat-trumbetti;

għajtu bil-ferħ quddiem il-Mulej is-sultan! R/.

Ħa jriegħed il-baħar u kulma fih,

id-dinja u kulma jgħammar fiha.

Ħa jċapċpu x-xmajjar idejhom,

u l-muntanji flimkien jgħajtu bil-ferħ

quddiem il-Mulej. R/.

Għax il-Mulej ġej

biex jagħmel ħaqq mill-art;

hu jagħmel ħaqq mid-dinja bil-ġustizzja,

u mill-popli bis-sewwa. R/.

Reading 2     2 Thessalonians 3:7-12

Brothers and sisters: You know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. Not that we do not have the right. Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat. We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.

Qari II       mit-Tieni Ittra lit-Tessalonikin 3, 7-12

Ħuti, intom stess tafu kif jeħtieġ li timxu fuq l-eżempju tagħna. Aħna ma tgħażżinniex meta konna fostkom; il-ħobż li kilna, ħadd ma tahulna b’xejn; imma lejl u nhar ħdimna u tħabatna u batejna biex ma nkunu ta’ piż għal ħadd minnkom. Imxejna hekk mhux għax ma għandniex dritt li żżommuna intom, imma ridna nagħtukom eżempju biex timxu fuqu. Meta konna fostkom aħna ordnajnielkom li jekk xi ħadd ma jridx jaħdem, dan anqas ma għandu jiekol. Issa aħna smajna li hemm xi wħud fostkom li qegħdin jitgħażżnu; mhumiex jaħdmu, imma qed jinħlew fix-xejn. Lil dawn in-nies nordnawlhom u nwissuhom, f’isem il-Mulej Ġesù Kristu, biex jaħdmu sewwa u għajxienhom jaqilgħuh. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel    Luke 21:5-19

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, "All that you see here-- the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down." Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?" He answered, "See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end." Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky. Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death.

You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives."

Evanġelju     Qari skont San Luqa 21, 5-19

F’dak iż-żmien, kien hemm xi wħud li bdew jgħidu fuq kemm it-tempju kien imżejjen b’ġebel sabiħ u għotjiet; iżda Ġesù qalilhom: “Kulma qegħdin taraw, għad jiġi żmien li ma tibqax ġebla fuq oħra minnu li ma tiġġarrafx”. U huma staqsewh u qalulu: “Mgħallem, issa dan meta għad jiġri? U x’se jkun is-sinjal li dawn il-ħwejjeġ ikunu waslu biex iseħħu?”. Qalilhom: “Araw li ma titqarrqux. Għax għad jiġu ħafna f’ismi u jgħidu: “Jien hu”, u: “Iż-żmien wasal”. Tmorrux warajhom! Meta tisimgħu min jitkellem fuq gwerer u taqlib fil-pajjiżi, tinħasdux għax jeħtieġ li l-ewwel jiġri dan, iżda t-tmiem ma jasalx minnufih”.Imbagħad qalilhom: “Għad iqum ġens kontra ġens u saltna kontra saltna, l-art titheżżeż bil-kbir, f’ħafna bnadi jkun hemm il-ġuħ u mard li jittieħed, u fis-sema jidhru ħwejjeġ tal-biża’ u sinjali tal-għaġeb. Imma qabel dan kollu jixħtu jdejhom fuqkom u jippersegwitawkom, jagħtukom f’idejn il-mexxejja tas-sinagoga u jitfgħukom il-ħabs, u jeħdukom quddiem slaten u gvernaturi minħabba f’ismi. Dan ikun jiswielkom biex tistgħu tagħtu xhieda. U żommu sewwa f’moħħkom: toqogħdux taħsbu minn qabel kif se tiddefendu ruħkom, għax jien nagħtikom kliem u għerf li kull min ikun kontra tagħkom ma jkunx jista’ jiqaflu jew imerih.U jittradukom saħansitra l-ġenituri tagħkom u ħutkom u qrabatkom u ħbiebkom, u lil xi wħud minnkom joqtluhom, u kulħadd isir jobgħodkom minħabba f’ismi. Imma xagħra waħda minn raskom ma tintilifx. Jekk tibqgħu sħaħ sal-aħħar issalvaw ħajjitkom!” Il-Kelma tal-Mulej  

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 If Anyone Will Not Work, Let Him Not Eat

Gospel Commentary by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

This Sunday’s Gospel is one of the famous discourses on the end of the world, which are characteristic of the end of the liturgical year. It seems that in one of the first Christian communities, that of Thessalonica, there were believers who drew mistaken conclusions from these discourses of Christ. They thought that it was useless to weary themselves, to work or do anything since everything was about to come to an end. They thought it better to take each day as it came and not commit themselves to long-term projects and only to do the minimum to get by.

St. Paul responds to them in the second reading: “We hear that some are conducting themselves among you in a disorderly way, by not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food.” At the beginning of the passage, St. Paul recalls the rule that he had given to the Christians in Thessalonica: “If anyone will not work, let him not eat.”

This was a novelty for the men of that time. The culture to which they belonged looked down upon manual labour; it was regarded as degrading and as something to be left to slaves and the uneducated. But the Bible has a different vision. From the very first page it presents God as working for six days and resting on the seventh day. And all of this happens in the Bible before sin is spoken of. Work, therefore, is part of man’s original nature and is not something that results from guilt and punishment. Manual labor is just as dignified as intellectual and spiritual labor. Jesus himself dedicates 17 years to the former — supposing he began to work around 13 — and only a few years to the latter.

A layman has written: “What sense and what value does our ordinary work as lay people have before God? It is true that we laypeople also do a lot of charity work, engage in the apostolate, and volunteer work; but we must give most of our time and energies to ordinary jobs. If this sort of work has no value for heaven, we will have very little for eternity. No one we have asked about this has been able to give us satisfactory answers. They say: “Offer it all to God!” but is this enough?

My reply: No, the value of our work is not only conferred on it by the “good intention” we put into it or the morning offering we make to God; it also has a value in itself, as a participation in God’s creative and redemptive work and as service to our brothers. We read in one of the Vatican II documents, in “Gaudium et Spes,” that it is by “his labor [that] a man ordinarily supports himself and his family, is joined to his fellow men and serves them, and can exercise genuine charity and be a partner in the work of bringing divine creation to perfection. Indeed, we hold that through labor offered to God man is associated with the redemptive work of Jesus Christ” (No. 67).

The work that one does is not as important as that for which he does it. This re-establishes a certain parity, beneath distinctions — which are sometimes unjust and scandalous — in position and pay. A person who has done the most humble jobs in life can be of greater “value” than those people who hold positions of great prestige.

It was said that work is a participation in the creative action of God and in the redemptive action of Christ and that it is a source of personal and social growth, but we know that it is also weariness, sweat and pain. It can ennoble but it can also empty and wear down. The secret is to put one’s heart into what one’s hands do. It is not so much the amount or type of work done that tires us out, as much as it is the lack of enthusiasm and motivation. To the earthly motivations for work, faith adds eternal motivations: “Our works,” the Book of Revelation says, “will follow us” (14:13). //////

The children of God will rise again

>> Sunday, November 10th <<

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

It-Tnejn u Tletin Ħadd taż-Żmien ta’ Matul is-Sena

First Reading – 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14

It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king, to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law. One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said: “What do you expect to achieve by questioning us? We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.” At the point of death he said: “You accursed fiend, you are depriving us of this present life, but the King of the world will raise us up to live again forever. It is for his laws that we are dying.” After him the third suffered their cruel sport. He put out his tongue at once when told to do so, and bravely held out his hands, as he spoke these noble words: “It was from Heaven that I received these; for the sake of his laws I disdain them; from him I hope to receive them again.” Even the king and his attendants marveled at the young man’s courage, because he regarded his sufferings as nothing. After he had died, they tortured and maltreated the fourth brother in the same way. When he was near death, he said, “It is my choice to die at the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him; but for you, there will be no resurrection to life.”

Qari I       mit-Tieni Ktieb tal-Makkabej 7, 1-2. 9-14

F’dak iż-żmien, qabdu sebat aħwa u ’l ommhom; u s-sultan beda biex jisfurzahom bid-daqqiet tas-swat u tan-nerv biex jieklu l-laħam tal-majjal li ma jiswiex. Wieħed minnhom beda jitkellem f’isem l-oħrajn u qal: “X’int tfittex tistaqsi u trid taf minna? Aħna lesti mmutu, imma m’aħniex lesti niksru l-liġijiet ta’ missirijietna”. U t-tieni wieħed, kif kien fl-aħħar nifs, qallu: “Int, bniedem mill-agħar, int se ċċaħħadna mill-ħajja ta’ issa, imma s-sultan tad-dinja għad iqajjimna għall-ħajja ta’ dejjem, lilna li se mmutu għal-liġijiet tiegħu”. Imbagħad wara dan bdew jittorturaw it-tielet wieħed u malli talbuh ħareġ minnufih ilsienu u bla biza’ ta’ xejn midd idejh u ta’ qalbieni li kien għajjat: “Mis-sema ksibthom dawn, u għal-liġijiet tiegħu jien nistmerrhom, għax mingħandu nittama li għad nerġa’ niksibhom”. Saħansitra s-sultan u dawk ta’ madwaru stagħġbu bil-qawwa ta’ dan iż-żagħżugħ, kif l-uġigħ ma kien iqisu xejn. Meta miet dan bdew jittorturaw u jbiċċru r-raba’ wieħed bl-istess mod. Meta wasal fl-aħħar qal: “Aħjar li wieħed imut b’idejn il-bnedmin meta jkollu t-tama mingħand Alla li għad iqajmu mill-ġdid. Imma għalik m’hemmx qawmien għall-ħajja”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4

Hear, O LORD, a just suit;

attend to my outcry;

hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.

R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

My steps have been steadfast in your paths,

my feet have not faltered.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

incline your ear to me; hear my word.

R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Keep me as the apple of your eye,

hide me in the shadow of your wings.

But I in justice shall behold your face;

on waking I shall be content in your presence.

R. Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.

Salm Responsorjali      Salm 16 (17), 1.5-6.8b u 15

R/. (15b): Meta nqum nithenna bid-dehra tiegħek

Isma’, Mulej, il-kawża ġusta tiegħi,

ilqa’ l-għajta tiegħi,

agħti widen għat-talb tiegħi;

bla qerq huma xufftejja. R/.

Il-mixi tiegħi żammejt fi triqatek,

qatt ma għotru riġlejja.

Insejjaħlek, għax int tweġibni, o Alla;

ressaq widintek lejja, isma’ kliemi. R/.

Għad-dell ta’ ġwenħajk kenninni.

Jien, fil-ħaqq, għad nara ’l wiċċek;

meta nqum, nithenna bid-dehra tiegħek. R/.

Second Reading – 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5

Brothers and sisters: May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may speed forward and be glorified, as it did among you, and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked people, for not all have faith.  But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. We are confident of you in the Lord that what we instruct you, you are doing and will continue to do. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ.

Qari II           mit-Tieni Ittra lit-Tessalonikin 2, 16 – 3, 5

Ħuti, Sidna Ġesù Kristu stess u Alla Missierna, li ħabbna u tana l-kuraġġ ta’ dejjem u t-tama sħiħa bil-grazzja, jqawwilkom qalbkom u jsaħħaħkom f’kull għemil u kelma tajba. Mill-bqija, ħuti, itolbu għalina biex il-kelma tal-Mulej tiġri l-ġirja tagħha u tkun milqugħa bil-ġieħ bħalma ġara fostkom. Itolbu biex inkunu meħlusa minn nies ħżiena u bla liġi. Għax mhux kulħadd għandu l-fidi. Iżda l-Mulej hu fidil: hu jwettaqkom u jħariskom mill-Ħażin. Aħna żguri minnkom fil-Mulej, jiġifieri, li intom qegħdin tagħmlu u għad tagħmlu dak li ordnajnielkom. Jalla l-Mulej iwassal lil qlubkom għall-imħabba ta’ Alla u s-sabar ta’ Kristu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

Gospel – Luke 20:27-38

Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus said to them, “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called out ‘Lord,‘ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”  

Evanġelju      Qari skont San Luqa 20, 27-38

F’dak iż-żmien, resqu fuqu xi wħud mis-sadduċej, dawk li jiċħdu l-qawmien mill-imwiet, u staqsewh: “Mgħallem, Mosè ħallielna miktub: “Jekk wieħed imutlu ħuh miżżewweġ u dan ikun bla tfal, dak ikollu jiżżewweġ l-armla biex inissel ulied lil ħuh”. Issa jkun hemm sebat aħwa, u l-kbir iżżewweġ u miet bla tfal. It-tieni wieħed, u mbagħad it-tielet, f’kelma waħda, is-sebgħa li kienu, ħadu l-armla, u mietu bla ma ħallew tfal. Fl-aħħar mietet il-mara wkoll. Issa din, fil-qawmien tal-imwiet, mart min minnhom tkun? Għax is-sebgħa jkunu żżewġuha”. Weġibhom Ġesù: “Il-bnedmin f’din id-dinja jiżżewġu u jżewġu; imma dawk li jkun jistħoqqilhom jgħaddu għad-dinja l-oħra u jqumu mill-imwiet, dawn la jżewġu u lanqas jiżżewġu. Għax anqas jistgħu jmutu iżjed, għaliex ikunu bħall-anġli, u huma wlied Alla ladarba qamu mill-imwiet. U li l-mejtin iqumu, Mosè wkoll urieh, fir-rakkont tax-xitla tal-għollieq, għax lill-Mulej isejjaħlu Alla ta’ Abraham, Alla ta’ Iżakk, u Alla ta’ Ġakobb. Issa hu mhuwiex Alla tal-mejtin, iżda tal-ħajjin, għax għalih kulħadd jgħix”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej

 

//////////  Reflection....             

God Is Not God of the Dead

 

By Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap

In reply to the question that the Sadducees had posed to trap him about the woman who had had seven husbands on earth, Jesus above all reaffirms the fact of the resurrection, correcting at the same time the Sadducees’ materialistic caricature of it.

Eternal beatitude is not just an increase and prolongation of terrestrial joys, the maximization of the pleasures of the flesh and the table. The other life is truly another life, a life of a different quality. It is true that it is the fulfillment of all man’s longings on earth, yet it is infinitely more, on a different level. “Those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels.”

At the end of the Gospel passage, Jesus explains the reason why there must be life after death. “That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called out ‘Lord, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,’ and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Where in that is the proof that the dead rise? If God is defined as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and is a God of the living, not of the dead, then this means that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are alive somewhere, even if they have been dead for centuries at the time that God talks to Moses.

Interpreting Jesus’ answer to the Sadducees in an erroneous way, some have claimed that marriage has no follow-up in heaven. But with his reply Jesus rejects the caricature that the Sadducees present of heaven, a caricature that suggests that it is a simple continuation of the earthly relationships of the spouses. He does not deny that they might rediscover in God the bond that united them on earth.

Is it possible that a husband and wife, after a life that brought them into relation with God through the miracle of creation, will not in eternal life have anything more in common, as if all were forgotten, lost? Would this not be contrary to Jesus’ word according to which that which God has united must not be divided? If God united them on earth, how could he divide them in heaven? Could an entire life spent together end in nothing without betraying the meaning of this present life, which is a preparation for the kingdom, the new heaven and the new earth?

It is Scripture itself, and not only the natural desire of the husband and wife, that supports this hope. Marriage, Scripture says, is “a great sacrament” because it symbolizes the union between Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:32). Is it possible that it be eliminated in the heavenly Jerusalem, where there will be celebrated the eternal wedding feast of Christ and the Church of which the marriage of man and woman is an image?

According to this vision, matrimony does not entirely end with death but is transfigured, spiritualized — it loses those limits that mark life on earth — in the same way that the bonds between parents and children or between friends will not be forgotten. In the preface of the Mass for the dead, the liturgy says that with death “life is changed, not taken away”; the same must be said of marriage, which is an integral part of life.

But what about those who have had a negative experience of earthly marriage, an experience of misunderstanding and suffering? Should not this idea that the marital bond will not break at death be for them, rather than a consolation, a reason for fear? No, for in the passage from time to eternity the good remains and evil falls away. The love that united them, perhaps for only a brief time, remains; defects, misunderstandings, suffering that they inflicted on each other, will fall away. Many spouses will experience true love for each other only when they will be reunited “in God,” and with this love there will be the joy and fullness of the union that they did not know on earth. This is also what happens to the love between Faust and Margaret in Goethe’s story: “Only in heaven the unreachable — that is, the total and pacific union between two creatures who love each other — will become reality.” In God all will be understood, all will be excused, all will be forgiven.

And what can be said about those who have been legitimately married to different people, widowers and widows who have remarried. (This was the case presented to Jesus of the seven brothers who successively had the same woman as their wife.) Even for them we must repeat the same thing: That which was truly love and self-surrender between each of the husbands or wives, being objectively a good coming from God, will not be dissolved. In heaven there will not be rivalry in love or jealousy. These things do not belong to true love but to the intrinsic limits of the creature.

[Translation from the Italian by ZENIT] [Father Cantalamessa is the Pontifical Household preacher.]

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