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[:mt]Niżżel il-fuljett tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja bil-Malti
“Int Alla li tarani” (ara Ġen 16, 13).
Dan il-kliem insibuh fil-Ġenesi, l-ewwel ktieb tat-Testment il-Qadim u qalitu Ħagar, il-qaddejja ta’ Saraj, li ma setax ikollha tfal. Għalhekk kienet talbet lil żewġha biex hu jieħu b’martu lil Ħagar biex hekk minnu jkun jista’ jitwieled nisel. Meta Ħagar indunat li tqalet, bdiet tħossha aqwa minn sidtha; u l-mod ħażin kif Saraj bdiet iġġib ruħha magħha, ġegħelha taħrab lejn id-deżert. Kien hawn fejn hi ltaqgħet m’Alla, li wegħidha li għad jitwieled minnha nisel, l-istess kif kien wiegħed lil Abram. L-iben li kien se jitweldilha kellha ssemmieh Ismael, li jfisser “Alla sema’”, għax Hu sema’ l-krib ta’ Ħagar u taha nisel.
“Int Alla li tarani”.
L-imġiba ta’ Ħagar turina kif kien jaħsibha l-bniedem tal-qedem: li hu ma setax jersaq qrib t’Alla. Ħagar stagħġbet u mtliet bil-ħajr wara l-laqgħa li kellha miegħu. Hi ħasset l-imħabba t’Alla eżattament fid-deżert, li hu l-aħjar post fejn dak li jkun jista’ jagħmel l-esperjenza ta’ laqgħa persunali m’Alla. Ħagar ħasset il-preżenza u l-imħabba t’Alla li “raha” f’din is-sitwazzjoni ta’ tbatija; ħasset il-preżenza ta’ Alla li jieħu ħsieb lill-ħlejjaq tiegħu u jħobbhom. “M’huwiex Alla li jżomm ʹil bogħod minna, li ma jimpurtahx mill-bnedmin u minn kull wieħed u waħda minna. Kemm-il darba ġarrabna dan f’ħajjitna. Hu jinsab hawn miegħi, hu dejjem miegħi, jaf kollox fuqi u jaqsam kull ħsieb, kull ferħ, kull xewqa, iġorr miegħi kull ma jtaqqalni u kull prova tal-ħajja”.1
“Int Alla li tarani”.
Din il-Kelma tal-Ħajja tqanqal fina din iċ-ċertezza u ssabbarna: qatt m’aħna waħedna fil-mixja tal-ħajja, Alla jinsab il-ħin kollu magħna u jħobbna. Bħal Ħagar, aħna kultant inħossuna “barranin” fuq din l-art, jew inkella f’ċirkustanzi iebsa u ta’ tbatija nfittxu minn fejn nistgħu ngħaddu. Imma għandna nkunu ċerti mill-preżenza t’Alla li jeħlisna, u mir-rabta tagħna Miegħu. Għax Hu jserrħilna moħħna u dejjem jagħtina ċ-ċans li nerġgħu nibdew.
Din hi l-esperjenza ta’ Pawla, mara li fi żmien il-pandemija għexet waħedha: “Meta beda l-lock-down u ma stajna nagħmlu xejn, dejjem bqajt id-dar waħdi. Ma kelli ʹl ħadd ma’ min naqsam din l-esperjenza u bqajt nagħmel dak li stajt biex nara kif se ngħaddi ż-żmien. Imma aktar ma bdew igerrbu l-ġranet, aktar bdejt naqta’ qalbi. Kont insibha diffiċli norqod. Bdejt naħseb li ma stajtx noħroġ minn din il-kriżi. Imma fija ħassejt b’mod qawwi li kelli nintelaq għal kollox f’idejn Alla u nemmen f’imħabbtu. Ma kelli l-ebda dubju li Hu kien qiegħed hemm, miegħi, u li kien qed ifarraġni f’dawk ix-xhur ta’ solitudni. Minn sinjali żgħar li bdew jasluli, bdejt nifhem li ma kontx waħdi. Bħal meta ċċelebrajna on-line għeluq is-snin ta’ waħda ħabibha tiegħi u mbagħad, wara ftit, waslitli biċċa kejk mingħand waħda mill-ġirien”.
“Int Alla li tarani”.
Għalhekk, imħarsin mill-preżenza t’Alla, aħna wkoll nistgħu nkunu messaġġiera ta’ Mħabbtu. Infatti, aħna msejħin naraw xinhuma l-bżonnijiet tal-oħrajn, nagħtu daqqa t’id lil ħutna meta jibdew iħossuhom waħedhom, naqsmu magħhom il-ferħ u t-tbatijiet. Irridu nagħmlu ħilitna kollha biex inżommu għajnejna miftuħin fuq il-bnedmin ħutna.
Nistgħu nieqfu u nersqu lejn kull min qed ifittex sens u tweġiba għall-ħafna mistoqsijiet tal-ħajja: ħbieb, qraba, ġirien, nies li jaħdmu magħna, nies li għaddejjin minn xi diffikultajiet ekonomiċi u li huma mwarrba mis-soċjetà.
Inkunu nistgħu niftakru u naqsmu magħhom dawk il-mumenti prezzjużi li fihom iltqajna mal-imħabba t’Alla u skoprejna s-sens tal-ħajja. Flimkien nistgħu naffrontaw id-diffikultajiet biex, mid-deżerti li nkunu għaddejjin minnhom, niskopru l-preżenza t’Alla, li jgħinna biex f’ħajjitna nibqgħu mexjin ʹil quddiem b’fiduċja.
Kitba ta’ Patrizia Mazzola u tal-grupp tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja
C. Lubich, Parola di Vita ta’ Lulju 2006, fil-ktieb Parole di Vita, ta’ Fabio Ciardi (Opere di Chiara Lubich 5; Città Nuova, Roma 2017) pġ. 785.
https://soundcloud.com/user-63571203/word-of-life-february-2023?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing[:en]
“You are the God who sees me” (cf. Gen 16:13).
for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-17 | Print| Audio
The verse for this month’s Word of Life is taken from the book of Genesis. The words are spoken by Hagar, Sarah’s slave who was given in marriage to Abraham because Sarah could not bear children and ensure offspring. When Hagar discovered that she was pregnant, she felt superior to her mistress. The mistreatment she then received from Sarah eventually forced her to flee into the desert. And it is there that she had a unique encounter with God and received the promise of offspring in a way that was similar to the pledge made by God to Abraham. The son to be born was to be called Ishmael, which means “God has heard” because God took upon himself Hagar’s anguish and gave her a lineage.
“You are the God who sees me.”
Hagar’s reaction reflects the belief commonly held in the ancient world that human beings could not sustain very close contact with the divine. Hagar was surprised and grateful to have survived what had taken place. She had felt God’s love precisely in the desert, the privileged place where we can experience a personal encounter with him. Hagar was aware of his presence and felt loved by a God who had ‘seen’ her in her painful situation, a God who cares for and surrounds his creatures with love. “He is not an absent, distant God, indifferent to the fate of humanity or to the fate of each one of us. So many times we experience this. He is here with me, he is always with me, he knows everything about me and shares my every thought, every joy, every desire. He bears with me all my trials and worries.” (1)
“You are the God who sees me.”
This Word of Life revives certainty and gives us comfort: we are never alone in our journey through life because God is there and loves us. Sometimes, like Hagar, we feel like “strangers” on this earth, or we look for ways to escape from challenging and painful situations. But we must be certain of God’s presence and of our relationship with him: he sets us free, reassures us and always allows us to start again.
This was P’s experience of living alone during the time of the pandemic. She recounts: “Since the start of the total shut down of all activity in our country, I have been alone in my home. There is no one with whom I can have physical contact or who can share this experience with me; therefore, I try to fill the day as best I can. As time goes by, however, I feel more and more discouraged and I find it very hard to fall asleep at night. Sometimes I feel as if I will never escape from this nightmare. However, I feel strongly that I must completely rely on God and believe in his love. I have no doubts about his presence: I am certain that he accompanies and comforts me during these lonely months. I realise that I am not alone because of the little signs that come to me from my neighbours. An example was the time when I was celebrating a friend’s birthday online and, immediately afterwards, my neighbour left
a slice of cake by my door.”
“You are the God who sees me.”
We too can be messengers of God’s love because we are held safe in his presence. Indeed, we are called to see the needs of others, to help our neighbours when they feel they are “alone in the desert” and to share their joys and sorrows. We are immersed in the world and effort is needed on our part to recognise the needs of humanity around us.
We can stop and draw close to those who are searching for meaning and answers to life’s many questions: they may be friends, family members, acquaintances, neighbours, work colleagues, people in financial difficulty or perhaps people who are socially marginalised. We can remember and share those precious moments where we encountered God’s love and rediscovered the meaning of our lives. We can face difficulties together and when we feel we must “cross the desert”, we can discover the presence of God in what is happening around us and this gives us confidence to continue our journey.
Patricia Mazzola
and the Word of Life editorial team
1. C Lubich, Word of Life, July 2006
https://soundcloud.com/user-63571203/word-of-life-february-2023?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing[:]
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