[:mt]Kelma tal-Ħajja ta' Ġunju[:en]June Word of Life[:]

[:mt]Niżżel il-fuljett tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja bil-Malti

“Ifirħu, ħabirku għall-perfezzjoni, isimgħu milli wieħed jgħidilkom, kunu ta’ fehma waħda, żommu s-sliem, u Alla tal-imħabba u s-sliem ikun magħkom” (2 Kor 13, 11).

B’għożża kbira San Pawl ħa ħsieb l-iżvilupp tal-komunità Nisranija fil-belt ta’ Korintu; mar iżurha u għenha meta kienet għaddejja minn mumenti diffiċli.

Iżda b’din l-ittra hu qed jiddefendi lilu nnifsu minn akkużi ta’ predikaturi oħrajn, li ma kienx jogħġobhom l-istil tiegħu, għax hu ma kienx jitħallas għall-ħidma appostolika tiegħu, ma kienx mirqum fl-istil ta’ kif kien jippriedka, u kien jistqarr in-nuqqas ta’ ħila tiegħu u kien jgħix fuq l-eżempju ta’ Ġesù.

Madankollu, fi tmiem din l-ittra, San Pawl wassal kliem ta’ fiduċja u tama:

“Ifirħu, ħabirku għall-perfezzjoni, isimgħu milli wieħed jgħidilkom, kunu ta’ fehma waħda, żommu s-sliem, u Alla tal-imħabba u s-sliem ikun magħkom”.

L-ewwel ħaġa li toħroġ b’mod ċar hi li t-twissijiet tiegħu qed jagħtihom lill-komunità kollha, għax fil-komunità wieħed jista’ jħoss il-preżenza t’Alla. Id-dgħufija tal-bniedem iġġib nuqqas ta’ qbil u ta’ sinċerità fil-kliem; il-ftehim magħmul b’rispett lejn id-diversità bejn il-bnedmin jispiċċa fix-xejn. Dan in-nuqqas jista’ jitfejjaq bil-preżenza t’Alla fil-komunità li jnissel il-paċi fi qlub il-bnedmin.

San Pawl qed iħeġġighom biex iġibu ruħhom skont kif jgħid il-Vanġelu: biex jaraw li jseħħ il-pjan t’Alla fuq kulħadd, bħala aħwa ta’ xulxin; biex jinħabbu b’dik l-imħabba kollha faraġ t’Alla; jieħdu ħsieb xulxin, billi jaqsmu flimkien l-aktar xewqat profondi tagħhom; jilqgħu lil xulxin, billi joffru u jilqgħu ħniena u maħfra; ikebbsu l-fiduċja u jagħtu widen lil xulxin.

Dawn huma għażliet li nagħmluhom għax irridu, u kultant jitolbu minna l-kuraġġ li nkunu “sinjal ta’ kontradizzjoni” mal-mentalità tad-dinja.

Minħabba f’hekk San Pawl jitlobhom ukoll biex f’dan kollu jqawwu qalb xulxin. Għalih dak li jgħodd hu li jħarsu u jixhdu bil-ferħ il-valur imprezzabbli tal-għaqda u s-sliem, b’imħabba u fil-verità. Kollox u dejjem irid iserraħ fuq il-blata tal-imħabba inkondizzjonata t’Alla li timxi mal-poplu tiegħu.

“Ifirħu, ħabirku għall-perfezzjoni, isimgħu milli wieħed jgħidilkom, kunu ta’ fehma waħda, żommu s-sliem, u Alla tal-imħabba u s-sliem ikun magħkom”.

Biex ngħixu din il-Kelma tal-ħajja, bħal Pawlu aħna wkoll rridu nħarsu lejn l-eżempju u s-sentimenti ta’ Ġesù, li ġie biex iwasslilna l-paċi li jaf jagħti Hu¹. Infatti l-paċi “[…] mhijiex biss nuqqas ta’ gwerra, ta’ ġlied, firda u feriti fi qlub il-bnedmin. […]: hi milja ta’ ħajja u ferħ, hi salvazzjoni sħiħa tal-persuna sħiħa, hi libertà, hi dak is-sens ta’ aħwa fl-imħabba fejn il-ġnus kollha jinħabbu bejniethom. […] U x’għamel Ġesù biex jagħtina l-paċi “tiegħu”? Ħallas hu personalment. […] Intefa’ fost l-għedewwa tiegħu, ħa fuqu l-piż tal-mibegħda u l-firdiet, waqqa’ l-ħitan li kienu jifirdu l-ġnus². […]

Biex nibnu l-paċi aħna wkoll rridu mħabba qawwija fi qlubna, kapaċi saħansitra li nħobbu lil min ma jħobbniex, naħfru u negħlbu l-għedewwa tagħna b’imħabba; inħobbu pajjiż ħaddieħor daqs li kieku kien tagħna. […] Hi titlob minna wkoll qlub u għajnejn ġodda biex inħobbu u naraw lil kulħadd bħala ħuna. […] Hekk kiteb Igino Giordani: “Il-ħażen jinbet f’qalb il-bnedmin”, u “biex inneħħu l-periklu tal-gwerra rridu nwarrbu l-ispirtu ta’ aggressjoni u egoiżmu għax il-gwerra minnhom ġejja: jeħtiġilna nibnu kuxjenza ġdida”³.⁴

Bonita Park hu kwartier ta’ Hartswater, raħal żgħir ta’ bdiewa fl-Afrika t’Isfel. Bħall-bqija tal-pajjiż kollu, fih għadhom jinħassu l-effetti tar-reġim tal-Apartheid, l-aktar fil-qasam tal-edukazzjoni: is-suġġetti li jitgħallmu ż-żgħażagħ suwed u ta’ razez imħalltin huma anqas minn dawk ta’ gruppi etniċi oħra, bir-riskju li dan jista’ jġib firdiet fis-soċjetà.

Il-proġett “The Bridge” nibet biex joħloq medjazzjoni bejn il-gruppi etniċi ta’ dawk l-inħawi u b’hekk ikunu jistgħu jersqu lejn xulxin b’rispett lejn id-differenzi kulturali. Beda programm ta’ tagħlim li jsir wara l-iskola u nħoloq spazju fejn jiltaqgħu flimkien: post fejn jiltaqgħu l-kulturi differenti ta’ tfal u żgħażagħ. Din il-komunità qed turi xewqa kbira sabiex jaħdmu flimkien. Karlu offru t-trakk qadim tiegħu biex imur iġib l-injam ħalli jsiru l-bankijiet. Is-surmast ta’ skola f’dawk l-inħawi offra pitazzi u kotba, u l-Knisja Riformata Olandiża tat ħamsin siġġu. Kulħadd ta sehemu biex jissaħħaħ dan il-pont bejn il-kulturi u r-razez⁵.

Ara Ġw 14, 27.
Ara Ef 2, 14-18.
L’inutilità della guerra, Ruma 2003, it-tieni edizzjoni, pġ. 111.
C. Lubich, Kelma tal-Ħajja ta’ Jannar 2004, fil-ktieb Parole di Vita, ta’ Fabio Ciardi (Opere di Chiara Lubich 5; Città Nuova, Ruma 2017) pġ. 709-710.
Cf.:https://www.unitedworldproject.org/workshop/sudafrica-un-ponte-tra-culture; Spazju familja, Marzu 2019, pġ. 10-13

[:en]

Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. (2 Cor. 13:11).

for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-1 7 | Print| Audio

The apostle Paul followed the development of the Christian community in the city of Corinth with love and attention; he visited and supported the people during difficult times. At one point, however, by means of this letter, he had to defend himself against accusations made by other preachers who questioned his style of preaching. Paul was not paid for his missionary work, he was not an eloquent speaker, he did not have letters of recommendation in support of his authority and he proclaimed that he understood and lived out his own weakness reflecting the example of Jesus. Nonetheless, in concluding his letter, Paul delivers an appeal full of confidence and hope to the Corinthians:

“Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

The first very obvious feature of his exhortations is that they are addressed to the community as a whole and this is regarded as a place where God’s presence can be experienced. All the human frailties that make it difficult to understand one another, to communicate fairly and sincerely, to agree in a respectful manner with differences of experience and thought can be healed by the presence of the God of peace. Paul suggests some practical forms of behaviour that are consistent with the demands of the Gospel. They include striving for the fulfilment of God’s plan for each and every one, as brothers and sisters; enabling the consoling love of God that we have received to circulate among everyone; caring for one another, sharing our deepest aspirations; welcoming one another, offering and receiving mercy and forgiveness, nurturing trust and listening.

These choices can be freely undertaken but sometimes courage is needed if we are to be a ‘sign of contradiction’ and behave in a way that stands at odds with the current mentality. Therefore, the apostle also recommends that we encourage one another in this commitment. He values the efforts we make to joyfully safeguard and witness to the inestimable worth of unity and peace, in charity and truth, always founded on the rock of God’s unconditional love for his people.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.”

To live this Word of life, like Paul, let us look at the example of Jesus, who came to bring us his special peace. [1] For it ‘… is not only the absence of war, of quarrels, of divisions and traumas. … it is fullness of life and joy, it is complete salvation, it is freedom, it is fraternity among all peoples. … And how did Jesus give us his peace? He paid for it himself. … He stood in the midst of his adversaries, he took upon himself hatred and separation and he broke down the walls that divided people. …Peace-building demands a strong love from us, a love that is able to reach even those who do not reciprocate, a love that is able to forgive, a love that does not see people as enemies and the capacity to love their country as our own…It even asks us to have new hearts and eyes to love and see everyone as candidates for universal fraternity. … “Evil arises in the human heart,” wrote Igino Giordani, and “to remove the danger of war it is necessary to eliminate the spirit of aggression, exploitation and selfishness from which war comes: it is necessary to rebuild a conscience .”’ [2]

Bonita Park is a neighbourhood in Hartswater, an agricultural town in South Africa. As in the rest of the country, the effects inherited from the Apartheid regime persist, especially in the educational sphere: the education of young people belonging to the black and mestizo groups are far inferior to those of other ethnic groups, with the consequent risk of social marginalization. ‘The Bridge’ project aims at creating a form of mediation between the different ethnic groups in the neighbourhood by bridging distances and cultural differences among them. This consists of an after-school programme and a small communal meeting space where people of different cultures and generations come together. The community shows a great desire to work together. Charles offered his old truck to fetch the timber with which the desks were made and the principal of the nearest elementary school donated shelves, notepads and text books, while the Dutch Reformed Church provided fifty chairs. Everyone has done their part to make this bridge between cultures and ethnicities grow stronger each day.

Edited by Letizia Magri and the Word of Life team