[:mt]Kelma tal-Ħajja ta’ Ottubru[:en]October Word of Life[:]

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“Ħares bil-għajnuna tal-Ispirtu s-Santu li jgħammar fina t-teżor sabiħ li kien afdat f’idejk” (2 Tm, 1:14).

Din hi silta minn kitba ta’ San Pawl  lil Timotju, “ibni tassew fil-fidi”[1], li  kien jaħdem miegħu fix-xandir tal-Vanġelu u li kien fdalu l-komunità ta’ Efesu.

Pawlu, li kien qed iħoss ruħu qrib it-tmiem ta’ ħajtu, beda jagħmel kuraġġ `il Timotju biex isaħħu fl-impenn tiegħu ta’ gwida.  Timotju kien rċieva “għana prezzjuż”: il-fidi nisranija kif wassluha l-appostli stess, u issa kellu r-responsabbiltà li jxandarha b’fedeltà sħiħa lill-ġenerazzjonijiet il-ġodda.

Għal Pawlu dan kien ifisser li Timotju ried jieħu ħsieb id-don li rċieva u juri s-sbuħija tiegħu, u li kellu jkun lest anki li jagħti ħajtu biex iwassal l-aħbar sabiħa tal-Vanġelu.

Pawlu u Timotju rċevew l-Ispirtu s-Santu li kien dawl u garanzija fix-xogħol siewi tagħhom ta’ rgħajja u ħabbara tal-Vanġelu. Bix-xhieda tagħhom u ta’ dawk li ġew warajhom, din l-aħbar waslet għandna wkoll. 

“Ħares bil-għajnuna tal-Ispirtu s-Santu li jgħammar fina t-teżor sabiħ li kien afdat f’idejk”. 

Bl-istess mod, kull nisrani għandu “missjoni” x’jaqdi fil-komunità soċjali u reliġjuża li jgħix fiha: jibni familja magħquda, jgħallem liż-żgħażagħ, jimpenja ruħu fil-politika u x-xogħol, jieħu ħsieb il-batuti, idawwal il-kultura u l-arti bl-għerf u l-għixien tal-Vanġelu,  jikkonsagra ruħu `l Alla fil-qadi ta’ ħutu l-bnedmin.

Anzi, skont dak li Papa Franġisku qal liż-żgħażagħ, “[…] kull raġel u mara huma missjoni […]”[2]. Il-Knisja Kattolika pproklamat ix-xahar ta’ Ottubru bħala “xahar missjunarju straordinarju”. Din tista’ tkun għalina okkażjoni biex inġeddu l-impenn tagħna u nagħtu xhieda tal-fidi tagħna b’qalb miftuħa dejjem aktar għal dik l-imħabba tal-Vanġelu li tilqa’, tiltaqa’ u tiddjaloga mal-oħrajn[3]. 

“Ħares bil-għajnuna tal-Ispirtu s-Santu li jgħammar fina t-teżor sabiħ li kien afdat f’idejk”.

Kull nisrani hu “tempju” tal-Ispirtu s-Santu, li jagħtina dak li neħtieġu biex niskopru u nħarsu “t-teżori” li ġew fdati lilna, inkabbruhom u nwassluhom lill-oħrajn. L-ewwel  fost dawn it-teżori hu t-twemmin tagħna fil-Mulej Ġesù. Jeħtieġ li aħna l-insara nqajmu fina l-fidi u nsaħħuha bit-talb, biex imbagħad inwassluha lill-oħrajn bix-xhieda ta’ mħabbitna.

Saċerdot li għadu kif ġie ordnat jirrakkonta: “Ġejt inkarigat nieħu ħsieb il-fidili ta’ knisja kattolika kbira f’belt fil-Brażil. L-ambjent soċjali hu diffiċli ħafna u sikwit niltaqa’ ma’ nies li m’għandhomx identità reliġjuża definita, iżda jieħdu sehem fil-quddiesa kif ukoll f’ċerimonji antiki tradizzjonali. Naf li hu dmir tiegħi nwassal il-fidi nisranija b’fedeltà lejn il-Vanġelu, iżda nixtieq li fil-parroċċa kulħadd iħossu milqugħ. Ħsibt li biex nagħti valur lill-għeruq kulturali ta’ dawn in-nies, iċ-ċelebrazzjoni tal-quddiesa tkun bħal festa animata bi strumenti mużikali tipiċi tal-kulturi tagħhom. Din hi sfida impenjattiva, imma tferraħ lil kulħadd għax, minflok ma tifred  il-komunità, iġġib lil kulħadd flimkien u tgħaqqadna f’dak li hu tagħna lkoll: il-fidi f’Alla li hu għajn ta’ ferħ”. 

“Ħares bil-għajnuna tal-Ispirtu s-Santu li jgħammar fina t-teżor sabiħ li kien afdat f’idejk”. 

Teżor ieħor ta’ valur mill-aktar kbir li tana Ġesù nnifsu hu l-kelma tiegħu, li hi kelma t’Alla.

Dan ir-rigal “[…] jitfa’ fuqna responsabbiltà kbira […]. Alla tana l-kelma tiegħu biex aħna  nħaddmuha hekk li hi tagħti l-frott. Hu jrid jara sseħħ f’ħajjitna u f’dak kollu li nagħmlu fid-dinja dik il-bidla profonda li hi għandha l-ħila twettaq. […]. Mela kif għandna ngħixu din il-Kelma tal-ħajja ta’ dan ix-xahar? Għandna nħobbu l-kelma t’Alla u nfittxu li nsiru nafuha dejjem aħjar, u fuq kollox għandna ngħixuha b’ġenerożità kbira, biex issir tabilħaqq l-ikel ewlieni tal-ħajja tar-ruħ tagħna, dik li tmexxi l-kuxjenza tagħna u tiggwidana fl-għażliet u f’kull ma nagħmlu. […] Fil-kuxjenzi tan-nies hemm ħafna taħwid, u kollox qed isir relattiv u mċajpar. Meta ngħixu l-kelma t’Alla mhux biss nilqgħu kontra dan il-periklu serju imma, skont il-kliem stess li qal Ġesù u li jfisser ħafna (ara Mt 5, 15-16), aħna nsiru bħal imsiebaħ mixgħula li bid-dawl tagħhom jgħinu lill-oħrajn  isibu t-triq it-tajba u jimxu fiha”[4] .

Letizia Magri

© 2019 Focolare Movement

[1] 1 Tm 1, 2.

[2] Ara FRANĠISKU, Messaġġ għall-ġurnata missjunarja dinjija 2018.

[3] Għal aktar informazzjoni, ara www.october2019.va.

[4] C. Lubich, Parola di Vita ottobre 1991, in eadem, Parole di Vita, a cura di Fabio Ciardi (Opere di Chiara Lubich 5, Città Nuova, Roma, 2017), p. 486.

Kummenti fuq il Kelma tal-Ħajja

Il-Kelma tal-Ħajja għax-xahar ta’ Ottubru tikkwota kliem ta’ Papa Franġisku: “Kull raġel u mara huma missjoni”.

Fl-ittra appostolika Evangelii Gaudium il-Papa jispjega:
“Il-missjoni li nkun fil-qalba tal-poplu mhix parti minn ħajti (…..), mhijiex xi ħaġa miżjuda jew mument fost il-ħafna mumenti l-oħra ta’ ħajti. Hi xi ħaġa li ma nistax inħassarha minn dak li jien jekk ma rridx neqred lili nnifsi.
Jiena missjoni fuq din l-art u għalhekk ninsab fid-dinja. Irridu naraw lilna nfusna mmarkati bin-nar minn din il-missjoni li twassalna biex indawlu, inbierku, insostnu, inserrħu, infejqu, neħilsu. U hekk jibda jidher l-infermier li għandu ruħ, l-għalliem li għandu ruħ, il-politiku li għandu ruħ, dawk li f’qalbhom ħadu d-deċiżjoni li jgħixu mal-oħrajn u għall-oħrajn.

Jekk wieħed jifred id-dmir tiegħu fuq naħa u l-ħajja privata tiegħu fuq in-naħa l-oħra, kollox jinbidel u jibda jfittex (…) ir-rikonoxximenti u jiddefendi l-ħtiġijiet tiegħu. Ma jibqax jgħix għall-oħrajn.
Biex naqsmu ħajjitna mal-oħrajn u ningħataw b’ġenerożita’, għandna bżonn nagħrfu wkoll li kull persuna jixirqilha l-attenzjoni tagħna”.

Il-Kelma tal-Ħajja tgħid ukoll “ li teżor mill-aktar kbir li tana Ġesu’ (…) hu l-Kelma tiegħu”.
Chiara Lubich tfissrilna l-kobor ta’ dan it-teżor. Tgħid:
“Il-Kelma t’Alla tesprimi l-ħsieb u l-qalb tiegħu, tesprimi l-pjan mill-isbaħ li Hu għandu għal kull wieħed u waħda minna, jiġifieri li nsiru parti mill-familja tiegħu u flimkien miegħu jkollna l-ħajja li ma tintemm qatt. Alla mhux biss jurina t-triq, imma wkoll jagħtina l-forza biex nilħqu dan il-għan. Anzi jekk aħna nilqgħu kelmtu sa minn issa stess Hu jagħmilna wliedu u jnissel fina l-mod kif hu stess iħobb u jħares lejn l-affarijiet”.
( Kelma tal-Ħajja Ottubro 1991)[:en]

“Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.” (2 Tim 1:14)

for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-17 | Print | Audio

Paul the Apostle is writing to Timothy, his “son in faith.” He shared his work of evangelizing with Timothy and entrusted the community in Ephesus to him.As Paul feels his time of death drawing close, he encourages Timothy in this demanding task of leadership. Timothy, in fact, has received a “precious gift,” that is, the content of the Christian faith as passed on by the Apostles. He, in turn, is responsible for faithfully communicating it to future generations. For Paul this means protecting and revealing the beauty of the gift received, as well as being willing to give his life to spread the good news that is the Gospel.

“Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.”

Paul and Timothy received the Holy Spirit as light and guarantee for their unique role as pastors and evangelizers. Through their witness and that of their successors, the proclamation of the Gospel has come down to us.In the same way, every Christian has a “mission” in his or her own social and religious community: to build a united family, educate young people, engage in politics and work, care for vulnerable people, enlighten culture and art with the wisdom of the Gospel put into practice, and consecrate his or her life to God for the service of others.Indeed, according to the words of Pope Francis to the youth, “Every man and woman is a mission.” (1)

We always have the opportunity to consciously renew our commitment to witnessing to our faith, with our hearts filled with evangelical love that generates welcome, encounter and dialogue.“Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.” Every Christian is a “temple” of the Holy Spirit. This enables us to discover and preserve the “precious gifts” entrusted to us, to make them grow and put them at the service of other people. The first of these treasures is faith in Jesus. We Christians need to awaken this and nourish it with prayer, and then communicate it through the witness of charity.

A recently ordained priest told us: “I have been asked to minister to and care for the faithful in a large Catholic parish in a city in Brazil. The social environment is very difficult, and often the people I meet do not have a clear religious identity, which is why they participate in both the Mass and other traditional ceremonies. “I know that I am responsible for transmitting the Christian faith staying true to the Gospel, but I also want everyone to feel welcomed in the parish. To enhance the cultural roots of these people, I thought that the celebration of Mass could be more festive, and we could use musical instruments typical of their cultures. “It is a demanding challenge, but one that makes everyone happy, because instead of dividing the community, it unites us in what we have in common: faith in the God who gives us joy”.

“Guard, the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.”

Another priceless treasure that we have received from Jesus himself is his word; it is the word of God. Focolare founder, Chiara Lubich, wrote in a Word of Life commentary in 1991 that this gift “demands great responsibility from us … God has given us his word so that we might make it bear fruit. He wants it to transform our lives and all we do in the world … “.

How, then, will we live this month’s Word of Life? By loving the word of God, trying to know it better and by putting it into practice with always greater generosity, so that it really becomes the basic nourishment of our spiritual life, our inner teacher, the guide of our conscience, the unshakable point of reference for all our choices and actions. “At times, we may feel bewildered and confused because everything seems to become relative and unclear. By living the word of God, we will not only be strengthened against this grave danger, but according to Jesus’ words (Mt 5:15–16) we will become shining lamps, which with their light will also help others to find their way on the right path.”

Letizia Magri

© 2019 Focolare Movement

(1) Pope Francis’ Message for World Mission Day 2018

Listen to the Word of Life

https://soundcloud.com/user-63571203/word-of-life-october-2019

Each month the Focolare chooses a Scripture passage as a guide and inspiration for daily living. The commentary on it was originally written by founder, Chiara Lubich (1920–2008). Today this Word of Life is translated into 96 different languages and reaches several million people worldwide through the media. Letizia Magri, an expert at the John Paul II Institute in Rome, heads the international commission that continues this tradition.

Read more:

Lubich, Chiara. “New insights on faith”, The Holy Spirit. New City Press: Hyde Park, NY, 2018, pp. 107–108.

Lubich, Chiara. “The Church feeds itself from two tables”, The Church. New City Press: Hyde Park, NY, 2019, pp. 111–113

Next month: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15).

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