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“GĦAX FEJN HEMM IT-TEŻORI TAGĦKOM, HEMM TINSAB QALBKOM UKOLL” (LQ 12, 34).
Il-“qalb” hi l-aktar ħaġa intima, moħbija u importanti li għandna; hi t-“teżor” li jiswa l-aktar, li jserrħilna rasna għal-lum u għal li ġej. Fil-“qalb” hemm il-valuri li nħaddnu, l-għeruq talgħażliet li nagħmlu; hi l-post sigriet fejn niddeċiedu `l min nagħtu l-ewwel post f’ħajjitna.
Liema huwa t-“teżor” li minħabba fih lesti nwarrbu l-bqija?
Fis-soċjetà konsumistika tal-pajjiżi sinjuri, kollox iħajjarna naħżnu l-ġid materjali, naħsbu biss fuq il-bżonnijiet tagħna bla ma nagħtu kas tal-bżonnijiet tal-oħrajn, biex nikkonċentraw fuq il-ġid u l-effiċjenza tagħna nfusna. Imma San Luqa l-evanġelista, li għex fi żminijiet differenti ħafna, jagħtina dan il-kliem ta’ Ġesù bħala tagħlima deċiżiva li tgħodd għall-bnedmin ta’ kull żmien u ta’ kull pajjiż.
“GĦAX FEJN HEMM IT-TEŻORI TAGĦKOM, HEMM TINSAB QALBKOM UKOLL”.
Il-Vanġelu ta’ Luqa jisħaq bil-qawwa kollha fuq il-ħtieġa li nagħmlu għażla mill-qigħ, darba għal dejjem, li hi tipika tad-dixxiplu ta’ Ġesù: Alla l-Missier hu l-veru Ġid tagħna; irridu nagħtuh qalbna kollha, l-istess kif għamel Ġesù. Din l-għażla esklużiva ġġib magħha ħaġ’oħra: twassalna biex nintelqu b’fiduċja sħiħa f’Imħabbtu u hekk insiru tassew “għonja”, għax ulied Alla u werrieta ta’ Saltnatu.
Din hi xi ħaġa li torbot mal-libertà tagħna għax ma tħalliniex ninħakmu mill-ġid materjali, imma tagħmilna sidien veri ta’ ħajjitna.
L-għana ta’ din id-dinja jista’ jimla “qalbna” u jkabbar fina r-rebgħa għal aktar ġid, tant li nsiru niddependu fuqu. Filwaqt li meta nagħtu minn dak li għandna, kif tħeġġiġna nagħmlu din is-silta tal-Vanġelu, inkunu qed ngħixu dik il-ġustizzja li tiġi mill-ħniena, li permezz tagħha l-qalb ma tittaqqalx u tkun lesta tinfetaħ għall-bnedmin li huma lkoll indaqs u aħwa ta’ xulxin.
Kull nisrani u l-komunità kollha ta’ dawk li jemmnu, jistgħu jsiru tassew bnedmin ħielsa billi jaqsmu l-ġid materjali u spiritwali tagħhom ma’ dawk fil-bżonn: dan hu l-istil ta’ ħajja nisranija li jagħti xhieda tal-vera fiduċja fil-Missier u jibni sisien sodi għaċ-ċiviltà tal-imħabba.
“GĦAX FEJN HEMM IT-TEŻORI TAGĦKOM, HEMM TINSAB QALBKOM UKOLL”.
Chiara Lubich tat suġġeriment siwi ħafna li jista’ jdawwalna biex ninħelsu mill-jasar tal-ġid:
“Għaliex Ġesù jinsisti daqshekk fuq il-bżonn li niċċaħħdu mill-ġid, u jagħmel dan bħala kundizzjoni meħtieġa biex nimxu warajh? Għax l-ewwel ġid ta’ ħajjitna, il-veru teżor tagħna huwa Hu! […] Hu jridna nkunu bnedmin ħielsa, ħielsa minn dak kollu li jorbotna u jtaqqalna biex inkunu nistgħu nħobbuh tassew b’qalbna kollha, b’moħħna kollu u bil-forzi tagħna kollha. […] Jitlobna niċċaħħdu mill-ġid tagħna anki għax iridna nkunu miftuħin għalloħrajn […]. L-aktar mod sempliċi biex ‘niċċaħħdu’ hu li ‘nagħtu’.
Nagħtu mħabbitna `l Alla. […] U biex nuruh din l-imħabba, irridu nħobbu `l ħutna u nkunu lesti li nagħmlu kollox għalihom. Għandna ħafna ġid li nistgħu naqsmuh mal-oħrajn, anki jekk forsi ma naħsbuhiex hekk: nistgħu nagħtu l-għożża, nuru l-ħlewwa, naqsmu l-ferħ; nistgħu nużaw il-ħin tagħna għall-oħrajn; nistgħu nitolbu, naqsmu l-affarijiet sbieħ li hemm ġewwa fina; xi drabi jkollna affarijiet, kotba, ilbies, flus […]. Ejjew nagħtu bla ma noqogħdu nirraġunaw iżżejjed u ngħidu: ‘Imma din xi darba jista’ jkolli bżonnha […]’. Kollox jista’ jkun ta’ siwi, iżda jekk nagħtu widen għal dawn is-suġġerimenti, norbtu qalbna ma’ kollox u jinbtu aktar bżonnijiet ġodda. Għandna nfittxu li jkollna biss dak li neħtieġu; u noqogħdu attenti li ma nitilfux `il Ġesù minħabba xi flus li ngeddsu jew xi ħaġa li nistgħu ngħaddu mingħajrha”1.
Marisa u Agostino, li ilhom 34 sena miżżewġin, għandhom dan x’jirrakkuntaw: “Wara tmien snin ta’ żwieġ, kollox kien sejjer tajjeb: id-dar u x-xogħol kienu eżatt kif konna rriduhom aħna; iżda waslitilna proposta biex nitilqu mill-Italja u mmorru nagħtu daqqa t’id lil komunità żgħażugħa nisranija f’pajjiż fl-Amerika t’Isfel. Fost id-dubji li kellna, il-biża’ dwar il-ġejjieni, il-kummenti tan-nies li bdew jgħidulna boloh, it-tnejn li aħna bdejna nisimgħu leħen partikulari, li nissel fina paċi kbira: kien dak ta’ Ġesù li jgħidilna: ‘Ejja u imxi warajja’.
Iddeċidejna li mmorru u sibna ruħna f’ambjent differenti ħafna minn dak li konna mdorrijin fih. Kellna bżonn ta’ ħafna affarijiet, iżda sibna wkoll affarijiet ġodda, bħar-rabta sabiħa li bnejna ma’ ħafna nies. Għamilna wkoll esperjenza qawwija tal-Providenza t’Alla. Darba organizzajna party ċkejken u kull familja kellha ġġib xi ħaġa tal-ikel. Konna għadna kif naslu lura mill-Italja u ġibna magħna biċċa ġobon parmiġġjan kbira. Tgħid nieħdu biċċa minnu biex naqsmuha mal-familji l-oħra?. Il-ħsieb li kien se jispiċċa malajr beda jberren f’moħħna, iżda ftakarna fi kliem Ġesù: ‘Agħtu u jingħatalkom’ (Lq 6, 38). Ħarisna lejn xulxin u għidna: ħallejna pajjiżna, ix-xogħol, lil qrabatna, u issa se nintrabtu ma’ biċċa ġobon? Qtajna biċċa minnu u ħadnieha magħna. Jumejn wara ġie xi ħadd ifittixna: kien turist li ma konniex nafuh, ħabib ta’ ħbieb tagħna, li ġabilna pakkett mingħandhom. Ftaħnieh: kien fih biċċa ġobon parmiġġjan kbira. Rajna sseħħ il-wegħda ta’ Ġesù: ‘…kejl tajjeb, marsus, mheżheż sewwa u mburġat iqegħdulkom f’ħoġorkom’”.
Letizia Magri
1. C. Lubich, Kelma tal-Ħajja, Settembru 2004, fil-ktieb ‘Parole di Vita’, ta’ Fabio Ciardi (Opere di Chiara Lubich 5; Città Nuova, Ruma, 2017) pġ. 729-731.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Lk 12:34).
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The “heart” represents the hidden, deepest and most intimate part of ourselves and the very source of our lives. The “treasure” represents whatever has most value and gives us security both today and in the future. Our “heart” also represents our values, the source of the choices we make; it is the secret place where the meaning of life itself is at stake. What is most important for us? What is our “treasure” for which we are ready to leave all else behind?
Western consumer society encourages us to accumulate material goods, to concentrate on our own needs and not bother about those of others. This is driven by the pursuit of personal well-being and efficiency. Yet St Luke, who wrote his Gospel in a very different cultural context, presents these words of Jesus as a decisive and universal teaching for men and women of all times and all places.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Luke’s Gospel strongly emphasises the need for Jesus’ disciples to make a radical, definitive and characteristic choice. God the Father is the true good, who must occupy a Christian’s whole heart, following the example of Jesus himself. This exclusive choice brings with it a trusting abandonment to God’s love and the chance of becoming truly “rich” because the children of God are heirs to his kingdom.
It is a question of freedom which means not letting ourselves be possessed by material goods, but really having control over them. Material wealth, in fact, can occupy our “heart” and generate a growing anxiety to possess more, which can become real dependence. Instead, almsgiving, to which we are exhorted in this passage of the Gospel, is a matter of justice, dictated by mercy, which lightens the “heart” and opens us up to fraternal equality.
Every Christian personally, and the whole community of believers, can experience true freedom through sharing both material and spiritual goods with those who need them. This is the Christian lifestyle that bears witness to real trust in the Father and lays solid foundations for the civilization of love.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
To free us from the slavery of having, Chiara Lubich made an enlightening suggestion: “Why does Jesus insist so much on detachment from goods, to the point of making it an indispensable condition for being able to follow him? Because the first treasure in life, our real wealth, is him! … He wants us to be free, with our souls unburdened by any attachment or worry, so that we can truly love him with all our heart, mind and strength. … He asks us to renounce our possessions also because he wants us to be open to others… The simplest way to “renounce” is to “give”.
We can give to God by loving him. We can show our love by loving our brothers and sisters, being ready to risk everything for them. Even if we do not realise, we have much wealth to share: we have love in our hearts to give, friendship to express and joy to communicate. We have time to use for other people, prayers to offer, inner riches to share. Sometimes we have things such as books, clothes, cars, money… Let’s give them to others and not reason that they might be useful on such and such an occasion. Everything can be useful, but in the meantime, by giving in to these ideas, our hearts can become full of attachments which, in turn, create new needs within us. No, let’s try to keep only what we need. Let’s be careful not to lose Jesus because of some money we have set aside, because of something we can do without”.
Marisa and Agostino, who have been married for thirty-four years, told us their experience, ‘After eight years of marriage, everything was going well for us: the house and our jobs were just as we wanted them. But then we were asked whether we could move from Italy to a Latin American country, to support a young Christian community. Among the thousands of different voices we heard within that expressed concern about an unknown future and the comments of people who told us we were crazy, both of us were aware of one voice in particular that gave us a great peace. It was Jesus who was saying, “Come, follow me.” So we did. We found ourselves in a completely different environment from what we were used to. Although we had much less than we had before, we felt that we received many other things in exchange, such as wonderful relationships with many people.
The experience of God’s providence was also very strong. One evening we had organized a small party and each family was going to bring typical dishes for the meal. We had just returned from Italy with a big piece of Parmesan cheese. We felt torn between wanting to share a part of it with the other families and the thought that there would be little left for us, but we remembered Jesus’ words, “Give, and it will be given to you.” (Lk 6:38). We looked at each other and said: we’ve left our country, our jobs and our relatives, and now we are attaching ourselves to a piece of cheese! So we cut a lump of cheese and took it with us. Two days later the doorbell rang; it was a tourist that we didn’t know, a friend of some friends of ours, and he gave us a package from them. We opened it and found a big piece of Parmesan cheese. Jesus’ promise, “…a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap” is really true.’
Letizia Magri
Source: Chiara Lubich, Word of Life, September 2004[:]
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