Malti
English
[:mt]Niżżel il-fuljett tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja bil-Malti
Aħsbu fil-ħwejjeġ tas-sema, mhux f’dawk tal-art” (Kol 3, 2)
Kienu għadhom kif nibtu l-ewwel komunitajiet Insara u malajr bdew jinqalgħu xi kwistjonijiet marbuta ma’ interpretazzjonijiet foloz tal-messaġġ tal-Vanġelu. Pawlu, li kien qiegħed il-ħabs, sar jaf b’dawn il-problemi li kien hemm f’Kolossi u kiteb ittra lil din il-komunità.
Nifhmu aħjar din il-Kelma tal-Ħajja ta’ dan ix-xahar jekk naqraw is-silta kollha mnejn hi meħuda: “Jekk intom irxuxtajtu ma’ Kristu, fittxu l-ħwejjeġ tas-sema, fejn Kristu qiegħed fuq il-lemin t’Alla. Aħsbu fil-ħwejjeġ tas-sema, mhux f’dawk tal-art. Għax intom mittu, imma ħajjitkom hi moħbija flimkien ma’ Kristu f’Alla! (1)
Biex jegħleb dan in-nuqqas ta’ qbil, Pawlu qed jistedinna ndawru ħajjitna kollha lejn Kristu Rxoxt. Infatti, fil-magħmudija aħna wkoll mitna u rxuxtajna fi Kristu. Din il-ħajja ġdida nistgħu ngħixuha f’dak li “ġa seħħ u f’dak li għad iseħħ fil-ħajja ta’ dejjem.
“Aħsbu fil-ħwejjeġ tas-sema, mhux f’dawk tal-art”
Hi ħaġa loġika li dan mhux se niksbuh darba għal dejjem, imma rridu nfittxuh il-ħin kollu f’mixja impenjattiva tul ħajjitna kollha. Infatti Kristu ġab fid-dinja l-ħajja tas-sema u l-Għid tiegħu hu l-bidu ta’ ħolqien ġdid u ta’ bnedmin ġodda. Din tkun il-konsegwenza loġika ta’ min jagħżel li jgħix il-Vanġelu: nagħmlu għażla li tibdel għal kollox il-mentalità tagħna, u taqleb ta’ taħt fuq dak li tipproponi d-dinja, hekk li ma nibqgħux ikkundizzjonati minnha. Dan iġib fina bidla mill-qigħ. Wara kollox Pawlu ma jkasbarx “il-ħwejjeġ ta’ din id-dinja” għax, minn meta l-Iben t’Alla sar bniedem, il-ħolqien kollu ġġedded. (2)
“Aħsbu fil-ħwejjeġ tas-sema, mhux f’dawk tal-art”
“X’inhuma l-“affarijiet ta’ hemm fuq?”. Chiara Lubich tikteb hekk: “Huma dawk il-valuri li Ġesù ġab fuq din l-art u li bihom jingħarfu dawk li jimxu warajh. Dawn huma l-imħabba, il-ftehim, is-sliem, il-maħfra, is-sewwa, is-safa, il-ġustizzja, eċċ. Huma dawk il-virtujiet u l-ġid li joffrilna l-Vanġelu. Bihom u permezz tagħhom l-Insara jibqgħu fir-realtà ta’ dawk li rxuxtaw ma’ Kristu. (…)
Issa x’nistgħu nagħmlu biex qalbna tibqa’ dejjem marbuta mas-sema, aħna li qed ngħixu f’din id-dinja? Irridu nħallu l-ħsibijiet u s-sentimenti ta’ Ġesù jmexxuna, għax Hu kien dejjem b’ħarstu lejn il-Missier u f’ħajtu dejjem kienet tidher il-liġi tas-sema, il-liġi tal-imħabba” (3)
“Aħsbu fil-ħwejjeġ tas-sema, mhux f’dawk tal-art”
Il-preżenza tal-Insara tinfirex b’kuraġġ għall-ħajja ġdida tal-Irxoxt fid-dinja kollha. Dawn huma nisa u rġiel ġodda li mhumiex ta’ din id-dinja4 imma li jgħixu fid-dinja bid-diffikultajiet kollha tal-ħajja. L-istess kienu jgħidu fuq l-ewwel Insara: “Huma jgħixu f’din l-art, imma huma ċittadini tas-sema. […] Bħalma r-ruħ tkun fil-ġisem, hekk huma l-Insara fid-dinja” (5)
Darba kien hemm wieħed ħaddiem li għamel għażla kuraġġuża, ispirata kollha kemm hi mill-Vanġelu. Din waslet għal sensiela ta’ atti ta’ fraternità mqanqla mix-xhieda tiegħu.
“Fil-fabbrika fejn naħdem bdew jitqassmu ittri li kienu jinfurmaw lill-ħaddiema li kien se jintemmilhom l-impjieg. Waħda minn dawn l-ittri tawha lil Ġorġ. Jien kont naf bil-qagħda ekonomika ħażina li kien jinsab fiha u għalhekk stedintu jiġi miegħi fl-uffiċċju tar-riżorsi umani. Għidtilhom: “Jien ninsab f’sitwazzjoni aħjar minnu għax marti taħdem. Keċċu lili”. Il-kap wegħidni li kien se jerġa’ jeżamina l-każ.
Kif ħriġna, Ġorġ ġie fuqi u għannaqni għax ħassu mqanqal ħafna b’dak li għamilt. Naturalment din il-ġrajja saru jafu biha l-ħaddiema l-oħra u tnejn minna, li bejn wieħed u ieħor kienu fl-istess kundizzjonijiet tiegħi, offrew ruħhom minflok tnejn oħra li kienu se jitkeċċew. Id-diretturi reġgħu bdew jaħsbuha fuq l-għażla li kienu għamlu biex ikeċċu l-ħaddiema. Il-kappillan sar jaf bil-każ u fil-priedka tal-quddiesa tal-Ħadd irrakkonta dak li kien seħħ fil-fabbrika, bla ma semma’ ismijiet. L-għada għarrafni li żewġ studenti tfajliet kienu tawh il-flus li kienu ġemmgħu biex jagħtihom lil dawk il-ħaddiema li kienu se jitkeċċew, u qalulu: “Aħna wkoll irridu nagħmlu bħal dak il-ħaddiem.” (B. S. – Brasile) (6)
Patrizia Mazzola u t-tim tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja
1. Kol 3, 1-3.
2. Ara 2 Kor 5, 17: “Meta wieħed jingħaqad ma’ Kristu, isir ħolqien ġdid; il-qadim għadda u daħal il-ġdid”.
3. C. Lubich, Parola di Vita April 2001, fil-ktieb Parole di Vita, ta’
Fabio Ciardi (Opere di Chiara Lubich 5); Città Nuova, Ruma 2017) pġ. 640-641.
4. Ara Ġw 15, 18-21.
5. Lil Diogneto 5,5-6,1, mill-ktieb: I Padri Apostolici, ta’ A. Quacquarelli, Città Nuova, Ruma 20012, pġ. 356-357.
6. Esperjenza meħudha minn: www.focolare.org[:en]
for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-17 | Print| Audio
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col. 3:2).
The first Christian communities had only just formed but they were already experiencing internal disagreements due to false interpretations of the Gospel message. Paul, who was in prison, learned of these problems in Colossus and wrote to this community. This month’s Word of Life can be better understood if we read the whole sentence of which it forms part. ‘Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God!’ [i] To overcome such contrasting opinions, Paul invites us to turn our thoughts and our whole being to Christ who is risen. Indeed, in baptism, we have died to ourselves and risen in Christ. We can live ‘in the already and not yet’ of this new life.
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
Obviously, the possibility of sharing in this new life in Christ is not obtained once and for all, but must be continually sought during the challenging journey that lasts for the whole of existence. It means directing our lives towards what is ‘above’. Christ brought the life of heaven to earth, and his Easter is the beginning of the new creation, of a new humanity. Choosing this seems to be the logical consequence of deciding to live the Gospel: it is a choice that totally changes our mentality and overturns the order and the agenda that the world proposes. It frees us from external conditioning and makes us experience a radical change. Paul does not devalue the ‘things of the earth’ because through the incarnation of the Son of God, heaven touched earth and everything has been renewed. [ii]
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
What are the ‘things that are above’? Chiara Lubich writes: ‘Those values that Jesus brought to earth and which distinguish his followers. They are love, harmony, peace, forgiveness, fairness, purity, honesty, justice, etc. They are all those virtues and riches that the Gospel offers. With them and by them, Christians maintain the reality of sharing in Christ’s resurrection… And how do we keep our hearts anchored in heaven while living in the midst of the world? By letting ourselves be guided by the thoughts and feelings of Jesus whose inner gaze was always turned to the Father and whose life always reflected the law of heaven which is the law of love.’ [iii]
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth,”
The presence of Christians in the world boldly opens up to the new life of Easter. Christians are new women and men who are not of the world [iv] but who live in the world which is marked by its current difficulties and challenges. Thus it was said of the first Christians, ‘They dwell on earth, but they have their citizenship in heaven… Just as the soul is in the body, so Christians are in the world.’ [v]The evangelical and courageous choice of a worker who helped his colleague, who had just lost his job, led to a chain of fraternal actions by people who were moved by his example. ‘In the factory, they were handing out letters of dismissal and one was addressed to Giorgio. I knew about his difficult economic situation and so I invited him to return with me to the personnel office: “I am better off than him,” I said. “My wife has a job: you can fire me instead.” The boss promised to review the case.
When we left, Giorgio hugged me and was deeply moved. People heard about what had happened and two other workers, in roughly the same financial situation as me, offered to take the place of two other men who had been laid off. The management was forced to rethink its methods of choosing who to dismiss. The local pastor heard about this and, without using names, referred to it in his Sunday sermon. The following day, he told me that two women students had given him all their savings for the workers in need and had said: “We too want to imitate what that worker has done”’(B. S. – Brazil).[vi]
Edited by Patrizia Mazzola
and the Word of Life team
[i] Col. 3:13
[ii] Cf. 2Cor 5:14
[iii] C. Lubich Word of Life April 2001
[iv] Cf. Jn. 15:18-21
[v] Diognetus 5, 5-6 in Writings of the Apostolic Fathers
[vi] From www.focolare.org[:]
Add Comment