[:mt]Kelma tal-Ħajja ta' Mejju[:en]May Word of Life[:]

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

“Ħobbu lil xulxin bħal aħwa; fittxu li tistmaw lil xulxin” (Rm 12, 10).

Dan ix-xahar il-Kelma tal-ħajja hi silta mill-ittra kollha għerf ta’ San Pawl lir-Rumani. Fiha dan l-appostlu juri l-ħajja Nisranija bħala realtà kollha imħabba mogħtija b’xejn u bla tarf. Alla sawwab fi qlubna din l-imħabba u aħna, min-naħa tagħna, nagħtuha lill-oħrajn. Biex jiċċara kliemu, San Pawl inqeda b’żewġ ħsibijiet f’kelma waħda, “philostorgos”. Din il-kelma tiġbor fiha żewġ karatteristiċi partikulari ta’ dik l-imħabba li biha jingħarfu l-komunitajiet Insara: l-imħabba ta’ bejn il-ħbieb u l-imħabba fil-familja.

“Ħobbu lil xulxin bħal aħwa; fittxu li tistmaw lil xulxin”.

Ħa nieqfu ftit fuq l-aspett tal-imħabba bejn il-ħbieb u bejn il-bnedmin. Kif jikteb San Pawl, dawk li jagħmlu parti mill-komunità Nisranija, iħobbu ʹl xulxin għax huma membri ta’ ġisem wieħed (12, 5); huma aħwa li għandhom obbligu wieħed: li jinħabbu (13, 8), jiġifieri jifirħu ma’ min jifraħ u jibku ma’ min jibki (12, 15); ma jiġġudikawx u ma jiskandalizzawx lill- ħuthom il-bnedmin (14, 13).

Il-ħajja tagħna hi marbuta mill-qrib ma’ dik tal-oħrajn u l-komunità tagħti xhieda ħajja tal-liġi tal-imħabba li Ġesù ġab fid-dinja. Din l-imħabba titlob ħafna minna, saħansitra tasal biex dak li jkun jagħti ħajtu għal ħutu. Hi mħabba konkreta u tixtieq il-ġid u l-ferħ lill-oħrajn. Biha l-aħwa jitwettqu bi sħiħ, ikunu minn ta’ quddiem biex japprezzaw il-kwalitajiet ta’ ħuthom. Din hi mħabba li tagħti kas tal-bżonnijiet tal-oħrajn: tagħmel ħilitha kollha biex ħadd ma jaqa’ lura. Hi tagħmilna nies responsabbli u attivi fil-ħajja soċjali, kulturali u politika.

“Ħobbu lil xulxin bħal aħwa; fittxu li tistmaw lil xulxin”.

“Jekk inħarsu lejn il-komunitajiet tal-ewwel seklu naraw kif din l-imħabba Nisranija kienet tasal għand kulħadd, ikun min ikun, u kienet tissejjaħ: ‘filadelfia’ li tfisser imħabba ta’ bejn l-aħwa. Fil-kitba profana ta’ dawk iż-żminijiet, din il-kelma kienet tintuża biex tfisser l-imħabba tal-aħwa fil-familja. Qatt ma kienet tintuża fost il-membri tal-istess soċjetà. Dan b’eċċezzjoni waħda: fit-Testment il-Ġdid”¹. Ħafna huma ż-żgħażagħ li jixtiequ jkollhom “rabta aktar profonda, aktar vera. U l-imħabba ta’ bejn l-Insara tal-ewwel żminijiet kellha l-kwalitajiet kollha tal-imħabba ta’ bejn l-aħwa, per eżempju il-qawwa u l-għożża fost l-aħwa”².

“Ħobbu lil xulxin bħal aħwa; fittxu li tistmaw lil xulxin”.

Kwalità partikulari ta’ dawk li kienu jagħmlu parti minn dawn il-komunitajiet li jinħabbu bejniethom kienet li huma ma jingħalqux fihom infushom, imma jkunu dejjem lesti jittrattaw l-isfidi li jinqalgħu bejniethom fil-kuntest li fih ikunu qed jaħdmu.

J.K., Serb ta’ nazzjonalità Ungeriża, u missier ta’ tliet ulied, fl-aħħar seta’ jixtri dar, imma minħabba inċident li kellu spiċċa bla flus u ma kellux is-saħħa biex jirranġaha waħdu. Għalhekk, il-komunità tal-Fokolari bdiet tara x’setgħet tagħmel, bil-proġett³ taż-Żgħażagħ għal Dinja Magħquda.

Kollu entużjażmu hu jirrakkonta kemm għamlu minn kollox biex jgħinuh konkretament: “Kienu ħafna dawk li ġew jagħtuni daqqa t’id. Fi tlett ijiem bdilna s-saqaf”. F’dawk ix-xogħlijiet għenu wkoll xi nies mir-Repubblika Ċeka. B’dan il-mod ħarġet fid-dieher il-komunità kollha kemm hi⁴.

Patrizia Mazzola
(Word of Life Team)

C. Lubich, Colloqui con i gen, Città Nuova, Ruma 1999, pġ. 58.
Ibid.
Il-proġett: Dare to care.
Meħud u addattat mill-artiklu:“Serbja: nibnu dar biex nagħtu l-kenn”,www.unitedworldproject.org

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

Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour (Rom 12:10).

This month’s word of life is taken from the letter written by Paul to the Romans. The text is rich in content. Paul presents the Christian life as one where love abounds, a gratuitous and limitless love that God has poured into our hearts and that we, in turn, give to others. To make his meaning clearer and even more effective, he inserts two concepts into a single word, ‘philostorgos,’ which expresses two particular characteristics of love that distinguish the Christian community: love among friends and love within the family.

Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour.

Let us focus especially on the aspect of fraternity and reciprocal love. Paul states that the people of the Christian community love one another because they are members of one another (12:5), they are brothers and sisters whose only debt to one another is love (13:8), they rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (12:15) and they do not judge and are not a cause of scandal (14:13). Our existence is intertwined with the lives of other people and the community is a living witness to the law of love that Jesus brought to earth. This is a demanding love that reaches the point of laying down one’s life for others. It is also a practical love that is characterised by thousands of expressions of care for other people and their happiness. It leads to fulfilment and to people competing in the appreciation of one another’s qualities. It is a love that looks to everyone’s needs and does all that is possible to avoid leaving anyone behind. It draws us to be responsible and active in society, culture and political engagement.

Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour.

Chiara Lubich writes, ‘Looking at the first century communities, we see that Christian love, which spread indiscriminately to all, had a name. It was called philadelphia, which means brotherly love. In the secular literature of the time, this term was used to refer to love between blood brothers and sisters. It was never used to refer to members of the same society. Only the New Testament was an exception.’ [1]There are many young people who feel the need to have ‘a deeper, more heartfelt and more genuine relationship. And the mutual love of the early Christians had all the characteristics of sibling love, for example in its strength and affection.’ [2]

Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour.

A distinguishing characteristic of these communities living mutual love is that the members do not close in on themselves but are ready to face the real challenges that arise within the context in which they exist. J.K., a Serbian, Hungarian national and father of three could finally afford to buy a house but due to an accident, he did not have the financial and physical resources to renovate it himself. So the Focolare community went into action and drawing upon the Youth for a United World ‘Dare to Care’ project, it was able to offer practical support.

JK spoke enthusiastically about the solidarity among the helpers none of whom wanted to be outdone in generosity: ‘So many people came to help me that in three days we were able to renew the roof and replace the earth and thatch ceilings with plasterboard.’ Some people from the Czech Republic also contributed financially to the renovation work. This action was a visible witness to the extended community and was not limited by geographical and political boundaries.[3]

Edited by Patrizia Mazzola
and the Word of Life team.