[:mt]Kelma tal-Ħajja ta’ Awwissu[:en]August Word of Life[:]

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

“Mara, il-fidi tiegħek kbira! Ħa jsirlek kif tixtieq” (Mt 15, 28). [1]

Ġesù kien fi triqtu lejn Tir u Sidon, f’art barra minn pajjiżu. Milli jidher Hu u d-dixxipli tiegħu kienu qed ifittxu xi ftit tal-kwiet u l-mistrieħ fejn jitolbu. F’daqqa waħda nstemgħet waħda mara tgħajjat li, bħal nies oħra fil-Vanġeli, isimha ma nafuhx. Id-dixxipli xejn ma ħadu gost biha u “bdew jitolbu” lil Ġesù biex jeħles minnha  għax, qalulu: “ġejja tgħajjat warajna”. Kienet mara, u terġa’ u tgħid ma kenitx Lhudija. Imma hi xorta baqgħet tgħajjat avolja l-Imgħallem ma tax każha. Din l-omm kienet tħossha ddisprata għax bintha kellha fiha xitan u kienet magħdura ħafna. B’rieda sħiħa resqet qrib Ġesù biex tiltaqa’ miegħu wiċċ imb’wiċċ, u rnexxielha tinxteħet quddiem l-Imgħallem titolbu jgħinha. Ġesù kellimha b’mod xi ftit iebes: “Mhux sewwa tieħu l-ħobż tal-ulied u tixħtu lill-ġriewi”.

“Mara, il-fidi tiegħek kbira! Ħa jsirlek kif tixtieq”.

Din il-mara aċċettat il-fatt li Ġesù ma laqax it-talba tagħha. Fehmet li d-dinja tagħha, l-art barranija minn fejn kienet ġejja hi, kienet għadha ma tagħmilx parti mill-missjoni ewlenija tiegħu. Għarfet ukoll li Alla ta’ Ġesù ma kienx xi magna li tqassam il-grazzji, imma missier li jitlob rabta ma’ wliedu li kapaċi jagħrfu tassew il-faqar personali tagħhom. Konxja minn dan kollu, hi ħarset f’għajnejn Ġesù u qaltlu: “Hekk hu, Mulej, iżda l-ġriewi wkoll jieklu l-frak li jaqa’ minn fuq il-mejda ta’ sidienhom”. Biex ngħidu hekk, poġġiet lil Ġesù b’dahru mal-ħajt, hekk li Hu tqanqal mill-umiltà tagħha li tikkuntenta ruħha bil-frak. Saħansitra bl-għajat tagħha kienet turi l-fidi li kellha għax sejħitlu “Mulej, bin Alla!”.

“Mara, il-fidi tiegħek kbira! Ħa jsirlek kif tixtieq”.

Il-fidi kbira tagħha nsibuha mnaqqxa fil-Vanġelu b’għemilha: hi għamlet minn kollox biex tersaq ħdejn Ġesù; bdiet tgħajjat; tibki; titlob ħniena; għarfitU bħala l-Mulej u nxteħtet fl-art quddiemu; baqgħet tinsisti għax kienet ċerta li għall-Mulej m’hemm xejn li ma jistax isir; wieġbet b’mod loġiku u preċiż għall-mod aħrax kif ħadha Ġesù. L-imħabba tagħha ta’ omm u l-fiduċja li kellha mlewha b’qawwa kbira. “U minn dak il-ħin stess bintha fieqet”.

Din il-Kelma tal-ħajja tagħtina stampa ta’ kif taħdem fina l-fidi ħajja. Fl-istess waqt turi l-mixja iebsa tal-ewwel komunità Nisranija li għaliha San Mattew kien qed jikteb il-Vanġelu tiegħu, biex hekk huma jersqu qrib  dawk li ma kenux Lhud u li kellhom fidi kbira f’qalbhom.

“Mara, il-fidi tiegħek kbira! Ħa jsirlek kif tixtieq”.

Bħal dik il-mara Siro-Feniċja “anki l-fidi tagħna tista’ tgħaddi minn xi kriżi minħabba xi diffikultà li tasal fuqna għall-għarrieda, jew minħabba xi ħaġa mhux mistennija li taqleb il-pjanijiet tagħna ta’ taħt fuq… per eżempju xi marda serja, jew sitwazzjoni ta’ niket kbir”[2]. U ma dawn  nistgħu nżidu wkoll in-nuqqas ta’ paċi li hawn fid-dinja, l-inġustizzji, id-dinja li tinsab marida serjament, il-ġlied fil-familji u fis-soċjetà… Wieħed min-nuqqasijiet kbar tagħna jista’ jkun in-nuqqas ta’ perseveranza u fiduċja. “Alla jippermetti li l-fidi tagħna tgħaddi minn sitwazzjonijiet diffiċli, jekk mhux ukoll bla sens. Hu jkun irid isaffiha, ikun irid jara jekk aħna nagħrfux tassew nintelqu f’idejH, għax nemmnu li mħabbtU hi ħafna akbar mill-proġetti, mix-xewqat u mill-istennija tagħna”[3].

Dan hu li għadda minnu Aaron. Hu wkoll ħtieġlu jitlaq minn Ħoms, il-belt fejn kien joqgħod (fis-Sirja) flimkien mal-ġenituri anzjani tiegħu. Il-ħanut ta’ missieru nqered  għal kollox fil-gwerra li fiha ġġarrfet il-belt kollha. Bħal żgħażagħ oħra, Aaron ħaseb biex imur isib futur f’pajjiż ieħor. Kien għad għandu tnejn u għoxrin sena u ried jagħti sehmu biex jgħin lill-poplu tiegħu. Hu ħataf l-okkażjoni biex jingħaqad mal-proġett RestarT[4] u jiftaħ minimarket żgħir, biex ibigħ ġobon, yogurt u butir li kienet tagħmel ommu, kif ukoll fażola, ħwawar u kafè. Bi ħsiebu jixtri friġġ u generator. Fil-ġranet li ma jiftaħx il-ħanut, hu u  missieru anzjan imorru jqassmu qfief bl-ikel lil xi familji fil-bżonn[5].

Victoria Gómez u t-team tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja

[1] Mill-1 sas-6 ta’ Awwissu 2023 se jsir f’Lisbona l-Portugall is-37 Jum Dinji taż-Żgħażagħ. Is-suġġett se jkun: “Marija qamet u marret tħaffef” (Lq 1, 39). Fil-messaġġ tiegħu ta’ stedina liż-żgħażagħ, il-Papa Franġisku qal: “Omm il-Mulej hi mudell għal dawn iż-żgħażagħ li jiċċaqilqu minn post għall-ieħor, u mhux weqfin quddiem il-mergħa jħarsu ċċassati lejhom infushom jew ikunu mhedija jqallbu fl-Internet. Hi kienet mara tħares lejn dak li kien għaddej barra t-triq”. U awgura li l- Jum Dinji taż-Żgħażagħ ikun mument li fih isibu lkoll flimkien: “il-ferħ ta’ tgħanniqa fraterna bejn il-ġnus, tgħanniqa ta’ rikonċiljazzjoni u sliem, tgħanniqa ta’ fraternità ġdida missjunarja”.

[2] Ara C. Lubich, Kelma tal-Ħajja ta’ Ġunju 1994, fil-ktieb, Parole di Vita, ta’ Fabio Ciardi (Opere di Chiara Lubich 5; Città Nuova, Roma 2017) pġ. 550.

[3] Ibid.

[4] https://www.amu-it.eu/progetti-int/restart-ripartire-per-restare/

[5] Meħud minn fuq https://www.unitedworldproject.org/workshop/siria-il-minimarket-di-saliba-alzera-presto-la-serranda/[:en]

Jesus is making his way to the region of Tyre and Sidon, to a foreign land. It seems that he and his followers are searching for an opportunity to rest at last and maybe also for solitude, silence, prayer, and shelter. Suddenly, they hear the cries of a woman who, like other characters in the gospels, has no name. Her presence disturbs and irritates the disciples who ‘beg’ Jesus to send her away: ‘she comes shouting after us.’ The woman is not blocked by the fact that she is not an Israelite, nor because she is a woman, nor because the Master ignores her. She is a mother, desperate for her daughter ‘tormented by a demon.’ She approaches Jesus with the tenacity of wanting a personal meeting with him and she manages to ‘kneel before’ the Master as she insistently asks for help. Jesus responds with unusual harshness and says, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’

“Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

The woman accepts the refusal and she understands that her world is not part of Jesus’ primary mission. She accepts that her God is not a machine that dispenses graces, but a father who desires a true relationship that recognises her personal poverty.  Aware of this, the woman looks Jesus in the eye, ‘Yes, Lord, yet the l dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ She puts Jesus – so to speak – with his back to the wall, and he is moved by the humility of those who are content with the crumbs. Even her cries seem to express a faith and she calls him ‘Lord, Son of David!’

“Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

Her great faith is enshrined in the gospels thanks to a few verbs: the woman comes out and goes to Jesus; she calls out; she cries; she asks for mercy; she recognizes Jesus as Lord and prostrates herself before him; she maintains her tenacity and certainty that for the Lord the impossible is possible; she responds to Jesus’ harshness with impeccable logic. Motherly love and trust are her strengths. ‘And  her daughter was healed instantly.’ This Word is a picture of a person’s living faith in action. And, at the same time, it shows the efforts and journey of the early Christian community to which Matthew addresses these writings, as it opens up to the non-Jewish world which both contains and searches for faith.

“Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”

As with the Syrophoenician woman, ‘our faith can be challenged by a sudden difficulty, by an unforeseen event that upsets our plans, by a serious illness or by the prolongation of a very painful situation’ [i], and, we might add,  by the absence of peace in the world, by structural injustices, by a planet that is seriously ill or by conflict in the family or society… And one of our weaknesses might be a lack of perseverance and total faith. ‘God allows our faith to pass through difficult and sometimes absurd situations. He wants to purify it, he wants to see if we really know how to abandon ourselves in him, believing that his love is much greater than our plans, desires or expectations.’[ii] This happened to Saliba.  It seemed he would have to leave his city and his elderly parents in  Homs Syria.  His father was a glazier and his shop had been destroyed during the war and the city destroyed.

Like other young people, Saliba thought he would have to create new opportunities elsewhere but he did not give up. He was just 22 years of age and had the resolve of someone who does not want to run away from helping his people, who are suffering. He took advantage of the opportunity offered to him by a project called RestarT, to open his own convenience store, where his fellow citizens could find cheeses, yogurt and butter made by his mother, as well as pulses, oils, spices and coffee. He already had a refrigerator and a power generator. On days when the convenience store is closed, he and his elderly father distribute baskets of food to families in need.

Edited by Victoria Gómez
and the Word of Life team

[i] Chiara Lubich, Word of Life, June 1994

[ii] Ibid[:]