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[:mt]Niżżel il-fuljett tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja bil-Malti
“Int għandek tħobb il-Mulej… u lill-proxxmu tiegħek bħalek innifsek” (Lq 10, 27).
Din is-sena, il-Ġimgħa ta’ Talb għall-għaqda tal-Insara1 qed tistedinna nirriflettu fuq il-kliem li jidher hawn fuq u li nsibuh ukoll fit-Testment il-Qadim2. Fi triqtu lejn Ġerusalemm, Ġesù ltaqa’ ma’ wieħed għaref tal-liġi li staqsih: “Mgħallem, x’għandi nagħmel biex niret il-ħajja ta’ dejjem?”. B’hekk bdiet diskursata bejniethom, u Ġesù wieġbu b’mistoqsija oħra: “Fil-liġi x’hemm miktub?”3. U l-għaref tal-liġi wieġbu: “Inħobbu ʹl Alla u lill-proxxmu tagħna”, u hekk wieġeb għall-mistoqsija li kien għamel hu stess. Il-Liġi u l-Profeti huma kollha miġbura f’din l-imħabba.
“Int għandek tħobb il-Mulej… u lill-proxxmu tiegħek bħalek innifsek”.
“U l-proxxmu tiegħi min hu?”, reġa’ staqsieh dak l-imgħallem tal-liġi. Ġesù wieġbu bil-parabbola tas-Samaritan it-tajjeb. Hu ma qagħadx isemmi min jista’ jkun il-proxxmu tagħna, imma wrieh li rridu nġibu ruħna bi ħniena kbira f’dak kollu li nagħmlu mal-oħrajn. Aħna stess irridu nsiru “proxxmu” għall-oħrajn. Irridu nistaqsu lilna nfusna: “Issa jien, ta’ min jiena proxxmu?”.
Kif għamel dan is-Samaritan, hekk aħna rridu nieħdu ħsieb ħutna meta jkunu fil-bżonn, billi naraw x’għandna nagħmlu fis-sitwazzjonijiet li jkunu jinsabu fihom. U dan irridu nagħmluh bla biża’ ta’ xejn. Irid ikollna mħabba li tkun lesta tgħin, twieżen u tagħmel il-qalb lil kulħadd.
Fl-oħrajn irridu naraw lilna nfusna u nagħmlu magħhom dak li nixtiequ li ħaddieħor jagħmel magħna. Din insejħulha “r-regola tad-deheb” li nsibuha fir-reliġjonijiet kollha. Gandhi jfissirha b’dan il-mod: “Inti u jien, aħna ħaġa waħda. Ma nistax inweġġgħek bla ma nweġġa’ lili nnifsi”4.
“Int għandek tħobb il-Mulej… u lill-proxxmu tiegħek bħalek innifsek”.
“Jekk nibqgħu indifferenti u ma nagħmlu xejn quddiem il-bżonnijiet tal-proxxmu tagħna, kemm materjali kif ukoll spiritwali, ma nistgħux ngħidu li nħobbu ʹl-proxxmu tagħna bħalma nħobbu lilna nfusna. Ma nistgħux ngħidu li nħobbuh kif ħabbu Ġesù. F’komunità li trid tispira ruħha mill-imħabba li għallimna Ġesù, ma nistgħux nagħmlu differenza bejnietna u ma nistgħu nittraskuraw lil ħadd. […]. Sakemm nibqgħu nħarsu lejn il-proxxmu tagħna bħala xi ħadd barrani, xi ħadd li ma jħalliniex bi kwietna u jfixkel il-proġetti tagħna, ma nistgħux ngħidu li nħobbu ʹl Alla b’qalbna kollha”5.
“Int għandek tħobb il-Mulej… u lill-proxxmu tiegħek bħalek innifsek”.
Il-ħajja hi magħmula minn dak li jseħħ fil-mument preżenti. Meta nindunaw b’dawk in-nies li jinsabu qrib tagħna, u nagħrfu nisimgħu ʹl-oħrajn, il-ħajja ssir aktar interessanti u nagħmlu dak li qatt ma konna nobsru li nistgħu nagħmlu. Hekk ġralha Victoria:
“Fil-knisja bqajt milquta bil-vuċi sabiħa ħafna ta’ mara Afrikana li kienet qiegħda ħdejja. Fraħtilha u ħeġġiġtha biex tingħaqad mal-kor tal-parroċċa. Bdejna nitkellmu ftit u sirt naf li hi kienet soru mill-Guinea, fi triqtha lejn Madrid. Qaltli li fl-istitut fejn kienet hi, kienu jilqgħu trabi u tfal żgħar abbandunati li jrabbuhom u jieħdu ħsiebhom sa ma jikbru, jidħlu l-università, jew jitgħallmu xi sengħa. Qaltli wkoll li għandhom post fejn iħitu imma li m’għandhomx magni biżżejjed.
Offrejt li ngħinha biex issib magni oħra, u poġġejt it-tama tiegħi f’Ġesù, ċerta li Hu jismagħna u jħeġġiġna nibqgħu nħobbu sal-aħħar.
Wieħed ħabib tiegħi kien jaf lil xi ħadd tas-sengħa. Dan kien kuntent li jieħu sehem f’din il-katina ta’ mħabba. Sewwa u tana tmien magni u sab ukoll magna oħra li tgħaddi l-ħwejjeġ. Koppja li nafuha li kienet sejra għal jumejn vaganza, bidlu l-programm tagħhom u għamlu vjaġġ itwal biex setgħu jieħdu dawn il-magni Madrid. U hekk, “il-magni tat-tama”, bi vjaġġ twil bil-baħar u bl-art, waslu sa Malabo. Fil-Guinea bilkemm setgħu jemmnu! Fil-messaġġi li bagħtulna stajna nindunaw bil-gratitudni tagħhom!”.
Patrizia Mazzola
u t-team tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja
1. Din tiġi ċċelebrata bejn it-18 u l-25 ta’ Jannar. Is-siltiet ta’ talb għal din is-sena ġew ippreparati minn tim ekumenika mill-Burkina Faso.
2. Ara Dt 6, 4-5 u Lv 19, 18.
3. Lq 10, 25.
4. C. Lubich, L’arte di amare, Città Nuova, Ruma 2005, pġ. 24.
5. C. Lubich, Kelma tal-Ħajja ta’ Novembru 1985, fil-ktieb, Parole di Vita, ta’ Fabio Ciardi (Opere di Chiara Lubich 5; Città Nuova, Ruma 2017) pġ. 340-341.
for ages 4-8 | for ages 9-17 | Print| Audio
“Love the Lord your God … and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27).
This year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (i) offers the phrase quoted above as a basis for reflection. The origins of the phrase lie in the Old Testament. (ii) On his way to Jerusalem Jesus is stopped by a doctor of the law who asks him, ‘Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ (iii) This opens up a dialogue and Jesus responds with a counter-question, ‘What is written in the Law?’ (iv) thus enabling the questioner himself to draw out the answer. He states that the Law and Prophets are summed up in love of God and love of neighbour.
“Love the Lord your God … and your neighbour as yourself.”
The doctor of the law continues by asking, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ The Master responds by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. He does not list the various types of people who may be neighbours but describes the attitude of deep compassion that should underlie all our actions. It is we ourselves who should become neighbours’ to others.
The question to ask is, ‘Whose neighbour am I?’ Just as the Samaritan did, we should care for our brothers and sisters whose needs we know and not be fearful of becoming fully involved in the situations that arise all around us. Our love can show concern and bring help, support and encouragement to everyone.
We need to see in other people ‘another self’ and do to them what we would want done to us. This is the so-called ‘golden rule’ that we find in all religions. Gandhi explains it effectively, ‘You and I are one. I cannot hurt you without hurting myself’. (v)
“Love the Lord your God … and your neighbour as yourself.”
‘If we remain indifferent or resigned to the needs of our neighbours, whether these are material or spiritual, we cannot say that we love our neighbours as ourselves. We cannot say that we love them as Jesus loved them. In a community that strives to be inspired by the love that Jesus taught us, there can be no place for inequality, marginalization or neglect. For as long as we regard our neighbours as strangers who are disturbing our peaceful lives and disrupting our plans, we will not be able to say that we love God with all our hearts.’ (vi)
“Love the Lord your God … and your neighbour as yourself.”
Life is what happens in the present moment. Noticing those around us and knowing how to listen to each other can open up interesting situations and set in motion unexpected initiatives.
This is what happened to Victoria:
‘In church I was struck by the beautiful voice of an African woman sitting next to me. I congratulated her, encouraging her to join the parish choir. We stopped to talk. She was a nun from Equatorial Guinea who was passing through Madrid. In her institute, they take in abandoned baby boys and girls and care for them till they become adult. The young people usually either study at university or learn a trade. The tailoring workshop was well established in the institute but did not have sufficient sewing machines.
I offered to help her find more machines. I placed my trust in Jesus and was sure that he was listening to our needs and urging me to love without measure. One of my friends knew a tradesman who was happy to participate in this chain of love. He arranged to repair eight machines and even found an ironing machine for the workshop. A couple of friends offered to take them all the way to Madrid even though this meant changing the destination of their two-day holiday and travelling nearly 1,000 kilometres. Thus, the “hope machines” arrived in Malabo after a long journey over land and sea. In Equatorial Guinea they could not believe what had happened and could only express their immense gratitude!’
Prepared by Patrizia Mazzola
and the Word of Life Team
i. This is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere 18-25 January and in the Southern Hemisphere during the week of Pentecost. This year the texts of prayers have been prepared by an ecumenical group in Burkino Faso.
ii. Cf. Dt 6:,4-5 & Lev 19:18.
iii. Lk. 10:25
iv. Lk. 10:26
v. C. Lubich, L’arte di amare, Città Nuova, Roma 2005, p. 24.
vi. C. Lubich. Word of Life, Nov 1985
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