[:mt]Kelma tal-Ħajja ta’ Novembru[:en]November Word of Life[:]

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

“Tassew, ngħidilkom, li din l-armla, fil-faqar tagħha, tefgħet kull ma kellha [fit-Teżor], dak kollu li kellha biex tgħix” (ara Mk 12, 44).

Din is-silta nsibuha f’għeluq il-kapitlu tnax tal-Vanġelu ta’ San Mark. Ġesù kien fit-tempju ta’ Ġerusalemm fejn kien josserva n-nies ta’  madwaru u jgħallem. Kien hemm diversi tipi ta’ nies ġejjin u sejrin: fosthom kien hemm min kien inkarigat mil-liturġija, oħrajn nobbli lebsin ilbies twil, u nies għonja jitfgħu ħafna flus fit-teżor tat-tempju, eċċ.

Resqet ukoll mara armla, fqira u mwarrba minn kulħadd. Ħadd ma nnutaha hi u titfa’ żewġ muniti li kienu jiswew ftit tal-flus. Imma Ġesù lemaħha, sejjaħ id-dixxipli ħdejn u beda jgħallimhom:

“Tassew, ngħidilkom, li din l-armla, fil-faqar tagħha, tefgħet kull ma kellha [fit-Teżor], dak kollu li kellha biex tgħix”.

“Tassew, ngħidilkom…”. Dan hu kliem li nsibu fih tagħlim importanti; Ġesù li tefa’ ħarstu fuq din il-mara fqira jistedinna nagħmlu bħalha: hi l-mudell ta’ kif għandhom iġibu ruħhom id-dixxipli tiegħu.

Il-fidi ta’ din l-armla hi waħda qawwija; it-teżor tagħha jinsab f’Alla nnifsu. Fl-għotja sħiħa tagħha lil Alla, hi tixtieq tagħti wkoll dak li tista’ biex tgħin lil min hu aktar fqir minnha. Din l-għotja sħiħa u kollha fiduċja tfakkarna fl-għotja ta’ Ġesù fil-passjoni u l-mewt tiegħu. Hu dak l-istess “faqar fl-ispirtu” u “safa tal-qalb” li Ġesù għex u għallem.

Dan ifisser li “m’għandniex inserrħu rasna fuq il-ġid ta’ din id-dinja, imma fuq l-imħabba ta’  Alla u fil-providenza tiegħu. […] Aħna nkunu “foqra” fl-ispirtu meta nħallu l-imħabba lejn l-oħrajn tmexxina, u nagħtu minn dak li jkollna biex ngħinu lil min jinsab fil-bżonn: nagħtu tbissima, il-ħin tagħna, il-ġid u l-ħiliet tagħna. Meta b’imħabba nagħtu kollox, imbagħad inkunu foqra, jiġifieri vojta minna nfusna, insiru xejn, nies ħielsa u ta’ qalbhom safja”[1].

Il-proposta li qed jagħmlilna Ġesù tibdlilna l-mentalità tagħna; iż-żgħar, il-fqar u l-imwarrba jinsabu fiċ-ċentru tal-ħsieb ta’ Ġesù.

“Tassew, ngħidilkom, li din l-armla, fil-faqar tagħha, tefgħet kull ma kellha [fit-Teżor], dak kollu li kellha biex tgħix”.

Din il-Kelma tal-Ħajja tistedinna l-ewwelnett biex inġeddu l-fiduċja kollha tagħna fl-imħabba ta’ Alla u nimxu dejjem taħt il-ħarsa Tiegħu, sabiex ma nagħtux kas tal-apparenzi, ma niġġudikawx u ma nkunux niddependu mill-ġudizzju tal-oħrajn. B’hekk inqisu lil kull persuna b’mod pożittiv.

Din il-Kelma tal-Ħajja tgħidilna li l-mentalità tal-Vanġelu tinsab fl-għotja sħiħa tagħna biex nibnu komunità b’saħħitha għaliex tħeġġiġna biex nieħdu ħsieb xulxin. Tagħmlilna l-qalb biex ngħixu l-Vanġelu fil-ħajja tagħna ta’ kuljum, bla daqq ta’ trombi, biex nagħtu minn dak li jkollna b’qalb ġeneruża u b’fiduċja, filwaqt li ngħixu b’ċertu qies. Twissina biex nieħdu ħsieb dawk li huma mwarrba, u nitgħallmu minnhom.

Venant twieled u trabba fil-Burundi, li hu pajjiż fl-Afrika tal-lvant. Jgħid hekk: “Fir-raħal tagħna, il-familja tiegħi setgħet tiftaħar bir-razzett imdaqqas li kellha, li minnu kull sena kienet tieħu ħsad tajjeb. Ommi kienet temmen li kollox hu mogħti lilna mill-providenza t’Alla, u fi żmien il-ħsad kienet tqassam l-ewwel frott lill-ġirien tagħna. Kienet tibda mill-familji fil-bżonn, u kienet tħallilna biss parti żgħira minn dak li kien jifdal. B’dan l-eżempju tgħallimt kemm jiswa li tagħti bla ma tistenna xejn lura. Hekk fhimt li Alla kien qed jitlobni nagħtiH l-aħjar parti tiegħi, anzi li nagħti lili nnifsi Lilu kollni kemm jien”.

Letizia Magri u t-team tal-Kelma tal-Ħajja

[1] Cf. C. Lubich, Kelma tal-Ħajja ta’ Novembru 2003, fil-ktieb Parole di Vita, ta’ Fabio Ciardi (Opere di Chiara Lubich 5; Città Nuova, Roma, 2017) pġ. 704.[:en]

Illustrated Word of Life for ages 4-8 | Print | Audio

“They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on” (Mk 12: 44).

This verse comes at the conclusion of chapter 12 in the Gospel of Mark. Jesus is in the Temple in Jerusalem where he is both observing and teaching. Looking at the scene through his eyes, we become aware of the involvement of many different characters: people are simply passing through, some have come to worship, some are dignitaries in long robes and some are rich people throwing their substantial offerings into the temple treasury.

But here comes a widow; she belongs to a category of socially and economically disadvantaged people. Amid general disinterest, she throws two pennies into the treasury. Jesus, however, notices her and calls the disciples to him and instructs them:

‘Truly I say to you…’[1] These words introduce important teachings. Jesus’ gaze is focused on the poor widow and he invites us to look in the same direction because she is a model for disciples.

Her faith in God’s love is unconditional; her treasure is God himself. She surrenders all that she is and has to him and, furthermore, she wants to give all she can to support those who are poorer than her. In a way, her trusting surrender to the Father anticipates the same gift of self that Jesus will soon make through his passion and death. It is that ‘poverty of spirit’ and ‘purity of heart’ that Jesus proclaimed and lived.

This means ‘placing our trust in God’s love and in his providence but not in our wealth… We are “poor in spirit” when we allow ourselves to be guided by love for others. This results in our sharing and making what we have available to those in need; it may be a smile, our time, our possessions or our skills. When we give away whatever we have out of love, we become poor, with nothing of ourselves, with a free and a pure heart.’[2]

Jesus’ proposal turns our usual way of thinking onto its head; those who are poor, insignificant and unimportant lie at the centre of his thoughts.

This Word of Life invites us to renew our total trust in God’s love and consider if our vision of life compares with his: do we see beyond appearances, do we avoid judging, do we take other people’s opinions into consideration if they are different from our own and do we see the positive in other people?

It suggests that there is an evangelical logic in freely giving to others and that doing so creates a peaceful community because it urges us to care for one another. It also encourages us to live out the words of the gospel in everyday life even when other people may not notice, to trust when we are generous to others and to share whilst maintaining an attitude of balance and clear judgement. This word focuses our attention upon the ‘least’ and asks us to learn from them.

Venant was born and raised in Burundi. He recounts: ‘In the village, my family had a good farm that always produced a good harvest. My mother believed that everything was providence from heaven and so, each year, she would gather the first fruits and distribute them to our neighbours, starting with the neediest families and then allocated only a small part of what remained to us. I learnt the value of selfless giving from her example. Thus, I understood that God was asking me to give him the “best part”, indeed to give him my whole life.’

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