[:mt]Kelma tal-Ħajja – Novembru 2018[:gb]November Word of Life[:]

[:mt]Niżżel il-fuljett tal-Kelma tal-ħajja

“Ara, jien fil-bieb, u qiegħed inħabbat; jekk xi ħadd jismagħni u jiftaħli l-bieb, jiena nidħol għandu u niekol miegħu, u hu jiekol miegħi” (Ap. 3,20).

Kemm nies jiġu jħabbtu fuq il-bieb tagħna? Jista’ jkun il-pustier, jistgħu jkunu l-ġirien, xi ħbieb ta’ wliedna, u anki xi ħadd li ma nafuhx… Tgħid x’irid? Tgħid niftaħlu u ndaħħal f’dari `l min ma nafux?
Din il-Kelma t’Alla, li nsibuha fil-Ktieb tal-Apokalissi, tistedinna nilqgħu lil dak li ma nkunux qed nistennewh.

Hawnhekk, l-awtur ta’ dan il-Ktieb, li għalina l-insara hu mimli tagħlim, kien qed ikellem lill-knisja antika ta’ Laòdikija f’isem il-Mulej Ġesù, li miet u rxoxta għall-imħabba ta’ kull bniedem li hawn fid-dinja.
Hu kellimhom b’dik l-awtorità li tiġi minn din l-imħabba; hu faħħar, widdeb u stieden lil din il-komunità ta’ nies li jemmnu biex jilqgħu dik l-għajnuna qawwija li l-Mulej stess hejja għalihom, jekk huma jkunu lesti jagħrfu leħnu u “jiftħulu l-bieb”.

“ARA, JIENA FIL-BIEB, U QIEGĦED INĦABBAT; JEKK XI ĦADD JISMAGĦNI U JIFTAĦLI L-BIEB, JIENA NIDĦOL GĦANDU U NIEKOL MIEGĦU, U HU JIEKOL MIEGĦI”.

Illum, bħal f’dawk iż-żminijiet, il-komunità nisranija hi mistiedna tegħleb il-biża’ u l-firdiet u ma tkomplix tibni l-fiduċja tagħha fuq kastelli tar-ramel biex tkun tista’ tilqa’ `l Ġesù. Fil-fatt, Ġesù jiġi jiltaqa’ magħna kuljum liebes ‘libsa’ differenti: dik tat-tbatijiet li niltaqgħu magħhom kuljum, tad-diffikultajiet biex ngħixu skont dak li nemmnu, tal-isfidi biex nagħmlu għażliet importanti f’ħajjitna, iżda fuq kollox meta niltaqgħu miegħU fil-proxxmu tagħna.

Din hija wkoll stedina persunali biex “nieqfu” ma’ Ġesù f’mument intimu, kif nagħmlu ma’ ħabib fis-skiet ta’ filgħaxija, bilqiegħda madwar l-istess mejda. Dan hu l-aħjar ħin biex nibnu djalogu li jitlob qalb lesta li tisimgħu u tinfetaħ għalih. Iżda hemm bżonn li nsikktu l-ħsejjes l-oħra: din hi l-kundizzjoni meħtieġa biex nagħrfu u nisimgħu leħnu, l-Ispirtu Tiegħu, dak biss li jista’ jeħlisna mill-biżgħat tagħna u jwassalna biex niftħulu l-bieb ta’ qalbna.

Chiara Lubich tirrakkonta: “Jekk irridu niskopru l-leħen tal-Ispirtu li hemm ġewwa fina, irridu noħolqu fina s-skiet. Hekk, inkunu nistgħu nisiltu dan il-leħen minn fost l-ilħna l-oħra bħalma meta wieħed jislet djamant minn qalb it-tajn li mbagħad inaddfu, jurih lill-oħrajn u meta jasal il-waqt jagħtih bħala rigal, għax Hu Mħabba u l-Imħabba trid tingħata. Imħabbtu hi bħan-Nar li meta jiġi f’kuntatt mat-tiben aktar jaqbad, iżda jekk le, jintefa’. L-Imħabba trid tikber fina u toħroġ
‘il barra minna”1.

Papa Franġisku jgħid: “L-Ispirtu s-Santu hu don. […] Hu jidħol fina u jagħmel il-frott, biex imbagħad inkunu nistgħu nagħtuh lill-oħrajn. […] Għalhekk irridu nagħmlu kif jagħmel Hu: inwarrbu lilna nfusna miċ-ċentru biex ninfetħu għalloħrajn; nirċievu biex nagħtu. Aħna mhux fiċ-ċentru: aħna għodda biex dan iddon jasal għand l-oħrajn”2.

“ARA, JIENA FIL-BIEB, U QIEGĦED INĦABBAT; JEKK XI ĦADD JISMAGĦNI U JIFTAĦLI L-BIEB, JIENA NIDĦOL GĦANDU U NIEKOL MIEGĦU, U HU JIEKOL MIEGĦI”.

Meta l-insara jgħixu l-imħabba lejn xulxin kif jgħallem il-Vanġelu, bħal Ġesù u flimkien miegħU, huma jkunu jistgħu jagħtu xhieda tal-preżenza t’Alla fil-ġrajjiet tal-istorja, anki fi żminijietna.
Ġesù spiss iħabbat f’xi post fuq il-fruntiera, fejn isibu ruħhom l-immigranti. Delja tirrakkonta: “Kien il-Ħadd u kienet is-sħana. Fuq il-bankina quddiem ilbar tiegħi rajt ħafna ommijiet ma’ wliedhom jibku bil-ġuħ. Jiena stedinthom jidħlu fil-bar u għidtilhom li kont se noffrilhom xi ħaġa x’jieklu bla ma jħallsu xejn. Dawn l-ommijiet bdew jistħu għax ma kellhomx biex iħallsuni, iżda jiena
nsistejt u huma aċċettaw dak li tajthom. Kollox beda minn hawn u llum dan sar il-bar tal-immigranti, li l-biċċa l-kbira minnhom huma Musulmani. Huma jsejħuli “Mamà Afrika”. Il-klijenti li kelli qabel, ftit ftit tlifthom u l-kamra fejn kienu jilagħbu l-anzjani saret il-kamra fejn it-tfal joqogħdu jiktbu u jilagħbu. Hemm ukoll post fejn jistgħu jbiddlu lit-trabi u kultant din il-kamra sservi għal-lezzjonijiet tat-Taljan. Għalija din ma kinitx għażla, iżda ħassejt il-bżonn li ma ndawwarx wiċċi
n-naħa l-oħra. Grazzi għal dawn il-immigranti sirt naf ħafna nies u għaqdiet li qed jgħinuni fix-xogħol tiegħi. Li kelli nibda mill-ġdid, nerġa’ nagħmel dak kollu li għamilt. L-importanti għalija hu li NAGĦTI minn dak li għandi”3.

Ilkoll kemm aħna mistednin nilqgħu `l-Mulej li qiegħed iħabbat, biex flimkien miegħu ngħinu `l min hu qrib tagħna.
U l-Mulej innifsu jidħol fina bil-preżenza tiegħu.

Letizia Magri

1: C. Lubich, Lo Spirito Santo è l’Amore, 12 settembre 1949, in «Collegamento CH», Ġunju 2006.
2: FRANCESCO, Udjenza Ġenerali, Ruma 6 ta’ Ġunju 2018.
3: In «Città Nuova online», 7 ta’ Marzu 2018 u fil-«Kollegament CH», 16 ta’ Ġunju 2018.[:gb]

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“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me” (Rev. 3:20).

We may often hear a knock at the door. It might be someone with a delivery, our neighbor or one of our children’s friends. Sometimes it may be a stranger. What do they want? Is it a good idea to open the door and let in someone who we don’t know?
And yet this Word of God, taken from the Book of Revelation, invites us to welcome an unexpected guest.

This book is very instructive for Christians. The author was John the Apostle, and on this occasion he was writing to the church in Laodicea [modern day Turkey]. He wrote in the name of the Lord Jesus, who had died and risen from the dead out of love for every human being. The authoritative guidance John gave derived from this love. He praised the community, corrected them and asked them to be open to the powerful help that the Lord himself was prepared to give, provided they were ready to recognize his voice and “open the door.”

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”

It’s the same today. Now too, the whole Christian community is asked to overcome fear, division and a false sense of security, to welcome the coming of Jesus. In fact, he comes to us every day in different “guises.”
These might be our daily sufferings, the difficulties we face in being faithful to the Gospel, or challenges concerning important choices we make in life. Above all, he comes to us in the people we meet around us.

It is also an invitation to each of us to “spend time” with Jesus in a personal conversation, as you would with a friend during a quiet evening, sitting at table together. That is the best time for a conversation that calls for openness and listening.
We need to “shut out” all external noise if we want to recognize and hear his voice, his Spirit, who can help us break through our fear and open the door of our heart.

Chiara Lubich wrote about her own experience on September 12, 1949: “We must silence everything within us in order to discover the voice of the Spirit. We need to draw it out as if we were extracting a diamond from the mud: polish it up, display it and share it with other people at the right moment, because it is love, and love is meant to be given. It is like fire, which burns when in contact with straw or other material. If it does not do this, it dies out. Love must grow in us and overflow.”

During a general audience on June 6, 2018 Pope Francis said: “The Holy Spirit is a gift … He enters us and makes us fruitful, so that we can then give him to others … The Holy Spirit shifts us from our ‘I’ in order to open us up to the ‘we’ of the community: receiving in order to give. We are not at the center: we are an instrument of that gift for others.”

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door,
I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”

By living mutual love which is characteristic of the Gospel, Christians can be witnesses to the presence of God in history.

In an area where there are many migrants, someone heard a “knock at her door.” Delia from Italy shared her story:
“It was a hot Sunday afternoon and quite a few mothers and children were sitting on the pavement outside my café. The children were crying because they were hungry. I invited them all to come in and said that the children’s meals would be free. The mothers were embarrassed because they had no money, but I was determined to feed them, and they accepted my offer. That was the start of it all and now my place has become the migrants’ café, most of whom are Muslim. Many of them call me “Mommy Africa.”
The people who used to be my clients gradually stopped coming. So, the room where the older people played board games has now become the children’s room where they can draw and play. Another small room became an area where mothers can change their babies and even have a little rest. At other times it becomes a classroom where Italian lessons are given.
“I didn’t make a specific choice to change my customer base — I just couldn’t ignore the migrants. Thanks to them I have met many people and organizations that support me and help me keep going. If I were to start over, I would do the same thing again. For me what matters is to give!” (1)

All of us are invited to welcome the Lord who knocks at our door so that together with him we can go out toward our neighbors. The Lord’s presence in our life will grow stronger.

Letizia Magri

(1) In «Città Nuova online», 7 marzo 2018 e in «Collegamento CH», 16 giugno 2018.[:]