[:mt]Ngħixu il-Vanġelu: “Ejjew inkunu strumenti ta’ konsolazzjoni”[:en]Living the Gospel: Being instruments of consolation[:]

[:mt]Ġesù mhuwiex wieħed li ma jimpurtahx mit-tbatijiet tagħna. Hu jfejjqilna qalbna mill-għebusija tal-egoiżmu, jimla l-vojt tagħna u jqawwina f’kulma ngħaddu minnu.

Żwieġ li ġie salvat

Waħda minn uliedna  kienet għaddejja minn żmien diffiċli ħafna fiż-żwieġ tagħha. Meta kellimtha  fuq it-telefon bdiet tibki u qatli li tilfet kull tama li ż-żwieġ tagħha seta’ jkompli u li l-unika soluzzjoni kienet id-divorzju. Żewġi u jiena dejjem emminna fil-wegħda li Ġesu’ għamel lid-dixxipli meta qalilhom: “ Jekk tnejn minnkom fuq l-art igħollu leħinhom flimkien biex jitolbu xi ħaġa, Missieri li hu fis-smewwiet jagħtihielhom”. B’fidi qawwija f’dan il-kliem ta’ Ġesu, wegħidt lil binti li aħna u l-ħames ħutha l-oħra konna ser nitolbu biex  is-sitwazzjoni ta’ bejniethom tirranġa.

Kien għadda ftit żmien meta reġgħet ċempliltli u bil-kemm stajt nemmen meta minn leħinha malajr indunajt li kienet tajba. Wara li kienu rriflettew sew fuq is-sitwazzjoni ta’ bejniethom  żewġha qabel li kellhom jmorru ikellmu lil xi ħadd li seta’ jgħinhom isolvu l-problemi tagħhom. U dan wassalhom biex isalvaw iż-żwieġ. Meta għaddew xi ftit snin, ir-raġel ta’ binti stqarr magħha  li xtaq isir kattoliku  u talabha tieħdu għand saċerdot biex ikun jista’ jibda din it-triq.

(G. B. – USA)

Bidu ġdid

Kont tassew ħerqana li ser nibda ngħallem fi skola sekondarja taċ-Church of England f’Londra tal-punent, iżda l-ħerqa li kelli malajr bdiet tmur. L-istudenti ma laqgħunix kif xtaqt jien u l-ħin kollu kelli nissara magħhom biex nuri li fil-klassi jien nikkmanda. Meta qsamt dak li kont għaddejja minnu ma’ xi ħbieb irrealizzajt li kelli nipprova nibdel it-tattika. Għalkemm ħassejt li dak li kont qed nagħmel kien tajjeb, iżda għidt: Ġesu’ żgur ma kienx iġib ruħu b’dan il-mod. L-għada meta mort fil-klassi tlabt skuża u għidtilhom li probabbli għamilt ħafna żbalji li għalliema b’ esperjenza aktar kbira ma kenitx tagħmilhom.

L-istudenti qagħdu jisimgħuni fi skiet perfett u stajt ngħidilhom li kont ser inħares lejhom b’għajnejn ġodda u li nittama li huma wkoll kienu ser jagħmlu l-istess. Wieħed minn dawk li l-aktar jaqla trouble fil-klassi qam  u qal quddiem  kulħadd li hu jaċċetta l-apoloġija tiegħi, imbagħad talab skuża f’ismu u f’isem sħabu  tal-klassi. Kienet ġrat xi ħaġa li rari kont tisma’ li ġrat: għalliema talblet skuża quddiem il-klassi kollha. Kien bidu ġdid.

(G.P. – UK)

It-tifel f’salib it-toroq

Kull filgħodu, qabel ma nibda x-xogħol bħala pulizija tat-traffiku, immur nisma’ quddiesa u nitlob lil Ġesu’ jgħinni nħobb lil kull persuna li niltaqa’ magħha matul il-ġurnata. Darba minnhom meta kont xogħol fi  triq li minnha jgħaddi ħafna traffiku u rajt ġuvnott isuq il-mutur tiegħu bi speed qawwi ħafna. Dan għadda u reġa’ għadda, u allura ddeċidejt li nwaqqfu u għidtlu biex ma jsuqx b’dak l-ispeed kollu fil-waqt li ttamajt li ma jaqlax inkwiet. Iżda kien kollu għalxejn.

Fl-aħħar waqaf u qalli: “Għandi ħafna problemi u rrid li dawn jispiċċaw ma’ ħajti”. Bqajt nisimgħu għal ħin twil għalkemm kelli nibqa’ għaddej bix-xogħol tiegħi. Offrejtlu li l-għajnuna tiegħi u qtajtha li ma nagħtihx ċitazzjoni. Telaq aktar fil-paċi. Għaddew ftit tas-snin, kont xogħol f’post ieħor meta raġel żagħżugħ resaq lejja bi tbissima fuq wiċċu u għannaqni. Għidtlu: “Naħseb li għandek żball, qed taħsibni xi ħaddieħor”. Weġibni: “Le, jien dak il-ġuvnott li kont iltqajt miegħek f’salib it-toroq; illum miżżewweġ u tassew kuntent. Ġejt hawnhekk għax ridt niltaqa’ miegħek biex nirringrazzjak”. F’qalbi stajt  ngħid biss grazzi lil Alla.

(S.A. – Italja)

Nixjieħu flimkien

Wara għexur ta’ snin miżżewġin b’imħabba lejn xulxin, indunajt li jien ma kontx aktar  nissaporti lil marti. Hi ma taqbilx miegħi f’ħafna affarijiet li nagħmel jien u dejjem tirrepetili l-istess lezzjoni. Darba minnhom, wara li smajtha darba  tnejn, weġibtha bir-rabja u għidtilha li kont naf x’kelli nagħmel: ma kienx hemm għalfejn toqgħod terġa’ tgħidli. Naturalment hi ħadet għaliha, u jiena ddispjaċieni. Tlabtha maħfra, imma ġewwa fija baqgħet tbatija kbira talli ma kontx irrispettajt u aċċettajt ix-xjuħija tagħha. Bdejt naħseb li jekk qed nagħmel dan magħha, min jaf kemm affarijiet għamilt li jweġġgħuha.

Meta ġiet tarana neputija mal-partner tagħha, bdejna nirrakkuntaw x’kien ġralna. Din, bla ma kien jidher li hemm għalfejn, infaqgħet tikbi u l-partner qabadha minn idha u beda jżiegħel biha. Wara ftit tas-skiet stqarrew magħna li kienu ddeċidew li ma jibqgħux aktar flimkien, minħabba d-differenza li bdew jinnutaw fil-karattru tagħhom. Meta semgħu dak li konna qed nirrakkuntawlhom, kienu tassew kommossi għax raw kemm hi ħaġa sabiħa li qed nixjieħu flimkien u li dejjem nippruvaw nibnu mill-ġdid l-imħabba tagħna lejn xulxin.

(P.T. – Ungerija)

 [:en]Jesus is not indifferent to our tribulations and sufferings: he wants our hearts to be healed from the bitterness of selfishness.  He wants to fill our loneliness and give us strength in all we do.

A marriage saved

One of our daughters was going through an extremely difficult moment in her marriage. When I spoke to her on the phone she was in tears and confided in me that she had lost all hope of saving her marriage and that the only solution was to divorce. My husband and I have always been struck by the promise Jesus made to the disciples: “If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.”  With this faith, I promised our daughter that we and her five other siblings would pray for reconciliation.

Not long afterwards, she called me up. She sounded elated and almost incredulous. After much reflection, her husband agreed to talk to people who could help them solve their problems, and they did manage to save their marriage. A few years later, our son-in-law shared with her his desire to become a Catholic and asked her to come with him to see a priest so that they could start the process. (G. B. – USA)

A new beginning

I was really looking forward to teaching at a Church of England secondary school in West London but my enthusiasm soon began to wane. Not being welcomed by the students as I would have wished and in being constant conflict with them, I started to assert my authority. However, when I shared the situation with friends, I realised I had to try a different tactic. Even though I felt I was in the right, it wasn’t what Jesus would have done. The following day I apologized to the class saying that I had probably made a lot of mistakes that a more experienced teacher would not have made.

As the pupils listened in total silence, I said I would try to see them all with new eyes and I hoped they would do the same with me. One of the main troublemakers publicly accepted my apology, and apologised in turn for his own behaviour and that of the rest of the class. Several students nodded at these words. I saw some of them smiling. Something almost unheard of had just happened: a teacher had apologised in front of the whole class. It was a new beginning for everyone. (G.P. – England)

The boy at the crossroads

Every morning, before I start work as a traffic policeman, I go to Mass and ask Jesus to help me to love everyone I meet during the day. One day, at a busy crossroads, I saw a young lad speeding by on his motorbike. After a while he came back again at very high speed, and this carried on several times. I told him to stop, hoping in my heart that he won’t cause trouble, but to no avail. Finally he did stop, just to say to me: “I have so many problems and I just want them to end with my life”. I listened to him for a long time whilst carrying on with my work. I offered him my willingness to help and decided not to give him a ticket. He left much more at peace.

One day, a few years later, while I was on duty in another place, a young man came up to me with a big smile on his face and hugged me warmly. I said to him: “Look, you must have got the wrong person” to which he replied, “No, I’m the guy at the crossroads; now I’m happily married and happy with life. I came all the way back here from the town where I now live because I wanted to thank you”. In my heart all I could do was thank God. (S.A. – Italy)[:]