ĠESÙ ĦABIB Maħruġ mill-parroċċa San Franġisk t'Assisi Qawra-Buġibba

gesuhabib@gmail.com

F’dak iż-żmien, Ġesù telaq lejn Tir u Sidon. U ħarġet waħda mara Kangħanija minn dawk l-inħawi, u qabdet tgħajjat u tgħid: “Ħenn għalija, Mulej, Bin David; binti għandha fiha xitan, u magħdura ħafna!” Iżda hu ma weġibhiex kelma. Resqu lejh id-dixxipli tiegħu, jitolbuh u jgħidulu: “Eħles minnha, għax ġejja tgħajjat warajna.” Imma hu qalilhom: “Ma ġejtx mibgħut ħlief għan-nagħaġ li ntilfu mid-dar ta’ Iżrael.”

Iżda hi resqet, inxteħtet quddiemu u qaltlu: “Għinni Mulej!” Hu weġibha: “Mhux sewwa tieħu l-ħobż tal-ulied u tixħtu lill-ġriewi.” “Hekk hu, Mulej,” qaltlu “iżda l-ġriewi wkoll jieklu l-frak li jaqa’ minn fuq il-mejda ta’ sidienhom!”

Imbagħad wieġeb Ġesù u qalilha: “Mara, il-fidi tiegħek kbira! Ħa jsirlek kif tixtieq.” U minn dak il-ħin stess bintha fieqet.

Qari mill-Vanġelu [San Mattew 15: 21-28]

L-20 Ħadd ta’ Matul is-Sena

il-fidi tiegħek kbira! Ħa jsirlek kif tixtieq

Ġesù meta ra l-Fidi ta’ dik l-omm, ikkuntentaha u fejqilha lil bintha.

Iżda hi resqet, inxteħtet quddiemu u qaltlu: “Għinni Mulej!”

Kemm hu sabih li meta inkunu fid-diffikulta’ nitolbu lil Ġesù.

qabdet tgħajjat u tgħid: “Ħenn għalija, Mulej, Bin David”

L-omm kienet tidher iddisprata u l-uniku tama tal-fejqan kien f’Ġesù.

Jesus left that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And suddenly out came a Canaanite woman from that district and started shouting, 'Lord, Son of David, take pity on me. My daughter is tormented by a devil.' But he said not a word in answer to her. And his disciples went and pleaded with him, saying, 'Give her what she wants, because she keeps shouting after us.' He said in reply, 'I was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel.'

But the woman had come up and was bowing low before him. 'Lord,' she said, 'help me.' He replied, 'It is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to little dogs.' She retorted, 'Ah yes, Lord; but even little dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters' table.' Then Jesus answered her, 'Woman, you have great faith. Let your desire be granted.' And from that moment her daughter was well again.

ENGLISH CORNER Gospel Reading [Matthew 15: 21-28]

Father, we place our faith and trust in you. When we face obstacles and trials in our daily life, help us to keep our faith in you. In Jesus' name we

pray. Amen. Adapted from sermons4kids.com

Never Give Up

Have you ever heard of Fanny J. Crosby? Fanny was a hymn writer and poet who wrote over 8,000 hymns! A very short list of the most popular hymns written by Fanny include "To God Be the Glory," "Tell Me the Story of Jesus," and "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me." You may be surprised to learn that Fanny was totally blind. She lost her sight when she was only six weeks old through the negligence of a doctor who was treating an inflammation in her eyes. Because she was blind, I am sure that many times Fanny heard the words, "You can't do this" or "You can't do that." One reason I feel sure she heard those words is that she once wrote a song entitled, "Never Give Up!" The words to the refrain of that song go like this:

Never give up, never give up, Never give up to thy sorrows,

Jesus will bid them depart; Trust in the Lord, trust in the Lord,

Sing when your trials are greatest, Trust in the Lord and take heart.

Fanny never gave up! "Blindness," she wrote, "can not keep the sunlight of hope from the trusting soul." Fanny had great faith in God and put her trust in him to get her through the obstacles she faced in her life.

Our Bible lesson today tells about another woman who had great faith and refused to give up. The Bible doesn't tell us her name, it simply calls her "a Canaanite woman." That means that she was a Gentile and, as you know, Jesus and his disciples were Jews. The Jews would have very little to do with gentiles. The Canaanite woman met Jesus one day as he was travelling in the region of Tyre and Sidon. She came toward him crying out, "Have mercy on me, for my daughter is possessed by an evil spirit."

Jesus did not reply to the woman and his disciples came to him complaining that she was bothering them and asked him to tell her to leave. Jesus said to the woman, "I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep - the people of Israel." But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, "Lord, help me!" Jesus replied, "It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs." The woman answered, "That’s true, Lord, but even dogs are allowed to eat the scraps that fall beneath their masters’ table." "Dear woman," Jesus said to her, "your faith is great. Your request is granted." At that very moment, her daughter was healed.

What if she had given up? What if her faith had not been so strong? The end of this story would be quite different, wouldn't it? Let us follow the example set by Fanny Crosby and the Canaanite woman. Let's "Keep the Faith" and "Never Give Up!"

‘Ħenn għalija, ħenn għalija’ bdiet tgħajjat dik il-povra omm lil Ġesù. Marret għand Ġesù biex ifejqilha lil bintha li kienet tinsab magħdura ħafna. U anke illum hawn ħafna ġenituri li jmorru kullimkien ikellmu lil xi ħadd ħabba wliedhom. Min jaf kemm hawn ġenituri bħalissa qegħdin jistennew fil-kju f’xi klinika, l-isptar, uffiċċju għal uliedhom. U jien mank kelma ta’ grazzi ma toħroġ minn fommi! Anzi nuża kliem li jweġġa’ u juri li lanqas apprezzament ma nafux xi jfisser. Kliem bħal: tindaħalx, mhux affarik, dawk tiegħi, ma tifhimx, xiħa, indum kemm irrid, ma jimpurtanix minnek ... u oħrajn ma dawn. Ejjew qabel nibdew noħorġu nitolbu l-barka tagħhom u ngħidulhom: sejjer ... benedizzjoni ma, sejjer pa ... benedizzjoni.

GĦALL-ADOLEXXENTI

Darba kien hemm iljunfant li ried isir fotografu. Tgħidx kemm kienu jidħqu ħbiebu jisimgħuħ jgħid ħekk. “ Mela jeżistu kameras għall-ijlunfanti?” jew “ Ħela ta’ żmien għax m’hawnx ritratti x’tieħu.”

Imma hu ma qatax qalbu. Beda jiġbor biċċiet tal-ħadid u affarijiet oħrajn minn hawn u minn hemm u għamel speċi ta’ kamera. Kellu jiddisinja kollox hu, mill-buttuna li tagħfas biex jittieħed ir-ritratt u li kellu jagħfas bit-tromba tiegħu, sal-lenti

li riedet tkun adattata għal għajnejh. Meta lesta din l-imbierka kamera, fl-aħħar wasal biex jieħu l-ewwel ritratti. Imma dil-kamera kienet tant kbira, enormi u stramba. Kienet qisha maskra ridikola f’wiċċu. Tant kienu jidħqu n-nies li kienu jarawh biha, li beda jaħseb biex jabbanduna l-ħolma tiegħu. Barra minn hekk, qisu dawk li qalulu li m’hemmx ritratti x’tigbed madwaru, kellhom raġun. Imma x’ġara? Id-dehra ta’ iljunfant b’kamera kienet tant għoġbithom li l-annimali kollha bdew jersqu lejh. U ħa ftit ritratti tagħhom tassew interessanti. Fir-ritratti tiegħu kollha kienu jidhru ferħanin, anke r-rinoċeronte. U b’hekk sar il-fotografu uffiċċjali tal-ġungla u għajn ta’ ferħ għall-abitanti kollha tal-ġungla. Il-ħolma tiegħu seħħet aħjar milli basar hu. L-iljunfant baqa’ jipprova sakemm irnexxielu. Inti tibqa’ tipprova sakemm jirnexxilek, jew taqta’ qalbek mal-ewwel intopp?

int mal-ewwel taqta’ qalbek?

Issib ġenituri li ma jimpurtahomx minn uliedhom? Għala?

Hawn ulied li lanqas jagħtu każ tal -ġenituri tagħhom?

Tgħidha l-benedizzjoni qabel toħroġ jew taħsibha tan -nanniet?

Kelina kienet qed issajjar stuffat tal-fenek f’kazzola qadima ħafna. Magħha kellha lil Rożina il-ġara tagħha, li bdiet tidħak biha waqt li qaltilha li llum ma ssibx lil min isajjar b’xi ħaġa hekk qadima, kazzola ta’ żmien il-kavallieri. Imma Kelina weġbitha: ‘Jien ma nqisx jekk hix qadima jew moderna, imma jekk taqdinix mill-aħjar jew le.’ Il-fehma ta’ Kelina għandha tgħodd mhux biss għall-borom, imma għal kollox. Għax bl-iskuża li ż-żminijiet tbiddlu, hawn min

imaqdar drawwiet tajba u qaddisa, u meta nuru li xi għemil ħażin ma jogħġobniex, jgħidulna li m’aħniex moderni u li għadna naħsbuha bħal ta’ żmien in-nanniet. Ħafna jimxu mal-moda għax id-dinja medhija li tkabbar in-negozju. Imma t-tajjeb jibqa’ tajjeb anki meta jgħaddi ż-żmien. U mill-banda l-oħra, dak li fih innifsu kien ħażin u dnub, jgħaddi kemm jgħaddi żmien, jibqa’ dnub, u min jgħid li fiż-żmien modern m’għadux ħażin, ikun qed jgħawweġ is-sewwa. Dak li kien tajjeb u jogħġob lil Alla fl-imgħoddi, jibqa’ tajjeb, u jibqa’ jogħġbu matul iż-żmenijiet kollha.

Il-kazzola l-qadima ta’ Kelina...

Thor Heyerdahl, żagħżugħ Norveġiż ta’ madwar 20 sena, fi żmien it-Tieni Gwerra Dinjija, kien qiegħed il-Kanada fuq taħriġ intensiv għal żmien il-gwerra. Darba kien tassew imwerwer meta kien fuq ċattra żgħira, ma’ sħabu, qed jaqsmu xmara kbira. Kien beżgħan ħafna għax kien jibża’ mill-baħar u qatt ma tgħallem jgħum. U hekku ġara dak li beża’ li se jiġri. Iċ-ċattra sabet ‘waterfall’ u nqalbet. Thor ħass li kollox kien mitluf għalih. Sħabu xejn ma tfixklu. Bdew jaqdfu lejn l-art.

Iżda hu x’seta’ jagħmel? Thor jgħid li dak il-ħin fih ħass leħen misterjuż iħeġġu: ‘Aqdef Thor…aqdef b’kemm għandek ħila!’ U eżattament hekk għamel. Jaqdef u jaqdef, u b’għaġeb kbir għalih, flok beda nieżel ‘l isfel, beda riesaq lejn ix-xtajta. Beda jagħmel kuraġġ, u bla ma jaf kif beda jtenni t-talba li kien għallmu missieru…it-talba tal-Missierna. Fl-aħħar wasal ħdejn sħabu fuq l-art. Iżda Thor ta’ wara n-nawfraġju kien differenti għal kollox minn Thor ta’ qabel. Sa dakinhar Thor ma kien jemmen b’xejn għax ommu dejjem qaltlu li l-ħajja tagħna tintemm għal kollox wara l-mewt. Kien missieru biss li nissel fih xewqa għal dak li hu etern. Issa kien ċert! Ħaddan dak li għallmu missieru…il-Fidi f’Alla. Mhux biss, imma din l-esperjenza iebsa lil Thor Heyerdahl neħħietlu kull biża’ li kellu mill-baħar, tant li ftit snin wara, fuq inizzjattiva tiegħu personali, flimkien ma’ ħamest irġiel oħra, azzarda jaqsam oċean fuq ċattra li saret famuża: Il-Kon-Tiki. Fit-28 ta’ April 1947, Thor u sħabu bdew vjaġġ perikoluż fuq iċ-ċattra Kon-Tiki mill-Perù biex jaqsam l-Oċean Paċifiku. Il-vjaġġ dam 101 ġurnata u spiċċa Raroia, filgżejjer Tuamotu, tul ta’ 6900 kilometru (4300 mili) nhar is-7 ta’ Awwissu 1947. Dan il-każ baqa’ magħruf bħala l-famuża ‘Kon-Tiki Expedition’. Dan il-każ baqa’ magħruf bħala l-famuża ‘Kon-Tiki Expedition’.

Fil-mumenti iebsa ikollna nitolbu l-għajnuna t’Alla...