Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu tuần thứ 12 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu tuần thứ 12 Thường Niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy những cách mà Chúa Giêsu đã đối xử với mọi người khác nhau, Trong câu chuyện hôm nay về người bệnh phong cùi, Theo luật Do Thái thì người mắc bệnh này không được phép đến gần bất cứ người Do Thái nào vì sẽ gây ô uế cho người đó và người đó phải được thanh tầy trước bước vào đèn thờ. Như những bài Tin Mừng thì Chúa Giêsu đã không ngại ngùng đến gần họ, và sẵn sàng chữa lành bệnh phong cùi của họ. Điều trái ngược với cách thức mà Ngài đã phản ứng với người cha của cậu bé bị quỷ ám (Mc 9:23) khi người ấy nói với Ngài "Lạy Chúa, Chúa có thể làm được bất cứ điều gì, xin thương xót chúng tôi và giúp chúng tôi." Chúa Giêsu có lẽ đã trả lời phần nào đột ngột hay ít nhất một cách nghiêm nghị: “Nếu có thể!... mọi sự đều là có thể cho người tin!"  Tức thì cha đứa bé kêu lên mà nói: "Tôi tin! Nhưng xin hãy đáp cứu lòng tin yếu kém của tôi!" (Mc 9:25).

Những phản ứng khác nhau của Chúa Giêsu cũng cho chúng ta thấy những cách khác nhau trong những lời, lòng tin và cách cầu xin của những người đã xin Chúa thực hiện những yêu cầu của họ, Những người bệnh phong cùi đã không dám nói bất cứ điều gì vì dám đặt câu hỏi về khả năng của Chúa, nhưng ông ta đã biết phó thác và đặt tất cả niềm tin tưởng vào sự quan phòng của Chúa Giêsu. Còn người đàn ông kia đã không đến với Chúa để cầu xin cho chính mình mà đến để cầu xin cho người con yêu dấu của mình, trong những lúc mà ông đang tuyệt vọng và đang tìm kiếm sự cưu giúp. Trong sự tuyệt vọng của ông ta, ông ta đã dùng những lời gần như đay nghiến chính mình. nhưng trong thực tế, trong thăm tâm của  ông ta có lẽ đã không có ý như thế.  Do đó chúng ta đã được dạy để cầu nguyện với lòng khiêm tốn, kiên nhẫn, bền bĩ, và dịu dàng như là dấu hiệu của niềm tin đó cho phép chúng ta đón nhận và tận hưởng những ân sủng của Thiên Chúa. Lạy Chúa Giêsu, theo như Thiên ý và ân sũng của Chúa , Xi Chúa tẩy sạch chúng ta sạch mọi tội lỗi

Reflection:

It is instructive to consider the different ways in which Jesus deals with people. In this story of the leper, recounted by Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus responds gently and promptly to the leper's indirect request for healing.  This contrasts with the way in which he reacted to the father of the boy possessed by a demon (Mark 9:23) who said: “If you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus answered somewhat abruptly perhaps or at least sternly: “‘If you can?’ Everything is possible to anyone who has faith. ‘Immediately the boy’s father cried out,’ I do have faith.  Help the little faith I have!’” Jesus’ different reactions also reveal to us the different ways in which the two men made their request. The leper did not say anything to appear to question Jesus’ ability to cure him but left everything to Jesus’ good will. The other man was not making a request for himself but for his son and was obviously desperately looking for help. His desperation added a sharpness to his words which he perhaps did not intend. We are thus taught to pray with humility and patience and gentleness as signs of the faith which allows us to receive and enjoy God’s graces. Lord Jesus, according to Your gracious will, cleanse us of all sin.

June 26, 2020 (readings)

Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time

Fr. John Bartunek, LC, Matthew 8:1-4

Opening Prayer: I come before you today, Lord, just as I am. To be honest, I would like to come before you with keener attention, more fervent adoration, and more ardent determination. But I bring you what I have: my weakness, my blindness, my brokenness. I bring you my heart, small and fragile, and confused, but sincerely open to you. I know you are with me and eager to share your grace with me. Thank you, Lord. Speak to my poor heart, because I am listening.

Encountering Christ:

1. My Place in the Crowd: “Great crowds” followed Jesus as he came down from the mountain. Great crowds gathered around him wherever he went, except when he went to the Cross. When he was nailed to a cross, dying a humiliating death in excruciating pain, the crowds were nowhere to be found. Even his closest friends and followers, the Apostles, abandoned him. Some went into hiding. Some watched from a distance. Only one, John the Evangelist, stayed with Jesus on Calvary. Each person in the crowd had a reason for following Jesus during his popular days. But that reason was put to the test on Good Friday. The same thing continues to happen today. Great crowds follow Jesus. The Catholic Church has more than a billion members throughout the world. And yet, how many of us stay close to Jesus through thick and thin? Fewer than we would like to admit. We know that only a tiny percentage even go to Sunday Mass. We can guess, then, that even a smaller percentage stays faithful to Christ’s friendship when life’s inevitable crosses make their appearance. Where am I in that crowd? Why am I following Jesus? Today, while watching the crowds follow Jesus as he descends from the mountain, is a good time to reflect on why I am following the Lord and what I am hoping for from him.

2. The Leper’s Advantage: The leper showed stunning courage by approaching Jesus. At the time of Christ, leprosy (a disease which gradually rots a person’s flesh from the skin down) was considered highly contagious, as well as a punishment from God for sins. As a result, lepers had to live separated from the community in pitiful colonies on the outskirts of inhabited areas. They had to carry a little warning bell they would ring in case an unwary traveler mistakenly approached them. They were physical and spiritual outcasts, unwelcome, and without hope. But this leper saw something in Jesus that sparked enough courage to overcome all social norms and psychological fears. Maybe it was his own misery that opened his heart and mind to the light of Christ. His own utter helplessness and undeniable weakness opened him to the gift of faith. He had no arrogance left, no vanity, no attachment to the pleasures of this world—he was free from all the usual distractions that make us blind to God’s goodness. He saw something in Christ’s eyes. He heard something in Christ’s voice. Something gave him hope for a miracle. Something convinced him that Jesus would not reject him or be afraid of him, like everyone else. Something convinced him that Jesus would look upon him and see his true self, the identity that God had given him at the beginning and which still dwelt deep within. And he was right. What is holding me back from seeing the truth of Christ’s love for me more clearly? Am I ashamed of my own leprosies? Can I learn from this encounter to see them as a gift, a place given by God’s providence where I can encounter the infinite mercy and power of my Creator and Redeemer?

3. Jesus Untamed: Jesus “stretched out his hand” to the leper and “touched him.” This is why Jesus decided to save us by becoming one of us. He wanted to touch us. He wanted to come down into our messy lives, into this fallen world, and meet us here. He wanted to prove to our stubborn and wounded hearts that God has not and will never abandon us, that we truly are worthy and lovable from God’s perspective. Jesus touched a leper. Imagine the reactions of the crowd as they fearfully backed away from the leper and then watched Jesus reach out and touch him. Imagine the surprise, the shock, the fear, the confusion. And then they saw that the touch of Christ actually healed the leper. Imagine the awe, the reverence, and again the confusion. Jesus was not just another wise teacher or an eloquent rabbi. Something else entirely has come into their lives in Jesus. Does Jesus still impress me, challenge me, awe me? Have I perhaps tamed the real Jesus in my own mind and my life? What is Jesus saying to me today through this amazing, earth-shaking encounter with the leper?

Conversing with Christ: I believe in you, Lord, but you know that my faith is so weak! I so easily forget the infinity of your goodness and the immensity of your power. I so easily become distracted by the glitter of the good things of this world. I want to have the clear sight this leper had. I want to approach you in my brokenness and need with the hope and confidence this leper showed. I want to leave behind all vain fears and worldly thoughts so that I truly encounter you afresh every single day. I want to become more like you so that your goodness and power can shine anew through me. Thy will be done, Lord, in my life; thy Kingdom come.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will treat someone who is considered an outcast with Christlike love.