Suy Niệm Tin Mừng
thứ Sáu tuần 17 Thường Niên
Trong
một bài bình luận về Chúa Giêsu, thánh Gioan Kim Khẩu nói: “Dân làng Nazareth
đã lấy làm khâm phục Ngài, nhưng sự ngưỡng mộ của họ không đi đến mức độ là tin
vào Ngài hay đúng hơn, họ cảm như thấy ghen tị với Chúa Giêsu, như thể có nghĩa
là:" Tại sao là anh ta, mà không phải là tôi”. Chúa Giêsu biết rất rõ những
người này, thay vì nghe lời Chúa thì họ lại xúc phạm đến Ngài. Họ là những người
thân, là bạn bè của Ngài, là hàng xóm láng giềng mà Ngài đã cảm mến, nhưng đúng
ra, họ là những người mà Ngài sẽ không thể nào đem tin mừng cứu độ của Ngài đến
với họ được..
Chúng ta không thể làm được phép lạ hay có
thể có sự lành thánh như Chúa Kitô vì Ngài không bao giờ có đầu óc hay suy nghĩ
về sự ganh tị, tuy nhiên trong một lúc nào đó, nếu chúng ta thực sự cố gắng sống
đời sống Kitô hữu một cách chân chính, thì chúng ta thực sự có thể làm được.
Tuy nhiên, những gì đến có thể sẽ đến, là chúng ta thường sẽ thấy là những người
mà chúng ta yêu thương nhất lại là những người không bao giờ quan tâm hay muốn
lắng nghe lời chúng ta. Để ứng hiệu điều này, chúng ta cũng phải nên nhớ rằng những
thiếu sót thường được phát hiện rất dễ dàng hơn là những nhân đức tốt và, theo
đó, những người gần gũi với chúng ta có thể tự hỏi:” những điều anh đang muốn dạy
khôn cho tôi, thì anh nên phải thực hành những điều đó trước đi?”
Trong bình luận thánh Gioan Kim Khẩu nói
thêm: “Hãy nhìn vào lòng tốt của Thầy: Ngài đã không trừng phạt họ vì không
nghe lời Ngài, nhưng Ngài nói với họ một cách ngọt ngào: "Tiên tri có bị
khinh, thì chỉ có ở nơi quê quán và nơi nhà mình thôi!" Mt 13:57). Đây
là điều hiển nhiên, Chúa Giêsu có chút buồn bã nhưng dù sao Ngài vẫn tiến hành
và tiếp tục đem lời Tin Mừng của Ngài đến với mọi người, cũng như Chúa Giêsu
như vậy, chúng ta cũng sẽ phải biết tiếp tục rao giảng và đem Lời Chúa Giêsu đến
với những người mà chúng ta yêu thương nhất là những người không muốn nghe
chúng ta bằng tất cả sự yêu thương, và bằng sự tha thứ.
In
a commentary about Jesus, St. John Chrysostom says: «The villagers of Nazareth
do admire him, but their admiration does not go to the point of believing in
him but, rather, of feeling envious, as if meaning: ‘Why him and not I’». Jesus
knew quite well those who, instead of listening to him, took offense at him.
They were his relatives, friends, neighbors He appreciated, but precisely to
whom He will not be able to let them have his message of salvation.
We —that cannot work out miracles or have
Christ's saintliness— will not incite envies (though, at times, if we are
really trying to live as true Christians, we may actually do). However, come
what may, we shall often find that those we love the most are those who could
not care less about listening to us. To this effect, we must also bear in mind
that shortcomings are easier to spot than virtues and, accordingly, those
closer to us may wonder: —What are you trying to teach me, who used to do (or
still does) this or that?
To preach or speak about God with our own
people or family may be difficult but necessary. It must be said that when He
was going back home, Jesus was preceded by his miracles and his word. Maybe, in
our case, we may need a certain reputation for saintliness, whether at home or
away, before “preaching” to those at home.
In
his previous comment St. John Chrysostom adds: «Please look at the Master's
kindness: He does not punish them for not listening to him but He tells them
sweetly: ‘The only place where prophets are not welcome is their hometown and
in their own family’» (Mt 13:57)».
It is evident Jesus would leave somewhat
sadly but nonetheless He would proceed with his preaching until his word of
salvation would be welcome by his own people. Likewise, we (that have nothing
to forgive or oversee) will have to preach so that Jesus' word reaches those
that we love but do not want to listen to us.
Introductory
Prayer: Lord, I believe in
your power. I know that you are the Lord of all history. I trust that you are
guiding my life. Thank you for showing me that you will triumph. Thank you for
the triumph you have already achieved in my heart and the hearts of so many
people. I want to allow you to have total control over my life.
Petition: Lord, increase my faith in you.
1. Too Much
Familiarity: The people of Nazareth
thought they knew all about Jesus. He had grown up among them. Apparently, they
had not seen anything extraordinary about him before he started his public
ministry. They thought he was just like everyone else. So when they hear that
he is doing miracles and teaching with authority, they do not believe it.
Sometimes I also run the danger of putting limits on Christ’s power in my life.
I see the unimpressive circumstances of my life and the recurrence of the same
old problems. I do not believe that Christ can do something supernatural amid
an ordinary situation. Today I am receiving an invitation to step beyond the
routine and believe more deeply in the power of Christ.
2. An Unwelcome
Prophet: The solution to their
deepest problems was in their own backyard. Yet, the people of Nazareth felt
that such a familiar figure could not bring anything extraordinary. When the
Church sometimes challenges me with some of her teachings – on charity, on
family life, on the need to be a courageous witness –, do I sometimes find
excuses, like saying that my circumstances are too complicated, or the Church
does not understand my situation? Do I sometimes let the prophetic voice of the
Church die in my heart? When I feel challenged by the Gospel and by the Church,
I should be thankful. Christ is inviting me to discover the deepest meaning of
my life. He is giving me a chance to allow his presence to make a profound
change in my life. He is allowing me to discover him in faith and is taking me beyond
my comfort zone to the level of the coming of his Kingdom.
3. A Miracle Worker in
Waiting: What sort of miracles
does Christ want to do in my life? Christ has a plan to make my life a luminous
witness to the power of his grace. He wants to fill my life with his holiness
and help me be a light for others. If I can shake off my superficiality and
lack of faith, I will discover the powerful presence of the Savior who helps me
live each moment with depth and love. He can do miracles in my life. He can help
me live the virtues which are most costly for me. Am I willing to take a risk
for Christ and trust him?
Conversation with
Christ: Lord, I know you want
to do great things in my life. Help me to see how you can transform the
ordinary, seemingly unimportant circumstances of my day into moments when your
grace triumphs. Enable me to be docile to your Holy Spirit so that he can do
miracles in my life.
Resolution: I will increase my faith in Christ by taking a
risk for him in some aspect of my spiritual or apostolic life.
We
all have a fundamental need to belong to a group. Experience of rejection can
cause emotional pain and even affect our behavior. Disconnection leads to
more pain, so that people are eager to change their behavior and remain in the
group with which they feel affinity.
Jesus experienced this with his own
family, home town, religious leaders and, at the end, even with his disciples.
However, he invested his energy more in the relationship with his Father than
in human relationships. The love for God was so real in his life that he
could with serenity face all challenges. Rejection by those whom he loved
affected Jesus but still he was able to offer his life as a gift to many who
wanted to receive him.
St. Ignatius of Loyola would often ask
God, for the grace to live as Jesus lived, and to love as Jesus loved. This
heroic love, which is meek and humble, even rejoices when insulted and
humiliated. Human nature often resists vulnerability but grace flourishes in
our vulnerability.
Lord Jesus, you called us to know you more intimately, to love you intensely and to follow You more closely. You embraced vulnerability in becoming a poor human being. Give us the courage to love others without creating barriers in relationships
Reflection:
After having
been with his disciples for a couple of years, it was important for Jesus to
ask them who he was to them. They first told him what they heard from others,
that he was John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets of old. But Jesus
wanted to hear what they thought, "Who then do you say I am?" Jesus
was asking him what they themselves thought.
Peter's reply
was a bold proclamation of Jesus as the "Messiah of God."
Subsequently Jesus predicts his passion and death, "The Son of Man must
suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and
teachers of the Law, and put to death. Then after three days he will be raised
to life."
Understandably
the disciples did not understand what Jesus told them. Even Peter, who had
confessed him as "the Messiah of God" and would later be privileged
to witness his transfiguration and had been warned about his betrayal of the
Lord, could not understand how Jesus could be arrested, beaten up and put to
death on the cross. Before common-folk Peter deserted and betrayed him.
Today is the
Solemnity of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest and Founder of the Society of
Jesus. Like the saints of old, Ignatius was moved to desire to be of greater
service to the Lord Jesus. If he would have been asked by the Lord what he was
to him, he most probably would have answered, "Lord, you are everything to
me, my Lord and Savior, my King and my best friend ever."
Ignatius learned
to know and love Jesus above all in prayer and contemplation: in the context of
a loving and "intimate" friendship. Ignatius encountered Jesus
who shared our humanity at his birth in Bethlehem, as Jesus grew in wisdom, age
and grace before God and man in the family home and shop in Nazareth, as Jesus
left Mary and home for his public life to carry out his mission, as he
traversed Galilee a preaching the Good News, as he chose and taught his disciples,
as he agonized in the garden and at the hands of the Roman soldiers, as he hung
to his death on the cross, and as he was raised from the dead in his
resurrection.
Contemplation,
prayer and friendship endeared Ignatius to the person of Jesus who as-it-were
swept Ignatius off his feet and moved him to stake his whole life and being in
the following and service of Jesus as his eternal King. Ignatius wished
to be wherever the Lord was.
The path of
Ignatius is something we could learn from and aspire to: to know Jesus more
closely, to love him more dearly and to follow and serve him with great love
and generosity, "not just in words but in deeds."
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