Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 20 Thường Niên.

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 20 Thường Niên.  MT 19:16-22

Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, khi được hỏi làm thế nào để đạt được sự sống đời đời, Chúa Giêsu đã liệt kê những điều răn liên quan tới các mối quan hệ của chúng ta với những người khác; Ngài không hề đề cập đến những điều răn mà chúng ta phải có bổn phận hướng với Thiên Chúa. Khi những lời đáp ứng của Chúa không làm người đàn ông trẻ thỏa mãn, Chúa Giêsu đã đi xa hơn nữa là khuyên anh ta nên phục vụ tha nhân, và vẫn không hề đề cập đến Thiên Chúa: "hãy đi bán những gì ngươi có mà cho kẻ khó, và ngươi sẽ có một kho tàng trên trời, đoạn hãy đến theo Ta". .Ý Chúa muốn nói, Chúng nên bằng cách nào đó, chúng ta phải làm tất cả những gì chúng ta có thể để giúp cho những người xung quanh chúng ta đó là việc chúng ta phục vụ Thiên Chúa, là chúng ta bắt đầu đi theo Đức Kitô.

Mỗi người chúng ta có thể được tính trong số những người nghèo, những người cần được phục vụ: không ai trong chúng ta cảm thấy rằng chúng ta được biết đến, nhưng đúng hơn là chúng ta đang bị bỏ quên, bị hiểu lầm, và bị coi thường bởi những người khác. Mỗi người trong chúng ta cảm thấy không được thương yêu và chăm sóc đầy đủ. Nhưng trong đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu chủ động sai mỗi người chúng ta đến với những người mà chúng ta biết hay gặp, và Chúa Giêsu đã đến gặp gỡ chúng ta, cũng như chúng ta mở lòng với sự phục vụ và yêu thương những người khác. Chúng ta hãy cố gắng để vượt qua luật tình yêu của Chúa trong sự quên mình để quan tâm đến người khác và đó là cách chúng bắt chước Chúa Cha trên trời.

 Reflection (SG)

Jesus challenged the young man because his heart was possessive. He was afraid to give to others for fear that he would lose what he had gained. Those who are generous towards God and others find that they cannot outmatch God in generosity. God blesses us with innumerable spiritual goods - such as long-lasting peace, unspeakable joy, enduring love, abiding relationships and friendship that do not fade or fail - that far outweigh the fleeting joys of material possessions which fail to satisfy us beyond the present moment. God alone can satisfy the deepest longing and desires of our heart. Are you willing to part with anything that might keep you from seeking true and everlasting joy with Jesus?

Every one of us can be counted among the poor who need to be served: not one of us feels that we are sufficiently known but rather that we are neglected, misunderstood, and undervalued by others. And every one of us feels insufficiently loved and cared for. So in this passage Jesus actively sends each of us to every person we know or meet, and Jesus himself comes to meet us as we open ourselves to the service and love those others offer to us. Let us try to go beyond the law in a self-forgetting love and concern for others that is a true imitation of our heavenly Father. Heavenly Father, may we greatly increase our  sacrificial giving to the poor.

Encountering Christ:

1. What Must I Be?: This young man came to Christ with the best of intentions: “How do I get to heaven?” What’s more, he really seemed willing to follow whatever instructions Christ would give him—after all, he had obeyed all the commandments for as long as he could remember. But he based his question on a falsehood (the same falsehood we all can fall into). He asked the Lord, “What good must I do?” He still thought, though perhaps without realizing it, that heaven is essentially a reward that he could earn. He forgot, or maybe just didn’t know, that if it were up to us to earn heaven, we would never arrive. 

2. You Can’t Earn Love: Treating heaven as something to be earned by good deeds goes against the very nature of God as a Father. Imagine: what true father would make his son meet certain standards before he loved him? What real father would lock his son out of the house until he “checked off certain boxes”? Heaven is God’s house; a place where we will be with him forever. This rich young man was starting from the presupposition that God wouldn’t love him unless he proved that he was worth being loved. In reality, we must start with the sure and certain knowledge of God’s love, and then let him make us worthy.

3. If You Wish to Be Perfect: Christ saw that this young man wanted more, even if he was a little misled, so he tried to help him. Jesus was patient: He started by showing the man that he had already gone as far as he could possibly go following rules—there were no more rules to follow! When Christ referred him to the same commandments he already knew, the young man persisted: “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Then Christ showed him the true way of perfection: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” That is, “Take all that you hold dear, your whole life of rules, programs, and self-satisfaction—and give it away! Follow me, for I am all you need.” When we feel the same restlessness that this young man does, the whisper in our heart that maybe there is something more to being a Christian, we must remember that we will never placate this feeling by simply doing a few more good deeds. Rather, we must let that restlessness lead us to the love of Christ, and let him do with us what He wills.

Conversing with Christ: God, thank you for taking the time to be with me, speak with me, and give me your grace. Thank you for calling me to a true relationship with you—lead me today wherever you want. 

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will do a short examen of conscience, reflecting upon for whom I do good deeds: for myself, or for you.

For Further Reflection: Digging deeper and looking interiorly for where God is asking us to grow is not easy. Here is a helpful article on how to view the examen of consciousness: