Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần 24 TN,

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần 24 TN,
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu lên tiếng chống lại những việc làm xấu xa và sự ngoan cố của các nhà lãnh đạo người Do Thái. Sự ngoan cố là một phần của sự kiêu ngạo. Vì ngoan cố khăng khăng làm theo ý riêng của mình. Ngoan cố không thể chấp nhận những sự thật trong thực tế, vì sự kiêu hãnh làm chúng ta nghĩ rằng chúng ta phải thông minh hơn người và những kế hoạch của chúng ta bao giờ cũng tốt và cũng đúng hơn bất cứ những kế hoạch nào của người khác. Sự ngoan cố làm chúng ta đi ngược lại chân lý và sự thật. Hãy tự hỏi: đã có bao nhiều lỗi lầm mà chúng ta đã chưa sửa đổi? Và đã bao lần chúng ta đã được nhắc nhở? Nhiều khi thay vì biết ơn những lời nhắc nhở của người khác, có lẽ chúng ta đã không vui và còn tỏ ra có thái độ hay cố tìm cho mình những lời bào chữa.
Chúa Kitô mời gọi chúng ta sống trong một cuộc sống thánh thiện để chúng ta có thể đạt được sự hoàn hảo một cách dễ dàng hơn. Chúa Kitô đã so sánh những người Do thái sống trong thời đại của Ngài cũng giống như những đứa trẻ lang thang chơi ngoài phố hay có tâm trạng thay. Người ta đã đôi xử với Chúa Kitô theo cách như vậy. Họ cho rằng Gioan Tẩy Giả là quá khắt khe. Tuy nhiên, họ phản đối về Chúa Kitô, và các môn đệ là những người phá chay tịnh, và thậm chí còn làm việc, chữa lành người đau bệnh trong ngày Sa-bát. Họ muốn bệnh tật của họ được chữa lánh, nhưng họ cũng khư khư quá nghiêm ngặt của ngày Sa-bát, thậm chí họ quý trọng cái luật của họ nhiều hơn là họ muốn Chúa ban phát tình yêu và cứu chữa cho mọi người.
Có lẽ nhiều người trong chúng ta cũng giống như người Do Thái trên. Chúng ta từ chối lời khuyên bảo và sự giúp đỡ của người khác hay các Linh Mục. Chúng ta không chịu nghe lời chỉ dạy một cách nghiêm trọng mà chỉ biết phàn nàn vì chúng ta đang bị người khác sửa sai. Nếu không có sự sữa sai, hay điều chỉnh lại cuộc sống, thì chúng ta lại nói rằng chúng ta đã bị bỏ quên hoặc không được ai quan tâm đến. Chúng ta cần phải sống trung thực và chân thành để làm tất cả những gì Thiên Chúa đã dậy cho chúng ta, ngay cả khi Ngài cho chúng ta biết ý của Ngài qua những người khác.

REFLECTION
In today's Gospel Jesus lashes out against the perversity of the leaders of the Jewish people. Perversity is part of pride. Perversity insists on doing our own will. It is not concerned with the fact that someone else may have a better plan or that our own way is obviously wrong. It is the opposite the truth and remains that way. How many uncorrected faults do we carry within ourselves? How often have we been reminded about them? Instead of being grateful for the reminder, perhaps we even find reason to defend the fault. Christ calls us to a holy life in order that we may more easily attain perfection. Christ compared the people of his time to the changeable moods of children.
The people treated Christ in such a way. They claimed that John the Baptist was too strict. Yet they protested about Christ who did not fast with his disciples and who even cured on the Sabbath. They wanted cures but they also wanted the overly strict observance of the Sabbath even more than they wanted the cure.
Perhaps many of us are like them. We refuse advice and spiritual help. We fail to listen seriously and then complain because we are corrected. If there is no correction, we say we are neglected or that no one cares about us. We need to be honest enough and sincere to do all that God points out to us, even if he tells us his will through other people.

Reflection.
Opening Prayer: Thank you Jesus, for coming to save sinners, because I am a poor sinner who needs saving! Open my heart to your wise and truthful word.
Encountering Christ:
1. Popular Opinion: Jesus commented in today’s Gospel reading about just how quickly popular opinion can change. First, John the Baptist made people uncomfortable because they thought his message of conversion was too radical. They found some reason to discredit him by spreading rumors that he was possessed. When Jesus came, he made people uncomfortable because he ate and drank with the people he came to save, namely sinners. So they discredited Jesus by spreading rumors, calling him a glutton and a drunk. These days, everyone seems to have very strong opinions about a myriad of political and social issues. We know how divisive and fickle popular opinion can be, but we are still sometimes strangely compelled to live up to it. I ask myself, do I seek balance and wisdom by praying with the word of Christ, or do I let myself get swayed by popular opinion?
2. Comfort Zones: Both John and Jesus made the crowds uncomfortable by their preaching. The fasting and repentance John the Baptist advocated was not popular, easy, or fun. The penitents who followed John’s call sought spiritual change, which challenged observers to reflect on their own lives, drawing them out of their comfort zone. Jesus fraternized with outcasts and the Pharisees were scandalized. They judged Jesus instead of trying to imitate him because eating with tax-collectors and sinners was outside their comfort zone. Living as a Christian often isn’t comfortable. I ask myself, am I too comfortable in my faith or am I being asked to step out of my comfort zone in some way on behalf of Christ?
3. Repentance, Two Ways: The theme of this Gospel is repentance. Both John and Jesus sought to bring about repentance in the hearts of sinners. John called for repentance outwardly and publicly. He drew great crowds who prepared their hearts for the Lord’s coming. Jesus’s call for repentance was often interior and individual. He looked into hearts and forgave their sins. Jesus gave the Pharisees who complained about his methods this reasoning: “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners” (Luke 5:31-32). I ask myself, how am I responding to the invitation by the Great Physician to repent?

Conversing with Christ: Jesus I want to see reality the way you see it. I know that other people have ways of doing things that are different from my own. Help me to not judge them rashly. Fill my mouth with praise for you and for others, especially when I feel like complaining. May I always be encouraging towards others, never judgmental. May I be constantly reminded of my own need for repentance and conversion.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will catch myself when I’m about to complain and turn the moment into an opportunity to praise and thank you interiorly.


REFLECTION Wednesday 24th Ordinary Time
In his great hymn on love in his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul extols the greatness and supremacy of love, now and forever.
We can test ourselves on what Paul wrote: Do we act out of love? Have we forgiven offensive people or remarks? Have we been kind at home to the family? Have we been grateful to and loving of God?
In the Gospel reading Jesus compares the people to little children who would not dance to dance music nor cry with funeral songs: they could not understand John the Baptist who neither ate nor drank and yet they complained about Jesus for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners.
We need wisdom to properly understand and interpret the actions of people. John the Baptist led a life of penance and austerity: he was not possessed by an evil spirit. The Son of Man ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners: he was neither a glutton nor a drunkard; as missioned by his Father, he sought out sinners to save them from their sins. Lord, give us the gift of wisdom to properly discern, interpret and understand the complex world and people around us.

Reflection Scripture: Luke 7:31-35
John the Baptist lived a simple and hard life. He ate only bread and abstained from wine. Yet, his message of repentance was rejected. Jesus mixed with the poor and marginalized. He ate and drank with them. He too was rejected. It seems as though nothing pleased the Jewish leaders, the “men of this generation”. They found one set of excuses to reject John, and an opposite set of excuses to reject Jesus. They thought themselves wise enough to know the truth.
As such, they were not willing to open themselves to God’s action of salvation which was taking place in their midst through the message of John, and then through Jesus. Like stubborn children, the Jewish leaders were not willing to cooperate in any way with God’s action. In doing so, they closed themselves to the truth, and to the One who is himself the Truth. They failed to repent and as a result, did not become “children of wisdom”.
Often, in our own faith journey, we too can become like stubborn children. We may be aware that we have certain shortcomings and need to experience conversion. However, we are constantly giving excuses. We blame God, others and circumstances for our own sins, and as a result, remain closed to the call of Christ to repentance. Truly, God’s action of salvation is taking place daily in our lives. He calls us to repentance and transformation. Do we listen and obey? Or do we think we know better?
Lord, help me to be open to Your truth.