Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần 29

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần 29 Thường Niên-Y-1
Bài Tin Mừng hôm nay nhắc nhở chúng ta là những người Kitô hữu phải nên biết sáng suốt với những lời mời gọi của Chúa trong mọi lúc. Bất kể tuổi tác, tình trạng trong cuộc sống, hoặc tập quán, của chúng ta, chúng ta luôn luôn được mời gọi để mang niềm hòa bình và sư hiệp nhất trong chúng ta ngay trong gia đình, trong trường học, trong nơi làm việc, hay trong cộng đồng và xã hội chúng ta đang sống. Một cách chính xác, là chúng ta phải làm như thế nào?, Chúng ta không cần phải nhìn xa để tìm cho câu trả lời. Phản ứng của chúng để đáp lại lời mời gọi này có thể khác với những người khác và tùy thuộc vào hoàn cảnh của chúng ta và người đó. Nhưng tiêu chuẩn của Chúa thì luôn đơn giản giống nhau đó là sự khiêm tốn, nhân từ và kiên nhẫn. Hầu như chúng ta có thể tìm thấy những đặc điểm này là nên tự giúp đỡ nhau, hướng dẫn cho nhau để hoàn tất được công việc mà Chúa Trao phó thành công một cách mỹ mãn. Sự khiêm tốn, kiên nhẫn và lòng nhân từ chính là những công cụ không mất tiền mua, khá mạnh mẽ và sắc bén có thể giúp bồi dưỡng chúng ta cho mùa gặt lớn trong vườn nho của Thiên Chúa. Chúng ta là những hạt giống. Và Thiên Chúa sẽ giúp làm cho chúng ta nẩy mầm và phát triển đức tin của chúng ta.

REFLECTION
What is asked of us by the Lord to do now? It is a simple question but we may not have the answer to it all the time. We pray hard but we may not have understood the Lord's message. Maybe we did not listen enough. Or perhaps we understood what the Lord asked of us to do but we complicate it or make different excuses not to act on it.
The gospel reminds us Christians to be discerning of the Lord's call at all times. Regardless of our age, status in life, or heritage, we are always called to bring peace and unity in our family, school, workplace, community, and society. How exactly can we make it happen? We need not look far for answer. Our response to this call may differ from one person to another and depending on the person's circumstances. But the Lord's standards are simple and always the same - be humble, gentle and patient. Hardly that we can find these traits recommended in self-help guide to get a fulfilling job or to establish a successful business. But it is a powerful inexpensive tool that we can nurture for a great harvest in the Lord's vineyard. We already have the seeds. And our dear Lord will help us make them grow and put to good use. We just need to act on our faith.

Opening Prayer: My Lord, I come before you as your child, and I ask you to send your Spirit into my soul, so that his gifts might strengthen me, comfort me, sanctify me, and enlighten me to hear what you want to say today
Encountering Christ:
admonishing words tell us a lot, between the lines, about the attitude of those to whom they were addressed. His listeners were utterly complacent. Jesus’s thundering reproach was probably meant to shake off that complacency; he challenged them to read the signs of the times, and he did all that he could to free them from their blindness. How frustrating must it have been for Jesus to come to those who had been praying for the Messiah only to find that they neither accepted nor believed him, nor seemed willing even to have an open mind about him. We console Jesus when we fight against our own tendency to become complacent.
2. Proactivity: It is not uncommon for a person to be quite focused on a specific goal (for example, to improve one’s prayer life or to grow in virtue), but to bluntly ignore the simple opportunities to actually advance toward that goal. A good program of life will help us to make concrete resolutions (little baby steps toward living a virtue) so that we can be more confident, by God’s grace, of growing in that virtue. It is true that the ideals of Christian life are lofty, but God always gives us some concrete step we can proactively take each day.
3. Surrender: Ultimately, such a proactive attitude requires a lot of humility, for it underscores the fact that we cannot reach our high ideals with one powerful leap. Instead, our little steps to grow in virtue or to draw closer to God only have a chance of success to the degree in which they are aided, quickened, and elevated by God’s grace. Maybe that is why it is so difficult to proactively invest into our spiritual life; instead of relying on our control, it requires an increasing degree of surrender to the work of grace in us. May we be docile enough to allow Christ to work in our souls.
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, help me to shake off all types of complacency. Free me of my blindness. Grant me the grace “to interpret the present time” and the humility to make a small step in the right direction today.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will set a spiritual goal for myself and take the first step toward growing in that virtue.

REFLECTION
We all rely on signs to confirm our beliefs. This can be as simple as believing in clouds as a sign of a coming rain. It can also be the blooming of a rose as a symbol of answered prayer. Jesus tells us today that there are signs we refuse to see. He calls us to be more aware of them. When we sense ourselves losing interest in God's word, is it due to physical fatigue or more the mental and spiritual kind? We should constantly make the effort to discern.
There will be movements leading us towards God and there will be forces against. If we remain in His grace, it'll be easier to determine what would draw us away from His path. At the same time, it will be God's grace that will keep us on course.

Reflection: We have the opportunity every week to hear the word of God proclaimed to us in the Eucharist through the readings and the priest's homily. And sometimes we have the privilege of listening to inspirational speakers or to friends who give Christian advice. All of these are prophets giving us the Word. But most of the time, we do not heed their preaching and exhortation and do not find time to put into action the promptings of the Spirit. In the history of the people of God, many times, the Israelites also chose not to listen to God, or they postponed and set aside the words of the prophets. Like them, we can read many signs, but the real signs we need to see and recognize – the presence of the Lord in these prophets – we do not recognize. Thus, we don't understand the present times at all. It's a pity that we may risk losing everything, all the signs that the Lord sends to us through events and people – these will all go to naught. When we see that the Lord comes to suggest to us the path of reconciliation, let us not tarry, for events may overtake us, and we may not find the opportune chance again to convert or reconcile. It may be too late. Let us walk in the light while the light is with us. Let us not delay when the Holy Spirit blows our way