Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 1 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 1 Thường Niên (Mark 2:1-1 1 ) 

Trong cuộc sống yếu đuối của con người hầu như ai trong chúng ta cũng chỉ thấy những cái xấu trong mọi tình huống. Chúng ta có thể thấy những tin tức tiêu cực mà chúng ta đọc hàng ngày qua các báo chí, trên TV. Chúng ta cũng thấy những cái xấu trên Internet và các tin đồn, bàn luận trên Facebook hay trên các trang sinh hoạt của các nhóm xã hội. Với cái nhìn vào trong những cái khía cạnh của sự xấu xa, chúng ta có lẽ hay thích chê bai hay phỉ báng người khác, có lẽ chúng ta muốn “hạ người khác càng xuống thấp hơn” càng tốt để chúng ta cảm thấy sung sướng và an toàn hơn. 

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta đã thấy những người Pharisêu và các thầy thông giáo đã làm điều đó, Họ coi thường niềm tin của nhiều người khác, và chống đối những nỗ lực của họ khi họ mang một người bại liệt đến gần với Chúa Giêsu. Họ đã cố tìm cách bắt bẻ, gài bẫy và gán ép cho Chúa Giêsu vào một cái tội kêu ngạo và muốn loại bỏ Người ra khỏi vòng pháp luật và tôn giáo của họ, Vì họ coi Chúa Giêsu như là một tội phạm hơn là một Thiên Chúa. 

Chúa Giêsu đã biết rõ rằng những cái khó chịu đó trong lòng của họ bởi vì cái thói đạo đức giả và cái niềm tự cao, tự đại của họ mà Ngài đã khẳng định quyền hạn và uy quyền của Ngài bằng cách chữa lành cho người bại liệt này trước những con mắt ngạc nhiên của đám đông. Chúa Giêsu đã cho chúng ta biết rằng là thành viên của Giáo Hội có nghĩa là chúng ta không được phép thách thức quyền năng của Thiên Chúa và những điều tốt đẹp mà Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta mỗi ngày. Chúng ta có thể có quyền tự do để chỉ trích những sai lầm mà chúng ta thấy thường xảy ra xung quanh chúng ta và trong cuộc sống hàng ngày của chúng ta, nhưng chúng ta không nên đặt mình trên bệ giá cao và tin rằng mình hơn người khác bởi vì chúng ta đều tạo vật do Thiên Chúa sáng tạo rà và chúng ta đều gọi nhau là Kitô hữu. 

Chúng ta hãy cố tránh những cạm bẫy của niềm tự hào, hay của sự ngoạo mạn và tự cao, thay vào đó chúng ta nên làm những việc phục vụ trong sự khiêm tốn như là người tôi tớ khiêm hạ của Thiên Chúa, Chúng ta hãy xin Chúa giúp chúng ta có lòng can đảm để loại bỏ sự cám dỗ của những sự suy nghĩ tiêu cực và biết nắm lấy niềm vui trong Tin Mừng của Chúa Giêsu. 

"Lạy Chúa Giêsu, qua tình yêu, lòng thương xót và sự tha thứ của Chúa, Chúa đã mang đến cho chúng con ơn chữa lành và phục hồi thân xác cũng như linh hồn của chúng con, Xin tình yêu và quyền năng của Chúa xoa dịu cuộc sống của chúng con trong mọi lĩnh vực, Và xin Chúa biến đổi và ban cho chúng con sức mạnh của Chúa Thánh Thần để chúng con có thể bước đi một cách tự tin trong chân lý, và trong sự công chính của Chúa. 

REFLECTION 

It seems inherent in our human nature to look for the bad in any situation. We can see that in the negative news stories we read in the papers or watch on TV. We also observe it in the gossip that circulates among social groups. By talking about the bad side of others, we perhaps try to bring down people to make ourselves feel good. The scribes at Capernaum in today's Gospel were doing just that. They belittled the faith of several men and brushed off their effort to bring a paralytic close to Jesus. They attempted to make Jesus look like a law-breaker or religious violator instead of the preacher of Good News, which he was doing. 

Jesus was obviously annoyed by the hypocrisy and sky-high pride of the scribes that He asserted His authority and power by healing the paralytic in front of the astonished eyes of the crowd. Jesus gives notice that being members of His Church does not give us the license to challenge His authority and the many good things God provides every day. We may have the freedom to criticize the many wrongs we see happening around us in our daily lives but we should not place ourselves on pedestals and believe ourselves superior to others because we call ourselves Christians. Let us avoid the pitfalls of pride and instead work to be humble servants of God. Let us ask Jesus to remove the temptation of negative thinking and embrace the joy of His Good News. 

PRAYER: "Lord Jesus, through your merciful love and forgiveness you bring healing and restoration to body, soul, and mind. May your healing power and love touch every area of my life -- my innermost thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and memories? Pardon my offences and transform me in the power of your Holy Spirit that I may walk confidently in your truth and righteousness. 

Opening Prayer: 

Lord, I know that I need healing. I can see my flaws and infidelities. I come to you with my hands open, asking for your touch. Come to me now, and help me to see how I can be fully restored in you. 

Encountering Christ: 

1. Kneeling Down: The leper was an outcast who was required by law to keep his distance from others for fear of contagion (Leviticus 13:46). Yet he approached Jesus, knelt down, and begged him for healing. The leper’s humble request “If you wish,” and attitude as he knelt before Jesus, demonstrated his sincere desire for healing. Jesus touched the leper and showed his unconditional love for him. How would the leper’s life change after his encounter with Christ? Do we believe in Jesus’s unconditional love for us and approach him with a humble heart? How do our actions show openness to the Lord’s healing touch in prayer and the sacraments? 

2. Obedience Brings Peace: Jesus, after healing the leper “immediately,” asked him to do two simple things: go to the priest to complete his ceremonial cleansing (Leviticus 14), and “tell no one anything.” We don’t know if the leper visited the priest or not, but in spite of the healing he received, he didn’t respect Jesus’s request to be silent about it. Because he spread around the news of his healing, he made it difficult for Jesus to work. Do we ever get in the way of the Holy Spirit in our life? We can speculate that this man’s disobedience prevented others from drawing close to Christ for healing. Our sin has negative consequences beyond our own spiritual health. “Sin ...wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity” (CCC #1849). 

3. Be Made Clean: Leprosy was a horrible disease and the cure would have been remarkable to behold. Physical healings always are! Even more miraculous but harder to measure or observe would have been a spiritual healing. “Jesus has the power not only to heal, but also to forgive sins; he has come to heal the whole man, soul and body” (CCC 1503-5) Jesus offered the leper a physical healing, but we don’t know if he received a spiritual one. We do know that he immediately disobeyed Jesus. All of us who approach Jesus through the sacrament of reconciliation receive a miraculous spiritual healing, whether we feel anything or not. Even when we fall repeatedly we know we can return to the sacrament again and again and “firmly resolve, with the help of his grace, to sin no more and avoid the near occasion of sin” (Act of Contrition). Jesus always desires to give us “a new heart” (CCC 1432). 

Conversing with Christ: Lord, I want to be healed. Please come into my heart. As I kneel before you, I ask you to cleanse me of disobedience and fear. I am very grateful for the opportunity to start again and again by being forgiven through the sacrament of reconciliation. Lord, through your grace, I want to love well. 

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” I will resolve to be healed from sin by going to confession at the next opportunity. 

January 12, 2018 Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time 

Introductory Prayer: Jesus, thank you for this time to be with you. I humbly offer you my intention to set all my distractions aside so that I can encounter you, my Lord and my God. I hope in you and know that you could never let me down. I love you and long to love you with all of my strength. Aware of my misery and weakness, I trust in your mercy and love. 

Petition: 

Lord, increase my zeal for souls. 

1. The Paralytic: One day, four men carried a friend to Jesus. It made all the difference in the world to the friend, for he was paralyzed and was unable to approach Jesus on his own. He had heard of the miracles Jesus had performed but had never seen them. His healing was out of the question: he couldn’t go to Jesus on his own. Had his four friends not stepped in and brought him to Jesus, he would never have been cured. Their faith and love made his healing possible. Who does Jesus want me to bring to him? Do I invite people to prayer and adoration? Do I invite people to Mass and confession? 

2. The Four Friends: These four men were not stopped by the obstacles in their way. How long they traveled isn’t mentioned, but even a short distance is tiring when carrying a man on a mat. When they arrived at the house, it was full of people who had traveled to hear and see Jesus and to be cured by him. It was impossible for the men to get inside the house through the door, but they didn’t give up. They didn’t quit. They carried their friend up to the rooftop and lowered him down into the house. By persevering, we can achieve anything. Love knows no boundaries or limits. 

3. Jesus: God wants to save so many people. He wants to bring real healing into their lives, but he wants to heal them through us. Jesus could have found the paralyzed man. He chose, rather, to let the others bring the man to him. Jesus wanted to heal him, but without the charity in the hearts of the four men, the healing might never have been accomplished. Who does Jesus wish to encounter through me? How can I be a better instrument of his love? 

Conversation with Christ: Lord, help me to realize more deeply that you want me involved in salvation history. I’m on the front lines. You entrust souls to me, and you want to bless their lives through my prayers, my sacrifices, and my work. Increase my love for these souls. They need my help and my fidelity. I don’t want to let them down. Help me to be faithful. 

Resolution: I will make a sacrifice today for the person most in need of God’s grace. 

Meditation: "We never saw anything like this!" 

Do you know the healing power of forgiveness and compassion? Jesus' treatment of sinners upset the religious teachers of the day. When a cripple was brought to Jesus because of the faith of his friends, Jesus did the unthinkable. He first forgave the man his sins. The scribes regarded this as blasphemy because they understood that only God had authority to forgive sins and to unbind a man or woman from their burden of guilt.

Jesus claimed an authority which only God could rightfully give. Jesus not only proved that his authority came from God, he showed the great power of God's redeeming love and mercy by healing the cripple of his physical ailment. This man had been crippled not only physically, but spiritually as well. Jesus freed him from his burden of guilt and restored his body as well. The Lord is every ready to bring us healing of body, mind, and spirit. Is there any area in your life that cripples you from walking in the freedom of Christ's transforming love and forgiveness? 

Bishop Ambrose of Milan (339-397 AD), an early church father, explains how the healing of the paralytic points not only to Christ's power to heal the whole person, but also to raise the body to everlasting life as well: But the Lord, wanting to save sinners, shows himself to be God both by his knowledge of secrets and by the wonder of his actions. He adds, "Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you'’ or to say, 'Rise and walk?'" In this passage he shows the full likeness of the resurrection. Alongside of healing the wounds of body and mind, he also forgives the sins of the spirit, removes the weakness of the flesh, and thus heals the whole person. It is a great thing to forgive people's sins - who can forgive sins, but God alone? For God also forgives through those to whom he has given the power of forgiveness. Yet it is far more divine to give resurrection to bodies, since the Lord himself is the resurrection. (excerpt from EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5.12–13.5) 

Do you believe in the healing transforming power of Christ's forgiveness and merciful love? Ask him to set you free and transform your mind and heart to be like his heart. 

"Lord Jesus, through your merciful love and forgiveness you bring healing and restoration to body, soul, and mind. May your healing power and love touch every area of my life - my innermost thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and memories. Pardon my offenses and transform me in the power of your Holy Spirit that I may walk confidently in your love, truth, and righteousness."