Làm thế nào để chúng ta có thể đối phó với sự cám dỗ? Có một số tội cụ thể mà chúng ta cảm thấy rất là khó khăn để tránh phạm? Qua bài đọc thứ Nhất hôm nay, chúng ta thấy Thánh Giacôbê Tông Đồ đã đưa ra những bàn luận vấn đề này. Thật sự đó không phải là một cái tội khi phải đương đầu với sự cám dỗ, thậm chí Chúa Giêsu cũng đã bị cám dỗ. Tuy nhiên, đấy là tội nếu chúng ta để cho mình tự rơi vào sự vào cám dỗ và làm những điều gì xúc phạm đến Thiên Chúa. Cám dỗ thường liên quan đến một lời nói dối hoặc chỉ nói một nửa sự thật. Những sự cám dỗ (ma quỷ) luôn cố gắng để đẩy kéo chúng ta xa lìa Thiên Chúa với những lời hứa suông ngoạt ngào.
Qua bài Tin Mừng, các môn đệ đã chứng kiến hai hai phép lạ mà Chúa Giêsu đã làm là hoá bánh ra nhiều. Tuy nhiên, đấy cũng là một điều khó khăn để cho các môn đệ hiểu được rằng Chúa Giêsu cũng sẽ ban cho họ những nhu cầu riêng của họ.
Những điều gì là sự cám dỗ lớn nhất trong cuộc đời của chúng ta? Chúng ta tin rằng Chúa Giêsu sẽ ban cho chúng ta những thứ cần thiết để giúp chúng ta loại bỏ những gì là tội lỗi và biết chọn những gì là tốt đẹp cho cuộc sống đời sau?
Lạy Chúa, xin ban cho chúng con hôm nay lương thực hằng ngày và Chúa Thánh Thần gìn giữ và hướng dẫn chúng con không bị sa vào các chước cám dỗ.
Tuesday 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
How do you deal with temptation? Is there some particular sin that you find difficult to resist? Today’s reading from James discusses this part of being human. It is not a sin to experience temptation; even Jesus was tempted. It is sinful, however, to give in to temptation and do what offends God. Temptations often involve a lie or half-truth. They try to draw us away from God with empty promises.
Christ invites us to persevere in holding on to what is good and to seek what is truly fulfilling. Temptations come and go. God’s presence and truth are with us forever. So when we are tempted, we can come before Jesus just as we are, in our weakness. We can humbly ask for strength. Jesus truly provides us with the grace we need to say ‘no’ to sin and ‘yes’ to God.
In the Gospel, the disciples have already witnessed two instances where Jesus provided food for people who were hungry. Still, it is difficult for the disciples to understand that Jesus will also provide for their own needs. What is the greatest temptation in my life? Do I believe that Jesus provides me with what I need to reject what is sinful and choose what is good? Give us this day our daily bread and lead us not into temptation.
Opening Prayer:
Lord I come to you today seeking to learn and grow. Many times, I am like the Apostles in the Gospel today, slightly obtuse about the spiritual lessons you are trying to teach me. I open my heart to you and the Holy Spirit to lead me to a better outlook and more trust.
Encountering Christ:
1. Bad Leaven: It does not take much yeast to get dough to rise. That leavening permeates the starch of the dough, which makes it grow and expand. It is an image Jesus uses here to illustrate what can happen when the leaven of unbelief is deposited in our souls. It grows. It expands. It corrupts—that is the leaven of the Pharisees and Herodians. We need to examine ourselves for any of this incipient malignancy.
2. Spiritual Senses: Jesus was offering his disciples some suggestions for combating this negative interior growth. He talked about eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. If the spiritual senses are unengaged, then the bad leaven will continue to grow unchecked. But by the simple act of opening our spiritual eyes and ears, we can welcome new graces to help us begin to see things that we missed before. When we can start seeing how active the Lord is in our lives, the negative leaven will lose its power to corrupt.
3. Salvific Remembrance: After Jesus’s instruction, it seemed that the disciples were still struggling to understand. Another way to combat the bad leaven and activate the spiritual senses is to remember the blessings that our Lord has sent us: “Do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand?” Salvific remembrance is an important aspect of the Judeo-Christian outlook. Looking back to creation through salvation history gives the Catholic the macro view that combats the bad leaven. It is imperative, though, to bring this understanding to a personal level—to remember how many times God came to our rescue, gave us a light, opened a door, extinguished a danger. When we keep remembering, the bad leaven is contained and left sterile.
Conversing with Christ: Lord, how much bad leaven is in my soul? Help me to recognize that growing doubts are a sign of my tuning out and forgetting your marvelous deeds in my life. Permeate my soul with the leaven of spiritual insight and constant remembrance of the goodness of your gifts.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take a closer look at the negative leavening of a growing frustration in my life. I will take a few minutes to try to engage my spiritual vision and salvific remembrance. Does that help my perspective?
Encountering Christ:
1. Bad Leaven: It does not take much yeast to get dough to rise. That leavening permeates the starch of the dough, which makes it grow and expand. It is an image Jesus uses here to illustrate what can happen when the leaven of unbelief is deposited in our souls. It grows. It expands. It corrupts—that is the leaven of the Pharisees and Herodians. We need to examine ourselves for any of this incipient malignancy.
2. Spiritual Senses: Jesus was offering his disciples some suggestions for combating this negative interior growth. He talked about eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. If the spiritual senses are unengaged, then the bad leaven will continue to grow unchecked. But by the simple act of opening our spiritual eyes and ears, we can welcome new graces to help us begin to see things that we missed before. When we can start seeing how active the Lord is in our lives, the negative leaven will lose its power to corrupt.
3. Salvific Remembrance: After Jesus’s instruction, it seemed that the disciples were still struggling to understand. Another way to combat the bad leaven and activate the spiritual senses is to remember the blessings that our Lord has sent us: “Do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand?” Salvific remembrance is an important aspect of the Judeo-Christian outlook. Looking back to creation through salvation history gives the Catholic the macro view that combats the bad leaven. It is imperative, though, to bring this understanding to a personal level—to remember how many times God came to our rescue, gave us a light, opened a door, extinguished a danger. When we keep remembering, the bad leaven is contained and left sterile.
Conversing with Christ: Lord, how much bad leaven is in my soul? Help me to recognize that growing doubts are a sign of my tuning out and forgetting your marvelous deeds in my life. Permeate my soul with the leaven of spiritual insight and constant remembrance of the goodness of your gifts.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take a closer look at the negative leavening of a growing frustration in my life. I will take a few minutes to try to engage my spiritual vision and salvific remembrance. Does that help my perspective?
No comments:
Post a Comment