Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Tư tuần thứ 4 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Tư tuần thứ 4 Thường Niên

Con người chúng ta luôn nhận biết sự liên hệ giữa nhân và quả: nếu không có nguyên nhân thì chắ sẽ không bao có hậu quả. Mặc dù thế nhưng đôi lúc chúng ta không thể hiểu được nguyên nhân. Kinh thánh được viết qua nhiều thời đại, khi con người vẫn còn cái nhìn về thế giới với những giải thích về khoa học rất đơn giản khi giải về nguyên nhân của những dữ kiện.đã xảy ra trong thế giới

Lấy câu chuyện về cuộc kiểm tra dân số của vua David nếu hiểu theo nghĩa chúng ta nghĩ là Thiên Chúa có vẻ đã quá tàn nhẫn trong việc trừng phạt dân chúng chỉ vì việc kiểm tra dân số của Vua David. Để hiểu được câu chuyện này theo đúng nghĩa, chúng ta phải vượt qua tất cả các chi tiết trong bài học này.

Nói một cách khách quan thì vấn đề hành chính trong việc kiểm tra dân số chỉ rất đơn giản không phải là việc làm nên tội. Tuy nhiên, khi Joab báo cáo số người nam "thích ứng để phục vụ trong quân đội", thì vua David dường như đã nhận ra rằng việc tìm biết được sức mạnh của quân đội là một việc làm tự cao và coi thường việc đặt hết sự tin tưởng của mình vào Thiên Chúa và vì vậy ông ăn năn, hối hận về những iệc làm của mình . Ông ta cần nên phải nghĩ đến những hậu quả của những việc làm của mình.

Trong việc Vua David chọn lực một trong ba sự lựa chọn, Bài đọc nà đã dạy cho tắt cả chúng ta biết là Thiên Chúa là người luôn biết xót thương và đối xử với chúng ta một cách tử tế hơn là những người đồng loại của chúng ta.

Lạy Chúa Cha ở trên trời, xin ban cho chúng con những ân sủng của sự khôn ngoan để giúp chúng con luôn luôn biết nghĩ đến hậu quả của những việc làm và những hành động của chúng con trước chúng con bắt đầu hành động.

Wednesday 4th Ordinary Time

We human beings have always realized that there is a relationship between cause and effect: there is no effect without a cause, even though the cause may not be totally intelligible to us. The Bible was composed during ages when human beings still had a very pre-scientific view of the world and produced rather simplistic explanations of the cause of events. Taking the story of David’s census too literally will make God seem cruel in punishing the people merely because of David’s census. To understand a story like this we must get beyond the details to the teaching. Objectively speaking a mere administrative matter like holding a census would not be a grave sin. However, when Joab reported the number of men “fit for military service”, David seems to have realized that knowing the strength of his army was a matter of pride and a failure to put all his trust in God and so he immediately regretted his action. He should have thought of the consequences of his action.

In having David choose between three options, the writer wishes mostly to teach that God is most merciful and deals with us in a kindlier way than our fellow human beings do.

Father in Heaven, grant us the grace of prudence that we will always think of the consequences of our actions before we act

Opening Prayer:

Lord I come before you today to place my heart in your gentle and merciful hands. I know you need my faith in order to make this time with you fruitful for my spiritual life. I invite the Holy Spirit to increase my belief in all the good you can do in my life.

Encountering Christ:

1. Seeing Christ: The Jews from Jesus’s neighborhood presumed they knew him and, as a result, they failed to perceive any of his divine reality. Prejudice, presumption, or familiarity can blind us too from seeing that Jesus is in everyone. “We do not have to discover in which of several people Christ is to be found; we must look for him in them all. And not in an experimental spirit, to discover whether he is in them . . . but with the absolute certainty that he is. . . . Christ does not choose to be known through outward appearances—even the appearance of virtue” (Caryll Houslander, The Reed of God).

2. No Mighty Deeds: It is hard to imagine the Creator of the heavens and earth would be hindered by anything if he wanted to execute his might. We see here that Our Lord values us so completely that he gives us the freedom to believe (or not believe) in his love for us. We are so free that our lack of belief–therefore our lack of permission–in him hinders the completion of good deeds for us. Yet, freedom is love. Nothing forced or kept is truly loved. God knew that when he left the final decision to us. Will we allow Christ to exercise his might in our lives? He waits for us to open ourselves up to him just a little further today.

3. He Was Amazed: We know that Jesus raised the dead, walked on water, and made a tiny bit of food enough to feed the multitudes, so we could assume there is little that would amaze him. But here we read Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of the people in his hometown. Amazed! God has so much to give to us, but when we remain stubborn and stuck in our disbelief he is thwarted. We can pray, therefore, for God to move our heart as the centurion did: “Lord, help my unbelief!” Faith is a gift from God, and we must ask for it and protect it. We should never be amazed when we falter, but we should amaze ourselves if we don’t ask for help when we fall.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, how often I forget to intercept the thoughts that tell me you are not divine or that you cannot help me. I must reject those thoughts that are not from you and actively seek your protection and help throughout my day, so as never to “amaze” you with my unbelief.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will set a timer on my phone to ring every hour for the next nine hours, and I will pray “Jesus, increase my faith” each time the alarm rings.

4th Week in Ordinary Time (B) : Wednesday 3rd February 2021

Heb. 12:4-7,11-15; Ps. 102:1-2,13-14,17-18; Mk. 6:1-6 (Ps Wk IV)

In the first reading, the writer of Hebrews uses the metaphor of a father disciplining his children to explain suffering. According to him, because we are called to be sons and daughters of God, we share not only in the saving work of Jesus but also in Jesus’ sonship. So, just as God wanted to bring His Son to maturity by way of his suffering, God also wants to bring us, whom He loves to maturity in faith by learning from our suffering.

Perhaps, one of the greatest experiences of suffering that Jesus Himself encountered was to be rejected by his own people in Nazareth. They, whom he expected to know better than most people, did not only not believe in him or his message, but totally rejected him. Jesus was amazed at the lack of faith of the people of Nazareth. But this did not cause him to have doubts about the Father’s love for him or about himself and his ministry. He learns from the experience and moves on courageously with his mission.

Often, the sufferings that we encounter can cause us to doubt God’s love for us or the purpose of our existence. At times like this, it is essential to see suffering as part of our lives and our faith. Through it, God is teaching us and bringing us to maturity as His sons and daughters. Even when Jesus could not fully understand God’s purpose for his life, Jesus always surrendered his will to the Father. May we also learn to do the same.

Lord, help me to learn from You.