Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Sau Tuần 2 Mùa Chay

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Sau Tuần 2 Mùa Chay -Matthew 21:33-46 

Trong bài dụ ngôn hôm nay, Chúa đã dạy cho chúng ta thấy về lòng quảng đại và sự tin tưởng của Thiên Chúa. Như ông chủ vườn nho, Thiên Chúa đã tin tưởng chúng ta, cho chúng ta sự tự do để chạy theo cuộc sống riêng như chúng ta muốn. Dụ ngôn này cũng cho chúng ta thấy được sự kiên nhẫn và sự công bằng của Thiên Chúa.

            Không phải chỉ một mà nhiều lần ông Chủ đã tha thứ cho những người thuê vườn. Tuy nhiên, những người thuê vườn lại có ác tâm với và lợi dụng sự kiên nhẫn của ông chủ vườn, và cuối cùng thì sự phán quyết và công lý của ông chủ đã toàn thắng .

            Chúa Giêsu tiên báo trước cái chết và sự chiến thắng phục sinh của mình. Chúa biết Ngài sẽ bị chối bỏ và bị hành hình, nhưng Ngài cũng biết rằng rồi cũng sẽ có hồi kết thúc. Vì sau cuộc khổ nạn, Ngài sẽ  đến trong vinh quang. Sự vinh quang của Ngài là sự sống lại và lên trời ngự bên tay phải của Thiên Chúa Cha. Chúa đã chúc phúc cho dân của Ngài ngày hôm nay với hồng ân của Nước Trời. Và Ngài hứa sẽ ban cho chúng ta được sinh nhiều hoa trái, nếu chúng ta sống trong ơn nghĩa với Ngài (xem Gioan 15:1-11).

            Thiên Chúa phó thác tình yêu và ân sủng của Ngài cho mỗi người chúng ta và Ngài trao việc thừa hành và quản lý vườn nho của Ngài cho chúng ta để hưởng lợi, đó chính là Thân thể Chúa Kitô.  Chúa cũng đã hứa rằng: những công việc của chúng ta làm sẽ không trở nên vô ích nếu chúng ta kiên trì với đức tin của chúng ta cho đến cùng (1 Cô-rinh-tô 15:58). Chúng ta có thể gánh chịu những thử thách, bị bắt bớ và giam cẩm. Nhưng cuối cùng chúng ta sẽ thấy sự chiến thắng

 

Meditation:.

This parable speaks to us today tells us of God's generosity and trust. The vineyard is well equipped with everything the tenants need. The owner went away and left the vineyard in the hands of the tenants. God, likewise trusts us enough to give us freedom to run life as we choose. This parable also tells us of God's patience and justice. Not once, but many times he forgives the tenants their debts. But while the tenants take advantage of the owner's patience, his judgment and justice prevail in the end.

Jesus foretold both his death and his ultimate triumph. He knew he would be rejected and be killed, but he also knew that would not be the end. After rejection would come glory – the glory of resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father. The Lord blesses his people today with the gift of his kingdom. And he promises that we will bear much fruit if we abide in him (see John 15:1-11). He entrusts his gifts and grace to each of us and he gives us work to do in his vineyard – the body of Christ. He promises that our labor will not be in vain if we persevere with faith to the end (see 1 Corinthians 15:58). We can expect trials and even persecution. But in the end we will see triumph. Do you labor for the Lord with joyful hope and with confidence in his victory?

 

Opening Prayer: 

Lord, help me to pray well to overcome my selfishness. Instead of thinking of myself and my own comfort, enjoyment, and entertainment, help me to think first of the needs of others and especially how I might help them take a step closer to you today.

Encountering Christ:

1. For the Benefit of Others: The tenants in the parable used their talents for their own enjoyment, comfort, and entertainment, and they eventually lost everything. When Jesus created us, he gave us talents to use for a mission. Not only are we supposed to work to get ourselves to heaven, but the Lord also invites us to help bring others there as well. The talents and abilities we have are meant to be used for this task—not for our own profit. When we accomplish the Lord’s work, we are rewarded as people “that produce fruit.”

2. Am I Profitable for God?: The tenants could have used part of the fruits of their labor to take care of their personal needs (and they would have received even more than they needed), but these tenants wanted it all. In the same way, God allows us to use our talents to take care of our own needs as well as to enjoy life—after all, God ordered us not to work every single day, but to set aside the seventh day for worship, rest, and recreation. However, like the tenants in the parable, we are also expected to make a profit for him. Do we use our talent–our time, energy, intelligence, creativity–for his profit? This is the way we love the Lord with our “whole heart and with all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength” (cf. Mark 12:30).

3. Final Reckoning: Everything in the vineyard belonged to the landowner. The property was his. He planted the vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a tower. All the tools belonged to him as well. The tenants provided only the labor. Our life is similar. We provide only the labor. None of the tools–our talents–belong to us. They come from God. He has the right to expect us to use them, not only for our own needs, but for his profit as well—for the good and salvation of those around us. He sends us people to remind us of this. Do we ignore them? Do we treat them the way the tenants treated the landowner’s servants? 

Conversing with Christ: Lord, so often I forget about you and end up focused on my own goals and desires. Yet you put me here to cooperate with you in your saving mission. You gave me the tools I need to fulfill this mission. Help me to remember this truth throughout my day, to “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks me for a reason for my hope” (cf. 1 Peter 3:15).

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will look for an opportunity to give reasons for my hope, realizing that the greatest preaching I can do is to live an example of Christian charity that wins hearts for Christ and helps people remember that he has not forgotten his world.

 

REFLECTION
In the parable of the vineyard owner and the unworthy tenants, Jesus addressed the Pharisees, the priests and the leaders of the Jewish people of his time. He admonished them that God expected them to bear fruit and offer them to God. Instead, they maltreated and killed the prophets and killed even the Son of God himself who came to redeem them, because what the prophets and the Son of God told them to do interfered with what they had become comfortable with and their worldly self interest.

            The word of God, however, is addressed not only to the Pharisees and the High Priest and the Jewish people of ancient history. The word of God is addressed to everyone for all times and for all peoples, including ourselves. We too are tenants in the vineyard of God. God is expecting us to bear fruit for him. Are we bearing fruit and sharing with God the fruits of His vineyard or are we like the followers of the Pharisees and the High Priest, selfishly thinking only of our own comfort and worldly desires? In our lives, are we choosing the will of God over our own craving for fame and fortune, comfort and pleasure?

 

REFLECTION
The first reading narrates the beginning of Joseph's story. It is a tale of the jealousy and hatred of his brothers over the pride of Joseph and his dreams. Stopping at the point where Joseph is sold by his brothers, with his bloodied coat making it appear like a violent death from an animal attack, it seems like another sad ending to a bible story. Who would have thought there is a better ending to this unhappy drama – that many years later, Joseph would be the salvation of the Egyptian nation and its neighbors, including his family, during a time of great famine! Yet many times we encounter similar situations in our lives. Why do bad and sad things happen to us, why this untimely death of a child, why an unjust accusation from which we cannot defend ourselves, why a devastating flood that demolished the homes of hapless people? God weaves such fascinating narratives with unexpected happy endings to stories such as these. And if we fail to look at events in our lives with the eyes of faith and lose hope instead of patiently awaiting the outcome of this chapter in our lives, we miss out on seeing all the good God does for us, how He molds us by unlikely occurrences, how like the potter that He is, He teaches us patience and perseverance by the trials that come our way.

            O loving Father, when seemingly cruel events happen in our lives, help us to trust with patience that Your love and mercy will bring everything to a good ending. Amen.

 

Friday 2nd Week of Lent- Here comes that dreamer! (Genesis 37:19)

In many ways, Joseph was naive and innocent. In his seventeen years of life, he had been protected and showered with love and special treatment by his father. He probably thought that the rest of the world loved him just the same. But his naiveté got him in trouble when he told his brothers about his dreams and showed off the beautiful coat his father had given him. He probably couldn’t imagine that they would be offended—he was the golden boy, after all!

Even though his brothers assaulted him and sold him into slavery, Joseph did not give up on God’s commandments. Even when he was falsely accused and jailed for molesting his master’s wife, he held firm to God. When in prison, his ability to interpret dreams became known to Pharaoh, who ultimately released him and raised him up to a position second only to his own. Just as Joseph believed he would, God brought good out of evil for him. And not only for himself but for all the people around him. In his new position, Joseph was able to save both Egypt and the Israelites from a devastating famine.

This is a classic story of good and evil: the goodness of Joseph contrasted with the evil done by his brothers and those who appear later in the story. This story tells us that though they may seem locked in a never-ending struggle, goodness eventually triumphs over evil. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “All things work for good for those who love God.”

God always works good for those who love him. We should never let hard times keep us from turning to our Father and asking him to sustain us. If we always seek to do good and try to forgive those who harm us, miracles can happen—not only in our lives but in the lives of those around us. Let’s not run away from tough times but instead face them with faith and trust in God’s promises. Who knows what blessings God has waiting for us?

“Father, I surrender my life into your hands. When I get weary of fighting the good fight, lift me up and hide me in your presence. Keep me safe until I am able to praise and thank you once again.”