Suy Niệm Thứ Ba Tuần 14 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Thứ Ba Tuần 14 Thường Niên

Đã bao nhiêu lần chúng ta đã phấn đấu, chống lại một ý chí mạnh hơn ý muốn riêng của chúng ta?. Những đớn đau và sầu khổ mà chúng ta không muốn và nghĩ rằng chúng ta không thể chịu được nổi, hay những sự ác và tội lỗi đang vây quang chúng ta, và những sự tốt lành mà chúng ta muốn, nhưng chúng ta lại quá bận rộn để thực hiện và tìm kiến những sự tốt lành ấy..? Chúng ta có thể tưởng tượng đuợc là Chúa Giêsu đã phải phấn đấu để tìm cách làm sao để tiến hành việc rút lui khỏi vùng Ephraim trên các bờ vực đá trong sa mạc, khi Ngài bị những người Do thái săn đuổi sau khi đã làm phép lạ cho ông Ladarô sống lại (Jn.11). Thật ra đó là ý của Chúa Cha mà Ngài phải chịu đau khổ và phải chịu chết ở Jerusalem cũng vì lợi ích cho con người tội lỗi của chúng ta ở thế gian.

Trong Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta, các môn đệ của ngài là không nên bỏ lỡ bất cứ cơ hội để làm vinh danh nước Trời, bởi vì đó là ý muốn của Thiên Chúa là tất cả mọi người trên thế gian này đều phải được tập hợp trong sự an bình trong vòng tay thương yêu của Chúa.. Lạy Chúa, Xin Chúa ban cho ơn phúc lành của Chúa xuống trên tất cả chúng con.

Reflection SG

How many times have we wrestled with a force stronger than us? A will stronger than our own, the pains and suffering we don't want and think we cannot bear, the evil and sins that besiege us, the good we want but are too busy to practice …? In today’s first reading, Jacob wrestled with God after he and his pursuer had made peace, and was on the way with his family preparing for his meeting with his brother, Esau, whom he had cheated.

We can imagine Jesus wrestling with how to proceed when he retreated to Ephraim on the edge of desert, being hunted by the authorities after raising Lazarus (Jn.11). Is it really the will of the Father that he should suffer and die in Jerusalem for the sake of the world? Wouldn’t it be better to lie low now and wait for a comeback to continue to help people? In the end, Jesus discerned that the only way in which he can fully reveal his salvific mission and identity is to go to Jerusalem.

In today’s gospel, Jesus teaches us, his disciples, not to miss any opportunity to labour for the Kingdom, for it is God’s will that all are to be safely gathered in. Lord, may You be blessed, for all is well!

Opening Prayer: 

Lord Jesus, I believe in your power to cast out all that is not of your kingdom. Help me to respond to your invitation to build your kingdom in the hearts of all people.

Encountering Christ:

1. Two Kingdoms: The Gospel today reminds us that there are two kingdoms waging battle. Or better said, there is one real kingdom–God’s– and a false kingdom hopelessly attempting to usurp God’s kingdom. Even the Pharisees acknowledged the spiritual forces at work in the world. They were closer to faith than those whose vision remains horizontally focused on the material world alone. Faith, far from being unrealistic, is the keenest vision of reality that a person can have. Through it, we become aware of what is at stake in the life of every human person—slavery to Satan’s lair or liberation in the kingdom of God.

2. The Harvest: Jesus works to establish his reign in the hearts of those who will come to believe in him, but he chooses not to do it alone. He knows that faith is passed on by testimony, and desires more disciples—laborers for the kingdom of God. Who will join him? It takes courage to enter this battle. Sometimes we will be insulted for being a laborer for God. Our Lord wants to hear how we feel about being his laborer.

3. Heart of a Laborer for the Kingdom: On the optional memorial day of St. Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr, we are reminded that life circumstances make us disciples if our hearts are properly centered on the Lord. Maria lay bleeding to death after being viciously stabbed by a family friend. She endured this trial to guard her purity. Her response to her assaulter, Alessandro, revealed Christ’s heart incarnate in her own. He looked upon his people as sheep without a shepherd, troubled and abandoned. Maria did the same and uttered words of forgiveness before taking her last breath. How will we have the courage to stand with Christ, to manifest his heart of compassion even for our persecutors? Only by remaining in Christ!

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to belong to your kingdom, to be free to live in the light of truth and the joy of your love. Grant me your heart that I may build your kingdom here and now through compassion, mercy, charity, and forgiveness.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will be aware of the subtle temptations that lure me to the enemy’s kingdom, and look for opportunities to build God’s kingdom through forgiveness.

REFLECTION 2018

In the first reading Hosea faults the kings who do not come from God and who do not worship the true God. In the Gospel reading we see Jesus curing a man unable to speak because he was possessed by an evil spirit. We see Jesus preaching the Good News; we see Jesus moved with pity for the crowds for they were "harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd."

Like Jesus who healed the sick and possessed, we are called to help cure the world of its sicknesses. We are called to help those in need. As in the time of Jesus, sickness and pain, hunger and war and exploitation of the human person are signs of sickness in our hearts, signs of our sinfulness. We need good will and the help of God's grace to restore humans to their dignity as children of God.

We hear Jesus telling his disciples to pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to gather his harvest. We make the same prayer today. Lord, grant us the grace to be your instruments for the healing of your people. Send forth your Spirit to send and empower more workers to gather the harvest for your kingdom.. Give me the grace to grow into the way you see me.”

Reflection:

"Harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." Is this a scenario you feel you can relate to?

In the hustle and bustle of everyday living, it is almost inevitable that we all feel this way sometimes. There is a term for that: "the weight of living." It's a feeling we know well—and one that even our Lord sympathizes with.

Christ saw the people of his time afflicted by the perils of human life, disease, fatigue, restlessness and confusion. He pitied them, and sought to bring healing to the sick, rest to the tired, and peace to the conflicted. And he continues to do so now, in the small miracles he works in our lives, in his quiet whispering to our hearts during prayer, and in the blessings he brings us through the people we meet.

But are we open to him? Do we have trust in him as sheep trust their shepherd? Or are we like the Pharisees, who doubt, question and criticize? Healing and miracles cannot happen without faith. Perhaps it is time we allowed the Lord to do his work in our lives - and help work the miracles, by joining his mission to alleviate the weight of living. After all, the harvest always needs more workers.

Let us continue to pray for the grace to always seek out the Shepherd. In him, we will find our true peace and real meaning in life. Hopefully, as we go about our daily concerns, we can remain focused on how to better bring about his kingdom here on earth. He is there to help us. May we allow him to do just that, and in some way do likewise to him and to others.