Suy Niệm thứ Năm 17th Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm thứ Năm 17th Thường Niên

Qua bài đọc thứ Nhất, chúng ta có thể hình dung một thợ gốm đang chăm chỉ làm việc Người thợ gốm nàydùng một cục đất sét để biến nó thành một thứ gì đó mà ông ta muốn để có hình dáng duyên dáng và đẹp đẽ. Nếu ông ta không hài lòng với thành quả thành phẩm, hoặc nếu có điều gì sai, thì ông ta chỉ cần bắt đầu lại từ đầu. Đó là cách chúng ta sống của chúng ta mà Thiên Chúa đang làm trong các công việc tác thành và hoàn thiện chúng ta.

    Kinh nghiệm của chúng ta, cho dù là tích cực hay tiêu cực tất cả đều là những công cụ mà Thiên Chúa sử dụng nơi chúng ta. Sai lầm không phải là thiên tai; chúng ta luôn có một cơ hội khác. Thiên Chúa không kết thúc với chúng ta, và Thiên Chúa sẽ không ngừng hình thành chúng ta cho đến khi chúng ta phản ánh được cái vẻ đẹp và vinh quang của Ngài.

    Có nhiều loại người trong Nước Thiên Chúa. Chúng ta có xu hướng tách biệt và gắn nhãn cho người khác tốt hay xấu, nhưng không phải lúc nào cũng đơn giản như vậy. Rất ít người hoàn toàn tốt hoặc hoàn toàn xấu xa, nhưng hầu hết là một hỗn hợp đau khổ của cả hai. Cái lưới được thả xuống và kéo lên với tất cả mọi người vào đó, nhưng sẽ được các Thiên Thần của Chúa phân loại và tách ra từng loại trong thời gian cuối đời của chúng ta. Sự gì sẽ xãy ra lúc đó thì quá trễ.

    Sự phán thuộc về Chúa và chỉ một mình Chúa, Trong khi phán xét chúng ta có thể tiếp tục được Thiên Chúa làm việc nơi chúng ta mỗi ngày và chúng ta có thể giúp các anh chị em của chúng ta trong cuộc tranh đấu cho của họ ở trần thế trong những lời khẩn cầu trực tiếp của chúng ta trước toà Chúa. Lạy Chúa, xin Chúa tiếp tục hình thành chúng con theo ý muốn của Ngài.

Thursday 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Watching a potter at work is fascinating. The potter shapes a lump of clay into something graceful and beautiful. If he or she is dissatisfied with the results, or if something goes wrong, they merely start over from the beginning.

    That is how it is with us — God is at work shaping and perfecting us. Our experiences, both positive, and negative, are the tools that God uses. Mistakes are not disasters; there is always another chance. God is not finished with us, and God will not stop shaping us until we reflect his beauty and glory. There are all sorts of people in the kingdom of God. We tend to separate and label people as either good or bad, but it is not always that simple. Very few people are completely good or totally evil — most are a distressing mixture of both. The net that is cast pulls everyone in but separating good from evil occurs at the end of time, and it is not our job.

    Judgement belongs to God alone, not to humans. In the meantime, we can continue being shaped by God each day and we can help our brothers and sisters along the way in their struggles. Lord, continue to form me according to Your will.

    

Opening Prayer:

    Lord Jesus, I desire to choose the better part. Enlighten me as to the ways I choose other things over you, and give me the strength to center my heart on you.

Encountering Christ:

1. Loving Martha: In this Gospel passage it appears that Jesus was chastising Martha. Did he not value her service? We need to look again at Jesus’s words and ask for the grace to see into his heart. Jesus knew Martha’s heart and her personality. He saw her incessant concern for ensuring that all was well and taken care of in the household. He saw her desire to give him the best meal and hospitality, preparing the way for him and his disciples every time they passed through Bethany. As Scripture indicates, he appreciated her welcome. It may be good to note that Luke did not introduce Martha as the busybody woman of Bethany. Her main characteristic was the woman who “welcomed him.” Jesus must have loved Martha for her spirit of hospitality and for receiving him into her home.

2. The “Chastisement”: While Martha had already done the first necessary thing to please the Lord, once he was present in her house, something distracted Martha from truly being with Jesus. She was anxious about many things. Jesus wanted to get Martha’s attention. He called her by name, not once, but twice. Imagine the manner in which he called her name: with a firm voice, but gentle manner; with his eyes beckoning her to turn her heart to him and listen. Imagine Martha’s reaction. Perhaps the first time she heard Jesus speak her name it felt like a sharp awakening to the one who desired her attention. But the second time was a gentle appeal to heed what he was about to tell her. Imagine Jesus calling you by name.

3. The Better Part: Is the better part to be seated at the feet of Jesus, or to not be worried about so many things? Something of both perhaps, metaphorically speaking. In The Spiritual Canticle of the Soul and the Bridegroom, St. John of the Cross speaks of certain passions as a herd of sheep that the person goes after. Our fears, grief, even joys and hopes, can distract us from the bridegroom, who is the only one capable of putting order into our chaos. Through an intimate “sitting at the feet of the Lord,” we attend to the desires of the bridegroom and all is brought into perspective. Our hearts find rest. The daily irritations and sufferings are now seen and lived in a new light, in a spousal relationship of the soul in union with God. Only then have we found the better part.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I desire to find the better part. Grant me perseverance in prayer to come before you where your grace transforms me. I am willing to change so I can discover what it means to live all life’s challenges with my eyes focused on you and my heart centered on you.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will recall that your grace is stronger than my weakness. I will recognize any fear that creeps in. I will bring it before you, like Mary at your feet, and ask you to cast it aside and center my trust in you.

Reflection:

We all have a fundamental need to belong to a group. Experience of rejection can cause emotional pain and even affect our behavior.

-     Disconnection leads to more pain, so that people are eager to change their behavior and remain in the group with which they feel affinity. Jesus experienced this with his own family, home town, religious leaders and, at the end, even with his disciples. However, he invested his energy more in the relationship with his Father than in human relationships.

The love for God was so real in his life that he could with serenity face all challenges. Rejection by those whom he loved affected Jesus but still he was able to offer his life as a gift to many who wanted to receive him. St. Ignatius of Loyola would often ask God, for the grace to live as Jesus lived, and to love as Jesus loved. This heroic love, which is meek and humble, even rejoices when insulted and humiliated. Human nature often resists vulnerability but grace flourishes in our vulnerability.

    Lord Jesus, you called us to know you more intimately, to love you intensely and to follow You more closely. You embraced vulnerability in becoming a poor human being. Give us the courage to love others without creating barriers in relationships.