Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 14 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 14 Thường Niên

Chúa Giêsu không bao giờ do dự để tiên đoán rằng Giáo Hội của mình và những người theo Ngài sẽ phải trải qua những thử thách khốn khó. Những người có niềm tin yếu đuối sẽ chỉ thấy một tương lai đen tối. Nhưng lúc nào Chúa Giêsu cũng có những ý nghĩ tuyệt vời trong sự lạc quan là bảo đảm niềm vui nội tâm sẽ đạt được qua những sự đau khổ này. Chúa Giêsu đã nói trong Tin Mừng hôm nay: " Nhưng kẻ nào bền chí đến cùng, kẻ ấy sẽ được cứu thoát." Mt 24:13. Chúng ta thực sự có thể lạc quan bằng thói quen? một ngọn lửa tươi sáng của hạnh phúc có thể ẩn sâu trong tâm hồn của chúng ta trong mọi lúc, khi mà mọi thứ không được như ý của chúng ta?

Những vấn đề và rắc rối tự nhiên mỗi ngày của chúng ta là tình trạng thực tế của vấn đề hiện tại. Chúng ta đang ở trong giai đoạn là cùng phải chịu đau khổ và chết với Đấng Kitô. Điều này chắc chắc không bao giờ dễ dàng. Nhưng thật dễ dàng cho Chúa Kitô? Nếu bất cứ điều gì đến với cuộc đời của Chúa Giêsu một cách dễ dàng thì đó là những thất bại hàng ngày mà Chúa đã gặp phải. Ngài đã không đánh bại Herod, nhưng đã phải chạy trốn sang Ai Cập. Lính canh đền thờ luôn luôn canh chừng và muốn bắt giữ Ngài. Có lẽ Chúa Giêsu không phải là một vị thầy thành công nổi tiếng, vì chúng ta không thể tìm thấy những người bạn thân của Ngài khi Ngài cần họ, hoặc khi ngài bị bắt đã có ai thân thiết nhiệt tình để bảo vệ Ngài hay họ đã bổ trốn vì sợ vạ lây. Nhưng Ngài đã hiến dâng cuộc sống của Ngài theo cách này, để dạy cho chúng ta tất cả những gì mà cuộc sống thực sự có nghĩa. Đó là một sự mầu nhiệm bí ẩn kỳ lạ, nhưng đó là cách mà Thiên Chúa đã chọn. Chúng ta có thể tin tưởng vá sự khôn ngoan vô lường của Ngài? Chúng ta hãy cầu xin Chúa ban cho chúng ta những ân điển ngày hôm nay để chúng ta có thế bước theo con đường rất quanh co đau khổ nhưng sẽ dẫn chúng ta đến vinh quang và hạnh phúc cuối cùng.

REFLECTION

Jesus never hesitated to predict that his Church and his true followers would undergo severe trials. Those whose faith is weak would see only a dark future. But always, Jesus came through with a great note of optimism, an assurance of deep interior joy gained through these sufferings. Jesus says in today's Gospel: "Whoever holds out to the end will be saved." Can we really be optimists by habit? Can there be a bright fire of happiness deep inside us all the time, even when everything is going wrong?

Our trouble naturally is with the present state of affairs. We are in the stage of suffering and dying with Christ. That has never been easy. But was it easy for Christ? If anything comes through clear in the life of Jesus, it is the daily failures he encountered. He did not succeed in beating Herod out of his crown, but had to flee to Egypt.

There were always temple police around, wanting to arrest him. Jesus did not even seem to be a Successful teacher, if we are to count his friends at the end when he needed them, or if we are to consider the enthusiasm his people had for defending him. But he gave his life in this way, to teach us what all of life really means. It is a strange mystery but that is the way God chose to live it. Can we trust his infinite wisdom?

Let us pray for the grace today to follow this very crooked road of suffering that leads us to final glory and happiness.

REFLECTION

Jesus started his apostleship by choosing 12 men from among common people. He taught them through parables, through various teaching, by example and through miracles. He taught them that the kingdom of heaven is not what they imagined it to be. Until today, the power of Jesus' message transforms us into doing our share in his mission. It opens our eyes to what he has done; it opens our ears to his teachings. But even more so, his message restores us to better way of life, a life reborn of the Holy Spirit - a new life. This transformation comes from believing. For every house that welcomes this peace, the peace remains. For every house that rejects his message f peace, the peace departs. Jesus instructed his disciples to start with the lost sheep of Israel instead of going into pagan and Samaritan territory because he knew that these people were not yet ready to accept the Good News. On the contrary, the Jews possessed the laws of the covenant since the time of their ancestors. It was their tradition and way of life. Jesus knew that this was the key to their beliefs and entrusted this knowledge to Peter and the other apostles. As witnesses to his teachings, they wereempowered to bring the Good News to the Jews and later, when they were ready, to the Gentiles. Have we considered our own calling lately? Have we reviewed our lives? Let's take a few minutes to reflect on Jesus' plans for our salvation.

Opening Prayer: 

Lord Jesus, grant me the courage to be a witness for others so that they may come to know, love, and follow you.

Encountering Christ:

1. The Challenge of Following Jesus: Jesus’s words in this Gospel do not seem very encouraging. Who wants to be a sheep among wolves, handed over to pagans, or put to death by one’s own relative?! Jesus’s use of imagery speaks prophetically to all who wish to follow him in spirit and truth. Living one’s deepest convictions requires both humility and courage. Humility is needed to follow Jesus, so that we follow him without pharisaical self-righteousness, condemning all who do not seem to be following Jesus according to our personal standards. Courage is needed to maintain the course of one’s convictions, always discerning what is implied to obey the Lord’s call in my day-to-day circumstance as a disciple of Christ.

2. Sent: With our baptism, and especially with the seal of confirmation, we are sent as disciples into the world. Our identity as Jesus’s disciples is one that matures as we discover the heart of Jesus. While we go as innocent sheep among the wolves, we are not sent without resources. Our resource is the Lord himself who accompanies us with his Eucharist, his grace, his Spirit. How often do we turn to him in trust when we are faced with an opportunity to witness in word or deed? How often do we recognize that we are “sent” to a world in need of Jesus’s message of repentance, forgiveness, mercy, and love?

3. The Wolves: What and who are the wolves in our lives? The secularity of culture that drowns out God’s voice? The media when it creates anxiety, fear, and despair over disunity among peoples? The voice of ridicule among friends or family that do not see the purpose of a relationship with God? Where we find wolves, we also find wounds. One who is injured interiorly lashes out without understanding and persecutes those who want to do good to them. Are we capable of seeing beyond the wolf to the wound? The Lord calls us to be a witness in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. We can always try to bring balm to the wounded. But if we are rejected, the Lord invites us to look for those who will receive him. We leave the closed, wounded wolves to the mercy of God.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to participate in building your kingdom by my witness of love for you. Send me your Spirit to guide my thoughts, words, and actions so that I may truly be balm among the “wolves” of this world.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will intentionally pray for people in my life who are far from you, asking the Holy Spirit to open their hearts.

Reflection:

Expect that when the Lord comes into our lives, our lives will not remain the same. When the Holy Spirit descends upon us, we can be sure that our lives will be set in motion. There will always be a dynamic activity, an interaction that comes from above. And for sure conflict will arise when we stand up as witnesses for Christ.

Whether in the office or in the family, there may be many topics and views contrary to the teachings of the Church. In the world, we will be caught in tension as we strive to follow the will of God. We will be tempted, and many trials will await us. We may be subjected to ridicule, criticism and even hatred when we stand by Christ.

The world does not value Christ. Many of the teachings in the Gospel are against the values of the world. We are in the world, but yet we do not belong to the world.

Today's Gospel reading invites us to stand firm in our Christian beliefs, during opportune and inopportune times. We may lose many friends, jobs, business opportunities and securities. It is a great sacrifice, but then we follow God and not men, and our reward will also be great in heaven.

The consolation is that the Holy Spirit will defend us and make us righteous. In the midst of the difficulties and trials because of our commitment to our faith, God will provide. He will take care of us. We should consider it an honor to follow his footsteps, to experience some "crucifixion" and to complete whatever is lacking in his passion through our suffering with him.