Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Bẩy tuần 19 TN

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Bẩy tuần 19 TN

Chúa Giêsu yêu thương trẻ em và những người biết sống và có lòng đơn sơ một cách đặc biệt như trẻ em. Trái trái tim của Ngài luôn mở rộng yêu thương chúng ta, khi chúng ta không biết sợ để tỏ ra cho Ngài biết những bất lực của chúng ta, và chúng ta đang phụ thuộc vào Ngài như thế nào mỗi khi chúng ta có nhu cầu cần đến Ngài.

Sự Khiêm tốn, giản dị, thanh khiết của tâm hồn, sự chân thành và ngoan ngoãn là những đặc điểm mà làm Chúa vui lòng nhất vì những đặc điểm này cho phép chúng ta công nhận Thiên Chúa là Cha của chúng ta trên tất cả mọi sự, và chúng ta là con cái của Ngài.

Cũng giống như một đứa trẻ con bình tĩnh và không sợ sệt bố mẹ vì cha mẹ là người luôn ở bên cạnh để chăm sóc cho nó, chúng ta cũng thế không nên phải sợ hãi và xáo trộn tâm hồn trong cuộc sống ở trần thế này, bởi vì chúng ta tin tưởng rằng Thiên Chúa có những kế hoạch tốt đẹp nhất cho chúng ta, mặc dù kế hoạch của Thiên Chúa có thể liên quan đến những sự đau khổ và thua thiệt phần vật chất. Nhưng Ngài sẽ không bao giờ bỏ rơi chúng ta, vì Ngài làm như vậy là vì Ngài yêu thương chúng ta, Chúng ta có thể bố thí của cải vật chất của chúng ta cho những người cần sự giúp đỡ, bởi vì Thiên Chúa sẽ luôn luôn ban lại cho chúng ta những nhu cầu mà chúng ta cần thiết.

Để có được những đặc điểm đơn sơ như con nít chúng ta cần phải học cách tha thứ một cách dễ dàng, để có được cuộc sống tự do không có hận thù, không chống lại Thiên Chúa và tha nhân, để sống được một cách đơn sơ như thế, Chúng ta phải biết ơn Chúa với những điều tuyệt vời mà Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta dù lớn hay nhỏ và phải biết sống với ơn gọi của chúng ta trong sự thánh thiện.

REFLECTION

Jesus loves children and those who embrace spiritual childhood in a special way. His heart is gladdened when we are not afraid to show him how helpless we are and how dependent we are on him for our every need. Humility, simplicity, purity of heart, sincerity and docility are traits that please Jesus most because these traits enable us to acknowledge at all times that God is Our Father and we are his children.

Much like a child who is calm and unafraid as long as his parents are around to care for him, we too should be fearless and unperturbed as we travel life's roads, because we trust that God has the best plans for us even if his plans involve pain and suffering. He will never abandon us because he is so in love with us. We give freely of our material possessions because God will always provide for our needs. To possess childlike traits is to learn how to forgive readily, to be free of grudges against God and neighbor, to live simply, to be thankful for things great and small. To be like children is to live our vocation of holiness.

Opening Prayer: 

Lord, I come before you as your child in this moment of prayer. Grant me simplicity and great love, the heart of a child, to receive the word you wish to speak to me today and to act on it.

Encountering Christ:

· Jesus and the Children: This scene can be painted as a very pious one—little eager faces upturned and listening to Jesus’s words, his hands extended in teaching. Perhaps it was that way. Or perhaps it was as most of us know children to be, especially a gaggle of them—laughing, energetic, eager, utterly receptive, and sensitive to even those things that are unsaid, the love and goodness of Jesus’s very being. Children have a way of grasping what even adults cannot express with simplicity. It is no wonder Jesus loved to be with them. Perhaps his heart rested when he was with them in a particular way.

· Jesus Prays for the Children: We know that God is outside of time, that all things are present to him. In this moment, then, as he prayed with this specific group of children, perhaps all children were present to him. Each name and each face, of all time and history, passing before the eye of his heart—known and cherished by him. What healing grace can be found in this encounter, for the wounds children carry in their hearts are often deeply unseen—unseen by the world, but known by Christ. In this moment of prayer, we can present to the heart of Christ our own woundedness–we are all children before him–and that of the children around the world today who suffer violence, abuse, illness, or other sufferings, that he may extend his healing hands in prayer.

· Such As These: What clearer invitation could Christ give us for how to follow him? To such as these, he said, belongs the kingdom of heaven. Simplicity, openness, trust, eagerness—all these qualities that are natural for a child are also dispositions toward life that help us to encounter and to be encountered by God. But perhaps most important among them is the conviction of being loved by one’s Father God, Mother Mary, and the Church. Let us pray for the grace to become like children again, before our Father who loves us.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you remind me of your special love for children. I pray for the children of the world. You also remind me that I am your child and that you desire that nothing in this world prevents me from coming close to you. Open my heart, that I may be renewed and strengthened by the healing hands you extend to me.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will strive to welcome the day’s events with the simple openness of a child.

Saturday, August 14, 2021= All Are Welcome

Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them…” Matthew 19:13–14

In the Catechism of the Council of Trent, which was promulgated by Pope Saint Pius V, this passage is linked with infant baptism. It states, “Besides, it is not to be supposed that Christ the Lord would have withheld the Sacrament and grace of Baptism from children, of whom He said: Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me…” (II, 2, 32). This teaching clearly indicates one of the best ways that this passage is fulfilled today. Inviting even infants before they reach the age of reason to receive the Sacrament of Baptism fulfills this loving command of Jesus to “Let the children come to me…”

Young children do not have the ability to rationally understand love in its purest form. That comes with the age of reason, which has traditionally been understood to be around the age of seven. But children, and even infants, are capable of receiving our love and are capable of receiving the love of God, even if they do not yet fully comprehend this gift.

As a child grows, they learn what love means as they witness it and experience it, especially through the mediation of their parents. This helps form their consciences in such a way that they become capable of making their own free choice to love as they mature in age. But if a child is to grow into a loving adult, they need more than just a good example, they need grace. The grace of Baptism is the primary source of that grace in their lives.

It’s easy for many to see Baptism only as a nice ceremony to welcome the newly born child into God’s family. And though that is true, it is so much more. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that Baptism bestows an indelible mark which “remains for ever in the Christian as a positive disposition for grace, a promise and guarantee of divine protection, and as a vocation to divine worship and to the service of the Church” (CCC #1121). In other words, Baptism bestows upon one’s soul a gift that can never be removed and becomes an ongoing source of grace. And when an infant is baptized, it’s as if this Scripture passage above is perpetuated throughout that person’s life. Because of this sacramental grace, Jesus continually says to this baptized soul, “Come to Me.”

In addition to the grace of Baptism, we must all imitate Jesus’ action of welcome and acceptance of not only children but of every child of God. Though the disciples initially tried to prevent the children from coming to our Lord, we must not. We must understand that there is a real temptation within our fallen human nature to both withhold the love of God from others and to even prevent others from coming to God. Anger, pride, envy, jealousy and the like can cause us to object to the conversion of others and to God welcoming them to Himself. When that temptation sets in, we must hear Jesus say to us, “Let the children come to me” and “do not prevent them.”

Reflect, today, upon these gentle and inviting words of Jesus. As you do, try to call to mind anyone who you might try to prevent from coming to our Lord. Do you desire the holiness of all people? Is there anyone in your life whom you find it difficult to encourage to come to Jesus to be embraced and blessed? Take on the heart of Jesus and see it as your duty to embrace others as He embraced these children. The more you become an instrument of the love of Christ, the more you will daily rejoice in God’s blessings as they are bestowed on others.

My tender Lord, You welcome all people to share in Your grace. You welcome every child and every child of God to share in Your loving embrace. Please extend that welcome to me and help me to accept this gift of Your infinite love. And help me to become a better instrument of Your love toward others, never interfering or preventing them from turning to You. Jesus, I trust in You.