Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần Tuần 25 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần Tuần 25 Thường Niên

Bình thường, cuộc sống của chúng ta cũng giống như vua Hêrôđê nghĩa là chúng ta có "một cuộc sống rất bình thường" của người Công giáo. Có nghĩa là chúng ta tự để mình rơi vào trong một cái thói quen. Chúng ta đi nhà thờ, làm công việc hay nghĩa vụ của mình theo như “một cái máy” vì luật buộc như việc xưng tội một năm một lần, đi “xem lễ”, rước lễ, và rồi về nhà, thế là xong, cuộc sống xay vòng ngày qua ngày giống như thế. Bằng cách nào đó, đôi khi người Kitô giáo chúng ta có vẻ hầu như cảm nhận thấy rằng, cuộc sống đạo của chúng ta đạo chẳng có gì lấy làm hào hứng và vui thích cho lắm.

Tất nhiên, chúng ta ai cũng muốn thấy Chúa Giêsu, nhưng chúng ta chẳng nỡ bỏ công sức ra để tìm kiếm Chúa. Chúng ta không nhìn thấy và không nhận ra sự cần thiết của sự từ bỏ hay thoát khỏi cái vỏ không trống rỗng để tìm kiếm những sung túc, sự sung sướng và sự thoải mái của chúng ta, để đáp ứng lại cái sự mời gọi của Chúa Giêsu, đặc biệt là những nơi Ngài hiện diện trong những vùng ngoại ô, làng quê héo lánh, hay ở nơi những người đang sống bên lề xã hội, những người nghèo khổ và bị ruồng bỏ. Nhưng chúng ta cũng đã nhận được sự cảnh báo là trong ngày Phán Xét, khi chúng ta được đưa ra trước quan toà Chúa Giêsu, chúng ta cũng đừng ngạc nhiên, nếu Chúa nói với chúng ta là: "Ta không biết ngươi là ai".

Lạy Chúa, xin giúp chúng con biết dùng thời gian của Chúa ban cho chúng con một cách khôn ngoan, để chúng con luôn thực sự và thành tâm đi tìm kiếm Chúa giữa lòng người và dòng đời mà chúng con đang sống, biết nhận ra Chúa trong người anh em nghèo khó, tật nguyền đang sốnh ngay nên cạnh chúng con.

Reflection

The Gospel reading yesterday described how Jesus sends his closest disciples on mission. This expansion of Jesus’ mission draws the attention of Herod Antiphas, the tetrarch of Galilee. Herod is curious about Jesus because he had heard about Jesus and the miracles Jesus was performing. As a result, Herod desires to see Jesus. Not because he really believed in Jesus' message but because he merely wanted to satisfy his curiosity. So, Herod remains in his palace waiting for the day when he can see Jesus. It never occurs to him to go out and look for Jesus. In the meantime, life goes on as usual. Often, we can become “life as usual” Catholics. We fall into a routine. We go to church, fulfill our religious obligations, receive Communion, and go home. Nothing changes, just as expressed by the writer in the first reading. Nothing really exciting happens to our faith and in our relationship with God. Somehow it seems as though there’s nothing joyful about being a Christian.

Of course, we would like to see Jesus but we do not look for him. We do not see the need to go forth from our comfort zone, outside our homes or parish, to meet Jesus, especially where he is present in the peripheries, in the marginalised, the poor and outcasts. But be warned. In the end when we do meet Jesus, do not be surprised if he says, “I do not know you”. Lord, help me to seek You always.

Thursday 25th in Ordinary

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I come before you in prayer. Increase my faith so I can grasp your word. Strengthen my love to live your word, and fortify my hope to hold onto your word. May our encounter in this time of prayer bear fruit in my soul.

Encountering Christ:

· Herod Was Greatly Perplexed: Upon hearing about Jesus, Herod “was greatly perplexed.” In the Gospel of Mark, Herod even said that Jesus “is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up” (Mark 6:16). Herod, as worldly as he was, could not fully disavow his attraction to the sacred. Before beheading John, “Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man… when he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him” (Mark 6:20). Now his fascination with the saintly John and his guilty conscience (for having beheaded John) made Herod uneasy when hearing about Jesus. While people may try to ignore their religious and moral sense and live a hedonistic lifestyle, the voice of conscience calling man back to goodness and truth is very resilient. This is so because God made us in his image and likeness.

· Understanding Jesus: Speaking of Jesus, some were saying, “John has been raised from the dead”; others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” Jesus will always remain a mystery to those who try to understand him without faith. Rationalism, superstition, and popular opinion will always fall short. While the Church has always defended the harmony between faith and reason, we can never forget that to speak of God, to speak of Jesus, is to approach a mystery—something that transcends us. Similar to Herod’s friends, numerous authors have often tried to describe Jesus according to their own criteria, saying Jesus is merely a moral teacher, an activist, or a rebel. However, in the forward to his book, Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote that such an approach reveals more about the worldview of the author than about Jesus. To begin to understand Jesus, we must humbly approach him in all of his mystery, as the Incarnate Son of God.

· A Desire to See Jesus: In another passage, Jesus told his disciples, “But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” We are ultimately created and called to the beatific vision in heaven, that is, to see God face to face (CCC 163). The Incarnation is the visible face of God, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Therefore, the longing to see Jesus goes well beyond mere curiosity in a miracle-maker. When sharing the faith with people who may seem indifferent to it, remember that encountering Jesus speaks to their most profound desire, even if for the moment they do not know it.

Conversing with Christ: “Jesu joy of man’s desiring; Holy wisdom, love most bright; Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring; Soar to uncreated light” (from Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”). May my contemplation of your face, O Lord, increase my desire to live ever closer to you in this life, and one day attain eternal union with you in heaven. May I offer you all my joys and sorrows in this life to serve as gratitude for your friendship.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take an extra moment to praise your goodness.

REFLECTION

In the first reading the post-exilic prophet Haggai speaks about the rebuilding of the nation, beginning with the rebuilding of the Temple, where God dwells. Their growth and development as a nation will depend upon their faithfulness to their covenant with Yahweh. From the destruction of their Temple and nation and the shame, defeat and desolation of exile, God's chosen people hoped to rise again. Has the exile formed a chastened and renewed people?

In the Gospel reading King Herod wonders who this Jesus miracle-worker is: one of the prophets come back to life, Elijah-come-back, or John the Baptist raised to life? Though Herod respected John as "an upright and holy man" and "liked listening to him, although he became very disturbed whenever he heard him (Mk 6: 20), he had John beheaded at the request of the daughter of Herodias his consort.

We know that Herod wanted to meet Jesus. He finally met him when Pilate sent Jesus to him at his trial. But he got no reply from Jesus. (Lk 23: 6 -12)

Like Herod, we are asked the same question? Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? And, more important, what is he to us now? When Jesus asked his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, "Who do you say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Messiah." What is our answer?

REFLECTION

The first reading from Ecclesiastes challenges us to reflect on the meaning of our lives. The message of Ecclesiastes which was written in the third century before Christ is reflected in the first reading: What is this world we live in about?

Hopefully with our Christian faith and Judeo-Greek-Roman background we are able to answer the questions and concerns raised in Ecclesiastes.

In the Gospel reading King Herod wonders who this Jesus miracle-worker is: one of the prophets come back to life, Elijah-come-back, or John the Baptist raised to life? Though Herod respected John as "an upright and holy man" and "liked listening to him, although he became very disturbed whenever he heard him" (Mk 6: 20), he had John beheaded at the request of the daughter of Herodias, his consort.

We know that Herod wanted to meet Jesus. He finally met him when Pilate sent Jesus to him at his trial. But he got no reply from Jesus. (Lk 23: 6 -12) Like Herod, we are asked the same question? Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? And, more important, what is he to us now? When Jesus asked his disciples at Caesarea Philippi, "Who do you say I am?" Peter replied, "You are the Messiah." What is our answer?

Reflection

Herod was the governor of the land. He had power and resources. He was "the authority" and had the wisdom to rule his people. And yet the wisdom of this world that was Herod's was confounded by the simple reality of Jesus' healing presence and his teachings. "He did not know what to think... I had John beheaded... Who is this man..." He lost his wisdom when confronted with the wonders or the miracles Jesus had done.

In our world today, there are still some miracles, great and small, happening now and then. If we are attuned to the movement of the Spirit in us, in others and in the world, we see these miracles, accept them and perceive God's action in them because of the Spirit in us. However, if God is not in us, and we act as if we are responsible for everything and anything, then we can be like Herod, confounded by simple yet divine realities. We could not believe this or that would be God's miracle. It may be just the fact that we can get up in the morning to live another day, or that we have been saved from a near catastrophic event like a plane crash or car accident, or that bitter enemies have reconciled, or the reality that the bread and wine have become the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at Mass.

Let us pray for one another and ask the Lord to make us sensitive to His presence in the different events in our life and in the world. We know that He is with us always, but are we conscious of that? If we are, then, we would never be offending one another, and always be grateful to God for His presence.