Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 22 Thường Niên - Luke 5:33-39

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 22 Thường Niên - Luke 5:33-39

Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã khuyến cáo các môn đệ của Ngài là không nên "khép kín tâm hồn" hay không chịu học hỏi tìm tòi về những điều khám phá mới về Thiên Chúa và cách sống Đạo của chúng ta. Chúa Giêsu đã dùng một hình ảnh rất quen thuộc với các môn đề và những người theo Chúa thời bấy giờ; đó là: bầu da đựng rượu, Da mới và da cũ. Trong thời Chúa Giêsu, rượu thường được lưu trữ trong các bầu làm bằng da, Khi tượu mới đổ vào bầu da thì rượu mới vẫn còn lên men. Các chất khí khi lên men sẽ gây áp lực cho cho bầu da đựng rượu căng to ra. Da mới đựng rượu mới thì mới có thể có đủ độ đàn hồi và chịu đựng được những áp lực khi rượu lên men trong bầu da. Nhưng nếu chúng ta đựng rượu mới trong bầu da rượu cũ, thì bầu da cũ sẽ dễ bị vỡ bởi vì những bầu da đã bị khô cứng nên không còn sự đàn hồi như bầu da mới. Cũng giống việc ăn Chay và Cầu nguyện, chúng ta nên phải tìm một nơi thích hợp và thời gian phù hợp cho việc ăn chay.

Cuộc sống tâm linh của chúng ta sẽ bị bần cùng hoá, nếu như, chúng ta sẽ chỉ có được một Cựu Ước hay chỉ có một Tân Ước mà thôi. Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta sự khôn ngoan vì vậy chúng ta phải biết dùng sự khôn ngoan này để sử dụng cho những việc tốt lành trong cả hai trường hợp cũ và mới. Chúa Giêsu không muốn chúng ta giữ khư khư cứng ngắc về những cái quá khứ và chống lại những việc mới hay những thay đổi mới của Thánh Thần trong cuộc sống của chúng ta. Chúa muốn trái tim của chúng ta được nên giống như bầu da rượu mới, biết mở ra và sẵn sàng tiếp nhận rượu mới của Chúa Thánh Thần., nếu chúng ta mong muốn phát triển kiến thức và sự hiểu biết về những kế hoạch của Thiên Chúa đã và đang ban cho cuộc sống của chúng ta.

"Lạy Chúa Giêsu, xin tuân đổ nơi chúng con ơn Chúa Thánh Thần, để chúng con có thể phát triển sự hiểu biết thêm về tình yêu và chân lý tuyệt vời của Chúa., Xin giúp chúng con được sống phù hợp với ý muốn của Chúa và giúp chúng con có thể luôn luôn tìm thấy niềm vui hạnh phúc trong sự hiểu biết, yêu thương và phục vụ Chúa."

Meditation:

In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the "closed mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to his audience; new and old wineskins. In Jesus' times, wine was stored in wineskins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting. The gases exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old wine skins easily burst because they became hard as they aged. What did Jesus mean by this comparison? Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the new.

Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52). How impoverished we would be if we only had the Old Testament or the New Testament, rather than both. The Lord Jesus gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the past and to be resistant to the new work of his Holy Spirit in our lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like the new wine skins – open and ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God's word and plan for your life?

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you for this opportunity to be with you in prayer. Increase my faith, hope, and love so that I may receive that which you wish to give, and give that which you wish to receive. I bring myself and the people entrusted to my intercession to this time of prayer and ask you to bless us.

Encountering Christ:

· Why Fast?: “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same; but yours eat and drink.” Fasting helps us keep our appetites in check by not inordinately giving in to them. Overindulgence of appetites weakens our will and deadens our spiritual sense. The Catechism tells us that fasting and abstinence “help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart” (CCC 2043). The sacrifice is merely a means; the goal is to open ourselves more to God and to our neighbor. Christian asceticism does not separate itself from the world because the world is bad, which is a concept present in Buddhism, rather because a certain degree of detachment frees us to unite more deeply with God (Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Ch. 14 on Buddha). Christ himself fasted forty days while in the wilderness both to prepare for his public ministry and to overcome temptation (Luke 4:1-13). Fasting is therefore a profoundly Christian tradition; in it, we unite ourselves with Christ’s fasting in the desert (CCC, “Fasting”).

· The Bridegroom: “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” Jesus fasted, mourned, wept, suffered, and died, but he could also be joyful and celebrate. Following Jesus’s example, the Church has always lived and encouraged a balance along the way. During Advent and Lent we fast and sacrifice, but during Christmas and Easter we celebrate. However, sacrifice and joy are not on equal footing. Fasting and sacrifice are means to attain the goal of joy, the joy for which we were created: union with God. Therefore, rooted in the goodness of God and his creation, joy is much “larger” than the denial of aesthetic practices. To be in the presence of the bridegroom should cause deep joy.

· New Wine: There is a deep continuity between the Old and the New Testaments. Together they depict the unity of one great salvific plan. The Old Testament prepares the way for Christ and has much to teach us, whereas the New Testament, with Christ’s arrival, brings about the fulfillment of the Old Testament and reveals its full meaning (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, nn.15-16). Christ’s arrival also brings about something radically new: the Son of God made incarnate. Previously, God’s union with humanity was strained due to our sin and infidelity. Now, in the person of the Eternal Son made man, God and we will never be separated. Additionally, those who are united to the Son by grace now have the opportunity for everlasting union with God. That is a qualitative difference from the Old Testament. That is why in another passage Jesus said, “among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). Christ is the new wine, not limited by the wineskins of the Old Covenant. He does not contradict the Old; he surpasses it.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I marvel at the salvific plan you began to unfold immediately upon the fall of our first parents. You patiently prepared our hearts to let us see our need for you. Then in the fullness of time, you came among us as one of us, the very Son of God became our brother and Redeemer. I see your salvific work played out in my own personal life. You let me see my weakness, and still, you come to my aid. How wonderful you are!

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take time to remember how you have been at work in my life and express my gratitude.

Meditation:

In a time of great division in our world, this beautiful hymn to Christ should give us some comfort and inspiration. God has been pleased to dwell in one of our own, and through him to reconcile everything in creation to Himself. The source of that reconciliation and unity is love — the love that comes from God and that we are called to imitate. There must be no barriers and walls between people. Hatred and ideology should not separate us or give rise to violence.

There is only one God and the world and its people belong to him. As we gaze out on our bleeding and frightened world, we should know that God desires unity and compassion. We continue and participate in God’s work whenever we respond with love and compassion to the needs and suffering of others, and whenever we rise above barriers and divisions and reach out towards others.

Some are upset with Jesus because his disciples are not observing the traditional religious rules of fasting. They are enjoying themselves — imagine that! Jesus points out that there is a new spirituality being born. Just as new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins without loss of the wine, new ideas also require a new container. Jesus challenges them to think in new and fresh ways and not be prisoners to traditions and older understanding. Lord, may I continue Your work of reconciliation and unity.

REFLECTION

We send messages and influence others by how we act and what we use. As Christians we are all called to be advertisement billboards for Christ. Now what does it mean to be a letter of advertisement for Christ? Unlike the employees of a company, we do not settle merely for external patches. God's letter writing begins in the heart and spirit. The new covenant is one in which the heart of stone becomes flesh. This does not mean that we have no external signs and symbols. These are important. However, to be a real letter of advertisement for Christ means that our internal desires conform with our behavior as new creature in Christ. Our acts of charity and prayer are done so that our heavenly Father may be praised. We are the new wineskins into which the new wine has been poured. We are not a letter of gloom. We are a letter of joy and celebration. Jesus has won the ultimate victory over sin and death. People must in joy of the outpouring of the Spirit. It is so easy for us to forget who we are. God knows us by name and calls us in personal love. We in turn should be God's letters to our fellowmen telling the how much he loves them and cares for them. Each day, by every little thing that we say and do, we go about proclaiming God's goodness and telling of his wonders.

This is so if really believe that we are letters of Jesus Christ. We speak a message of love and care. And no matter how many times we are read, the message never tires or bores us. We are the new wine, and we are meant to live in joy.