Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần 32 Thường Niên.

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần 32 Thường Niên.

Trong bài đọc Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy cách mà người thẩm phán bất công đã bị buộc phải làm rõ công lý chỉ vì sự kiên trì và bền bỉ của một bà góa phụ, bởi vậy, không lẽ Thiên Chúa chẳng nhìn thấy được sự công lý, và lẽ phải được thực hiện giữa con cái của Ngài, những người đang khóc than đêm ngài với Ngài, ngay cả khi Ngài đã trì hoãn việc giúp họ? (Lk.18: 7) Các môn đệ và những người Do thái đương thời đã sống trong một thời gian đã muộn màng; vì vậy cuộc sống chúng ta hôm nay cũng thế. Chúa Giêsu đã bảo các môn đệ của Ngài là hãy duy trì niềm tin vào Thiên Chúa, Vì sự công lý và lòng trung thành của chúng ta đối với Thiên Chúa không phải là chỉ là một cú gọi điện thoại hay một lời nhắn tin qua điện thoại di động trong là đủ. Câu hỏi thực sự vế lòng trung tín của con người chúng ta hôm nay là một trong những yêu cầu của Chúa Giêsu như trong bài Tin mừng của Thánh Luca: "khi Con Người ngự đến, liệu Người còn thấy lòng tin trên mặt đất nữa chăng? " (Lk.18: 8).

    Vậy trong những lúc Thiên Chúa luôn trung thành với chúng ta, chúng ta có trung thành với Thiên Chúa như Thiên Chúa đã luôn trung thành với chúng ta? Khi Thiên Chúa muốn công lý được thực hiện, vậy khi nào thì chúng ta mới biết nghe và giữ lời của Chúa?. Chúng ta có sẽ trở thành người môn đệ thật sự của Chúa Giêsu và sẵn sằng là những khí cụ của lòng từ bi và công lý của Ngài chăng?

Đó là những câu hỏi đã thách thức chúng ta để đi theo Chúa Kitô trong cuộc sống hàng ngày của chúng ta. Một cách cụ thể hơn là tinh thần hiếu khách và tình yêu thương được coi như là một biểu hiện của đức tin và tình yêu như đã được nhắc đến trong bài đọc thứ nhất hôm nay.

    "Lạy Chúa, xin giúp cho chúng con biết sống một cuộc sống của Chúa Kitô trong thực tế của cuộc sống mỗi hàng ngày của chúng ta."

Reflection (SG)

In the Gospel reading, we see how an unjust judge can be forced to do justice by the persistence of a widow, so will not God see justice done to His children who cry to Him day and night, even when he delays to help them? (Lk.18: 7)The disciples and the community, for whom Luke was writing, were living in a time of delay; so we are too. Jesus asked His disciples to maintain their faith in God. It is not the justice and fidelity to God that we should call to question. The real question is the one asked by Jesus: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk.18:8)

- While God is always faithful, will we be the same?

- When God wants justice done, when will we hear God’s word and keep it?

- Will we become Jesus’ disciples and be His instruments of Compassion and Justice?

These questions challenge us in the following of Christ in our daily living.

One specific way is the spirit of hospitality and love as an expression of faith and love as reiterated in the first reading. “Lord, help us live the life of Christ in our daily realities.”

Saturday 32nd in Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of sacred Scripture. Please open my mind and heart to receive your word with humility and gratitude. Increase my faith, hope, and love so that your word may bear fruit in my daily life.

Encountering Christ:

· The End of Time: Towards the end of each liturgical year, the Church reflects upon the end of time. “The ‘resurrection of all the dead’… will precede [Christ’s coming] ‘in his glory, and all the angels with him.... Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats’” (CCC 1038). This anticipation of Our Lord’s second coming is an essential part of our faith. During the Mass after the consecration the people acclaim, “When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again.” St. Bernard spoke of the three arrivals of our Lord: his earthly life, his hidden presence within us, and, finally, his arrival at the end of time. Advent presages the first coming and the end of the liturgical year presages the final coming, and both prepare us for when he comes to us daily–silently, interiorly–but truly.

· When Will It Happen? When will the Lord finally come? Are we close? These and other questions are common and understandable. However, the Church has persistently taught us that while Our Lord’s coming is imminent, “‘it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority.’ This eschatological coming could be accomplished at any moment, even if both it and the final trial that will precede it are ‘delayed’” (CCC 673). The Lord will return, but we do not know when. Therefore, we should not be perturbed upon hearing various prognostics that the end is near. We should not worry so much about the end of the world, but rather prepare ourselves daily for a holy life and a peaceful death.

· Losing Life to Preserve It: ‘Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.” Our Lord is inviting us to realize that the things of this world are passing and that only he remains. If we seek to save our lives by merely chasing the pleasures of this life, we risk losing out on Christ himself, the pearl of great price for which we should gladly sell all the rest (Matthew 13:45-46). Rooted in a profound and trusting friendship with Christ, we will fear neither death nor the end of the world. Then, with St. Paul, we too will proclaim: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If it is to be life in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet… My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:21-23).

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, you come to your Church and to me in countless ways. I encounter you in Scripture, the Eucharist, Confession, prayer, and ultimately in all my daily experiences—both pleasant and challenging. Help me to see things as you see them, to value them as you value them. Give me the light and the strength to fulfill your will in all things—both now and at the end of my life.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will say a prayer for the dying.

Comment: They should pray continually and not lose heart

Today, when the last days of the liturgical year are getting near, Jesus exhorts us to pray, to open ourselves to God. We may think as the family parents who —every day!— are expecting to receive from their sons some words showing their loving affection.

God, who is our Father, also expects these words. Jesus says it quite often in the Gospel and we know that to speak with God is to pray. Our prayer is the voice of faith of our belief in him, also of our confidence, and it would be great if it would always be the manifestation of our love.

For our prayer to be trustful and persevering, St. Luke says that «Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should pray continually and not lose heart» (Lk 18:1). We know we can pray by praising our Lord, by thanking him, or by acknowledging our human weakness —the sin—, and imploring God's mercy, but most of the time, we shall be demanding some grace or favor. And, even if we do not immediately get what we are asking for, only the very fact of being able to address ourselves to God, to explain to this Someone our sorrow or our worries, will already mean we have achieved something. And, surely —even if not immediately, but eventually— we shall get a reply, because «Will God not do justice for his chosen ones who cry to him day and night even if He delays in answering them?» (Lk 18:7).

With regard to this evangelic parable, St. John Climacus says «that judge who feared not God, finally yields to the widow's insistence so that she stops coming and wearing him out. God will do justice to the soul, his widow because of sin, in front of the body, his first enemy, and in front of all the devils, his invisible adversaries. The Divine Trader will certainly know how to properly trade in our good wares, to place his great goods at our disposal with amorous solicitude, and to promptly hear our prayers».

Perseverance in prayer, confidence in God. Tertulian said «God can be overcome only by prayer».

Meditation:

What can a shameless and unjust judge pitted against a crusty and pestering woman teach us about justice and vindication in the kingdom of God? Jesus tells a story that is all too true - a defenseless widow is taken advantaged of and refused her rights. Through sheer persistence she wears down an unscrupulous judge until he gives her justice. Persistence pays off, and that's especially true for those who trust in God. Jesus illustrates how God as our Judge is much quicker to bring us his justice, blessing, and help when we need it. But we can easily lose heart and forget to ask our heavenly Father for his grace and help.

Faith-filled persistence reaps the fruit of justice and grace

Jesus told this parable to give fresh hope and confidence to his disciples. In this present life we can expect trials and adversity, but we are not without hope in God. The Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices perpetrated by his creatures and that God's love is stronger than death (Song of Songs 8:6). The just who put their trust in God can look forward with hope to that day when they will receive their reward. Jesus ends his parable with a probing question for us. Will you and I have faith - the faith that perseveres to the end - when Jesus returns in glory to judge the living and the dead? Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to us. If we want to live, grow, and persevere in faith until the end, then we must nourish our faith with the word of God and ask the Lord to increase it (Luke 17:5). When trials and setbacks disappoint you, where do you place your hope? Do you pray with expectant faith and confidence in God's merciful care and providence for you?

"Lord Jesus, make my faith strong that I may never doubt your promises. When I face trials and difficulties, help me to trust in your unfailing love and to find joy and contentment in you alone."