Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần 32 Thường Niên
"Vương quốc của Thiên Chúa" đang ở ngay trong thế giới của chúng ta, trong con người của Đức Kitô, sống và hoạt động trong lịch sử hiện đại của chúng ta. Chúng ta cần phải phải biết mở cửa tâm hồn để đón nhận ...Nước Trời đang ở trong tầm tay của chúng ta ... và cũng ở trong mọi người chúng ta. Không có lý do gì để chúng ta không thể nắm giữ được. Nước Trời của Thiên Chúa phụ thuộc vào mỗi người chúng ta cho dù chúng ta có quyết định được tiếp xúc động Nước Trời và được biến đổi trong cuộc sống tập thể và cá nhân của chúng ta.
Nước Thiên Chúa là một hoạt động, với đầy sự hy vọng đang tham dự vào thế giới của chúng ta, ngay trong hiện tại, ở giữa của cuộc sống bình thường của những người không có những tỳ vết. Chúng ta sẽ không bao giờ có được phương tiên tốt của kiểm tra bằng cách quan sát, và nói rằng "Những người trong hội Thánh này đang ở trong Nước Thiên Chúa. Thuộc về giáo phái của chúng tôi "Vương quốc của Thiên Chúa được phân tán ra, nó được chia sẻ, nó im lặng, nó là tại nơi làm việc, nó là mạnh mẽ. Và nó sẽ không bao giờ bị tách gọn gàng và nhanh chóng ví dụ như 'những người được rửa tội và thực hành Công giáo "là trong!
Mỗi giáo hội có hệ thống kiểm soát chất lượng riêng của mình trở thành những vương quốc, bởi vì tất cả chúng ta chơi các trò chơi tương tự như người Do Thái giáo chơi! Tại sao không yêu mến Thiên Chúa và tha nhân của chúng ta và để phần còn lại cho Thiên Chúa? Có vô số cá nhân dường như không thuộc về bất cứ hội thánh hay tôn giáo nào nhưng họ là những người biết từ tâm, thương người, họ quên chính cho bản thân, không gian, thời gian và năng lực của họ để lo nghĩ giúp đỡ những người bị coi là bẩn cùng và thấp kém nhất". Đó không phải là một biểu hiện rõ ràng một Vương quốc của Thiên Chúa ở giữa chúng ta? Lạy Chúa, xin giúp chúng con đừng bao giờ có thể đánh mất tầm nhìn hướng vể Chúa, trong khi chúng con tìm kiếm Chúa.
Suy Niệm
The “Kingdom of God” is in our world — in the person of Christ, alive and active in our history. We need to be open to it...it is within our reach...it is among you. There is no excuse for not being able to grasp it. It depends upon each one of us whether we decide to be touched by it and be transformed within our collective and personal life. The Kingdom of God is an active, hope filled involvement in our world, in the present — in the midst of the ordinary life of the people with no special signs accompanying it. We are never going to have the luxury of verification by observation, saying “Those within this church are in the Kingdom of God. The 1 44,000 elect (Rev.7:4) belong to our denomination.” God’s Kingdom is scattered out, it is shared, it is quiet, it is at work, it is powerful. And it is never going to be subject to neat and quick separation e.g ‘those baptized and practicing Catholics’ are in!
Every church has its own quality control system for getting into the kingdom, because we are all playing the same game that Judaism played! Why not love God and our neighbor and leave the rest to God? There are countless individuals, who seemingly don’t belong to any church/religion but who give of themselves, their space and time and energy to the “lost, the last and the least”. Isn’t this a clear manifestation of the Kingdom of God in our midst? Lord, may we never lose sight of You, in our search.
Thursday 32nd in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I am grateful for being able to spend time with you. Please open my mind and heart to receive your word and your grace. Increase my faith, hope, and love, so that I may live this day according to your will. I also bring to this prayer all the souls entrusted to my intercession.
Encountering Christ:
· Misconstrued Kingdom: It was not only the Pharisees who wanted to know when the Kingdom of God would come. So did Our Lord’s followers. But they all expected that the Messiah and his kingdom were going to be political. After the multiplication of the loaves the people wanted to make Jesus’ king (John 6:15). Through their mother, John and James asked to sit at Jesus’ right and his left in his kingdom (Matthew 20:21). On another occasion Jesus caught the apostles debating about who among them was the greatest; once caught, they knew enough to be embarrassed (Mark 9:34). It seems their discussion of greatness was repeated during the Last Supper (Luke 22:24-25). Even the sign at the top of the cross stated, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19). To this day, people sometimes want to reduce Our Lord’s message of salvation to a political treatise.
· Kingdom of God:” Jesus said in reply, ‘The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.’” In his book Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the three ways in which the Kingdom of God might be understood. Firstly, Jesus himself is the Kingdom. Secondly, we understand that in a mystical sense, Jesus is present within us. Finally, the Church is God’s Kingdom on earth. All three debunk the political understanding of Our Lord’s Kingdom. In Jesus, the Kingdom of God was literally among the Jews, but few realized it. His mystical presence in us is real and yet not something empirically verifiable. And while the Church is a visible reality, its power is not primarily political in nature, but spiritual and moral. That is why its witness is often strongest when it is politically weakest.
· The Kingdom’s Arrival: Jesus addressed the issue of his second coming and, even though he spoke, the event is still shrouded in mystery. “There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ or ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run-in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.” In another passage Jesus stated, “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42). This watching for the Lord’s coming refers to the eventual destruction of Jerusalem, Our Lord’s coming in the Eucharist, and the end of time. All three require vigilance on our part. If we are attentive when we receive him in the Eucharist and when we meet him in prayer, we need not fear death or the second coming.
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, you are the Kingdom of God who has come into the world. You have established that Kingdom in and through your Church so that many people, including me, may have the opportunity for mystical union with you. Please grant me the grace to abide in your love, and in so doing bear much fruit (John 15:4-5). May we, your disciples, follow you with confidence for as long as our journey on this earth endures, to at last enter into the joy of your Heavenly Kingdom.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will offer a small sacrifice for the unity and sanctity of the Catholic Church.
REFLECTION 2018
In the first reading from Paul's Letter to Philemon, we see Paul's care and concern for his companions in the ministry.
In the Gospel reading Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God. We all look forward to the perfect fulfillment of the Kingdom of God at the end of time.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is already "among us." It is in every person who believes in the Lord, in his Church and its sacraments and in the world. The Kingdom is where God and his values are. The Kingdom of God is in all the good people in the world.
To bring about the Kingdom of God the Son of God came into the world as man, suffered and died for all. Through God's call and grace, his followers are tasked to continue his mission of bringing God's love and mercy to the world.
At the same time we all await the coming and fulfillment of the Kingdom of the world when the Our Lord appears at his second coming at the end of time.
Let us seek the Kingdom of God, making it grow within us and throughout the world until its final realization at the end of time.
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