Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật thứ 4 Mùa Thương Niên Năm C.
Các bài đọc trong Chúa Nhật ta hôm nay nói về cuộc chiến tâm linh. Mỗi người chúng ta ai cũng đều phải đối mặt với trận chiến này, đây là cuộc chiến giữa thiện và ác. Thiên Chúa nói với tiên tri Giêrêmi rằng: "Họ sẽ chống lại ngươi nhưng không thắng được ngươi, vì ta ở cùng ngươi để giải cứu ngươi." Những người giao chiến với tiên tri Giêrêmi là những người thiển cận, những người đã quên Chúa. Theo nghĩa sâu xa hơn, những kẻ giao chiến với tiên tri là ma quỷ, những linh hồn xấu xa đã sai khiển trái tim của con người. Chúng ta đang nói về cuộc chiếntâm linh. Đôi khi chúng ta thấy rõ công việc của ma quỷ là điều hiển nhiên. Ví dụ, những người xung quanh vufng đất Israel đã thực hành việc hiến tế trẻ em. Tiên tri Giê-rê-mi và các nhà tiên tri khác đã phản đối việc hiến tế và nghi thức giết trẻ em và cảnh báo dân chúng Israel nên chống lại việc thực hành hiến tế đó.
Chúng ta có thể thấy rõ công việc của ma quỷ trong việc giết một đứa bé, nhưng những người chống đối việc hiến tế trẻ em cũng chưa chắc đã những người tốt, thánh thiện. Chính họ cũng đã phạm tội lỗi với Thiên Chúa. Như Vua Đa-vít đã chiến đấu với quân Philitine một dân tộc khét tiếng về hiến tế trẻ sơ sinh, nhưng Đa-vít cũng đã phạm tội riêng mình. Ông ta ngoại tình với bà Bathsheba và giết chồng cô ấy. Ông ta nghĩ rằng việc làm của ông không ai biết, nhưng Chúa đã sai tiên tri Nathan đến để nhắc nhớ và cải hóa những việc ông đã làm.
Cũng thế, các tiên tri nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng chúng ta không phải chỉ chống lại một nền văn hóa tội lỗi không mà thôi. Nhưng ma quỷ luôn cố gắng làm việc chăm chỉ hơn để cám dỗ chúng ta nhiều hơn so với những người khác mà chúng đã sở hữu. Những con quỷ đó không cần phải lo lắng nhiều về người Phi-li-tin. Vì vậy, chúng nó đã tập trung sự chú ý của chúng vào Vua Đa-vít. Người đã chiến đấu chống lại người Philistines, nhưng nhà vua lại không coi trọng cuộc chiến đang diễn ra trong nội tâm, trong linh hồn của ông.
Hôm nay chúng ta thấy mình ở trong hoàn cảnh tương tự như vua Đa-vít. Chúng ta đang sống trong một nền văn hóa của sự chết đang bao quanh chúng ta, một văn hóa chấp nhận những việc gian ác khủng khiếp như việc phá thai, giết những đứa trẻ còn trong bụng mẹ và những việc làm vô luân đang tràn lan trong mọi thế hệ.
Ma quỹ tàn ác đã và đang tiến hành một chiến dịch dài để bình thường hóa những việc làm vô luân này. Sau bốn mươi năm ở Hoa kỳ không có sự bảo vệ của pháp luật đối với những thai nhi chưa sinh và gần đây hơn là sự bình thường hóa đám cưới cho những người bán nam, bán nữ và sự loạn luân. Đôi khi có vẻ như chúng ta đang ở trong một tình huống vô vọng. Nhưng, chúng ta biết đấy, Như Chúa đã gọi người thanh niên trẻ, Giêrêmia, hôm nay Chúa cũng đang mời gọi những người bạn trẻ của chúng ta ngày nay. Ngài nói vơi những trẻ của chúng ta hôm nay như sau:" Trước khi Ta nắn ra ngươi trong lòng mẹ, Ta đã biết ngươi; và trước khi lọt dạ mẹ, Ta đã tác thánh ngươi,Ta đã đặt ngươi làm tiên tri cho các dân tộc! (Jer 1:5) .... Chúng sẽ tuyên chiến với ngươi, nhưng chúng sẽ không làm gì được ngươi, vì có Ta ở với ngươi để giải thoát ngươi. (Jer 1:19).
Chúng ta đang chiến đấu về mặt tinh thần, một cuộc chiến nhằm vào những người trẻ của chúng ta. Chúng ta có thể nhìn thấy ma quỷ đang thống trị chúng ta và đang hoạt động trong nền văn hóa đồi trị, văn hóa của sự chết trong xã hội hiện tại, cũng như trong chính trái tim của chúng ta. Bãi chiến trường đầy những hoang mang. Đó là trường hợp ở Nazareth, như chúng ta thấy trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã sống 30 năm ở quê hương của ngài , Nazareth,. Đó không phải là một thành phố nhỏ như Phan-rang Tháp Chàm nhưng là một ngôi làng nhò. Chúa Giêsu biết mọi người và họ biết ngài hoặc ít nhất họ nghĩ rằng họ đã biết Chúa và gia đình Ngài. Ở một khía cạnh nào đó, có những người tốt, họ đánh giá cao Chúa Giêsu và ho kinh ngạc trước những lời giáo huấn đầy ân sủng và quyền năng của Ngài.
Nhưng lòng đố kỵ đã xâm nhập vào trái tim một số người vì thế họ nói: "Người này đây không phải là con của Giuse sao?" Họ đã nhầm, vì trong bản tính con người của Chúa, Chúa Giêsu không có cha ruột bởi vì Chúa Giêsu đã được thụ thai bởi Đức Chúa Thánh Thần, như trước đó chúng ta đã biết trong Tin Mừng thánh Luca. Và họ cũng đã sai không phải chỉ về việc Chúa Giêsu đến từ đâu, mà còn sai về tương lai của ngài. Họ cố tìm cách tiêu diệt Ngài, Tuy nhiên, Chúa Giêsu đã “đi qua giữa họ” và vẫn tiếp tục sứ mệnh của Ngài.
Đây chính là một ví dụ thật cho chúng ta! Khi mọi thứ trở nên rối rắm và tệ hại, khi có những người chỉ trích chúng ta, có lẽ chúng ta chỉ muốn bỏ trốn, nhưng với Chúa Giêsu thì khác. Chúa đã không làm như thế, ngược lại Ngài vẫn tiếp tục nhiệm vụ của mình.
Chúng ta đang ở trong một trận chiến tâm linh. Trận chiến này đòi hỏi tình yêu. Như thánh Phaolô đã nhấn mạnh trong bài đọc thứ hai hôm nay, tình yêu không mềm mỏng và ủy mị. Nhưng nó cứng như sắt. Thánh Phao Lô còn nói, tình yêu là sự kiên nhẫn, không bồng bột hay thô lỗ. Tình yêu không vụ lợi hay nóng vội. Tình yêu không vui mừng khi sai trái, mà thay vào đó chịu đựng mọi điều, tin tưởng mọi điều, hy vọng mọi điều, chịu đựng mọi điều. Trong cuộc chiến tâm linh giữa thiện và ác, tình yêu là thứ tồn tại lâu dài. Như thanh Phao Lô nói: Đức tin, hy vọng và tình yêu, nhưng lớn nhất là tình yêu.
Vì vậy, trong Chủa nhật này, chúng ta thấy như giống như cậu bé, Giêrêmia, Khi Thiên Chúa gọi tên chúng ta và mời gọi chúng ta tham gia vào cuộc chiến thuộc linh, chúng ta sẽ được nghe Thiên Chúa thì thầm với chúng ta những lời này, " Chúng sẽ tuyên chiến với ngươi, nhưng chúng sẽ không làm gì được ngươi, vì có Ta ở với ngươi và sẽ giải thoát ngươi. (Jer 1:19).." Amen.
Bottom line: Like the boy, Jeremiah, God calls us to spiritual combat
Our readings today speak about spiritual combat. Every person faces this battle - the war between good and evil. God tells Jeremiah, "They will fight against you but not prevail against you, for I am with you to deliver you."
The ones fighting Jeremiah are short-sighted men, men who had forgotten God. In a deeper sense the ones fighting the prophet are demons, the evil spirits who control men's hearts. We are talking about spiritual combat.
Sometimes the work of evil spirits is evident. For example, the people surrounding Israel practiced child sacrifice. Jeremiah and the other prophets opposed the ritual killing of small children - and they warned the Israelites against that horrific practice.
We can clearly see the devil's work in the killing of a small child, but the overall situation was not complete evil on one side and complete good on the other. Those who opposed child sacrifice fell into their own sins. King David fought the Philistines - a people notorious for infant sacrifice - but David had his own sins. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed. He thought he had literally gotten away with murder, but God sent the prophet Nathan to call him to account.
The prophets remind us that it is not enough to simply oppose a culture of sin. Believe me, the demons work harder on us than they do people they already own. The demons didn't have to worry that much about the Philistines. So, they focused their attention on King David. He had made war against the Philistines, but he didn't take seriously the war going on in his own heart.
Today we find ourselves in a situation similar to David. A culture surrounds us that has accepted terrible practices: the killing of tiny babies and pervasive sexual immorality. The evil spirits have waged a long campaign to normalize these practices. After forty years of no legal protection for unborn children and more recently, the normalization of sodomy, it sometimes seems like we are in a hopeless situation. But, you know, just like God called the youth, Jeremiah, so God is calling young men - and young women - today. He says these words:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you...They will fight against ssssyou, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you."
We are in spiritual combat - a struggle aimed at our young people. We can see the evil spirits at work in our culture of abortion and sodomy - but also in our own hearts. The battlefield is confused. That was the case in Nazareth, as we see in today's Gospel. Jesus had spent 30 years in Nazareth, his home town. It wasn't a small city like Monroe, but a village. Jesus knew everyone and they knew him - or at least they thought they did. On one level the people were good - they spoke highly of Jesus and were amazed at his grace-filled words.
But envy entered their hearts. They said, "Isn't this the son of Joseph?" They were wrong. Jesus has no human biological father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit like we learned earlier in Luke's Gospel. And they were wrong not only about where Jesus came from, but where he was going. They tried to throw him off a cliff. Jesus, however, "passed through the midst of them" and continued his mission.
What an example for us! When things go bad, when people criticize, we want to throw in the towel. Jesus did not do that. He continued his mission.
We are in a spiritual battle. It requires love. As St. Paul insists, love is not soft and sentimental. It is as strong as iron.
So, this Sunday we see that like the boy, Jeremiah, God calls us to spiritual combat. And we hear these words, "They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord." Amen.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Jesus, open my heart and speak to it with your Sacred Heart. Help me to understand your words of salvation that are meant for all people.
Encountering Christ:
Recognizing Christ: This Gospel passage takes place in Nazareth. These people had known Jesus his whole life, and here he was proclaiming himself to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, the “Anointed Bearer of Glad Tidings” (Isaiah 61:1-3). Notice that, at first, the crowd seemed to praise and accept him. But then they turned on him, concluding that he could not be who he said he was. They simply could not see past his familiar outward appearance. In short, they did not recognize him: “He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not recognize him. He went to his own, and his own did not accept him” (John 1:10-11). Do we see and recognize Jesus as who he says he is: the Son of God, the Messiah, true God, and true man? Jesus asked the disciples, “‘...who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’” (Matthew 16:15-16). How do we live our lives as an expression of our belief in this truth?
Ad Gentes: Jesus spoke of how God sent Elijah and Elisha to perform miracles to other nations, not to Israel. Sidon was a city in northern Israel, but it was never subdued by the tribes of Israel. In fact, it was an oppressor of Israel (Judges 1:31; 10:12). Syria took Israel by siege, captured the people, and took them into exile (2 Kings 17:6). These people Jesus used as examples were bitter enemies of his listeners, which gives us some context as to why they became hateful at the mention of their oppressors having a share in God’s goodness and mercy. In truth, the Gospel message is for all people in all places. It is the duty of the Church to witness to Christ ad gentes—to the nations. It is our missionary task and responsibility to both the Gospel and the world: “Missions is the term usually given to those particular undertakings by which the heralds of the Gospel, sent out by the Church and going forth into the whole world, carry out the task of preaching the Gospel and planting the Church among peoples or groups who do not yet believe in Christ” (Ad Gentes, 6). Do we truly believe that Jesus came for all people, even people who are different from ourselves, even our enemies?
To the End of the Earth: The crowd here had preconceived notions that the Messiah would free Israel from its oppressors. Now, here was Jesus, the true Messiah, flipping that idea on its head. Jesus did so much more than secure political freedom for one set of people; he secured salvation, redemption, and freedom from the claims of sin for the whole world (Luke 3:4-6, Romans 5:18)! God chose Israel to be a holy example for the nations around them, to bless the whole world. But because of their disobedience, they could not bless others. Jesus fulfilled the role Israel was destined to complete but could not: “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). God desires the salvation of all people, not just those who have the blessing of religious culture or upbringing: God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). How does this Scripture challenge you to consider more deeply your preconceived notions about God?
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, please give me a heart that desires the conversion and unity of all people. Help me discern how you are calling me to proclaim the Good News to others. Help me especially to be obedient to you so that I can truly be a light that attracts others to you. Shine in my heart, be my light, and lead me on despite the darkness that encompasses me. (Based on St. John Henry Newman’s meditations, “The Pillar of the Cloud” and “Jesus the Light of the Soul.”)
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace, I will prayerfully discern how God is calling me to aid the missionary work of the Church, be it through prayer, time, talent, or treasure.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In our scripture readings this Sunday we are presented with the rejections experienced by both Jeremiah and Jesus. Jeremiah had an unpopular message to deliver; it fell to him to predict a disastrous invasion of the country and the destruction of Jerusalem followed by the enslavement of most of the people in Babylon. His message was that this was because they had not sufficiently repented from their sin of turning away from the Lord. As a result of this he was attacked, beaten, put into stocks, thrown into a cistern and then eventually imprisoned.
All of this was because the people could not accept his message and failed to understand that he was one of God's greatest prophets. But rejecting his message did not stop the disaster he predicted from happening. In the beginning Jeremiah was a very reluctant prophet and he initially resisted God's call, claiming that he was unworthy and did not know how to speak. As we see from today's reading God insisted that he be his prophet despite the opposition he would face. God then touched Jeremiah's mouth giving him the gift of speech; so Jeremiah set about preparing himself for life as a prophet and eventually he began to proclaim the Word of God and to warn the people of the impending disaster. It was this that won him many enemies who plotted his demise and brought constant trouble upon him, but Jeremiah did not give up.
Ironically it was the invaders about whom he had warned the people who eventually released him from prison and let him live in good conditions. We see from the Gospels how Jesus was also rejected by many in Israel, maybe he did not have quite as many enemies as Jeremiah but the ones that he did have eventually brought about his death on the Cross. We see this process begin in his own home town of Nazareth. It was a bold thing to stand up in the synagogue and proclaim that you were the Messiah predicted by Isaiah. His listeners were enraged at his words and attempted to push him over a cliff.
The people were certainly outraged by Jesus presenting himself as the Messiah so long foretold, but this would have been exacerbated by the fact that they knew him and all his family very well. They would not have believed it possible for the Messiah to come from among their own people. From our perspective, we realise that the Messiah had to come from somewhere and Nazareth is as good a place as any. But the people there would not have seen it in those terms; according to them there was nothing to distinguish Jesus from anyone else. They were unaware of the circumstances of his conception and birth, they thought that he was just the same as them; in other words, unworthy and therefore unfit to be the Chosen One. This is a common failing: not seeing the extraordinary among the ordinary. Our eyes are so often accustomed to seeing ordinary things that we fail to spot the truly exceptional lying hidden in plain view. This was certainly something true of the people of Christ's day who did not recognise him or his mission to the world. It was easier for people from other towns and villages to recognise that Jesus was an extraordinary man since they hadn't known him from childhood but even they did not see him as the long foretold Messiah.
They rejoiced in his miracles and were captivated by his message but seeing him as the Messiah was probably a step too far for most of them. We are all called to be disciples of Christ, in other words we are asked by God to be prophets in the modern world. We are asked to be the ones who proclaim Christ's message of salvation to the people around us. If we take on this role we will inevitably find that we are opposed and perhaps even persecuted for it. In certain circles we will find ourselves unpopular if not facing outright rejection. I suppose some of us might accept this role but not actually live up to the task. We might say we are disciples of Christ but not do anything about it and certainly not speak up for the Gospel when occasion demands. If we take this track we can only be regarded as failures. Some Christians, however, feel this responsibility very keenly. They feel that in order to be authentic they need to be constantly speaking up for Christ.
If fact some people like this go a bit beyond what we might consider to be prudent and almost seem to invite persecution. Now while we might admire some of those people who fall into this category we might not be quite so keen on some of the others who we might regard as taking things too far because they express views which seem to go beyond what the Church teaches. There will always be such extremists who go to Lourdes five times a year and hector the populace at Speakers Corner on a Sunday afternoon. But it is possible to take a middle course. It is possible to be a normal person and yet to stand up for Christ and his Gospel of love. It is possible to have firm moral convictions and to have views about personal responsibility while still remaining a reasonable person. And let me suggest it is this group that has the most credibility of all.
I don't think that to be a Christian you need to be shoving the Gospel down other people's throats. To me there is no need for fanaticism. Being a reasonable person who gives good example and who is a witness to the values that Christ stands for is, according to me, quite sufficient. I think that people are more impressed by those who go about their lives in a normal way yet who obviously show kindness to others and who express moral conviction at the right times. It is a life that is lived like this that is much more convincing to those who have no fixed convictions. We do not have to make a big noise as long as we don't compromise our faith and as long as we stand up for our convictions when the occasion arises. The role Jeremiah was asked to perform was an exceptional one. We too have a role; we too have a path to steer through life. Our path may seem unexceptional, it might not expose us to harassment, but it ought to be convincing, it ought to be authentic, it ought to be faithful to Christ's teaching and his message of universal love.