Suy Niệm Thứ Hai Tuần Thứ Hai Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Thứ Hai Tuần Thứ Hai Thường Niên (Tin Mừng Mark 2:18-22)

Hôm nay cả hai bài đọc đã thách thức chúng ta trả lời hai câu hỏi quan trọng trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, cụ thể là, "Chúng ta có biết được những ý của Thiên Chúa muốn nơi chúng ta là những gì không?" Và " chúng ta phải làm theo những gì để sống theo như ý muốn của Thiên Chúa?"

Trong Bài Đọc I, vua Saul đã nghĩ rằng ông đã nghe theo tiếng nói của Chúa bằng việc hiến tế những hy lễ toàn thiêu lên Thiên Chúa . Trong bài Tin Mừng, người Pharisêu, đã ăn chay theo luật Do Thái, Họ nghĩ là họ đã làm như thế là họ đã vâng lời Thên Chúa. Thậm chí họ còn ăn chay hai lần một tháng.

Vì vậy, để biết hay nhận thức rõ được ý muốn của Thiên Chúa, chúng ta cần phải tự hỏi chính mình: "Chúng ta có mối quan hệ gì với Thiên Chúa ?" Để biết ý muốn của Thiên Chúa một cách rõ ràng hơn, chúng ta cần phải phân biệt rõ ràng những động tác, hay hành động riêng của chúng ta hay là những ý thúc đẩy bởi ơn Chúa Thánh Thần. Thứ hai là chúng ta cũng cần biết phân biệt những động tác được thúc đẩy bởi Chúa Thánh Thần và những thức đẩy của ma quỷ.

Nếu chúng ta biết luôn cầu nguyện trước mỗi công việc, chúng ta dựa trên sự hướng dẫn của Chúa Thánh Thần và các dấu hiệu của thời gian, và bằng cách này, chúng ta được phát triển trong sự nhận thức mục đích của Thiên Chúa trong đời sống chúng ta một cách rõ rang hơn.

"Lạy Chúa, xin ban cho chúng con có được một tinh thần sáng suốt trong những việc làm, trong sự phản ứng với những thử thách hàng ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng con."

Reflection 2016 SG

Today’s two readings challenge us to address two important questions in our lives, namely, “Do we know what is God's will for us?” and “What does it entail to do the will of God?”

In the first reading, King Saul thought that he had obeyed the voice of the Lord by offering holocausts and sacrifices. In the Gospel, the Pharisees, by fasting according to the rules and regulations of the established religion, deemed that they had obeyed the will of God. They even fasted twice a month.

So, to know or discern the will of God, we need to ask ourselves: “What is my relationship with God?” as this is the basis upon which God reveals His will for us. Then we enter into the process of waiting and listening to God’s revelation. It may involve the ‘letting go' of the old wine and garment as Jesus used the example of the new patch and new wine to illustrate the newness of the reality of the Kingdom.

In order to know God’s will better, we need to discriminate the movements which are merely from ourselves or those prompted by some other spirits. Secondly to discriminate those movements which are prompted by the Holy Spirit and those from the other spirits.

Accompanied by ‘prayer’ we rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the signs of the time. In this way we grow in discerning God’s purpose in our lives.

“Lord, grant us the spirit of discernment in our responses to our daily challenges.”

Reflection Monday 2nd week of Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Lord, open my heart to understand this passage of your word. Since I know you are present here, I can count on you to inspire me. Let me be open to your word; change me and mold me according to your will.

Encountering Christ:

1. They Cannot Fast While the Bridegroom Is with Them: This is one of those passages where Jesus talks in short parables, which can almost seem like riddles. From the rest of the Gospels, we can glean what some of the images mean. Here Jesus is deflecting the criticism that his disciples should fast by referring to himself in a sort of veiled, humble way. Jesus is the bridegroom; in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist calls himself the friend of the bridegroom. The reason his disciples didn’t fast was because being with the Master of the Universe gave them a reason to celebrate and rejoice. They were privileged members of the wedding party! When we are with Jesus, our spirit should be full of rejoicing too.

2. The Bridegroom Will Be Taken Away: Jesus was certainly speaking about his Passion, and in these words we find a key to why the Church encourages fasting. When we fast, we acknowledge that our bridegroom suffered and died, and we unite ourselves to his suffering as an act of devotion. Also, Jesus isn’t with us as he was in the holy time of his living on earth, and we are not with him in the way he wants us to be at the eternal wedding banquet, so we can fast as reparation to prepare for that perfect fulfillment. Fasting “ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepares us for the liturgical feasts and helps us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart (CCC 2043).

3. The Cloth and the Wineskins: The Gospel gives us two other images to complete this teaching. Jesus is stressing that he is the fulfillment of the old law, the bridegroom, the King who “makes all things new” (Revelation 21:5). To sew an unshrunken cloth on an old coat or pour new wine in an old wineskin is to insist on our own limited understanding of truth, and it can result in spiritual ruin. However, to accept Our Lord’s teaching in its totality, to recognize his omnipotence, is to be included in the wedding party and invited to the eternal banquet.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, you are calling me to let you take the lead in my spiritual life. Help me to take a step back today and look at what I have been trying to do for you and for myself in my life. Let your word penetrate my heart and be the decisive factor. Let everything I do be more a response to you than my own initiative. Help me to respond in the right way to what you have initiated in my life, celebrating and rejoicing that you are present and active there.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will examine my conscience regarding my spiritual life and ask myself if I am truly corresponding to your will in my life.