Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần Thứ 6 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần Thứ 6 Thường Niên (Mark 8:34 -)

Nếu như có một tiên tri nào đó “sống lại” mời chúng ta theo ông với những điều kiện là phải chịu đau khổ, chịu bắt bớ, chịu lăng nhục, thử hỏi có ai trong chúng ta có đủ can đảm để bỏ cuộc sống ấm cúng, an vui của chúng ta để đi theo người đó. Chắc chắn chúng ta sẽ thẳng thừng từ chối, vì nghĩ ràng mình chưa đến nỗi quá điên rồ như thế. Là con người, Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta tự do và những sự lựa chọn. Và chắc chắn rằng chúng ta sẽ không bao giờ nghĩ tới sự lựa chọn một con đường đầy khó khăn, giông tố và đau khổ?

Tại sao tình yêu lại là lý do và là yếu tố quan trọng ở đây? Các anh em chiến sĩ tham dự vào các trận chiến không phải vì họ ngu khờ vì không biết cái chết trước mắt, họ biết sẽ phải hy sinh, nhưng họ chiến đấu vì lý tưởng để bảo vệ đất nước, quê hương sở sở, gia đình và dân tộc của họ để chống lại những ngoại xâm. Các em học sinh chắc không ngu gì khi phải tự nguyện để tham dự những kỳ thi thử thách khó khăn để cố vào được các trường Đại học nổi tiếng, mắc tiền....nhưng các em đã chịu hy sinh, chịu khổ cực để cố gắng thi vào vì các em nghĩ rằng có cố gắng mới tạo cho mình và gia đình có một tương lai và một cuộc sống tốt đẹp và khá hơn.

Chúng ta theo Chúa Kitô không dễ như theo cha mẹ hay bạn bè đi chơi ngoài phố. Nhưng đó là sự yêu thương mà chúng ta cam kết khi Ngài đã chứng minh tình yêu của ngài bằng sự cống hiến chính mạng sống của Ngài cho chúng ta bằng cái chết trên thập giá. Đó là cái giá tình yêu chân thực của tình thầy trò. Có những lúc chúng ta nghĩ là cuộc đời này sẽ tốt hơn cho chúng ta nếu chúng ta thảnh thơi dạo phố, hay ngồi quán cà phê nhâm nhi thưởng thức một ly cà phê hơn là nghĩ và nhớ đến Chúa. Nhưng biết đâu sẽ có những khoảnh khắc bóng tối sẽ bất ngờ đến và bao trùm cuộc sống chúng ta, vì cuộc này không có gì gọi là chắc chắn cả. Khi cuộc đời đi đến khúc quanh, bập bềnh, giông tố, Thiên Chúa vẫn luôn tìm kiếm và cùng đồng hành với chúng ta ngay bên cạnh. Chúa sẵn sàng tiếp sức và giúp đưa chúng ta thoát được những cơn bảo tồ kinh hoàng của cuộc sống, nếu chúng ta biết nhớ đến Ngài.

Chúng ta hãy xin Chúa ban cho chúng ta các ân sủng của Ngài, Nhất ơn kiên trì, để tất cả những gì xảy ra với chúng ta hôm nay và trong những ngày tới, chúng ta có thể luôn luôn biết tìm thấy chính mình trong việc phục vụ Đức Kitô, người đã yêu chúng ta trước.

"Lạy Chúa Giêsu, chúng con muốn được theo Chúa để làm môn đệ của Chúa. Chúng con sẵn sàng dâng lên Chúa tất cả những gì chúng con có cho Chúa. Xin Chúa hãy nhận chính cuộc sống của chúng con như là của lễ hy sinh dâng để chúc tụng vinh danh và làm đẹp lòng Chúa."

REFLECTION

Perhaps if some prophet invited us to follow him and one of the conditions was to suffer, we definitely would be having second thoughts. Who in their right mind would freely choose to take a path filled with hardship, pain and misery? At the onset, the journey looks more precarious than it should.

That's why love becomes the essential factor here. Soldiers engage in battle not because they know that death is a high possibility. They fight to defend our country and those nearest and dearest to them even at the risk of offering up their own lives. Students don't voluntarily undergo the mental challenges of long tests and exams because they are masochists. They study because they want to make the best of this blessing given to them by their families.

We follow Christ not because it will be a walk in the park. It is our loving commitment to him as he demonstrated this total dedication to us by his death on the cross. That is the true cost of discipleship. It would be nice to take a leisurely stroll and occasionally enjoy a cup of coffee at a local café as we stay on this path of light. But there will be moments of darkness and uncertainty. When the going gets rough, will our Lord still find us by his side? Let us continue to pray for the grace of persistence. No matter what happens to us today and in the coming days, may we always find ourselves at the service of the one who loved us first.

Friday- 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Lord, thank you for the grace that moved me to desire this time with you and then helped me follow through and actually pause from doing all the things that keep me busy. What is more important than being with you and letting you speak to me? Nothing. That sounds so basic, but in the demands of daily life, it is so easy to forget. Lord, I pray for an increase in my faith, hope, and love so that I prioritize you and your will above all else.

Encountering Christ:

1. The Crowd: Throughout the Gospels, Jesus taught the crowds in parables. When the disciples asked him why he did so, he answered, “The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you. But to those outside everything comes in parables” (cf. Matthew 13:10-11). Here, Jesus takes a different approach; he summoned the crowd and spoke bluntly to them and to the disciples: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” We can imagine his eyes meeting the eyes of each person in the crowd as he both invited them to follow him and described what it required. Today, Jesus invites each of us to consciously decide to follow him (“Whoever wishes to follow me…”), knowing that it entails the cross and self-denial. However, it is a bit like giving Jesus a blank check; he doesn’t give a list of the ways one must deny himself nor does he specify what the cross means. God works in each person’s life personally. Our self-denials, our crosses, are specific to our lives and we carry them as we learn to see God’s presence in the reality of our lives and hear his voice.

2. Ashamed: We can be assured that each one of us is called to holiness (CCC 2013), and holiness necessarily involves self-denial and the cross (CCC 2015). Holiness means conforming ourselves to Christ himself: “Christ’s disciples are to conform themselves to him until he is formed in them” (CCC 561). When we live as a cultural or “cafeteria” Catholic, we prioritize our ideas, our priorities, and our values above what Christ asks of us. We cling to what we think will give us happiness, fulfillment, and success. We may fail to share the Christian view of situations or social problems out of concern for others’ opinions. We participate in social activities incongruent with the God-given dignity of the human person because we want to be liked and included. We disregard the Church’s teachings as impractical or unrealistic in today’s world and keep our faith hidden from those who might question us about it. In short, we are ashamed of Jesus and his words. When we truly follow Christ, our lives are as lamps, lit and set on a lampstand, giving light to the world around us (Luke 8:16). The source of the light is Christ himself. May we echo St. Paul when he says, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:12).

3. The Kingdom: If we think of the Kingdom solely as something that comes at the end of time, we may wonder about the last sentence in today’s Gospel reading. Yet the Kingdom is present today. Jesus used the parable of the mustard seed to describe the Kingdom: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the ‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-32). In fact, the Catechism tells us, “‘The kingdom of Christ is already present in the mystery,’ ‘on earth, the seed and the beginning of the kingdom’” (CCC 669, quoting Lumen Gentium 3, 5). It is our responsibility, through the working of the Holy Spirit, to make the Kingdom visible by our words and actions, not just in our personal lives, but in our interaction with society. When we choose to follow Christ, we are choosing to build the Kingdom: “The initiative of lay Christians is necessary especially when the matter involves discovering or inventing the means for permeating social, political, and economic realities with the demands of Christian doctrine and life” (CCC 899).

Conversing with Christ: Lord, forgive me for all the times I have set your teaching aside in my own life, for all the times I have spoken negatively about it to others, and for all the times I have refused to deny myself and pick up my cross. Forgive me for seeking a comfortable living out of the faith with which I was entrusted in my baptism rather than an authentic faith rooted in a growing love for you. Forgive me for failing to let my life shine as a light in the darkness of today’s world. Jesus, I ask that you fill me with your love and draw me to yourself so that I will grow in the desire to build your Kingdom.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will share a favorite Scripture verse with a friend or acquaintance.

Friday- 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

“What profit does a man show who gains the whole world and destroys himself in the process?” This more modern translation helps us to grasp at least a very real meaning in the last part of the Jesus’ phrase according to the more traditional translation: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his soul?” We cannot see whether anyone actually loses his soul, but we can see very clearly how a man can destroy himself through greed of any kind.

As I write this reflection, this morning’s newspapers carry an item suggesting that Pope Francis is putting his life in danger because of his firm and uncompromising stance against corruption, which has made many criminals and even Church officials rich at the expense of the poor.

We can be sure that threats to his life will not deter Francis in his prophetic stance in favour of justice, especially justice for the poor. Let us all support him with our prayers.

Father in Heaven, You have chosen Francis to lead Your Church in an age when crime and corruption crush the poor and many ordinary decent people in many lands. Protect our Pope in his endeavour to reform, strength and guide Your Church in the pathways of truth and justice.

REFLECTION

Jesus suffered and died on the cross for our salvation from sin. This is the greatest gift humanity has received from God. But to accept this gift, we must shed our worldly attachments and follow Christ. Following Christ, however, will lead us into direct confrontation with the world's values many of which are rooted in materialism and evil. Accepting and following Christ means commitment to a responsibility in faith. We see many so-called Christians proclaiming to everyone their strong faith and beliefs. They sing wholeheartedly during Mass or services; they religiously attend and participate in Bible studies and prayer meetings; and they boast their faith and religious fervor to friends and families at home. But rarely do we see these same people caring for the sick, visiting prisoners, or sponsoring programs to educate poor children or orphans. These so- called Christians, in whom some of us are included, pay a lot more lip service than real service. Real followers of Jesus are active participants of their faith. They practice what they preach and what is preached to them. They understand and realize that service of their faith is not an easy task. There inevitably will be conflicts with worldly values and as a result there will be suffering from those conflicts.

As we strive to be real followers, we can be consoled to know that even with all the obstacles, conflicts and adversities we will encounter each day, Jesus will always be on our side. After all, being His disciple assures us of His presence, His counsel, and most of all, His love.

Reflection:

"Then Jesus called the people and his disciples and said, "If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me." In this modern world of instant gratification, where "Me! Me! Me! Now! Now! Now!" is the norm. Denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus seem s like a foolish thing to do. Some might question, "Why should we choose to do the hard things through the hard way?" Others might think "Life is not about suffering." Moving through life with the least amount of hardship and achieving fame and fortune are goals we all have. But as Christians, is that what Jesus wants of us? Is this what the little voice inside each of us says? Do we even hear that little voice in the hustle and the bustle of our daily lives?

Take some time to reflect on yourself. What drives you? What does deny yourself mean to you? What is your cross? Are we following Jesus' path, or your own? Pray to Jesus for grace and guidance in your struggle to live the life of a Christian.