Suy Niệm Bài Đọc Thứ Nhất, Thứ Sáu Tuần 2 Mùa Chay. (Genesis 37:3-4,12-13,17-28)
Chúng ta sống trong một nền văn hóa bị loại bỏ hơn 3.000 năm về trước, từ thời Giacóp (Israel). Tuy nhiên, chúng ta có thể tự hỏi tại sao ông Giacóp đã thiên vị ông Giuse hơn anh em của ông một cách rất rõ ràng trong thanh thiên bạch nhật. Nhưng ông có biết đâu những gì là hậu quả mà có thể có xẩy cho người con “cưng” của ông như sự oán giận, ghen ghét, và thậm chí cả sự thù hận? Một số nhà bình luận Kinh Thánh nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng các tổ phụ của thời Cựu Ước, mặc dù họ là những công cụ trong việc thực hiện kế hoạch của Thiên Chúa cho dân riêng của Ngài, nhưng là con người, họ cũng vẫn có những sai sót của con người. Điều quan trọng hơn là các Giáo Phụ đã nhanh chóng nhận ra những biểu tượng và những mầu nhiệm được tiên báo về Chúa Kitô trong Thánh Kinh của người Do Thái.
Như tình yêu của ông Giacóp dành cho ông Giuse là biểu tượng tình yêu của Chúa Cha đối với người con yêu dấu của Ngài, vì vậy ông Giuse là hình ảnh của Chúa Kitô (được tiên đoán) . Ông Giuse đã bị chối bỏ và loại trừ bởi anh em của ông ta, nhưng cuối cùng ông ta đã trở thành nền tảng cho những người Do Thái ở Ai Cập, trong một nghĩa nào đó, vì vậy những người Pharesêu, Biệt phái và luật sĩ người Do Thái đã ghén ghét, hành hạ và chối bỏ Chúa Giêsu, nhưng rồi Ngài đã trở thành mãi mãi là nền tảng của Giáo Hội. (Mt 21:42) Ông Giuse đã không chỉ đơn thuần là được yêu thích, ưa chuộng bởi cha mình vì là "con của mình trong lúc tuổi đã già ." Nhưng ông Giuse cũng đã có một giá trị đức hạnh và có lẽ vì thế mà ông được Thiên Chúa ban cho mình những ân sủng đặc biệt của Ngài. Theo Thánh Ambrose trong bài Giảng về Sách Sáng Thế đoạn 61.3 đã nói là: đức hạnh và ân sủng này có thể được coi là lý do chính cho vấn đề đặc biệt của ông Giacóp đã dành cho người con trai của ông là ông Giuse. Một vị thánh khác gần gũi hơn với chúng ta trong thời dại này là Thánh Têrêxa Hài Đồng thành Lisieux, có nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng Thiên Chúa yêu thương mỗi người chúng ta vô cùng, mặc dù Ngài chỉ lựa chọn ra một số người cho một mục đích đặc biệt nào đó mà sẽ đem lại tình yêu của Ngài cho tất cả. Thiên Chúa mời gọi chúng ta luôn luôn phải biết vươn tới tiếp cận với những kẻ thù của chúng ta, với những người chúng ta không thích hay thậm chí những người căm thù chúng ta. Ngài không muốn chúng ta phải sống trong những tội lỗi của chúng ta. Ngài muốn chúng ta được sống vô tư không phải vương vần trong những ác cảm tội lỗi, hận thù, ghen ghét và lòng chua xót. Nhưng câu hỏi được đặt ra là chúng ta có muốn buông xả những sự thù hận và những giận dữ trong chúng ta hay chúng ta muốn tiếp tục với những tội lỗi của chúng ta? Chúng ta hãy chiêm ngưỡng tình yêu của Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta khi Ngài sai Con một của Ngài là Đức Kitô để cứu chuộc chúng ta khỏi mọi tội lỗi. Thiên Chúa đã yêu thương chúng ta vô bờ, vô bến, còn chúng ta, chúng ta có muốn ở lại trong tình yêu của Ngài? "Khi [tạo vật thiển cận ] thấy một linh hồn giác ngộ hơn những người khác, họ kết luận rằng Chúa Giêsu yêu thương họ ít hơn linh hồn này .... Kể từ khi có Chúa, mình không còn có quyền sử dụng một trong những tạo vật của Ngài để phân chia những dinh dưỡng cần thiết cho những linh hồn mà Ngài yêu thương? "(Truyện Một Tâm Hồn, St Theresa thành Lisieux, Ch. 11, 4)
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture: Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons. (Genesis 37:3)
We live in a culture more than 3,000 years removed from the time of Jacob (Israel). Nevertheless, we might ask ourselves why Jacob was so obvious in favoring Joseph over his brothers. Didn't he know what effect that would have--the resentments, jealousy, and even hatred? Some scripture commentators remind us that the patriarchs of the Old Testament, even though they were instrumental in carrying out God's plan for His people, had their human flaws. More significantly, the Church Fathers were quick to recognize the symbolism and the foreshadowing of Christ in the Jewish Scriptures.
As Jacob's love for Joseph represents the Father's love for His only begotten Son, so Joseph prefigures Christ. As Joseph was rejected by his brothers but ultimately became, in a sense, the cornerstone for the Israelite people in Egypt, so Jesus was rejected by the Jewish high priests and Pharisees and became, forever, the cornerstone of the Church. ( Matthew 21:42) Joseph was not simply favored by his father as "the child of his old age." Joseph was highly virtuous and perhaps exuded an aura of being touched by God's grace. According to St. Ambrose (Homilies on Genesis 61.3), this virtue and grace can be seen as the primary reason for Jacob's special regard for his son Joseph. Another saint closer to us in time, St. Therese of Lisieux, reminds us that God loves each of us infinitely, even though He singles out some for a special purpose that brings His love to all:
"When [narrow-minded creatures] see a soul more enlightened than others, they conclude that Jesus loves them less than this soul. . . . Since when has the Lord no longer the right to make use of one of His creatures to dispense necessary nourishment to souls whom He loves?" (St. Theresa of Lisieux, Story of a Soul, Ch. 11, 4)
Opening Prayer: Lord, you were speaking to the elders and Pharisees, but please open my heart to the message you also have for me in these moments of prayer. I want to be a good tenant.
Encountering Christ:
1. Jesus Addressed the Elders: Throughout his ministry, Jesus never ceased to warn and admonish the Elders and Pharisees because their very lives were in danger, and no one knew it better than Jesus did. Here, Jesus was trying to reach them with yet “another parable.” It was as if he was pleading with them to take heed. In some ways, Jesus’ persistent efforts to reach them can console us as we fervently pray for fallen-away family members or friends. We may grow weary of praying and sacrificing for them but Jesus never ceases to offer the means for their salvation. As he reminds us in another Gospel passage, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is always looking for his lost sheep.
2. Good Tenants: In this parable, tenants were put in charge of the landowner’s very valuable vineyard. We don’t know exactly why they refused to hand over the produce, but we might imagine they enjoyed their luxurious lifestyle (sensuality), wanted to stay in control (pride) or liked the prestige (vanity). They succumbed to temptations and murdered the servants, and even the son, to have their way. Our Lord has put us in charge of his vineyard and invites us, as his faithful tenants, to bear fruit. Paradoxically, if we cooperate lovingly by handing over our temporal and spiritual works, we will inherit the Kingdom for all eternity without violence or bloodshed.
3. Cornerstone: No one was more familiar with Scripture than the elders and Pharisees, so Jesus’ reference to Psalm 118:22, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone…” was a clear declaration of his messianic reality. Would they believe? Because they saw and did not believe, Jesus condemned them. They were fruitless, doomed to live outside the Kingdom. What must we do to be saved? “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Conversing with Christ: Lord, you spoke in a parable to the elders and Pharisees, but in your mercy, you were crystal clear in your meaning. You are the Son, the Cornerstone, and the Messiah. Help me, Lord, to believe wholeheartedly, without a doubt, that you love me and hear my prayers, especially prayers I make on behalf of my friends and family.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray an Our Father for the conversion of souls.
Reflection:
In the first reading, we read about Joseph and his brothers, how the latter hated him because of jealousy and how they threw him into a well before selling him to a group of Ishmaelites who brought him to Egypt. This reading shows how hatred can lead people to do horrible things to others, even to one's own kin. Cain killed Abel, Saul wanted to kill David, etc. There are so many similar stories of hatred and violence in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, the Pharisees hated Jesus and wanted to kill him. Eventually they were successful.
In the gospel, Jesus speaks about a parable in which the tenants of a vineyard kill the servants of the owner whom he has sent to collect the farm produce. Jesus was alluding to the prophets and holy men of the Old Testament who were killed by the faithless Jews. Hatred is a very serious and real emotion. We all have experienced it in our lives. Oftentimes we hate people who have mistreated us, those people we don't like or simply those whom we envy. Whatever the reason, hatred is a mortal sin. Once we realize that our hatred is destroying the image of God in us, we are called to repent of it. Man is called to love and not to hate. The owner of the vineyard did just that. He kept on sending his servants to make sure that the tenants will give fruits of goodness and holiness. But they just killed them. Finally, the owner sent His Son to them. God invites us to always reach out to our enemies, to the people we dislike or even hate. He does not want us to remain in our sins. He wants us to be free of grudges, animosity, jealousy and rancor. The question is do we want to let go of our hate and anger or do we want to continue with our sins? We must contemplate His love for us when He sent His Son to save us from our sins. God loves us. Do we want to remain in His love?
Perhaps you have noticed that this week, we have seen a lot of death and almost-death. Abraham was going to kill Isaac. Yesterday, Lazarus and the rich man both died. Today, Joseph’s brothers were going to kill him, the favorite son of Jacob, and, in the Gospel parable, the landowner’s son is killed. This all culminates tomorrow in the parable of the Prodigal Son whom the father says was dead and is now alive again. This is all symbolic of Jesus, which his prophesy makes clear. Jesus is the beloved son who was sacrificed. Jesus was our brother who we killed because we were jealous of how much our Father loved him. We know that we will die. Some people live with that knowledge more present to them than others. When we are healthy, we rarely think of death. When we are young, death seems as impossible as growing old. Yet death will come. Death is the universal human experience. We speak different languages; we eat different foods; we live under different governments; but everyone has died or will die. Death is a brick wall that no one can go through. It ends every project, every hope, every plan. Is it impolite to speak about death? If we ignore it, will it go away?
No. We will acknowledge death. We will spend 40 days preparing to die, for we are in the season devoted to death. By fasting and almsgiving we are trying to let go of this world. By prayer we are grasping at the world to come. These days culminate in the Easter Triduum, which begins with the dying and death of Jesus Christ. Death is not the end. The Triduum ends in resurrection. \
The master sent servant after servant to collect the harvest, but some they mistreated and others they killed, but the master did not give up on the land. He sent his son and they killed him too. What will the master do? He will raise his son from the dead and continue trying to get the fruit he desires. Nothing will stop the master from getting what he wants. He is relentless. He is unbeatable. The love of God is unstoppable.
Fri 21st March 2014 2nd Week of Lent
Problems arising from sibling rivalry affect families and individuals in many ways, often with quite disastrous consequences. There are two notable stories about sibling rivalry in the Bible, the story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4) and today’s story of Joseph and his brothers. The story of Joseph in Egypt and his spectacular rise to power, recounted in a different form in Psalm 105(104), provides us with a very clear example of how God can and patiently does work in unforeseen ways to bring good out of evil. The parable in the Gospel shows the patience of the property owner in the face of intransigence and injustice, up to the point where the tenants in their greed brought ruin upon themselves. In the story of Joseph, God works through human beings and human institutions to demonstrate unconditional fidelity to his promises and bring salvation rather than ruin to the family of Israel (Jacob). Thus Joseph is a symbol pointing to God’s work of our redemption through his beloved son, Jesus. Lord Jesus, as we move through the season of Lent to the Easter celebration of our redemption, help us to experience the providential love of our Father in heaven as he brings good out of evil and bestows hope on us even in hopeless situations.
Comment:
The stone which the build¬ers rejected has become the keystone
Today, Jesus, with the parable of the homicidal tenants, speaks about the betrayal of trust; He compares the vineyard to the people of Israel and the wine growers to the chiefs of the chosen people. Them, and in them, all of Abraham's descendants, have been entrusted with the kingdom of God, but they have embezzled the heritage: «Therefore I say to you: the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a people who will yield a harvest» (Mt 21:43).
At the beginning of Matthew's Gospel, the Good News seems to be addressed only to the people of Israel. Already in the Old Covenant, the chosen people, had the mission of announcing and bringing salvation to all other nations. But Israel has been unfaithful to its mission. Jesus, the intermediate of the New Covenant, will gather around him the twelve Apostles, a symbol of the “new” Israel, called to yield a harvest of fruits of eternal life and to announce their salvation to all the other peoples.
This new Israel is the Church, all the baptized. We have received in the person of Jesus and in his message, a most unique gift we must make bear fruit. We cannot resign ourselves to an individualist and shortsighted experience of our faith; we must transmit it and give it to anyone who may come close. Hence, we can derive that the first fruit is to live our faith in the warmth of our family, that of the Christian community. That will be easy, «for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them» (Mt 18:20).
But ours is an open Christian community, that is, basically missionary (second fruit). Because of the strength and beauty of the Resurrected “in the midst of us”, the community is appealing in all its gestures and acts, and each one of its members has the capacity to beget men and women to the new life of the Resurrected. And a third fruit, is for us to live with the conviction and certitude that we can find in the Gospel the solution to all our problems. Let's live in the saint Fear of God, lest the Kingdom of Heaven be taken from us and given to others.
Meditation: Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13, 17-28 2nd Week of Lent
Israel loved Joseph best of all his sons. (Genesis 37:3)
Since its earliest days, the Christian church has recognized a harmony between the Old and New Testaments. The apostles sought to understand how the ancient Hebrew Scriptures pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. The early Church Fathers then recognized that the mystery of Christ that is hidden in the Old Testament comes fully alive in the New.
Many realities described in the Old Testament—people, events, places, or other details—anticipate realities fully revealed in the New. Scholars call them “types,” or prefigurements, of Christ.
The story of Joseph gives us one of the most stirring Old Testament “types” of Jesus. Joseph, a favorite son of Jacob, was despised by his brothers, who decided to sell him into slavery in Egypt. But Joseph eventually became the instrument God used to save his family from famine: “Even though you meant harm to me,” Joseph later told his brothers, “God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20).
It’s not hard to see how many Church Fathers read Joseph’s story as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ life and God’s plan of salvation. Just look at the many parallels between the two: both were favored sons of a loving father. Both experienced rejection from some of their own people. Both were sold for silver. Both were falsely accused and imprisoned. Both were unexpectedly exalted—Joseph to Pharaoh’s throne and Jesus to the throne of God. And both provided salvation for the chosen people as well as the Gentiles around them.
Learning how people, prophecies, and events in the Old Testament find fulfillment in Jesus can help us come to a deeper grasp of the salvation that he has won for us. It can help us grasp the marvelous plan of God. It can fill us with love for our Father, who has set his grand plan in motion. So as the season of Lent unfolds, look for Jesus’ “footprints” in the Old Testament readings at Mass. As you do, you’ll see how much God loves his people—including you. You’ll see that God has planned great and glorious things for you. Your life is secure in him!
“Jesus, you are the Lord of history. Thank you for opening my eyes to your wonderful plan for our salvation!”
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