Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần thứ Nhất Mùa Chay

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần thứ Nhất Mùa Chay (Mt 6: 7-15)

Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta biết cách cư xử với Thiên Chúa như cách nguời con cư xử với người cha của chúng ta. Khía cạnh đầu tiên là chúng ta phải nên có sự tin tưởng và niềm tự tin vào nơi Thiên Chúa khi chúng ta tâm sự với Ngài. Nhưng Chúa Giêsu cũng cảnh báo chúng ta: “Khi cầu nguyện, anh em đừng lải nhải nhiều lời..” (Mt 6:7). Khi chúng ta nói chuyện với cha mẹ của chúng ta, chúng ta không bao giớ lý luận phức tạp, cũng không phải nói nhiều, nhưng chúng ta chỉ đơn giản là xin cha me cho chúng ta những gì chúng cho cần và muốn xin. Chúng ta nên luôn luôn biết rằng Thiên Chúa sẽ nghe những lời cầu xin của chúng ta bởi vì Thiên Chúa cũng là người Cha yêu thương chúng ta-và nghe lời chúng ta. Trong thực tế, cầu nguyện không phải là việc trình bày, phúc trính hay việc báo cáo cho Thiên Chúa những gi chúng ta muốn, những gì chúng ta dự định và những thành quả riêng của chúng ta, nhưng cầu nguyện với Chúa là để khẩn khoàn cầu xin Chúa ban cho chúng ta tất cả những gì chúng ta cần, như “Cha của anh em biết rõ anh em cần gì trước khi anh em cầu xin” (Mt 6:8). Chúng ta sẽ không phải là ngưới Kitô hữu tốt lành nếu chúng ta không cầu nguyện, như người con không thể là một đứa con tốt, có hiếu, nếu anh ta không nói chuyện với cha mẹ của mình.

Trong Mùa Chay, Giáo Hội nhắc nhở chúng ta nên biết dùng thời giờ để lắng đọng tâm hồn và cầu nguyện một cách sâu đậm hơn như Thánh Gioan Kim Khẩu đã nói: “Lời cầu nguyện, là những cuộc đối thoại trực tiếp giữa chúng ta với Thiên Chúa, là kho tàng quý báu nhất của chúng ta, bởi vì nhờ đó mà chúng ta được kết hợp với Người”. Điều cần nhất là để chúng ta cần phải biết sống trong đức bác ái thi lời cầu nguyện sẽ mang lại sức mạnh cho chúng ta để chúng ta được sống thánh thiện hơn mỗi ngày. Những lý do tại sao chúng ta cầu nguyện với Chúa mỗi ngày là vì cầu nguyện giúp chúng ta biết tha thứ không phải chỉ là những vấn đề xích mích nhỏ thôi, Nhưng giúp chúng ta có thể đối diện với những vấn đề to lớn khác, nhưng không thể bằng những lời nói và thái độ thù nghịch, tấn công và còn hơn thế nữa, Cầu nguyện giúp ta có khả năng chịu đựng, không có ác ý hay làm tổn thương đến người nào khác, Và chúng ta có thể thành thật nói với người thù nghịch của chúng ta là chúng ta đã thật lòng tha thứ cho hô với những gì mà họ đang mắc nợ với chúng ta. Và chúng ta có thể làm được điều đó vì có Chúa Thánh Thần nâng đỡ và hướng dẫn chúng ta và Đức Maria, mẹ Thiên Chúa cầu bầu cho chúng ta có được sức mạnh để phấn đấu.

Ôi lạy Chúa! Xin Chúa giúp chúng con để chúng con biết con cần phải học biết làm thế nào để cầu nguyện và làm thế nào để thâu hoạch những ơn ích cụ thể cho cuộc sống của riêng của chúng con mỗi ngày qua việc cầu nguyện.”

Comment: Fr. Joaquim FAINÉ i Miralpech 

When you pray, do not use a lot of words; your Father knows what you need.

Today, Jesus —the Son of God— teaches us how to behave like a son of God. The first aspect is our trust and the confidence we should have when we talk to him. But our Lord warns us: «When you pray, do not use a lot of words» (Mt 6:7). When we talk to our parents, we do not resort to complicated reasoning, nor to using a lot of words, but they simply ask for what they need. We should always know God will listen to us because God —who is also the Father— loves us and listens to us. In fact, to pray is not so much to inform God, but to ask him for all we need, as «Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask him» (Mt 6:8). We will not be good Christians if we do not pray, as a son cannot be a good son if he does not talk to his parents.

The Lord's Prayer is the prayer that Jesus himself taught us, and it is just a compendium of our Christian life. Each time we say the Lord's Prayer we let the Father take us by the hand and we ask him what we need everyday to become a better son of God. We need not only the material bread, but —more than that— the Celestial Bread: «Let us beg we never lack the Eucharist bread». We need also to learn to forgive and to be forgiven: «To be able to receive the forgiveness God offers us, let us to address ourselves to the Father who loves us», as it is said in the Mass in the preliminary introduction to our Lord's Prayer.

During Lent, the Church is asking us to deepen our prayers. «The prayer, our colloquy with God, is our best treasure, because it means (...) being united to him» (Saint John Crisostom). Oh Lord! I need to learn how to pray and how to draw specific benefits for my own life. Mostly to live the virtue of charity: the prayer gives me strength to live it better every day. And this is why I ask him daily to help me to forgive not only the small troubles I may have to face from others but, also, the offensive words and attitudes and, more than that, to bear no malice to my fellow men, so that I can sincerely tell them I have forgiven from the bottom of my heart those who are in debt with me. I will be able to achieve it because God's Mother will help me at all times.

TUESDAY, 1st Week of Lent

In the Gospel reading Matthew recounts how Jesus taught us to pray. The Lord's Prayer is a beautiful and complete prayer.

First, it acknowledges that God in heaven is our Father. Not only is he holy; his name is also holy.

Second, it is always better to enter into his will. Yet how many times do we ask God to do our will, rather than do what he wills? Most of the time, we are unhappy because we deviate from God's will and plan for us; we often think our plan is better than God's.

Third, we must put our trust in God's providence. We always worry we do not have enough money or food to eat. But our Father will sustain and take care of us.

Fourth, it is very hard to forgive those who have wronged us. When treated badly or unfairly, we want to get even. Yet how can we ask for God's forgiveness if we do not forgive those who have wronged us?

Last, we ask to be delivered from the test and from evil.

The Lord's Prayer is the prayer to our Father in heaven who loves and cares for his children, who knows what each one needs even before he or she asks.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.

REFLECTION

Friends, the Gospel for today is of great moment, for in it the Son of God teaches us to pray. Our teacher is not just a guru, a spiritual sage, or a religious genius, but the Son of God. This is why Our Father is the model of all prayer. A desire to pray is planted deep within us, the desire to speak to God and to listen to him. We can forget to pray, neglect to pray, become lazy in prayer, but we can never really lose the desire to pray.

And so let us attend carefully to the first words of Jesus' great prayer: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." Our basic problem is getting our priorities mixed up. We seek all kinds of worldly things—money, pleasure, power, honor—all of which are unsatisfying.

What we should desire, first, is God. This is precisely what the prayer to hallow the name of God is all about. It's not that God's name isn't in fact hallowed, but we're praying that we might keep it that way, that we might honor God in all things. We're praying for a radical reorientation of our consciousness.

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach me to pray as you pray to the Father. I want to join in your mission for our salvation and your communion with the Holy Trinity. I want to pray like you.

Encountering Christ:

Many Words: The Our Father prayer is probably one, if not the most, frequently recited traditional prayer of the Church. It is offered daily at every Mass and in the Divine Office, which is prayed by every Roman Catholic priest and by many orders of religious sisters and laypeople as well. Also called the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father introduces each of the five decades of the rosary. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that the Our Father is prayed many, many, thousands of times a day. Because it’s so familiar, we can sometimes find ourselves reciting this beautiful prayer thoughtlessly, babbling like the pagans. Our Lord understands this tendency, but when we catch ourselves being distracted, we can simply return our mind to heartfelt prayer, which pleases him. As St. Edmund reminds us, “It is better to say one Our Father fervently and devoutly than a thousand with no devotion and full of distraction.”

Your Father Knows What You Need: Vocal prayers like the Our Father are said repeatedly and sometimes distractedly, but they are nevertheless an important component of the prayer life of the Church. The Catechism states, “The Tradition of the Church proposes to the faithful certain rhythms of praying intended to nourish continual prayer” (2698). Vocal prayer is an essential element of the Christian life. When we’re vigilant and attentive during vocal prayer, we are engaging in the rhythm of the Church. As we make an effort to say our prayers fervently, the Lord blesses and nourishes our relationship with him.

This Is How You Are to Pray: Reciting the Our Father can lift our hearts, since Jesus prays with and for us to God our Father. The experience can lead us to profound gratitude. Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name: thank you, God and Creator, for loving us as your children and allowing us to call you “Father.” Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven: Thank you, Jesus, for including us in your Kingdom here on earth and for sending your Holy Spirit to guide us to heaven. Give us this day our daily bread: Thank you, Jesus, for being truly present with us in the Eucharist. Forgive us our trespasses: Thank you, Lord, for your forgiveness every time we sin and for strengthening us against further sin through the sacrament of Reconciliation. As we forgive those who trespass against us: Thank you, Holy Spirit, who gives us the strength and desire to forgive others. Lead us not into temptation: Thank you, Lord, for the Church, which teaches us right from wrong and good from evil, and provides the sacraments so we can always choose right and good. But deliver us from evil: Thank you for the gift of our guardian angel and St. Michael to protect us and bring us safely home to you. Conversing with Christ: Lord, thank you for teaching me how to pray. Thank you for showing me how to worship the Father and how to be his child. Grant me the grace to be more attentive at Mass and whenever I pray the Our Father so that I can offer my prayer with, in, and through you.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pay special attention while I recite an Our Father, so that I can offer my heart and not just say these words.