Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần thứ 10 Thường Niên.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần thứ 10 Thường Niên.

Trong Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu mời gọi chúng ta hãy sống xứng đáng với đdời sống của người Kitô giáo, cũng giống như Ngài đã mời gọi những người môn đệ của Ngài phải sống gương mẫu để nêu gương sáng cho những người khác noi theo bằng cách họ sống. Chúa Giêsu mời gọi chúng ta đón nhận những lời lăng mạ, những sự bách hại, những lời cáo gian vì những lợi ích vì danh của Ngài và vì nước trời. Ngài mong mỏi chúng ta đưa cái má khác cho người khác vả, và tha thứ cho kẻ thù của chúng ta và cầu nguyện cho họ. Dòng chữ "Vì lợi ích vì danh của Ngài" đã chiếm trọn vô số tâm hồn những người Kitô giáo bình thường qua các thời đại. Chỉ khi nào chúng ta biết chúc lành cho những người đã gây ra cho chúng ta những sự đau khổ, thì chúng ta mới có thể thực sự yêu mến Chúa Giêsu.

Tám Mối Phúc Thật là một thách thức cho các môn đệ của Chúa Giêsu thời cổ đại và tiếp tục thách thức chúng ta trong ngày hôm nay và sẽ tiếp tục thách thức những người kitô giáo trong tương lai. Tám Mối Phúc Thật không có nghĩa giống như là một thông điệp chỉ dành riêng cho một thế hệ. Những lời giảng huấn này đã được đưa ra để khuấy động tâm hồn của những người đang lắng nghe vào thời điểm đó và cũng sẽ còn khuấy động tâm hồn của chúng ta hôm nay nữa. Trong khi chúng ta suy niệm về Tám Mối Phúc Thật, chúng ta hãy tự hỏi mình: "Tôi có sống như Chúa đang nhìn thấy thế giới không?" Nếu câu trả lời là "có", bạn không nên quá tự hào và thoải mái. Vì Chúa Giêsu sẽ đưa chúng ta đến với một đức tin sâu đậm hơn để Phục vụ nhiều hơn. Nếu câu trả lời là "chưa đủ với những sự cố gắng của chúng ta", thì chúng ta hãy nên tiếp tục cầu nguyện để chúng ta có sự hiểu biết nhiều hơn, khôn ngoan và biết được đường lối của Thiên Chúa sẽ trở nên rõ ràng hơn cho chúng ta.

Chúng ta hãy cảm ta Chúa Giêsu vì hôm nay Ngài đã giải thích cho chúng ta biết những gì mới thực sự quan trọng cho cuộc sống của chúng ta. Chúng ta hãy cầu xin Chúa Giêsu ban cho chúng ta những ân sủng Chúa Thánh Thần và sức mạnh để gạt bỏ lo ngại của chúng ta để chúng ta tiếp tục theo sát bước chân của Ngài một cách vững chãi hơn.

REFLECTION

Is there something in our lives that rejects this call to holiness? What is it that takes precedence in our spiritual life? Jesus invites us to take a Christian stand, just as he invited his first followers to become examples for others by the way they lived. Jesus invites us to embrace insults, persecution, and false accusations for his sake. He asks us to offer the other cheek and to forgive our enemies and pray for them. The words "For his sake" has captured the hearts of countless ordinary Christian people throughout the ages. Only when we bless those who make us suffer can we truly love Jesus. And forgiving those who make false accusations against another requires true Christian heroism.

The Beatitudes challenged Jesus' disciples and continues to challenge us today and will continue to challenge people in the future. The Beatitudes were not meant as a message for just one generation. The teaching was given to stir up the hearts of those who were listening at the time and it should stir up our hearts today as well. As we think about the Beatitudes, let us ask ourselves: "Am I living as God sees the world?" If the answer is "yes", do not get too comfortable. Jesus is going to move us to deeper faith and service. If the answer is "not as well as I could", then we should continue to pray for greater understanding and wisdom and God's way will become clearer to us.

Let us thank Jesus today for explaining to us what is truly important. Let us ask Jesus for the grace and strength to cast aside our fears and continue to follow closely in his footsteps

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Opening Prayer: My Jesus, guide me in the deepest recesses of my heart to encounter you in this time of prayer. Give me the courage to examine my heart and to discover the truth about where I look for strength and security. I want to share your certainty of the Father’s love and rest in it and find the strength to build my life on you alone.

Encountering Christ:

0. We Believe That You Came from God: Listening to Jesus’ words as he described his relationship with the Father, the disciples were moved to a great act of faith. “We believe that you came from God,” they proclaimed. There was no longer room for doubt. Yet Jesus knew their hearts better even than they did themselves. He rightly foresaw that within only a few hours they would flee in fear, leaving him utterly alone. Their spontaneous act of faith was built on the powerful emotions they felt as they heard him speak, words that produced profound sentiments of joy, loyalty, and allegiance in their hearts. Yet, only too soon, they were forced to come face to face with the frailty of their own human strength. Their faith flourished when powered by emotion but collapsed in the face of adversity.

1. I Am Not Alone: Jesus’ own faith in the Father was built on much more than convincing words and delightful feelings. His certainty of the Father’s love and his guiding presence was unshakeable. He knew that in the hour of trial, he would be abandoned by his beloved Apostles, but he found the strength to continue forward to his Passion with the certainty of the Father’s presence. His desire is that each one of us might also come to know the Father’s love in this way. He wants us to find the source of our strength not in ourselves or in any other human source, but in the Father’s unfailing love.

2. Take Courage: Jesus knew he was sending his Apostles forth as sheep among wolves. The trial they would endure on this night of his Passion was only the beginning of a road marked by contradiction. Thus, he desired to share his own source of strength with them. Just as even in the darkest hours of his Passion, he was never alone because his Father was always with him, so too would his disciples never be alone, even in the throes of persecution, for he had promised to be with them. This promise holds true for us as well. He does not promise to free us from suffering, but to be our strength when we encounter it. Where do we automatically look for security in moments such as these?

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, so often I look to you to give me guarantees of a life marked by success, prosperity, and unadulterated happiness. I subtly expect you to be an earthly Messiah, much as the Jews of your time did. Yet you invite me to put my trust not in earthly guarantees but in your Kingdom that is not of this world. Teach me the ways of your Kingdom and help me to discover unfailing strength and joy in the certainty of your constant presence.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will entrust a difficult situation, in my own life or in a loved one’s, to you, asking not that you take it away, but that you allow me to encounter your presence in the midst of this suffering.



REFLECTION 2017

There are times when our sufferings seem too great, beyond our capacity to bear. When this happens, it may be easier to just give up. Thankfully God sends us people who can help and console us. Being part of Christ's Church we receive great encouragement from fellow Christians to persevere in carrying the crosses in our life. This encouragement we receive gives us strength and inspires us to help those who need help. Paul speaks of this in the first reading.

In the Gospel reading, the Beatitudes give us values to aspire for. The Beatitudes give us hope to move forward in very difficult times and challenges. The Beatitudes promise light and joy at the end of sorrow and pains in this life. All want to experience the joys of the heavenly kingdom: the Beatitudes tell us that heaven will be enjoyed by the poor in spirit, the gentle and merciful, the pure of heart and the peace-makers, and those persecuted for justice's sake. Do we want to be among the "fortunate" in the kingdom of God?