Suy Niệm Bài Đọc thứ Ba Tuần thứ 15 Thường Niên
Nhiệm vụ quan trọng nhất của Chúa Giêsu là đến để hướng dẫn dân riêng của Ngài trước hết, như Tin Mừng đã cẩn thận chỉ dẫn cho các môn đệ và chúng ta về ơn cứu độ của Thiên Chúa. Tuy nhiên, Ngài cũng cảnh báo sự chối bỏ Thiên Chúa và tội lỗi của dân chúng trong các thành phố Chorazin, Bethsaida và Capernaum. Họ còn không tin vào Thiên Chúa mặc dù Chúa Giêsu đã dành nhiều thời giờ giảng dạy và làm rất nhiều phép lạ cho họ ở đó. Nhưng họ vẫn còn nghi ngờ và thờ ơ nguội lạnh với những lời giáo huấn của Chúa. Trong thời ấy, thuật phù thủy là một hành vi phạm tội sẽ bị trừng phạt bằng cái chết. Bởi vì đó là hành vi cuồng tín, gây ra sự chống đối Chúa Giêsu và giáo huấn của Ngài. Vì vậy, Chúa Giêsu đã cho họ lời cảnh báo trước để họ biết ăn năn, hối cải, tránh xa đường lối và những sự xấu xa của họ.
Tội chối bỏ Thiên Chúa của họ còn lớn hơn cả cái tội mà dân thành Sodom đã phạm và họ sẽ bị xét xử một cách khắc nghiệt trong ngày phán xét. Chúng ta hãy tự xét mình và kiểm thảo cuộc sống của chúng ta mỗi ngày và nhất là trong ngày hôm nay, chúng ta đã làm gì, chúng ta đã chống lại Thiên Chúa bằng những việc làm, lời nói và sự suy nghĩ của chúng ta?. Tội chống lại Thiên Chúa là tội chống lại giới răn thứ nhất và cũng là điều răn lớn nhất.
Reflection
The mission of Jesus was directed to his own people first and foremost, as the Gospels are careful to show. Yet he warns them that their response will show them to be less than the pagans whom they despise.
Matthew was primarily writing his gospel for Jewish Christians to whom it caused great pain that pagans responded to the Good News in greater numbers than their own people. This passage demonstrates that Jesus Himself shared their amazement and sorrow at the lack of response by Israel. Lord, grant us the grace to respond to Your Word always.
Tuesday 15th Ordinary Time 2022
Opening Prayer: Lord, I praise you as our ancestors praised you: “Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, fairest of heights, is the joy of all the earth.”
Encountering Christ:
1. Woe to You: “Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.” In Bethsaida, Jesus healed the blind man, taking him outside the village and restoring his sight by putting his spittle on his eyes and touching him. After the healing he told the man, “Do not even go into the village” (Mark 8:26). Why did Jesus warn him not to return to the village? What could have happened to the newly restored sight of the man if he had? What happens after a retreat or conference when we return to family and work? Are we able to keep the fire of faith alive? We carry our faith in earthen vessels (2 Corinthians 4:7) and must, therefore, guard our minds, hearts, and souls against the near occasion of sin to the best of our ability while relying on the grace of God to continually purify us.
2. Tyre and Sidon: “But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.” Tyre and Sidon were mentioned in the book of Joel as nations who corrupted God’s people. It is written about them, “There I will enter judgment with them on behalf of my people, my heritage, Israel; because they scattered them among the nations, they divided up my land. For my people they cast lots, trading a young boy for the price of a prostitute, exchanging a young girl for the wine they drank” (Joel 4:2-3). Yet Jesus said judgment on them would not be nearly as harsh as it would be on those in Israel who failed to repent after witnessing the miracles he worked among them. Of all the nations, God chose Israel through which to reveal himself: “And the Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). What a privilege it is to be chosen by God! Do we see our Christian faith as a blessing and gift from God, or do we feel entitled to it or burdened by what we are asked to believe and how we are to act as disciples of Jesus?
3. Day of Judgment: “And as for you, Capernaum: Will you be exalted to Heaven? You will go down to the nether world. For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.” It was in Capernaum that Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law and gave his Bread of Life discourse (John 6:35). Capernaum became Jesus’ hometown during his public ministry in Galilee. Jesus did not just visit Capernaum—he lived there, and perhaps despite his miracles, people took him for granted. We can do the same with the Holy Mass. We can become so accustomed to the ritual that we forget a miracle is happening in front of our eyes; bread and wine are being transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. St. Francis de Sales advises, “When you have received him, stir up your heart to do him homage; speak to him about your spiritual life, gazing upon him in your soul where he is present for your happiness; welcome him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence.”
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I do not want to become complacent in my worship of you and in spreading your Good News of salvation. I ask for the grace to pay attention during Mass, participate devoutly in the liturgy, and believe what you proclaim through your Church. I believe in you, Jesus. Help my unbelief!
Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will actively participate at Mass, thanking you for the gift of your Son in the Eucharist.
REFLECTION 2018
In both readings today we are reminded of faith and trust in God.
In the first reading the prophet Isaiah reminds King Ahaz of Israel's covenant with Yahweh and that Israel must rely on the Covenant and Yahweh's continuing protection.
In the Gospel reading Jesus denounces the cities in which he had preached and performed many of his miracles. Despite his many great deeds, very few received his message and repented in Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Jesus tells them that, if his great deeds and miracles had been performed in Tyre, Sidon and Sodom, the people in those places would have listened and repented.
We may no longer worship false gods and images, as the ancient Greeks and Romans did; but we do have many gods in our lives such as money and success, power and prestige, the approval of others and our own self-esteem, sex and drugs; the list goes on. The evil one is very good in turning what may be good in itself into idols to replace God in our lives.
In pursuing these, we may be shutting out the voice and values of Christ in our lives. Despite the many good things and talents God has given us, we can forget about him in our pursuit of these false gods and values. We can be so attached to our own will and "success" that we forget God's will and values.
Let us heed the warnings in today's readings that we may discern God and his actions in our lives, repent and keep his commandments.
Reflection:
Miracles may be often relegated to the realm of fairy tales and dreams, especially in the pragmatism that surrounds modern life. But the truth is, they do happen on a daily basis, but we have the tendency to be blind to them. More accurately, we have the tendency to remain unmoved.
A miracle is actually what happens when we see the hand of the Divine in our lives. But it is not a one way street. It requires not only God's intervention – it also involves us, as witnesses, as believers, as persons changed by the realization that God is ceaselessly reaching out to us through signs, big and small.
People say there can be no miracles without faith. But in today's Gospel reading about the public ministry of Christ, the miracles were there, but faith did not follow. To say that our Lord was frustrated would be an understatement.
Jesus continues to work "miracles" in our lives every single day, hoping that his extravagant display of love will be enough to move us, draw us back to his love, and transform us into the best versions of ourselves.
We see many miracles of God's grace in the kind people around us, in the loving parents raising children, in the selfless works of charity and care of so many in the world today. We see God's love and holiness reflected in the lives of many.
Have we opened our eyes and hearts to God's miracles in our lives today? How have we chosen to respond? Have we been thankful?
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