Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 16 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 16 Thường Niên Scripture: Matthew 12:38-42

“Người lớn hơn Giô-na, và lớn hơn Solomon ", Nếu con người bình thường như chúng mà nói lên những lời này trên môi thì sẽ chỉ là lời vênh vang. Nhưng những lời này được nói ra nơi miệng của Chúa Giêsu thì cho những người tin vào Thiên Chúa, thì đó là một lời nhắc nhở về sự khiêm tốn của Thiên Chúa trong việc xuống thế để trở thành một con người thường như chúng ta. Thiên Chúa thì không thể nào có thể so sánh và do đó không thể nào so sánh Thiên Chúa với những con người đơn thuần như Solomon. Nhưng Thiên Chúa đã chọn để trở thành một con người trong Chúa Giêsu và vì thế Chúa Giêsu đi vào một thế giới của con người với nhu cầu riêng của con người "chúng tôi muốn được thấy một dấu lạ nơi ngài" vì những người pharisêu muốn thử thách để chúng minh Ngài là Thiên Chúa, nhưng Chúa Giêsu đã chỉ trích những kinh sư và người Pharisêu, những người yêu cầu một dấu lạ một cách nặng nề .

Tuy nhiên, chính Chúa Giêsu đã xuất hiện giữa dân Israel trong một cách mà những người đã gặp Chúa phải đưa ra nhiều câu hỏi thắc mắc về những việc Ngài đã làm, "Người này là ai?" Những câu hỏi này đã thường xuyên được đưa ra mỗi khi Ngài đã làm các phép lạ, nhưng cũng được thường xuyên đưa ra bởi những lời giáo huấn của Người. Đối với những người đã mở lòng đón nhận Chúa Giêsu trong đức tin, thì những phép lạ của Ngài và giáo lý của Ngài đã đủ là những dấu chỉ để dẫn họ đến ngưỡng cửa của đức tin. Nhưng những người kinh sư và người Pharisêu đòi hỏi cho được bằng chứng, trong khi Chân Lý sự thật của Thiên Chúa kêu gọi sự chấp nhận.

Lạy Chúa Giêsu, Xin Chúa soi sáng tâm hồn chúng con để chúng con biết đọc Kinh Thánh, lời Chúa với con mắt đức tin sâu sắc hơn, để chúng ta có thể khám phá các phép lạ của Chúa và những lời giáo huấn của Chúa là những niềm an ủi sâu đậm nhất trong chân lý và sự thật của Chúa./

Reflection Monday 16th Ordinary Time

“Greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon”, on the lips of any ordinary human being, these words would be mere boasting, perhaps true, perhaps false. On the lips of Jesus they are, for those who believe, a reminder of God’s humility in becoming a human being. God is incomparable and so could not be compared with mere human beings like Solomon. But God chose to become a human being in Jesus and so Jesus enters into a human world with its demands — “show us a sign” — and its struggle to make sense of what is more than ordinary. Jesus severely criticizes the scribes and Pharisees who ask for a sign.

Yet Jesus Himself appeared amongst the Israelites in a way that raised many questions for those who encountered him, “What kind of man is this?” These questions were frequently raised by his miracles, but just as frequently raised by his teaching. For those who were open to Jesus, his miracles and his teachings were signs enough to lead them to the threshold of faith. The scribes and Pharisees demanded proof, whereas God’s truth calls for acceptance.

Lord Jesus, enlighten our hearts to read the Scriptures with deeper faith, so that we may discover in Your miracles and Your teaching the deepest consolation of Your truth

Monday 16th Ordinary Time 2022

Opening Prayer: Jesus, as I settle into this time with you, I ask for your help to focus on your presence. Lord, I believe in you. Help me listen with expectancy. Lord, I trust you with all my concerns, knowing that you desire only my good. Lord, I love you. Accept this prayer as an act of love, and through it help me grow closer to you and desire to live for you in every thought, word, and deed.

Encountering Christ:

1. We Wish to See a Sign from You: Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” He said to them in reply, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign…” By this time, Jesus had already performed many miracles. He had turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana, healed an official’s son, drove an evil spirit from a man in Capernaum, healed Peter’s mother-in-law, and cured many others who were sick and oppressed. The first miraculous catch of fish on the lake of Gennesaret had occurred, and Jesus cleansed a man with leprosy, healed the centurion's servant, healed a paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof and healed a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath. In the face of so many miracles–of so many signs–the demand for another sign could be seen as a kind of refusal to see and accept what has already been amply demonstrated. It was a refusal to have faith, and Jesus responded to this doubt and resistance. Are there Church teachings we refuse to accept? Are there circumstances in our life that we refuse to embrace as God’s providence?

2. Jonah and Solomon: The Gentile Ninevites and the queen of the South responded to Jonah and Solomon. Jesus is greater than Jonah and Solomon, yet the scribes and Pharisees persisted in their unbelief and so would be condemned. By refusing to give proof of his divinity by a sign of such a definitive nature, Jesus respects the freedom of the individual to make a decision in faith; he doesn’t compel belief. The Catechism teaches, “So miracles strengthen faith in the One who does his Father’s works; they bear witness that he is the Son of God. But his miracles can also be occasions for ‘offense’; they are not intended to satisfy people’s curiosity or desire for magic. Despite his miracles, some people reject Jesus….” (CCC 548). It also states, “Faith is, first of all, a personal adherence of man to God” (CCC 150). May our hearts be well disposed to respond to the faith God asks of us.

3. In the Heart of the Earth: Jesus refused to provide a sign for the scribes and Pharisees, but he alluded to his own death, burial, and Resurrection by describing Jonah’s experience: “Just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.” He also mentions the “judgment” to come. This was an act of mercy: “The message of the Last Judgment calls men to conversion while God is still giving them ‘the acceptable time…the day of salvation’” (CCC 1041). We will one day be judged as Jesus described: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory…he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left…To those on the right, he will say, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,’ while he says to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:31-46). We live in a time of mercy, so we need not fear judgment. “All grace flows from mercy, and the last hour abounds with mercy for us. Let no one doubt the goodness of God; even if a person’s sins were as dark as night, God’s mercy is stronger than our misery” (St. Faustina).

Conversing with Christ: Lord, the scribes and Pharisees heard of or saw all the good you did. Why didn’t they let themselves open their hearts and minds? Yet if I am honest with myself, I know that sometimes I don’t want to hear what you are saying to me or asking of me. There are times when I demand proof. Lord, please help me grow in faith, surrender all I am to you, and live according to your will. Grant me self-knowledge and the grace to overcome obstacles that hinder my response to your call, such as pride, vanity, or laziness.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will reflect on the Act of Faith prayer and invite a family member or friend to make an Act of Faith with me:

Reflection: Monday 16th Ordinary Time

"To see is to believe." In many circumstances, similar to the teachers of the law and Pharisees in today's reading, we have to witness ourselves before we accept, we have to see with our own eyes before we believe. We always need proof or evidence and we have to experience things ourselves before we believe. Are we likewise that skeptical in matters of faith?

Better than seeing what is visible to the human eye is experiencing it from the heart. Be it a smooth-sailing or bumpy ride, our faith-journey with our Lord Jesus Christ should be based on pure trust in a loving God who wants nothing else but to give us salvation and everlasting life.

Sometimes we are too busy and pre-occupied looking for miracles that we forget to recognize and appreciate the everyday blessings we receive from God. Our lives are living testimony of his great power. What miracles do we need, what kind of proof is still needed in order for us to recognize God and love him with the same passion as he loves us?

Just like his love for us, our faith should not be conditional; we need not demand for miracles. Instead we just need to believe and trust wholeheartedly. As the risen Jesus chided the doubting Apostle Thomas the week after his resurrection, "you believe because you see me, do you not? Happy are those who have not seen and believe.

We pray that, like Thomas before the risen Lord, we can say in faith and with great love, even though we have not seen, "You are my Lord and my God."

REFLECTION 2017

Have we ever felt trapped with problems and hardships, with nowhere to go or do to save the situation? And even God does not seem to heed our prayers? We feel hopeless and lost in such situations.

That was how the Israelites fleeing from Egypt felt with Pharoah and his army and charioteers after them. Moses their leader tries to calm them down with the assurance that the God of Israel will protect and save them. So God lets Israel cross the sea, which dried up for their crossing, and destroys the pursuing Egyptians when the sea waters returned.

God is the God of the impossible. Just as he kept his word for his people Israel, God will watch and protect us. In the Gospel reading Jesus reprimands the Jews: despite his preaching, good deeds and miracles, they have refused to believe in him. They will be judged and condemned for their unbelief and lack of faith.