Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần thứ 15 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần thứ 15 Thường Niên

Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu nói với chúng ta "gánh nặng của ta thì nhẹ nhàng". Có một câu chuyện đã kể về một người đàn ông đã gặp một cô bé khoảng 10 tuổi đang cõng một đứa em trai tật nguyền trên lưng. Ông ta nói "Đó là một gánh nặng cho con, mà sao con cứ phãi cõng nó hoài thế kia?. Con có mệt không?" Nhưng cô bế đã lên tiếng đáp lại: Thưa đàn ông, nó đâu có nặng đâu, nó là em con mà!”. Thật vậy, khi chúng ta có phải vác một gánh nặng tới đâu đi nữa, nhưng chúng ta vác nó với tình yêu thương và đem nó vào trong tình byêu của chúng ta, thì gánh nặng đó Không còn là một gánh nặng nữa. Khi chúng ta mang ách cuộc sống của chúng ta với Chúa Giêsu, Ngài cũng mang lấy gánh nặng của chúng ta với chúng ta và Ngài còn cho chúng ta sức mạnh của Ngài để giúp chúng ta làm theo cách yêu thương của Ngài. Vì thế chúng ta nên tìm kiếm niềm vui trong lúc nghỉ ngơi với sự hiện diện của Chúa Giêsu và cùng đồng hành với Chúa hàng ngày trên con đường mà Chúa đã dành cho chúng ta.

Chúa Giêsu đã ban cho chúng ta một vương quốc mới trong sự công chính, bình an và hạnh phúc. Trong vương quốc của Ngài tội lỗi không những chỉ tha thứ mà thôi nhưng còn được loại bỏ, và sự sống đời đời được ban cho tất cả những ai là công dân của Nước Trời. Đây không phải là một vương quốc chính trị, nhưng là một vương quốc thần linh. Ách thống trị trong vương quốc của Chúa Kitô, quy tắc vương giả của Ngài và lối sống, sẽ giải thoát chúng ta khỏi những gánh nặng của tội lỗi và những sự áp bức của thói quen tội lỗi và những sự thù ghét. Chỉ có Chúa Giêsu mới có thể nhấc nổi cái gánh nặng tội lỗi và sức nặng của sự tuyệt vọng nơi chúng tôi.

Chúa Giêsu đã dùng một ách để so sánh và giải thích chúng ta hiểu rõ là làm thế nào để có thể trao đổi những gánh nặng của tội lỗi và sự tuyệt vọng, để nhận lấy sự vinh quang và chiến thắng với Ngài. Cái Ách mà Chúa Giêsu mời gọi chúng ta hãy ôm ấp lấy là cách của sống yêu thương như Chúa, Với ân sủng và sư tự do khỏi quyền lực của tội lỗi.

Lạy Chúa xin ban cho chúng con có niềm tin vững mạnh vào tình yêu của Thiên Chúa và biết phó thác cuộc sống riêng của chúng con theo như ý Chúa và trong kế hoạch mà Chúa đã định sẵn cho cuộc sống của chúng con.

Meditation: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me"

What does the yoke of Jesus refer to in the Gospel? The Jews used the image of a yoke to express submission to God. They spoke of the yoke of the law, the yoke of the commandments, the yoke of the kingdom, and the yoke of God. Jesus says his yoke is "easy". The Greek word for "easy" can also mean "well-fitting". Yokes were tailor-made to fit the oxen well. Oxen were yoked two by two. Jesus invites us to be yoked with him, to unite our life with his life, our will with his will, and our heart with his heart. To be yoked with Jesus is to be united with him in a relationship of love, trust, and obedience.

Jesus carries our burdens with us

Jesus also says his "burden is light". There's a story of a man who once met a boy carrying a smaller crippled lad on his back. "That's a heavy load you are carrying there," exclaimed the man. "He ain't heavy; he's my brother!" responded the boy. No burden is too heavy when it's given in love and carried in love. When we yoke our lives with Jesus, he also carries our burdens with us and gives us his strength to follow in his way of love. Do you know the joy of resting in Jesus' presence and walking daily with him along the path he has for you?

Freed from the burden of sin and guilt

Jesus offers us a new kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. In his kingdom sins are not only forgiven but removed, and eternal life is poured out for all its citizens. This is not a political kingdom, but a spiritual one. The yoke of Christ's kingdom, his kingly rule and way of life, liberates us from the burden of guilt and from the oppression of sinful habits and hurtful desires. Only Jesus can lift the burden of sin and the weight of hopelessness from us. Jesus used the analogy of a yoke to explain how we can exchange the burden of sin and despair for a weight of glory and victory with him. The yoke which Jesus invites us to embrace is his way of love, grace, and freedom from the power of sin. Do you trust in God's love and submit to his will and plan for your life?

"Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with love for you and for your ways and help me to exchange the yoke of rebellion for the yoke of submission to your holy and loving word. Set me free from the folly of my own sinful ignorance and rebellious pride that I may wholly desire what is good and in accord with your will."

Thursday 15th Ordinary Time 2022

Opening Prayer: “For your way and your judgments, O Lord, we look to you; your name and your title are the desire of our souls. My soul yearns for you in the night; yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you; When your judgment dawns upon the earth, the world’s inhabitants learn justice. O Lord, you mete out peace to us, for it is you who have accomplished all we have done” (from today’s first reading from Isaiah).

Encountering Christ:

1. Labors and Burdens: In this context, Jesus speaks to those who labor and are burdened by the law, as expounded by the scribes and Pharisees. Further in the Gospel of Matthew, we find Jesus rebuking the Pharisees, for “They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them” (Matthew 23:4). What we can learn from this exchange is that the burden of faith we bear, often a weight we carry not only for ourselves but also for loved ones who are outside the faith, is lifted when we ask Our Lord to enter into our burdens. Jesus, through His cross, lifts our burdens onto his own shoulders and carries them with us.

2. Rest: The rest Jesus invites us into is the Father’s will. Sown into our human nature through original sin is the lie that the Father’s will is a burden, a set of rules limiting our freedom. Jesus leads us on the path to truth, and we find our way by being meek and humble of heart. To be meek like Jesus means to willingly place our power at the service of God, much like a bridled horse who allows itself to be tamed to serve his master. Humble of heart means to freely submit our will to God. To be meek and humble of heart is difficult on our own due to our fallen nature, and our concupiscence. Through Jesus, “It (concupiscence) cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ” (CCC 1264).

3. Jesus’ Yoke: Kateri Tekakwitha, the saint whose feast day we celebrate today, took the yoke of Jesus upon herself when she, at eleven years old, accepted the gift of the Catholic faith through Jesuit missionaries who visited her Mohawk tribe in 1667. She practiced her religion unflinchingly in the face of almost unbearable opposition. She lived a life of remarkable virtue despite the many in her tribe who engaged in the carnage, debauchery, and idolatrous frenzy. Even in the bitterest winter, every morning, she stood before the chapel door until it opened at four and remained there until after the last Mass. She was devoted to the Eucharist, and Jesus crucified. Upon her death, devotion to her began immediately to be manifested by her people, and many were converted to Catholicism. Kateri’s steadfast devotion to Jesus teaches us how to resist concupiscence by living a life of virtue. We lean upon the grace of Jesus Christ so that he lifts the burdens we carry for ourselves and our people.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, to rest in you is to do the Father’s will, and I confess, I often find it a burden difficult to carry, especially when I feel I am also carrying it for others. I want to learn from you that faith is not a burden but a gift to appreciate and treasure. Fill me with your grace, Jesus.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will begin a practice of thanking you first thing every morning and last thing every night.

REFLECTION 2018

In the first reading, we hear the prophet Isaiah singing his praise of and hope in God. Isaiah thanks God for watching over and protecting his people.

In the Gospel reading Jesus assures us that he himself will be our refuge in the midst of life's challenges and burdens, "Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry burdens and I will refresh you." Jesus invites us to "take his yoke" and to learn from his gentleness and humility.

For all of us life has its share of challenges, difficulties and uncertainties. Life also has its joys and achievements. We get tired, we get discouraged, we get stressed. Life involves an inevitable process of change, very often unpredictable and uncontrollable.

Every day, as evening comes, let us always remember to thank the Lord for the day of life given us. May the evening be an opportunity to rest our bodies and recharge our minds. Let us surrender our anxieties and stresses, inhibitions and problems to his kind heart and pray that we may be able to face the new day with its new chances and opportunities, problems and difficulties and moments to enjoy and return his love for us.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, touch our hearts and make them like your own.

Reflection

Today, Jesus' words resound intimate and close. We are conscious that contemporary men and women suffer a considerable psychological pressure. This world keeps on turning round and round, we cannot stand up the pace anymore and have neither time nor inner peace to assimilate these changes. Quite often we move away from the evangelic simplicity by loading ourselves up with rules, commitments, planning and objectives. We feel overwhelmed and tired of continuously struggling without our effort being worth its while. Recent investigations affirm that nervous breakdowns are on their way up all the time. What are we lacking to feel actually well?\

Today, at the light of the Gospel, we may review our conception of God. How do I live and feel God in my heart? What feelings uncover his presence in my life? Jesus offers us his understanding when we feel weary and want to rest: «Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you» (Mt 11:28). Maybe we have fought for perfection while, deep inside, the only thing we wanted was to feel loved. In Jesus' words we find a response to our crisis of meaning. Our ego plays some dirty tricks on us by preventing us from being as good as we would like to. At times we may not see the light. St. Juliana of Norwich, English mystic of the fourteenth century, had a revelation, heard Jesus’ message, and wrote: «All will go well, everything will go well».

Jesus' proposal «Take my yoke upon you and learn from me...» (Mt 11:29)— implies following his benevolent style of life (to wish good to everybody) and his heart’s humility (virtue referring to keep our feet on the ground for only the divine grace can make us ascend). To be a disciple demands our accepting Jesus' yoke, while remembering his yoke is «good» and his burden is «light». I do not know, however, whether we are convinced this is really so. To live as a Christian in our present context is not such an easy thing, for we have to opt for values that go upstream. Not to get carried away by money, prestige or power demands a great effort. If we want to achieve it by ourselves, it may become an impossible task. But with Jesus everything is possible and good.