Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm tuần17th Thường Niên 2022

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm tuần17th Thường Niên 2022

Đằng sau hình ảnh của tiên tri Giê-rê-mi trong bài đọc thứ nhất nói về người thợ gốm và cục đất sét của ông là ý tưởng trong sách Sáng thế ký, Trong sách Sáng thế chúng ta nghe Thiên Chúa đã tạo ra ra trời đất và dựng ra ông Adong từ nắm đất sét. Không giống như người thợ gốm đập vỡ những tác phẩm của mình sau khi trông nó không được ưng ý. Thiên Chúa đã không bao giờ hối tiếc vì đã tạo ra ông Adong, hay có ý địnhtrwfng phạt con người chúng ta khi biết chúng ta luôn phạm tội. Nhưng Thiên Chúa đã chọn một cách khác để chữa lành sự tan vỡ hay hóa giải tội lỗi của con người và sãn sàng đem chúng ta trở lại với mối quan hệ hài hòa và mật thiết với Ngài và với mọi vật.

Ngoài hoàn cảnh lịch sử và ý nghĩa của câu chuyện ngụ ngôn trong sách Tiên Tri Giê-rê-mia và những người đi cùng ông, đã còn gợi ra ý tưởng cho câu hỏi được nảy sinh tự nhiên trong lòng chúng ta là: “Tại sao Thiên Chúa lại đãlàm những điều như vậy?”

Cũng như tiên tri Giê-rê-mia không biết điều gì trong tâm trí của người thợ gốm mà ông chỉ có thể đoán được sự không hài lòng của ông ta với kết quã các công việc của chúng ta, nên chúng ta cũng không thể biết được sự suy nghĩ của Thiên Chúa trên Trời. Trong trường hợp của chúng ta, kinh nghiệm của con người và là nguòi Kitô hữu, đặc biệt là kinh nghiệm và sự hiểu biết của Giáo hội về Cuộc Khổ nạn trong thời sơ khai, Cái chết và Sự Phục sinh của Chúa Giê-su, đã dạy chúng ta biết rằng Thiên Chúa có thể làm, và mang lại nhiều điều tốt lành cho những ai yêu mến Ngài( xem Rô-ma 8:28).

Lạy Chúa, Chúa đã bày tỏ lòng thương xót chúng con bằng cách Chúa đã không hủy diệt loài người của chúng con, mặc dù chúng con dã không được xứng đánh như những gì Chúa đã muốn nơi chúng con. Xin Chúa biến đổi chúng con biết xa lánh những con đường tội lỗi, xấu xa và ban cho chúng ta ân sủng để chúng con sửa đổi hạnh kiểm và việc làm của chúng con.

Thursday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time

Behind Jeremiah’s imagery of the potter and his clay is the idea of Genesis; that God made Adam from clay. Unlike the potter breaking the pot that turns out badly, God did not repent for creating Adam or breaking him into pieces. God chose another way to heal human brokenness and bring us back to a harmonious relationship with Him and with all things. Apart from the historical circumstance and meaning of the parable for Jeremiah and those with him, it also hints at the question that arises spontaneously in our hearts: “Why does God do such things?”

Just as Jeremiah has no idea what was in the potter’s mind but could only guess at his dissatisfaction with his work, so too, we cannot know the mind of God. In our case, human and Christian experience, especially the early Church’s experience and understanding of Jesus’ Passion, Death and Resurrection, teaches us that God can, and does, bring much great good out of natural and personal disasters for those who love Him (cf. Romans 8:28).

Lord, You have shown us mercy by not destroying our human race, though we fail to be what You have created us to be. Turn us from evil ways and grant us the grace to amend our conduct and actions.

Suy Niệm thứ Năm 17th Thường Niên

Qua bài đọc thứ Nhất, chúng ta có thể hình dung một thợ gốm đang chăm chỉ làm việc Người thợ gốm nàydùng một cục đất sét để biến nó thành một thứ gì đó mà ông ta muốn để có hình dáng duyên dáng và đẹp đẽ. Nếu ông ta không hài lòng với thành quả thành phẩm, hoặc nếu có điều gì sai, thì ông ta chỉ cần bắt đầu lại từ đầu. Đó là cách chúng ta sống của chúng ta mà Thiên Chúa đang làm trong các công việc tác thành và hoàn thiện chúng ta.

Kinh nghiệm của chúng ta, cho dù là tích cực hay tiêu cực tất cả đều là những công cụ mà Thiên Chúa sử dụng nơi chúng ta. Sai lầm không phải là thiên tai; chúng ta luôn có một cơ hội khác. Thiên Chúa không kết thúc với chúng ta, và Thiên Chúa sẽ không ngừng hình thành chúng ta cho đến khi chúng ta phản ánh được cái vẻ đẹp và vinh quang của Ngài.

Có nhiều loại người trong Nước Thiên Chúa. Chúng ta có xu hướng tách biệt và gắn nhãn cho người khác tốt hay xấu, nhưng không phải lúc nào cũng đơn giản như vậy. Rất ít người hoàn toàn tốt hoặc hoàn toàn xấu xa, nhưng hầu hết là một hỗn hợp đau khổ của cả hai. Cái lưới được thả xuống và kéo lên với tất cả mọi người vào đó, nhưng sẽ được các Thiên Thần của Chúa phân loại và tách ra từng loại trong thời gian cuối đời của chúng ta. Sự gì sẽ xãy ra lúc đó thì quá trễ.

Sự phán thuộc về Chúa và chỉ một mình Chúa, Trong khi phán xét chúng ta có thể tiếp tục được Thiên Chúa làm việc nơi chúng ta mỗi ngày và chúng ta có thể giúp các anh chị em của chúng ta trong cuộc tranh đấu cho của họ ở trần thế trong những lời khẩn cầu trực tiếp của chúng ta trước toà Chúa. Lạy Chúa, xin Chúa tiếp tục hình thành chúng con theo ý muốn của Ngài.

17th Week in Ordinary Time

Watching a potter at work is fascinating. The potter shapes a lump of clay into something graceful and beautiful. If he or she is dissatisfied with the results, or if something goes wrong, they merely start over from the beginning. That is how it is with us — God is at work shaping and perfecting us.

Our experiences, both positive, and negative, are the tools that God uses. Mistakes are not disasters; there is always another chance. God is not finished with us, and God will not stop shaping us until we reflect his beauty and glory.

There are all sorts of people in the kingdom of God. We tend to separate and label people as either good or bad, but it is not always that simple. Very few people are completely good or totally evil — most are a distressing mixture of both. The net that is cast pulls everyone in but separating good from evil occurs at the end of time, and it is not our job.

Judgement belongs to God alone, not to humans. In the meantime, we can continue being shaped by God each day and we can help our brothers and sisters along the way in their struggles. Lord, continue to form me according to Your will.

Thursday 17th Week in Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Lord, I come before you today seeking your wisdom as I go about my day. Please open my eyes and heart to your gentle guidance and the opportunities to serve you and your people today. Heighten my awareness of the areas in my life I need to turn over to you for help.

Encountering Christ:

1. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: As fishermen, many hearing these words of Jesus were familiar with the scenario he described. In their daily work, it would have been routine to cast out a net until it was full of fish and later to sort out which fish was good enough to eat or sell and which needed to be discarded. We heard a similar allegory earlier in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 3:12) when Jesus spoke of being “ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork.” Just as a farmer would sort out and discard the worthless chaff from the valuable wheat, Jesus will separate sin and evil from his church, the world, and our communities at the end of times. Until then, the good, the bad, and the ugly will continue to exist as part of our fallen world.

2. The Wicked and the Righteous: It is easy to become convinced of our righteousness and call out the wickedness of anyone who does not agree with us. Sadly, within our Church, country, and families, we often hear proclaimed this false sense of being “on the right side” of theology, politics, or a family conflict. These parables clearly tell us that wickedness and righteousness will continue to battle in our Church, our communities, our families, and our souls. With the exception of the Blessed Mother and Jesus himself, there has never been a human being who is completely righteous and without sin. One of the devil’s favorite tricks is to get us to focus on the speck in our brother’s eye while ignoring the plank in our own. Rather than lamenting the state of the world, we turn to God, asking the grace to pursue our own holiness and root out our own sin.

3. The New and the Old: A good household manager carefully curates storage areas on a regular basis removing junk, clutter, and items that do not bring value to his or her home. Similarly, we “declutter” our souls when we take advantage of the sacrament of Reconciliation, see our spiritual director, and seek mental health care if necessary. We ask God’s help in decluttering our souls of sin, sinful tendencies, negative mental narratives, and all kinds of spiritual junk that keeps us from being the person God created us to be. He restores us and moves in with his grace to fill us to overflowing with his abundant goodness.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, grant me patience and love when I encounter those who think, speak, and act differently than I do. Teach me to see every person I encounter as you see them, with eyes of love and a desire for their good. Curate my heart, my mind, and my soul and fill me with love for good and hatred for sin. Keep me from being judgmental of others, and when I am tempted to be judgmental, gently remind me of my own need for forgiveness.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I pray this prayer from St. Ignatius Loyola:

Take, Lord, and receive my memory, my understanding, my entire will. All that I am and I have are your gift to me. I now return them to you. Give me only your love and Your grace; with these, I am rich enough and desire no more.

2021

Opening Prayer: Lord, thank you for the clear teaching of your Church, and thank you for your parables. You give me the parables to reflect on my life and how I am responding to your truth. In this time of prayer, Lord, please open my mind and heart to know and follow you more closely so that I may obtain the joy of eternal life in Heaven with you.

Encountering Christ:

1. But Why?: The disciples wanted to know why Jesus had begun speaking to the crowds in parables rather than clearly and specifically. The crowds didn’t want to see, hear, or understand Jesus. They were entrenched in their ways of thinking and not open to Jesus’ teaching. Openness would require the willingness to change, and they had closed their eyes and ears “lest they see…and hear…and understand…and be converted and (healed).” According to the Catechism, “Through his parables (Jesus) invites people to the feast of the Kingdom, but he also asks for a radical choice: to gain the Kingdom, one must give everything” (CCC 546). May we never be thwarted from listening and embracng the teachings of Christ because of the cost.

2. The Back Door: When you go to someone’s back door, it is usually because you know them well and feel comfortable with them. The front door is a little more formal. Offering parables is a little bit like going to the back door. Rather than presenting a clear statement that may immediately elicit resistance (like a door being shut in your face), a parable invites the listener into the mystery of Christ’s Kingdom through very ordinary examples. Then, hopefully, as one works to understand the parable, one is moved by its deep truth. This is a lesson for us as we consider how we evangelize. We are called to remain open to those who are unwilling to consider the faith we share. We are asked to accompany them in their faith journey over time. We will be most effective if we can meet them where they are instead of focusing on what we want to tell them.

3. Blessed: Jesus told his disciples they were blessed—that many longed to see and hear what they were privileged to see and hear. They were given knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are likewise blessed. As Catholics, we have been given the deposit of faith in sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture, and we are called to share the truth joyfully. St. John Paul II said, “The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council…had as its intention and purpose to highlight the Church's apostolic and pastoral mission, and by making the truth of the Gospel shine forth, to lead all people to seek and receive Christ's love which surpasses all knowledge (cf. Ephesians 3:19)” (intro to Fidei Depositum, on the publication of the Catechism). He pointed out that the Council “was to guard and present better” the deposit of faith, “to make it more accessible to the Christian faithful and all people of good will. For this reason, the Council was not first of all to condemn the errors of the time, but above all to strive calmly to show the strength and beauty of the doctrine of the faith.”

Conversing with Christ: Oh my Jesus, you want all of me and are so patient yet persistent in calling me to that total surrender. While I am a work in progress, you still trust me to share in your mission of reaching the world with the Good News of your salvation and redemption. Lord, grant me the grace of evangelizing as you did. I ask that you give me a loving, patient heart and the desire to help others encounter you.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will have a conversation with someone about Jesus or the teaching of the Church, and in that conversation, I will strive to listen deeply and focus on the other person’s thoughts before speaking.

Reflection:

We all have a fundamental need to belong to a group. Experience of rejection can cause emotional pain and even affect our behavior.

- Disconnection leads to more pain, so that people are eager to change their behavior and remain in the group with which they feel affinity. Jesus experienced this with his own family, home town, religious leaders and, at the end, even with his disciples. However, he invested his energy more in the relationship with his Father than in human relationships.

The love for God was so real in his life that he could with serenity face all challenges. Rejection by those whom he loved affected Jesus but still he was able to offer his life as a gift to many who wanted to receive him. St. Ignatius of Loyola would often ask God, for the grace to live as Jesus lived, and to love as Jesus loved. This heroic love, which is meek and humble, even rejoices when insulted and humiliated. Human nature often resists vulnerability but grace flourishes in our vulnerability.

Lord Jesus, you called us to know you more intimately, to love you intensely and to follow You more closely. You embraced vulnerability in becoming a poor human being. Give us the courage to love others without creating barriers in relationships.