Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 14 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 14 Thường Niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy Chúa Giêsu đã chọn những người rất bình dân, có thể nói là những người quê mùa chất phát để rao truyền tin mừng cứu độ của Ngài cho những người khác. Trong số các tông đồ đó họ là những người đánh cá, họ là người thu thuế, và họ có thể là những người yêu nước. Chúa Giêsu đã không tìm gọi những người giàu có hay những người có học thức, thông minh để thực hiện sứ mệnh của Ngài. Nhưng, Ngài đã chọn những người đơn sơ thấp kém nhất trong xã hội nhưng có lòng trung thành và sẵn sàng tin tưởng vào Chúa. Điều này có nghĩa rằng trong số chúng ta, ai cũng sẽ được kêu gọi để tham gia vào công việc truyền giáo. Chúng ta không thể lấy vịn vào cái lý do vì thiếu khả năng, ít học, quá yếu kém hay quá nghèo để làm việc cho Chúa. Qua phép rửa, mỗi người chúng ta đã được nhận ánh nến sáng của Chúa Kitô, chúng ta được sức dầu như tư tế, và được kêu mời để đem lời Chúa đến cho người khác.

    Chúa Giêsu ban cho các môn đệ những sức mạnh và quyền hạn khi họ ra đi để rao giảng Tin Mừng của Chúa. Trong khi chịu phép Rửa, chúng ta cũng nhận được sức mạnh của Chúa Thánh Thần để ra đi làm chứng và rao giảng Tin Mừng của Chúa. Chúng ta có thể thực hiện việc này bằng những công việc hành vi đơn giản thường ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng ta qua những lời nói, nhưng việc làm, hay qua cách chúng ta cư xử với người khác. Chúng ta phải biết cố gắng tìm kiếm những cách thức mới để giới thiệu đức tin cho những người không biết Chúa Giêsu và những người không theo những đường lối của Ngài. Chúng ta hãy cầu xin Chúa Kitô, ban cho chúng ta những hồng ơn và sức mạnh cần thiết để thực hiện sứ mệnh của Chúa trao ban.

REFLECTION

Jesus chose very ordinary men to tell others the ways of his kingdom. Among the apostles were fishermen, a tax collector, and a patriotic zealot. Jesus did not look for the richest or the smartest to carry on his mission. He chose those who could exercise faithfulness and had a willingness to trust the Spirit. This means that none of us are excluded from participating in the work of evangelization. We cannot make the excuse that we are uneducated, too weak or too poor to work for the Lord. We are all called through our baptism.

    Baptism does not only mark our entry into the Church and the reception of the gift of salvation, but also begins our responsibility of having to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. We are all commissioned, like the apostles, to bearing witness to God's power. Jesus gives his apostles and disciples authority as they go out to preach. At baptism, we are similarly given the authority to proclaim the Good News through the lives we lead and the words that we speak. We search for new ways to introduce faith to those who do not know Jesus and to those who do not follow in his ways.

    Let us pray that Jesus gives us the grace and the power we need to carry out his mission.

Wednesday 14th Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Lord, place in my heart the fervent desire to be one of your faithful disciples. Allow me, by faith, to walk with you, learn from you, pray with you, and be your companion. Place in me the desire to do your work, wherever that work needs to be done: in my home, in my workplace, in my daily routines, and in encounters with your “lost sheep.” Bless and protect all your disciples with your love. Amen.

Encountering Christ

    1. Honor Roll: In the Gospel read yesterday, Jesus said he would need “workers” for the “harvest.” Today, we see the beginnings of the early Church, those first workers—the disciples listed by name. We should aspire to see our name included on that sacred roll-call! Does the world appear different today than the world surrounding those first disciples, two thousand years ago? Yes. Are the challenges to the faith very different? Not really. Then as now, there were pagans (who worshiped false gods) and Samaritans (who differed with the Jews on a number of religious issues). But Jesus advised his disciples, and advises us, to go first to those who are closest. For the disciples, that meant the “lost sheep of Israel.” For us, that means our families, our friends, and our neighbors.

    2. We Do Not Go Alone: Notice among the roster that there were brothers and men from several walks of life. Jesus united these disciples, in spite of their varied backgrounds, or perhaps because of their varied backgrounds, with a common purpose. That purpose was nothing more nor less than the proclamation of the Gospel. Like the disciples, we should seek out the companionship of other faithful souls to sustain us on our journey. If we have already found mission partners, we thank God for them. If we are still seeking, we take that request to the Lord in prayer. As he provided for his disciples, so he will provide for us.

    3. The Kingdom Is at Hand: Think of objects that, in our daily lives, we cannot be without. Cell phone? Keys? Water? Rarely would we leave our homes without these objects. Jesus tells his disciples that the Kingdom of Heaven–eternity with the Lord–is at hand. It is right here, right now. Eternity does not begin when we leave this life—it has already begun, and Jesus longs to be a part of every moment of our eternal lives. “Begin now to be what you will be hereafter” (St. Jerome).

    Conversing with Christ: Lord, quiet my noisy life so that I might hear your call to me. Am I ready to be your disciple? What work do you have for me to do? Who will accompany me? Are there saints who have paved the way for me? Increase in me a devotion to all your disciples, those heroes of the faith who can lead me to you.

    Resolution: Lord, by Your grace, I will strive to seek out the “lost sheep.” I will offer them your Kingdom, reminding them that you are always near.

REFLECTION 2019

"The kingdom of heaven is near." This was the message of Jesus. This was the message the Twelve and his other disciples were commissioned to preach. We, like the apostles, are tasked to speak God's words and to bring healing to those who need it. But then you may ask? "Why would God choose me?" You may think yourself unworthy of such an "honor" and feel that you have nothing to offer. But are you really different from any of the Twelve? His twelve apostles consisted of ordinary fishermen, a tax collector and even one who ultimately sold him for thirty pieces of silver.

    Jesus chose them not because they seemed qualified or extraordinary: there is great mystery in God's choices and plans. He chooses on what he knows; he knows what they were capable of doing under his guidance and example. We just have to take the leap and let God take us. We can, like the apostles and his early disciples, but perhaps most unlikely, cure diseases and cleanse lepers and cast out unclean spirits. However, "healing" does not come only in the form of medical miracles. Healing assumes many forms – life effecting a change of heart, comforting the discouraged ones, spreading God's message of hope and love to those in need. Healing may be done by anyone – a doctor, a teacher, a caregiver, a friend, a carpenter. Serving and bringing hope are not grand gestures: they come in doing little things every day to help others, for the greater glory of God.

REFLECTION

The Twelve whom Jesus named apostles were ordinary people with neither high education nor extraordinary talents and possessions. They were ordinary people with their faults and shortcomings: proud, stubborn and hard-headed. Two would betray Jesus: one three times before simple house-girls and one for thirty pieces of silver. However, they were basically loyal followers of Jesus. Strengthened by the coming of the Holy Spirit, they preached the Good News of Jesus to the world. Except for the apostle John, all of them gave witness to the Jesus they followed and the Gospel they preached with their lives.

    God makes use of the ordinary to accomplish truly extraordinary things. God has decided to make use of and to need people for the spread of his kingdom.

    By our baptism each one of us has been called and chosen by God to play a role in the spread of the Kingdom, in our own lives and in the lives of others around us. God has not given us gifts of healing and authority over unclean spirits but he encourages us, as best as we can, to reach out to the broken-hearted and the lost, to the weary and the downcast, and to preach and share the Good News of the Kingdom with all the world. We are called to transform the world and to re-create it for the Lord Jesus.