Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần 22 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần 22 Thường Niên Luke 4:31-37 -

Trong bài Tin Mừng, Trong khi Ngài đang giảng dạy tại hội đường, những con quỷ trong người bị ám đã cố gắng phá nghịch để làm gián đoạn việc giảng dạy của Chúa. Do đó Đức Giêsu đã trục xuất những con quỷ ấy ra khỏi người đàn ộng đã bị quỷ nhập và ám hại. và Đức Giêsu đã chữa người bị quỉ ám này.

Đôi khi trong cuộc sống, chúng ta cũng phải biết đuổi những con quỷ dữ trong lòng đang cám dỗ chúng ta. Chúng ta phải làm sạch từng chút và từng chút một, rồi tẩy rửa, làm sạch tội lỗi của chúng ta trước khi chúng ta có thể đối đầu với những người đang bị ma quỷ đang chiếm hữu họ bởi những tư tưởng xấu, những hành động xấu xa và những ý đồ xấu.

Đôi khi chúng ta phải hết sức cố gắng sửa chữa những người này để giúp họ được trở nên tốt lành. Thật không phải là dễ dàng để trở thành một Kitô hữu bởi vì những cuộc chiến mà chúng ta đôi khi phải đương đầu đối nghịch với những người xấu xa. Chúng ta cần sự giúp đỡ và sức mạnh của Chúa Thánh Thần giúp sức để đánh đuổi ma quỷ, và các sự cám dỗ của chúng trong và xung quanh chúng ta.

Mỗi người chúng ta được mời gọi rao giảng Tin Mừng với một trái tim tinh khiết. Như Thánh Phaolô nói trong bài đọc thứ nhất hôm nay, những Tin Mừng không có ý nghĩa khi được loan truyền với những động cơ không trong sạch hoặc thông qua sự lừa dối. Làm thế nào để chúng ta tịnh hóa chính mình để xứng đáng với việc phổ biến và rao truyền Tin Mừng của Chúa đến với mọi ngưòi?

Reflection

In the first reading, St. Paul reminds us Christians to be watchful for the coming of the Lord. Since we are sons of light, we must stay awake and sober. A Christian knows that he is called to live always in the presence of God who sees all things at all times. God is his invisible master who expects him to be a light to others, to live a prayerful life and to do good works. St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church, was always aware that his every action must be directed to guiding or edifying others. With the weak and sinful, he was patient; with the strong, he was encouraging and supportive. With the barbarians threatening to invade Rome, he was brave and fearless.

In the gospel, Jesus cures a demoniac. While he was preaching in the synagogue, the demoniac tried to disrupt the service and so Jesus expelled the demon from the possessed man. Sometimes we must also expel demons – those in us and those in other people. We must, little by little, cleanse ourselves from our sins before we are able to confront people who are possessed by evil thoughts, evil actions and evil intentions. Sometimes we must correct these people in order to help them. It is not easy to be a Christian because our battle is sometimes with evil men. We need God's help and strength to expel demons, the evil around us.

Each of us is called to spread the Gospel with a pure heart. As St. Paul says in today's first reading, the good news is not meant to be transmitted with impure motives or through deception. How do we purify ourselves to be worthy of disseminating the tremendous message of the Gospel? Jesus tells the Pharisees – and us - in today's gospel reading to "cleanse first the inside."

Our inner hearts can be made clean with genuine repentance, and a good Confession. With humility and grace, we then can go forward to spread the Good News.v

There is great need for people today to hear the Gospel of Jesus, even within our own families. St. Monica, whose feast we celebrate today, set an example for us to follow. She never gave up praying for the conversion of her own family, including her husband and her son, Augustine. Both of them eventually became Christians, thanks to her years of intercession. Her son even became a great saint!

Tuesday 22nd Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are more powerful than any evil. Protect me from distractions while I meditate on your word.

Encountering Christ:

1. They Were Amazed: Jesus taught the people on the Sabbath, a day reserved for resting and hearing the rabbi’s preaching in the synagogue. Jesus, a woodworker from Nazareth, had bystanders enthralled and curious to hear what he would say next. Something stirred their hearts when he spoke. What made the general crowd listen with open hearts while the Pharisees and scribes wanted to silence him? Perhaps it was an awareness of their neediness that sensitized them to Jesus’ life-giving message. As friends of Jesus, we listen with open hearts to his preaching and recognize our need for greater dependence on him. This way, we are sensitized to listen to and develop a holy taste for God’s word.

2. I Know Who You Are: How often we brush aside Jesus’ Real Presence, unaware of the impact he wants to make upon us. The demons recognize him, but do we? A simple acknowledgment suffices for Jesus to enter into a relationship with us. From the enemy came a profession of faith, the very profession that Jesus longs for us to proclaim.

3. Be Quiet! Come Out of Him!: Jesus manifested his power as an act of charity directed at a possessed man. The Scriptures testify that Jesus’ power was never displayed for the sake of lording himself over others. Beginning with the miracle of Cana, he was moved by pure charity to remedy situations and to bring about righteousness. With sternness, he ordered the devil to be silent, but he is gentle with those who need mercy and open to receiving. We need never fear drawing close to Jesus.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I praise you for the wonders you work in my life and the lives of others. Grant that I may turn over those areas of my life that are in need of healing. Silence and banish those spirits that seek to obstruct my true surrender to you.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will be attentive to thoughts that obstruct my faith and ask you to silence and send them out.

Meditation:

In the early Church, some Christians frequently thought that the end of the world was not far off: they expected Jesus to return soon to judge the living and the dead. This was partly due to a misunderstanding of Jesus’ promises and partly due to a certain spirit of enthusiasm brought about by their new and liberating faith.

Just like Jesus before him, though in different circumstances, Paul had to address the question of the last day, the Day of the Lord, the end of the world and other ideas arising from this question. He had to correct the mistaken notions which some people had — in this case the Thessalonians.

Some people went through a similar phase at the millennium in the year 2000 and periodically there are people who announce the end of the world on some specific date. Yet the truth is that “the day of the Lord is coming like a thief in the night.” Because we are “children of the light and of the day”, people for whom Our Lord Jesus Christ died, we can live lives that are pleasing to God and be ready to face death, whenever it comes with tranquility and peace.

Lord, grant us the grace of courage that we may be stout hearted and wait for You and the consolation of Your grace.

REFLECTION 2017

In the Gospel reading, Jesus uses his power to free a man possessed by an evil spirit. The Church affirms for us the reality of Satan and of evil. In his public ministry Jesus in so many occasions freed people of afflictions caused by evil spirits. By being tempted by the devil at the beginning of his public ministry, he showed us his humanity and taught us how to oppose evil.

In the first reading, St. Paul exhorts the faithful to be vigilant and watchful. He reminds them that they are children of the light and not of darkness. He reminds them to be loving and supportive of one another.

In his letter to the Church at Ephesus, St. Paul wrote, "Be strong in the Lord with his energy and strength. Put on the armor of God to be able to resist the cunning of the devil. Our battle is not against human forces but against the rulers and authorities and their dark powers that govern this world. We are struggling against the spirits and supernatural forces of evil" (Eph 6: 10 - 12) And we are strong when God is with us.