Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần 30 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần 30 Thường Niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta hãy tự hỏi: Đã có bao giờ chúng ta đã từng nghĩ tới và đặt ra câu hỏi là: chúng ta là hạng người như thế nào? Có bao giờ chúng ta đã từng tự tôn mình lên trên người khác? Hay có bao giờ chúng ta đã thực sự quan tâm đến tới những người khác một cách chân tình, nghĩa là sẽ làm những gì mà chúng ta có thể làm để giúp người khác bất cứ khi nào chúng ta có thể làm được để đem được hạnh phúc đến cho họ?

    Trong Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu nói rằng những ai muốn làm người đứng đầu, thì phải là người đứng sau, đứng cuối cùng của tất cả và là tôi tớ của tất cả mọi người. Có phải đó là ý của Chúa Giêsu muốn nói rằng đấy là cách để chúng ta đạt được tham vọng của chúng ta là phải được phục vụ? Không phải thế, thật ra, Chúa Giêsu không hề quan tâm đến việc chúng ta có đạt được tham vọng hay không! Nhưng Ngài muốn nói với chúng ta là phải làm như thế nào để được đứng đầu hay đến trước hết ngay trong trái Tim của Ngài, và ngay cả trong tâm hồn của người khác. Nếu chúng ta muốn là người đứng đầu trong trái Tim của Chúa Kitô, chúng ta phải là người tôi tớ của mọi người. Hơn nữa, nếu chúng ta có sự khiêm tốn để phục vụ người khác, chúng ta sẽ dễ dàng nhận ra được rằng: chúng ta cũng sẽ có một vị trí đặc biệt trong trái Tim của những người khác.

    Có lẽ chúng ta thường chỉ quan tâm đến những sự ước muốn và nhu cầu riêng của chúng ta hơn, Nhưng Chúa Giêsu muốn biến đổi tâm hồn chúng ta, để chúng ta cũng có thể trở thành người biết lo lắng, biết nghĩ đến người khác, và biết quan tâm, phục vụ người khác.

    Ngày hôm nay, chúng ta hãy xin Chúa Giêsu giúp chúng ta biết tập trung nhiều hơn vào những gì thực sự quan trọng, đó là sự quan tâm đối với những người khác, sự yêu thương những người khác hơn là sự tập trung vào những thứ hư vô, hay là chỉ biết làm việc và phục vụ riêng cho chính mình.

        

Reflection Saturday 30th Ordinary Time

Have we ever given any though on what kind of people we are? Do we promote ourselves? Or do we do show sincere concern for others, doing what we can, whenever we can, to help others in order to make them happy? In today's Gospel, Jesus said that those who want to be first must be the last of all and the servants of all. Is Jesus saying that the way to achieve our ambitions is to serve? Not at all. Jesus is not concerned with us achieving our ambitions. He is telling us how to be first in his heart, and even in the hearts of others. If we want to be first in Christ's heart, we must be a servant of all. Moreover, if we have the humility to serve others, we will realize that we also have a special place in other people's hearts.

    Perhaps we are often concerned only with our own wants and needs. But Jesus wants to transform us, so that we too can become caring people, concerned with serving others. Let us ask Jesus today to help us be more focused on what really matter — concern for others, loving others, rather than focusing on empty, self-serving actions.

Saturday 30 Ordinary time

Opening Prayer: Lord, my soul thirsts for you. I desire to be among those in procession to your Holy Kingdom, shouting with joy and thanksgiving. I ask for all the grace I need to make sure I am among them. I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you.

Encountering Christ:

1. Observing Jesus: “On a Sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully.” This Gospel passage does not tell us if Jesus was invited by the host. Hospitality was considered godly by the Jews, and so the tradition was for the host of a Sabbath meal, in addition to inviting guests, to leave the door open so available seats could be offered to the public. Was there some seat shuffling among these “leading Pharisees” as outsiders arrived? Jesus had every right to expect the highest place of honor, yet that held no importance for him. Instead, he encouraged them (and us) to humbly make way for others to receive praise, honor, or glory by taking the lowest seat at the table.

2. The Lowest Place: Jesus asks nothing of us that he does not accomplish first. The Son of God who sits at the right hand of the Father became man and then chose for himself the lowest place at this dinner table. In fact, Jesus, who is the source of honor, chose dishonor and endured humiliation throughout his life because he loves us. There is a wedding banquet in Heaven that we glimpse on earth and it is the Mass. When we are gathered in community at Mass, what is our attitude? Do we welcome newcomers to our pew? Do we smile at the harried mother with a toddler? Do we pray for our brothers and sisters gathered together in Christ? St. Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

3. The Exalted Place: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” In our culture, if you want to be noticed you brand yourself on social media. You count your likes and strive to become an influencer. This behavior is the antithesis of the humility Jesus recommends to us. Jesus is not saying we should not be noticed, but it is how we are allowing ourselves to be promoted that can lead us away from God. The Church is full of men and women who became very famous saints because they lived humbly. To dwell in the Kingdom of God, the exalted place of God, we must not succumb to self-promotion or seek worldly exaltation of any kind. We must say with Jesus, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34) and offer everything we do for God’s glory.

    Conversing with Christ: Lord, help me to be truly humble as I go about my daily duties. When I am honored and affirmed, I feel good, and I offer these moments to you. When I am humiliated and feeling frustrated, I offer those moments to you as well. I look forward to one day being exalted in Heaven with you, Lord. Make it so! Jesus, I trust in you.

    Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will resolve to “take the lowest place” the next time I have the opportunity, even if I go unnoticed myself.

Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time

The Embarrassment of Pride

“When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then you would proceed with embarrassment to take the lowest place.” Luke 14:8-9

In telling this parable to those dining with Him at the Pharisee’s house, Jesus strikes a chord in their hearts. It is clear that His audience was filled with those who sought the esteem of others and were very concerned about their social reputation. It would have been a frightening thought for them to take the place of honor at a banquet only to be embarrassed by the host when asked to move to a lower spot. This humiliation was clear to those who were caught up in the world of social prestige.

Jesus uses this embarrassing example as a way of highlighting their pride and the danger of living in such a prideful way. He goes on to say, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

We can never examine our consciences often enough concerning pride. Pride is referred to as the “Mother of all sins” for a reason. Pride leads to every other sin and, in many ways, is the source of all sin. Therefore, if we want to strive for perfection in life, we should seek true humility on a daily basis.

Humility is nothing other than seeing things as they are. A humble person sees him/herself in the truth of God. This can be hard to do because it requires that we see ourselves as weak and dependent upon God. We may be able to accomplish many worldly things through our own strength and hard work. But we cannot achieve happiness and goodness unless we open ourselves to the truth of our weaknesses and dependence upon God for all things.

Humility also helps to purify our hearts of something that is very hard to let go of. Pride causes us to deeply seek out the esteem of others and to be dependent upon that esteem for our happiness. That’s a dangerous road to go down because it leaves us constantly dependent upon the opinions of others. And far too often, the opinions of others are based on false and superficial criteria.

Reflect, today, upon how free you are from the misleading and false opinions of others. Sure, you need to regularly seek out advice from those you know and love. But you must allow yourself only to be dependent upon God and His Truth. When you do that, you will be well down the road of true humility.

Lord of Truth, please make me humble. Strip away all pride in my life so that I can turn to You and Your will alone. Help me to have concern only for the Truth that You establish and to use that as the only measure of my soul. Jesus, I trust in You.