Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 31 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 31 Thường Niên Luca 14:12-14

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta ý nghĩa thực sự của lòng quảng đại Kitô giáo: Hãy học cách để cống hiến chính mình cho người khác. "Khi nào bạn đãi khách ăn trưa hay ăn tối, thì đừng kêu mời bạn bè, anh em, hay bà con, hoặc láng giềng giàu có, kẻo họ cũng mời lại bạn, và như thế bạn được đáp lễ rồi. ”(Lc 14:12). Kitô hữu chúng ta hài hoà sống trong thế giới này cũng như những bao nhiêu người nào khác, nhưng mục đích căn bản của chúng ta là đối phó với những người chung quanh, láng giềng không thể là phần thưởng nơi con người hoặc hư vinh, trên tất cả mọi thứ khác, chúng ta phải tìm kiếm sự vinh quang của Thiên Chúa trước hết cũng như không hề nghĩ đến sự báo đáp trả ơn nào khác hơn là thiên đàng. " khi bạn đãi tiệc, hãy mời những người nghèo khó, tàn tật, què quặt, đui mù. Vì họ không có gì đáp lễ, và như thế, bạn mới thật có phúc: vì bạn sẽ được đáp lễ trong ngày các kẻ lành sống lại". Lc 42:13-14).

    Chúa mời gọi tất cả chúng ta cống hiến chính chúng ta cho mọi người và nhân loại một cách vô điều kiện , chỉ có tình yêu thương của chúng ta cho Thiên Chúa và anh em là động cơ thúc đẩy chúng ta trong Chúa. "Nếu anh em cho vay mà hy vọng đòi lại được, thì còn gì là ân với nghĩa? Cả người tội lỗi cũng cho kẻ tội lỗi vay mượn để được trả lại sòng phẳng"(Lc 06:34). Mọi thứ như thế bởi vì Chúa giúp chúng ta hiểu rằng, nếu chúng ta dâng hiến chính mình một cách không ích kỷ, không mong đón nhận lại một điều gì, Thiên Chúa sẽ đáp trả cho chúng ta một phần thưởng lớn hơn và sẽ xác nhận chúng ta là con cái yêu quý của Ngài. Đấy là lý do tại sao Chúa Giêsu nói với chúng ta: "Anh em hãy yêu kẻ thù, hãy làm ơn và cho vay mà chẳng hề hy vọng được đền trả. Như vậy, phần thưởng dành cho anh em sẽ lớn lao, và anh em sẽ là con Ðấng Tối Cao"(Lc 6:35). Chúng ta hãy cầu xin của Đức mẹ là Mẹ Thiên Chúa cho chúng ta có đũ lòng rộng lượng đủ để chúng ta có thể trốn tránh tất cả những sự cám dỗ của sự ích kỷ, tham lam như Con của Mẹ đã làm.

Comment:

When you give a feast, invite instead the poor (…). Fortunate are you then, because they can't repay you; you will be repaid at the Resurrection of the upright

    Today, the Lord teaches us the true meaning of Christian generosity: to learn how to devote ourselves to others. «When you give a lunch or a dinner, don't invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives and wealthy neighbors. For surely they will also invite you in return and you will be repaid» (Lk 14:12).

    Christians move about in this world as any other person; but the fundamental purpose to deal with our neighbor cannot be either humans rewards or the vainglory; over everything else, we have to seek the Glory of God pretending no other recompense than Heaven. «When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they can't repay you; you will be repaid at the Resurrection of the upright» (Lk 42:13-14).

    The Lord invites all of us to give ourselves unconditionally to all men, motivated only by our love to God and to our brothers in the Lord. «And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again» (Lk 6:34).

    Things are like that because the Lord helps us to understand that, if we give ourselves unselfishly, without expecting anything in return, God will repay us with a greater reward and will confirm us as his favorite children. This is why Jesus tells us: «But love you your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Highest» (Lk 6:35).

    Let us beg from the Mother of God enough generosity so that we can elude any temptation of selfishness, as his Son did. «Selfish! You...always looking out for yourself. You seem unable to feel the brotherhood of Christ. In others you don't see brothers; you see stepping-stones. (...)» (St. Josemaria Escriva).

Monday 31st Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Come, Lord Jesus, come! I invite you into my life. I ask you to draw me into yours. Thank you for coming to save me! Jesus, I love you.

Encountering Christ:

1. Encounter: Encounters with God are the greatest moments in a person’s life. We rejoice over the unexpected spark of recognition in which our soul meets its Creator and realizes it is seen, known, and loved. If nourished, this spark becomes a flaming fire of love which lights, warms, and purifies the soul. In this Gospel passage, Jesus was teaching the Pharisee by speaking many words that encourage this encounter with the living God– Sabbath, dine, home, host, invite, hold, banquet–words that call to mind the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

2. Invite: From the moment that Abraham unknowingly extended hospitality to God, who appeared to him as “three men” at the entrance of his tent (Genesis 1-5), hospitality has been important to the culture of the people of God. In addition to inviting guests to a Sabbath meal, a wedding banquet, or any lunch or dinner, a number of places were also set for strangers who may appear as the Lord did to Abraham. By saying, “When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment,” Jesus was reminding the Pharisee that an important part of their Jewish heritage was the friendly welcome of strangers. This is also true for Christians today. “Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for he is going to say: I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew. 25:35).

3. Blessed: “Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.” We know from Jesus that “the poor will always be with us” (Matthew 26:11), and our obligation as Catholics is to serve them. However, this command of Jesus’ may not necessarily require volunteering at a soup kitchen (although that’s very admirable). As Mother Teresa said, “There’s two kinds of poverty. We have the poverty of material; for example, in some places like in India, Ethiopia, and other places, where the people are hungry for a loaf of bread—real hunger. But there is a much deeper, much greater hunger; and that is the hunger for love, and that terrible loneliness and being unwanted, unloved—being abandoned by everybody.” To serve these individuals requires prayerful discernment and an open and willing heart. We are to extend ourselves in hospitality not for earthly reward but for treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:20). Jesus tells us, “For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Conversing with Christ: Lord, you did not come to condemn me. You came to give me life in abundance, and I am to share your life with others, especially with the poor. Help me to heed your call and direct my energies toward the apostolic work you have laid out for me so that I may fulfill your will and bring glory to your name.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will invite a person you place in my path to an event or to a work, school, or social function and accompany him or her during it.

Monday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time -  Mercy

“…when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Luke 14:13-14

    Too often in life we fall into the trap of working for immediate rewards. If we do well, we want to be noticed, thanked and repaid. But this exhortation from Jesus reveals that our lives of service should be lived in such a way that we expect no repayment here and now. Rather, we should anticipate our reward in Heaven.

    This mission from our Lord can be hard to actually live. It requires great selflessness and concern about the other without expecting anything in return. But when we understand this spiritual principle, we will realize that “payment” is not only awaiting us in Heaven, it is also received through our act of selflessness here and now.

    The “payment” we receive here and now for acts of selfless service to others is holiness of life. We achieve holiness of life when we seek to bestow mercy upon others. Mercy is an act of love given to one in need without any selfish motivation. It’s not something done on the condition that you receive something back. Mercy is offered as love of another for the good of the other and for no other reason. But the good news is that true mercy has an effect upon the one who offers it in a profound way. By showing selfless mercy to another, we imitate our merciful God and become more like Him. This is a greater reward than we could ever receive from another.

    Reflect, today, upon how willing you are to be merciful to others in need. Are you willing to give without expectation of repayment from them? If so, you will find far greater blessing in this selfless act than in anything else for which you obtain worldly recognition.

    Most merciful Lord, give me a heart that is full of mercy and compassion for all those in need. May I daily seek to serve them without any expectation of reward. May these acts of mercy be reward enough and become a source and foundation of my holiness of life. Jesus I trust in You.