Suy Niệm Thứ Hai tuần thứ Ba Mùa Vọng

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần thứ Hai mùa Vọng.

Nhiều người trong chúng ta đã thấy hình ảnh của những cảnh tàn phá do chiến tranh, động đất, hoặc lũ lụt. Điều ngạc nhiên là thường sau một vài năm mọi thứ đều được xây dựng mới và coi như không có gì đã từng xảy ra. Trong bài đọc thứ nhất, Tiên tri Isaiah đã dùng những hình ảnh của sự bừng nở và những thành quả trong sa mạc để chỉ cho chúng ta thấy Thiên Chúa đã ban sự sống mới cho những cuộc sống đã bị tan vỡ như thế nào.

Ngay cả sau khi thất bại, hay gặp phải những chuyện không may, hay những thứ khó khăn, chúng ta nên nhớ rằng Thiên Chúa luôn phục hồi niềm hy vọng và cho chúng ta một tương lai tươi mới. Thiên Chúa muốn mọi người chúng ta được hạnh phúc và thịnh vượng; nhưng khi những sự việc đó không xảy ra như yhế là vì con người chúng ta thường hay có  những sự chọn lựa sai lầm hoặc đã trở thành nạn nhân của những người khác.           

Trong sự tuyệt vọng của những người bạn bè thân thiện nhất của người bất toại hôm nay đã làm cho họ không còn cách nào hơn là đưa người bất loại lên mái nhà và thòng anh ta xuống trước mặt Chúa Giêsu. Chúa đã thương xót và tha thứ tất cả mọi tội lỗi cho anh ta và đã cho anh ta được được bình phục và được trở nên nguyên vẹn như mọi người.  Điều này không có nghĩa là Thiên Chúa ông đã trừng phạt ông ta vì những tội ông ta đã phạm mà Chúa để ông ta đã phải bị bại liệt, những thật ra ông ta chính là tù nhân của một cuộc sống rối loạn và hư hỏng. Những người biệt phái và luật sĩ đã cho rằng Chúa Giêsu đã phạm tội phạm thượng vì Chúa đã tha tội cho người bại liệt, vì chỉ có Thiên Chúa mới có thể làm được điều đó, nhưng Chúa Giêsu đã nhấn mạnh cho họ biết rằng việc tha thứ tội lỗi và chữa lành tất cả đều là một phần của lòng từ bi và lòng thương xót của Thiên Chúa. Việc dung chữ không quan trọng mà việc tỏ lòng từ bi, nhân hậu mới là đìều thiết yếu. Trong Chúa, chỉ có ánh sáng, sự sống và tình yêu.  Tất cả những điều khác được bắt nguồn từ trí tưởng tượng của con người.  Lạy Chúa, Xin Chúa chữa lành cho chúng con và ban xuống cho chúng con được tràn đầy hy vọng.

 

Monday: "Your God will come and save you'"

Many of us have seen pictures of scenes of devastation from war, earthquake, or flood. It is surprising that often after a few years everything looks new and as if nothing had ever happened. The reading from Isaiah uses images of a blossming and fruitful desert to show us how God gives new life to shattered lives. Even after failures, tragedies, and difficulties of all kinds we should remember that God restores hope and gives us a future. God desires that people be happy and flourish; when that does not happen, it is usually because people have made bad choices or become the victims of others.

So desperate were the friends of the paralytic that they lowered him through the roof to Jesus. The Lord forgave his sins and restored him to health and wholeness. This does not mean that he was being punished for his sins, only that he was a prisoner of a disordered and broken life.

The authorities were outraged that he forgave sins — only God can do that — but Jesus insisted that forgiving sins and healing were all part of the compassion and mercy of God. It doesn’t matter which words are used — compassion is the essential part. In God there is only light, life, and love. — anything else springs from human imagination. Lord, heal me and fill me with hope.

 

Monday of the Second Week of Advent 2022

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the author of all things, and you have the power to forgive sins. Though my faith is still weak, I do believe in you. And I also trust in your goodness and mercy. I am praying before you, longing once more to love you with all my mind, heart, soul, and strength.

 Petition: Lord, help me to seek you in my life above all else.

 1. The Pharisees’ Faith: The Pharisees sat in front of Christ, watching him cure the sick. They had seen many other miracles earlier, but despite what they saw, they could not bring themselves to believe in Christ. Miracle after miracle couldn’t change their mind. Jesus decides to give them a decisive miracle so that they will believe. He decides to cure the paralytic to show his power to forgive sins. Since disease for the Pharisees was a sign of sin, they should have been ready to accept Jesus’ message of healing and forgiveness. But they were too wrapped up in seeking their own plans and protecting their own honor to discern God’s loving mercy behind what they witnessed. How often do we want God to give us a sign so we can follow his plan? And how often are we not open to what he tells us, simply and directly, because we’re too focused on achieving our own plans?

 2. The Paralytic’s Faith: The paralytic needed no signs. He believed Jesus could help him. His faith was so strong he would not let the difficulties overcome him. He couldn’t walk so he found someone to carry him. He couldn’t get to Christ when he arrived, so his men brought him in through the roof. He was determined to see Christ because he knew what Christ could do for him. His faith was so strong it moved him to action. He had a living faith, which goes far beyond mere ideas. His faith moved him to find Our Lord no matter the difficulties. What have I done to seek Christ, to meet him face to face? What have I been prepared to do in order to receive his grace? Do I give up my prayer or my apostolate at the first difficulty?

 3. For God’s Glory: Jesus didn’t perform this miracle for himself or his own glory. He sought only God’s glory. We see how everyone glorifies God after the miracle. It’s almost as if Christ is forgotten. Christ sought only to do what would glorify the Father. How often do we seek our own glory when we work on the apostolate or perform an act of charity? How often do we hope someone will remember us and say, “Thank you,” although we are here to build Christ’s Kingdom for God’s glory alone? We need to constantly renew our purity of intention.

 Conversation with Christ: Lord, how great was the faith of the paralytic! He was humble enough to find you and strong enough in his faith that nothing could keep him from you. Grant me the gift of a humble heart and a strong faith so I can be constant and dedicated in seeking to encounter you in my life and in fulfilling your will for your glory and the good of others alone.

 Resolution: Today, I will look for solutions to the problems that come my way and renew my intention to perform my duties for God’s glory throughout the day.

 

Monday of the Second Week of Advent- 2022 Loving the Proud and Arrogant

And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. Luke 5:18–19

It’s interesting to note that, as the paralyzed man’s faith-filled friends lowered him down from the roof in front of Jesus, Jesus was surrounded by Pharisees and teachers of the law “from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem” (Luke 5:17). The religious leaders came in droves.  They were among the most educated of the Jews and happened to be among the ones who had gathered to see Jesus speak that day. And it was partly on account of large numbers of them gathering around Jesus that the friends of the paralyzed man could not reach Jesus without this radical move of opening the roof.

So what does Jesus do when He sees the paralytic lowered before Him from the roof? He told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. Sadly, those words were immediately met with severe interior criticism from these religious leaders. They said among themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (Luke 5:21).

But Jesus knew their thoughts and decided to do one more act for the good of these religious leaders. The first act of Jesus, to forgive the paralytic’s sins, was for the good of the paralytic. But the paralytic’s physical healing, interestingly, appears to be primarily for these pompous and self-righteous Pharisees and teachers of the law. Jesus heals the man so that they will “know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Luke 5:24). As soon as Jesus performs this miracle, the Gospel tells us that everyone was “struck with awe” and glorified God. Apparently, this included the judgmental religious leaders.

So what does this teach us? It shows how deeply Jesus loved these religious leaders despite their exceptional pride and judgmentalism. He wanted to win them over. He wanted them to convert, humble themselves and turn to Him. It’s somewhat easy to show love and compassion to one who is paralyzed, rejected, and humiliated already. But it takes an incredible amount of love to also care deeply about the proud and arrogant.

Reflect, today, upon the love Jesus had for these religious leaders. Though they came to find fault with Him, falsely judge Him and continually tried to trap Him, Jesus never ceased in His attempts to win them over. As you think about this mercy of our Lord, consider also the person in your life who is most difficult to love, and recommit to loving them with your whole heart in imitation of our divine Lord.

My most merciful Lord, give me a heart of forgiveness and mercy for others. Help me, especially, to have a deep concern for those whom I find most difficult to love. In imitation of Your divine mercy, strengthen me to act with a radical love for all so that they will come to know You more deeply. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Reflection Monday 2nd Advent 2021

Opening Prayer: Dear Jesus, I draw close to you again for this time of prayer. Let me receive your word in my life today. Prepare my heart for your coming. Jesus, you are so good. Here you are, waiting for me to draw close to you. You are ready to receive me and listen to the deepest longings of my heart, perhaps even before I recognize my need to voice them. Let me enter this time of prayer and sit beside you, listen to you, and receive the word that you wish to speak to me. Don’t let the challenges and disappointments keep me back. I wish to give you my whole life, Jesus. 

Encountering Christ: 

1.      Come In and Sit Down: Entering this passage, we take our place in the scene. What resonates most in our hearts as we encounter God’s word here? Perhaps we take a seat beside the teachers of the law, drawing nearer to get to know a bit more about this Jesus and his message. Or maybe we sit down–hidden, anonymous–one of the crowd about to witness a great miracle. Or perhaps we are carrying a loved one on that mat, in place of the paralytic. Or are you and I also paralytics, in need of the Lord’s healing? Placing ourselves in this scene, we humbly seek Our Lord’s unique blessings.

2.      Redirected Plans: The paralytic’s friends could not find a way in, but they didn’t give up at the first or the second “no.” They continued looking for a way to bring their friend to Jesus. We can sometimes get frustrated when our best efforts to reach out to Jesus seem to fail. What, or who, are we trying to bring to Jesus this Advent? How might Jesus be inviting us to press on—to find a creative, even if different or unexpected way, to break through the crowd, so as to bring souls to him?

3.      Faith That Jesus Sees to the Heart: Perhaps it surprises us, as it did the teachers of the law, that Jesus didn’t ask the paralytic or the Pharisees what they wanted. He simply said to the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven.” He saw right into the heart of this man and knew what he most needed. So too, he knew the hearts of the Pharisees. Perhaps they sincerely wondered, “Only God can do this. And yet, he has done this. What must that mean?” And Jesus answered, again, not with his voice, but with an unvoiced question, “Are you wondering if I have this authority? Let me show you: I will make the paralytic walk again and I will cleanse his sins.” What question might Jesus find in our own hearts as this Advent journey continues? 

Conversing with Christ: You desire this season of Advent for my soul much more than I do. Make me long for your coming more and more. I need you, Jesus, just as this paralytic and his friends–and even these Pharisees–also needed you. I trust in you, Good Jesus, and I love you. Move my heart to respond to you in greater love, one step closer, on this Advent journey to the manger side. 

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray throughout the day, “Jesus, I surrender to you. Take care of everything,” as an expression of my desire to let you do what and when you wish. 

 

Reflection

Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, you wish to remind me that I am more precious to you than I can even fathom—that every person is more precious to you than we can imagine. Open my heart to this great truth and let it touch and change me; let it mold me to be more like you, to look upon this world with your eyes, and to strive to let you make yourself present in the world through me. Let me be found by you anew today; then send me out, too, to bring others closer to you. 

Encountering Christ: 

God’s Love Is beyond Statistics: Were this a math equation, human logic would consider the loss of one out of ninety-nine to be an exceedingly high percentage rate. We might take for granted that something (someone) would be lost along the way. The shepherd’s reaction reveals to us the heart of God. Let’s just settle into this paradox: Not only does he leave the ninety-nine (so great is this one sheep worth to him), but he wanders up through the hills, down the valleys, and back up and around again, searching for that sheep. What does this truth about who God is say to our own hearts today?

Precious One: This parable shows us that, for God, love is not about math equations or percentages. Each one of us sheep is all to him, and “all” are not a great collective, but a communion of sons and daughters in which each one is precious to him and each one is known. What can it mean, then, that he rejoices more over the one than the ninety-nine? Perhaps it means that each encounter with Jesus, each glance of recognition and acceptance of his merciful love, is something new; it is a new creation, a new moment of grace that exists now that did not exist before. Such is the creative power of God—a cause for great rejoicing in our hearts. 

            Not One Lost: It must be extremely important to Christ to express so directly and clearly the will of God in this matter: that not one of these little ones be lost. Let us take great hope in this desire of God’s heart and be renewed in strength and courage as we live our Christian vocation in the world. God desires that not one of these little ones be lost. Who are the little ones around us? How might God be inviting us to be his hands and his feet to go out in search of them, that, by the grace of God, not one may be lost? Or does he, in this moment of prayer, wish to remind us that we are his little ones? 

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd. You have laid down your life for me, and time and time again you have gone out in search of me to lead me back to your heart. Thank you for your goodness, Jesus, for never tiring of forgiving me and of leading my wandering heart to you. In these Advent days, Jesus, prepare my heart to welcome you, the Infant King, and give me courage and perseverance to bring many others to know you, too. 

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I want to recognize with gratitude the joy you feel when I encounter your mercy. May I receive the sacrament of Confession before Christmas Day.