Suy
Niệm tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần Thứ Nhất Thường Niên. Mark 1:21-28
Bài Tin Mừng hôm nay giúp chúng ta nhận ra bàn chất con người thực sự
của Chúa Giêsu, và qua đó chúng ta có thể hiểu rõ được sứ mệnh của Ngài. Những
lời giảng dạy của Chúa Giêsu đã làm mọi người trong hội đường vô cùng kinh
ngạc Ngài dạy dỗ họ như một người có uy quyền của Chúa Thánh Thần, vì họ
chưa bao giờ có thể được nghe những lời của Thiên Chúa như thế này.
Bằng lời nói của Ngài, thậm chí ma
quỷ phải kính sợ, bởi thế, chúng ta không lạ gì khi đám đông đã có sự phản ứng như
thế. Họ rất đỗi ngạc nhiên vì những phép lạ của Ngài đã làm, nhưng họ không
nhận ra Ngài là ai. Họ đang bị hấp dẫn bởi lời nói của Ngài, nhưng họ không
biết làm sao mà Ngài có được những quyền năng như thế. Trên thực tế, Chúa Giêsu
đã có quyền lực và sức mạnh vì Ngài chính là Ngôi Lời của Thiên Chúa đã
xuống thế nhập thể làm người. Và vì thế khi Ngài phán là chính Thiên Chúa đã
phán. Khi Ngài truyền thì tất cả ma quỉ cũng phải vâng lời.https://www.facebook.com/
Tuy
nhiên, Chúa Giêsu cũng khiêm tốn khi Ngài đã bắt thần ô uế phải im lặng không
được tuyên rao Ngài là Đấng Thánh của Thiên Chúa. Ngài đến là để loan truyền và
đưa con người hướng về Thiên Chúa. Đối với Chúa Giêsu, Nước Thiên Chúa sẽ chỉ
được hiện thực nếu tất cả mọi người biết thống hối, ăn năn và biển đổi cuộc
sống và biết trở về với Chúa Kitô.
Nếu
chúng ta biến biến đổi đời sống cá nhân của chúng ta hôm nay để trở về với Thiên
Chúa, Chúa Kitô sẽ ban cho chúng ta quyền phép để đánh bại Satan. Như Chúa
Giêsu đã nói, "Ví bằng
Ta nhờ Thần khí Thiên Chúa mà trừ quỉ, thì quả là Nước Thiên Chúa đã đến trên
các ngươi.". (Mt 12: 28)
Lạy
Chúa, lời Chúa là sức mạnh và là cuộc sống của chúng con. Xin giúp chúng con
đừng bao giờ nghi ngờ tình yêu cứu rỗi và lòng thương xót của Chúa, Xin
vì sức mạnh của Lời của Chúa mang lại ơn chữa lành và giải thoát cho chúng con
và những người cần đến lòng thương xót Chúa.
My Reflection for Tuesday after 1 Sunday of
Ordinary Time
Today's gospel is for us
to recognize the true person of Jesus, and thereby understand His mission.
Jesus' teaching astounded the multitude in the synagogue. He taught with
authority. He spoke the word of God as no one had spoken it before. By His
words, He had authority even over demons. No wonder the crowd reacted with
amazement and wonder but not with recognition. They are amazed by His actions,
but they don't recognize who He is. They are intrigued by His words, but they
do not know from where the authority comes.
But Jesus was authority incarnate - the Word of God made flesh. When He
spoke, God spoke. When He commanded even the demons obeyed.
However, Jesus was also guarding against the dangerous
possibility that He would be recognized as a political Messiah. Jesus had to
silence the unclean spirit for proclaiming Him as the Holy One of God for fear
that people would seek Him as a political leader who would deliver them from
the oppressive foreign forces occupying Palestine. This mistaken view would
jeopardize His mission, which was to inaugurate the kingdom of God. For Jesus,
the Kingdom of God would only become a reality if sinners would repent and
convert themselves to Christ. Undergoing personal conversion to Christ would
allow them to defeat Satan. As Jesus would say, "But if it is by the
Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon
you." (Mt 12: 28).
"Lord, your word is power and life. May I never doubt you’re
saving love and mercy, and the power of your word to bring healing and
deliverance to those in need?"
Tuesday after 1 Sunday of Ordinary Time
In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out,
“What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I
know who you are–the Holy One of God!” Jesus rebuked him and said,
“Quiet! Come out of him!” Mark 1:23–25
There were numerous times when
Jesus directly confronted demons in the Scriptures. Each time He rebuked them
and exercised His authority over them. The passage above illustrates one such
case.
The fact that the devil shows
himself over and over in the Gospels tells us that the evil one is real and
needs to be dealt with appropriately. And the appropriate way to deal with the
evil one and his fellow demons is to rebuke them with the authority of Christ
Jesus Himself in a calm but definitive and authoritative way.
It’s very rare that the evil
one makes himself fully manifest to us in the way that he did in the passage
above to Jesus. The demon speaks directly through this man, which indicates
that the man was fully possessed. And though we do not see this form of
manifestation often, it doesn’t mean that the evil one is any less active
today. Instead, it shows that the authority of Christ is not being exercised by
the Christian faithful to the extent that is necessary to combat the evil one.
Instead, we often cower in the face of evil and fail to confidently and
charitably stand our ground with Christ.
Why did this demon manifest
himself in such a visible way? Because this demon was directly confronted with
the authority of Jesus. The devil usually prefers to remain hidden and
deceptive, presenting himself as an angel of light so that his evil ways are
not known clearly. Those whom he controls often do not even know how much they
are influenced by the evil one. But when the evil one is confronted with the
pure presence of Christ, with the Truth of the Gospel that sets us free, and
with Jesus’ authority, this confrontation often forces the evil one to react by
manifesting his evil.
Reflect, today, upon the fact
that the evil one is constantly at work all around us. Consider the people and
circumstances in your life where the pure and holy Truth of God is attacked and
rejected. It is in those situations, more than any other, that Jesus wants to
bestow upon you His divine authority to confront evil, rebuke it and take
authority over it. This is primarily done through prayer and deep trust in the
power of God. Don’t be afraid to allow God to use you to confront the activity
of the evil one in this world.
Lord, give me courage and
wisdom when I face the activity of the evil one in this world. Give me wisdom
to discern his hand at work and give me courage to confront and rebuke him with
Your love and authority. May Your authority be alive in my life, Lord Jesus,
and may I daily become a better instrument of the coming of Your Kingdom as I
confront the evil present in this world. Jesus, I trust in You.
Tuesday after 1 Sunday of Ordinary Time
Petition: Lord, may I understand that you are the truth. May I love
you as Truth-made-incarnate in my heart.
1. Truth and the Good
Interwoven: “For he taught
them as one having authority and not as the scribes.” In his encyclical The
Splendor of Truth, Pope Saint John Paul II reminded us of the necessary link
between freedom, truth and the good. He went so far as to say that a correct
understanding of this link is essential for the world's salvation. Jesus taught
with authority because he was both the Truth and the Good. Our freedom consists
in recognizing this and living accordingly. Do I sincerely seek the truth in my
life? Do I sincerely seek what is truly good, or am I conforming myself in some
way to the hedonistic and self-seeking standards of the world?
2. Multiplying Our Good: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have
you come to destroy us?” When our freedom refuses to recognize that Jesus is
the Truth and that our greatest good consists in loving and following him, we
feel threatened. We try to hold on to the good we imagine that we have apart
from him. He does not want to take away the good we have, but rather he wishes
to increase and multiply it. But to do so we must allow lesser goods we now
have to die so that greater goods might rise with strength. Unless the seed
falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a seed. But if it dies it rises
to new life (cf. John 12:24).
3. The Demands of Truth: “All were amazed and asked one
another, ‘What is this? A new teaching with authority.’” Today we live in a
relativistic world, where truth is whatever we want it to be. “Whatever makes
you comfortable” is the motto of the day. We are amazed when Jesus breaks the
mold of relativism, revealing the lie hidden within it and proclaims that he is
the Truth. When the Gospel makes demands on my life, do I shift into relativism
and believe that it makes no difference how or if I respond? If the Gospel
makes me comfortable, I will obey, but if not…. Truth can be demanding, but it
is a blessing that, in the person of Christ, the truth is also love, mercy,
goodness, and joy. Do I love the truth and strive to live in the light?
Conversation with
Christ: Lord, you know how
quickly I excuse myself from meeting your demands for my life. I do so even
while knowing that when I fulfill them, I always discover new strength, hidden
energy, and untapped resources of love within me. Help me to give myself to you
in love, to meet your demands, and to experience the power of grace unleashed
within me.
Resolution: Today, I will offer Christ something good but not
necessary. By doing this, I will show my love for him and grow in
self-detachment, so I can be more open to the good that he wishes to give
me.
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