Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên: (Mark 4:26-34 )
Qua bài tin mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta một bài học về Nước Trời, Nước Trời dược coi như là một hạt cải giống nhỏ, rất nhỏ, nhưng khi được ương trồng, và tự nó sẽ nẩy mầm và tự phát triển trong môi trường thiên nhiên.  
            Sức mạnh của Thiên Chúa sẽ làm cho mọi người chúng ta nhận biết đến Ngài và cảm nhận được tình yêu của Ngài, và nhận thức được  là  Lời Chúa là không có giới hạn. Ngài đã bảo đảm với chúng ta như thế. Chúng ta hãy cảm tạ Thiên Chúa về những điều này.
            Khi chúng ta có được sự tự tin tưởng và Thiên Chúa và biết thông phần với Chúa Giêsu trong các công trình của Ngài, chúng ta cần phải thực thi những gì mà Ngài muốn chúng ta phải làm, và phần còn lại khó hơn, Ngài sẽ nhận những việc ấy cho chúng ta. Như một hạt rau cải dù rất bé nhỏ, mắt người thường khó có thể nhận ra và phân biệt. Nhưng hạt giống này một khi đã được gieo vào đất, nẩy mần, lớn lên và phát triển như một cây to lớn, có tàn lớn để các loài chim có thể làm tổ và sinh sống trên đấy.
Nếu Nước Trời của Thiên Chúa giống như hạt cải nhỏ bé này, thì chúng ta phải biết đón nhận, tạo môi trường cho “hạt cải “Nước Trời được lớn lên và phát triển trong tâm hồn của chúng ta. Chúng ta chỉ có thể biết cám ơn, ca ngợi và chúc tụng Thiên Chúa với một lòng khiêm tốn. Vì tình yêu của Thiên Chúa thật là vĩnh cửu!
" Lạy Chúa Thánh Thần, xin hướng dẫn cho chúng con biết những phương cách mà Chúa đang thực hiện trong cuộc sống của chúng con và con đường tương lai mà Chúa đã lên kế hoạch cho chúng con. Giúp chúng con biết nhận ra và thừa nhận các phép lạ dù lớn hay bé mà Chúa đã thực hiện trong cuộc sống của chúng con. "
 
Reflection:
     Wikipedia describes the mustard seed as a small round seed of the mustard plant, which is usually about 1 or 2 mm in diameter. In other words, the mustard seed is really tiny! Christ intentionally chose one of the smallest seeds to illustrate how the Lord works.
     We don't need a big seed to produce a big tree. We carry our weaknesses, our defects, and yet, Christ in his great power and wisdom, supplies the soil, the nutrients, the water and other ingredients to help us grow into one of the largest plants of the garden, with branches that can   help others find shelter. It is the Lord at work. We cannot steal the glory of God, therefore, recognizing our weaknesses and inabilities helps us realize that we are nothing without the Lord.
     It is interesting that Jesus chose to teach in parables rather than in a direct explanation of what He wanted to teach the people. It was to test and see the intention of every man. In fact being learned does not guarantee faith; being intelligent does not guarantee wisdom. Many little ones, unlearned people accepted the preaching of the Good News more readily than the scholars. The first disciples were, in fact, fishermen. Revelation is seen and understood only with the Holy Spirit dwelling upon a vessel of humility. A person full of himself will never listen to the voice of God. Only the humble will listen with the heart rather than with the intellect, and therefore "understand" the heart of God which dwells in love. We are invited to allow our faith to grow like the mustard seed into full maturity with a discernment that guides our conscience every day.
 
Friday 3^rd week in Ordinary Time 2023
Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not 3r week in Ordinary Time
Friday 3^rd week in Ordinary Time 2023
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are in my boat. I want a stronger faith in you. I trust that you will lead me, sinful though I am, to your good harbor. I love you for always accompanying me in this life.
Petition: Lord, help me to grow in faith.
1. Crossing to the Other Side: We know that we will not remain on earth forever. There is another shore that is our home. Christ has come to remind us of this and show us how to get to that place. Do I take Christ into my boat and let him indicate what I must do in my life? Or do I hold myself back, not accepting the adventure of putting out into the deep with Christ? What is it that holds me back?
2. Teacher, We Are Perishing! Christ allows our boat to be tossed by difficulties that sometimes seem insurmountable. Having him in our boat does not guarantee that things will go smoothly. We need to discover that he is working during difficulties. We need to ask what he is teaching us. If we are drawing closer to him in the midst of trials, there can be a real grace working. Yet, we often let our confidence in him slip when things get rough. We have not yet learned that “all things work together for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28).
3. The Lord of the Wind and the Sea: We must remember that Christ has the ultimate victory. He allows difficulties so that we can grow in abandoning ourselves to him. When life hurts and makes no sense, we need to deepen our faith in the One who has conquered sin and death. He will write the final chapter in our life. He will bring us to the safe harbor. We can bolster our faith in him today by keeping our eyes on his promises and his presence. We can renew our confidence that he will not let our prayers go unanswered but will respond in his time with power and efficacy beyond what we expect. In continuing to sail this boat amid the storm, we are giving him total control over our destiny. We can be in no safer hands.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, I know that when you allow difficulties in my life, you are trying to strengthen my faith and make me see that I need to turn to you. Help me take advantage of these difficulties so I might completely abandon myself to you. I want to learn to trust you as the Lord of my life. Bring me to safe harbor.
Resolution: I will analyze one of the greater difficulties in my life and see where I need to apply greater trust in God.
 
Friday 3^rd week in Ordinary Time 2023
\Opening Prayer: 
Lord, let my prayer be fervent so that I see myself and the world more spiritually—the way you see me, the person you always hoped I would be. 
Encountering Christ:
1. God Makes the Plant Grow: Farmers work hard. They worked even harder in Jesus’s time, but for all the work they did, they couldn’t make a plant grow—even today’s farmers cannot make a plant grow. What is the farmer’s job then? To help the plant grow. A farmer removes obstacles to a plant’s growth, like weeds. The farmer also gives the plant what it needs to grow and be healthy, if necessary, like water and fertilizer. The farmer provides the best conditions for the plant to grow and the plant responds by growing. Jesus tells us that his kingdom is like this. We don’t make it grow. God does. Our job is to provide the best conditions for the kingdom to grow, first of all in our hearts and then in the hearts of those around us.
2. Small Beginnings: God can bring amazing results from small beginnings. When the right conditions are present, the growth of the kingdom is amazing. Jesus compares it to a mustard seed, which is about the size of a period at the end of a sentence. Yet the full-grown plant is large. As a boy, I often saw wild mustard as tall as five or six feet, and under perfect conditions they are supposed to grow as tall as eight feet. Jesus was emphasizing how small the beginning of the Church would be. So small as to be almost invisible, the Church would grow to provide shelter to Catholics for thousands of years. 
3. Lazy Farmers: How often we worry about the Church today. God’s kingdom sometimes seems to be disappearing from our society. Jesus is telling us in this parable that the opposite should be happening. With the right care, even a much smaller Church could transform society. Where are today’s farmers to sow the seeds, to remove obstacles to growth, to provide what the kingdom needs to grow? It’s only when Christians are idle that the kingdom shrinks. When we realize that each of us is responsible for spreading Christ’s  kingdom in society, we will see these parables come to life before our eyes. We will see the unstoppable growth of the Church.
Conversing with Christ: Lord, I’m sorry for not realizing, for sometimes forgetting, that I am here to help you in your mission of bringing all souls to heaven. Please help me to be ready to encourage, to give good example, to teach those you put in my life. 
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will study something about my faith so that I know it a little bit better, and can be more faithful in the way I live my life and help those who ask me about my faith.