Trong Tin Mừng hôm nay Chúa Giêsu kêu gọi chúng ta nên thánh.
Ngài đã mặc nhiên
đề cập đến các lề luật trong sách
Lêvi câu 19:02 "Các
ngươi phải thánh thiện, vì Ta, Ðức Chúa, Thiên Chúa của các ngươi, Ta là Ðấng
Thánh."
Khi đưa
ra về chủ đề về sự thánh thiện này, Chúa Giêsu đã nói theo
một cách gợi
nhớ những lời của tiên tri thời trước. Tôn giáo đòi hỏi một mức độ công bình cá nhân nhất
định, nhưng phải luôn luôn biết
nghĩ đến những người khác. Và cũng phải có những thái độ thích hợp nữa, nghĩa là chúng ta không trở nên giận dữ với người khác hay dùng những ngôn từ thô lỗ để làm nhục hay lăng mạ người khác. Vì cuối cùng chúng ta cũng sẽ phải
làm hòa với
những người này trong một tinh thần chung, trong những trường hợp công lý được đòi
hỏi phải hòa giải trước khi dâng của lễ hiến tế cho Thiên Chúa trên bàn thờ. Do đó, lời cầu nguyện trên những lễ vật hôm nay cũng phản ảnh bài
Tin Mừng, vì chúng ta cầu nguyện là xin cho những lễ
vật mà chúng ta dâng lên Thiên Chúa có thể mang lại cho chúng ta
được sức mạnh trong ơn cứu rỗi của Thiên Chúa.
Lạy Chúa Giêsu,
như Chúa đã dạy chúng con cách thức để vào
được Nước Thiên
Chúa, Xin Chúa giải thoát chúng con thoát khỏi con đường tội lỗi và dẫn đưa chúng con đến sự thánh thiện mà Thiên Chúa, Cha
chúng ta đã đòi hỏi nơi chúng con.
Reflection:
A man once asked Jesus what he
must do to inherit eternal life (Mt 19:16-22). On that occasion Jesus responded
with the consolingly simple
answer: “keep the commandments”. In today’s Gospel he goes much further and
calls us to holiness. He may be implicitly referring to the command in Lev 19:2
“Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy”. As he develops this theme of
holiness, Jesus speaks in a way reminiscent of the great prophets. Religion
demands a certain level of personal righteousness, but must always take other
people into account.
Then, too, proper attitudes such as
not becoming angry with someone and not using abusive language to another
person will eventually mean a general spirit of reconciliation with others,
even in cases where justice is demanded, reconciliation closely tied in with
the gifts we present at the altar of God. The prayer over the gifts today thus
responds to the Gospel, for we pray that the gifts we offer may bring us God’s
saving power.
Lord Jesus, as you teach us the ways
to the Kingdom of God, free us from sinful ways and lead us to that holiness
which God, Our Father, asks of us.
Friday
1st Week in Lent – 2023
Friday
of the First Week of Lent
“Settle with your opponent
quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over
to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be
thrown into prison. Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have
paid the last penny.” Matthew 5:26
Was our Lord here giving legal
advice regarding a criminal or civil case and how to avoid prosecution?
Certainly not. He was presenting us with an image of Himself as the just Judge.
And He was exhorting us to show mercy to anyone and everyone who could be seen
as our “opponent.”
Forgiveness of another is
essential. It can never be withheld. But forgiveness is actually not even
enough. The ultimate goal must be reconciliation, which goes much further. In
this Gospel above, Jesus exhorts us to “settle” with our opponents, therein
implying reconciliation. The RSV version of the Bible says it this way, “Make
friends quickly with your accuser…” Working to foster a “friendship” with one
who has accused you, especially if it is a false accusation, goes far beyond simply
forgiving them.
To reconcile with another and
to reestablish a true friendship means that you not only forgive but also do
all you can to ensure that you reestablish a relationship of love with that
person. It means that you both put your grievance behind you and start anew. Of
course, that takes both people to cooperate in love; but, for your part, it
means that you work hard to establish this reconciliation.
Think about someone who has
hurt you, and, as a result, your relationship with them has been damaged. Have
you prayerfully forgiven that person before God? Have you prayed for that
person and asked God to forgive them? If so, then you are now ready for the
next step of reaching out to them in love to mend your relationship. This takes
great humility, especially if the other person was the cause of the hurt and
especially if they have not spoken words of sorrow to you, asking for your
forgiveness. Don’t wait for them to do so. Look for ways to show that person
that you love them and want to heal the hurt. Don’t hold their sin before them
or hold on to a grudge. Seek only love and mercy.
Jesus concludes this
exhortation with strong words. Essentially, if you fail to do all you can to
reconcile and reestablish your relationship, you will be held accountable for
it. Though this may seem unfair at first, it is clearly not, because this is
the depth of mercy that our Lord offers us every day. We will never be
adequately sorry for our sin, but God forgives and reconciles with us anyway.
What a grace! But if we fail to offer this same mercy to others, we essentially
limit God’s ability to offer this mercy to us, and we will be required to pay
back “the last penny” of our own debt to God.
Reflect, today, upon the person
who comes to mind with whom you need to fully reconcile and rekindle a
relationship of love. Pray for this grace, commit yourself to it and look for
opportunities to do so. Do it without reserve and you will never regret your
decision.
My most merciful Lord, I thank
You for forgiving me and for loving me with such perfection and totality. Thank
You for reconciling with me despite my imperfect contrition. Give me a heart,
dear Lord, that always seeks to love the sinner in my life. Help me to offer
mercy to the fullest extent in imitation of Your divine mercy. Jesus, I trust
in You.
Friday
1st Week in Lent – 2023
Opening Prayer: My Lord, you reveal to us the fullness of what it means to
become truly human. I renew my faith that your guidance will lead me to this
fulfillment.
Encountering Christ:
1. “Old Law”: The Ten Commandments constitute the
foundation of the moral order God revealed to his people. They also mirror the
ethical guidelines that man can discover rationally by reflecting and examining
his conscience. These commandments give moral order, point in the direction of
moral goodness, and mark borders to protect us from great moral evils. To
follow the Ten Commandments means to resist our disordered tendencies towards
sin. To provide us with these parameters was among God’s first projects to
solidify his covenant with humanity.
2. “New Law”: At first glance, Jesus seems to
challenge the Old Law when he calls out: “But I say to you…” However, he did
not intend to take away “the smallest letter from the law.” In fact, Matthew
has explicitly reported this intention of Jesus in the two verses which precede
today’s pericope (see Matthew 5:18-19). If we go even further back, to the
beginning of chapter 5, we find the Beatitudes and understand that Jesus wanted
to go beyond the basic rules, beyond a law that prevents a man from sinning.
Jesus wanted to redeem, to renew, to re-create us. Indeed, the final project of
God’s covenant with us is to lead man to his true fullness. And that fullness
consists of more than following rules and restraining from falling into
temptation. It constitutes a new life.
3. Christ’s Law within Us: Christian ethics is
ultimately about–closing the gap between being good and being holy, making the
leap from merely controlling our tendency for doing evil to fostering and
nourishing our tendency to do good. This leap, this transformation into a truly
virtuous person, is not the result of an external law but the result of the Old
Law alone. The New Man carries a New Law inside him; a law which consists of
the silent whisper of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, who not only informs us,
but empowers us to love the good. Thus, Jesus did not only demand higher
standards by giving us a New Law, but he also empowered us to fulfill them.
This is our Christian faith: we live a new life in Christ. He lives in us. His
love can spread in our hearts, and thereby we come fully alive. Our true
potential is not activated by avoiding the big sins. We come fully alive and
whole when we live in Christ, and Christ lives in us. Then we will “love and do
as we will,” as St. Augustine puts it.
Conversing with Christ: My Lord Jesus Christ, while I renew my commitment to follow
the laws that revelation, my reason, and the Church present to me, I also want
to pay attention to your New Law inside me. I want to discover the workings of
your Spirit in my heart. Help me not to resist his inspirations and help me to
distinguish them from my own voice. Love through me, oh Lord.
Resolution:
Lord, today, by your grace, I will identify a moment today in which I can
practice the New Law by allowing you to direct my heart toward wanting what you
want.
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