Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ 5 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ 5 Thường Niên (Mark 6:53-56 )      
Tin Mừng hôm nay nhắc nhở chúng ta biết rằng là chúng ta có thể tìm thấy được sự chữa lành trong Chúa Kitô và được đảm bảo rằng "Tất cả những ai chạm vào Chúa thì sẽ được chữa khỏi bệnh tật."  Nhưng việc được chữa cho được lành bệnh sẽ không xảy ra nếu chúng ta không có đức tin. Và đức tin không phải chỉ là việc tin tưởng không mà thôi, nhưng chúng ta còn phải làm và sống theo Chúa Kitô. Nếu như chúng ta muốn thoát khỏi cái thế giới đau ốm tâm thần này, thì  chúng ta hãy nên yêu thương nhiều hơn và hãy nên biết tha thứ nhiều hơn để trở nên giống Chúa hơn. Nếu chúng ta muốn thoát khỏi  được cái thế giới đau bệnh này,  thì ít nhất chúng ta phải biết ý thức và làm thay đổi những môi trường sống của chúng ta, nơi mà mọi người biết thương nhau hơn.     Chúng ta hãy mang những bệnh tật, đau ốm của chúng ta tới với Chúa Kitô và cho phép Ngài hướng dẫn chúng ta biết tìm đến với sự thay đổi, thống hối và biết ăn năn.
 Reflection:
     The Gospel reminds us that we can find healing in Christ and assures us that "All who touched him were cured." But healing will not happen without faith. And faith is not just about believing, but also about following Christ. If we wish to rid this world of emotional pains, then we should be more loving and more forgiving. If we wish to rid this world of cancer and other diseases, businesses should never use toxic materials, and instead find ways to create products without harming the world.  If we wish never to suffer from another devastating flood like "Ondoy" then we should all work towards preserving the environment.   Let us bring our sickness to Christ and allow him to lead us to conversion.  
 
Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time 2023
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed. Mark 6:56
It would have been truly awe-inspiring to witness Jesus healing the sick. The people who witnessed this clearly had never seen anything like it before. For those who were sick, or whose loved ones were sick, each healing would have had a powerful effect upon them and upon their whole family.
Today, modern science, with its ability to treat so many illnesses, has lessened the fear and anxiety over getting sick. But in Jesus’ time, serious illness was of far greater concern. For that reason, the desire of so many people to bring their sick to Jesus so that they could be healed was very strong. This desire drove them to Jesus so that “they might touch only the tassel on his cloak” and be healed. And Jesus didn’t disappoint.
Though Jesus’ physical healings were unquestionably an act of charity given to those who were sick and to their families, they obviously weren’t the most important thing Jesus did. And it’s important for us to remind ourselves of that fact. Jesus’ healings were primarily for the purpose of preparing the people to listen to His Word and to ultimately receive the spiritual healing of the forgiveness of their sins.
In your own life, if you were seriously ill and were given the option to receive either a physical healing or to receive the spiritual healing of the forgiveness of your sins, which would you choose? Clearly, the spiritual healing of the forgiveness of your sins is of infinitely greater value. It will affect your soul for all eternity. The truth is that this far greater healing is available to us all, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In that Sacrament, we are invited to “touch the tassel on his cloak,” so to speak, and be spiritually healed. For that reason, we should have a much deeper desire to seek out Jesus in the confessional than the people of Jesus’ day had for physical healing. And yet, too often we ignore the priceless gift of God’s mercy and healing offered so freely to us.
Reflect, today, upon the desire in the hearts of the people in this Gospel story. Think, especially, about those who were seriously ill and about their burning desire to come to Jesus for healing. Compare that desire in their hearts to the desire, or lack of desire, in your heart to run to our Lord for the spiritual healings your soul so desperately needs. Seek to foster a greater desire for this healing, especially as it comes to you through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
My healing Lord, I thank You for the spiritual healing You continually offer me, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins on account of You suffering on the Cross. Fill my heart with a greater desire to come to You so as to receive the greatest gift I could ever receive: the forgiveness of my sins. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 5th Ordinary Time 2023
Introductory Prayer: I believe in your power of healing grace, in your capacity to heal both physically and spiritually. I come to you in spiritual illness and weakness, confident in your desire to heal and strengthen me. I humbly offer you my soul, wounded and aching from the spiritual cancer of self-love, pride and self-sufficiency. I abandon myself to your loving mercy. Thank you, Lord, for watching over me and loving me unconditionally.
Petition: Lord, heal my heart and soul, and help me to do what I must do to maintain my spiritual health.
1. “People recognized him, and started hurrying all through the countryside.” For the most part, the people in this Gospel were not “hurrying throughout the countryside” to invite others to come and seek forgiveness and spiritual healing from Jesus. They were in haste, yes, but in haste to bring the sick so that the Lord would heal them from their physically infirmities. How blind is the human heart that often fears physical illness more than spiritual infirmities and falling out of God’s grace! The gravest ills we can suffer are those that come from within us: “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, unchastity, theft, false witness, blasphemy. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:19-20).
2. “They laid down the sick in the open spaces, begging him to let them touch even the fringe of his cloak.” Holy men and women throughout the centuries have firmly believed that “touching” Christ through receiving the sacraments brings about spiritual healing and redemption. “My heart has been wounded by many sins,” St. Ambrose used to pray before he celebrated Mass, “my mind and tongue carelessly left unguarded. Lord of kindness and power, in my lowliness and need I am turning to you, the fountain of mercy; I am hurrying to you to be healed; I am taking refuge under your protection. I am longing to meet you, not as my Judge but as my Savior. Lord, I am not ashamed to show you my wounds. Only you know how many and how serious my sins are, and though they could make me fear for my salvation, I am putting my hope in your mercies, which are beyond count. Look on me with mercy, then, Lord Jesus Christ, eternal King, God and man, crucified for our sake. I am putting my trust in you, the fountain that will never stop flowing with merciful love: hear me and forgive my sins and weaknesses.”
3. “All those who touched him were cured.” All those who touched Jesus Christ with the touch of faith were cured: the Canaanite woman, the blind man, the ten lepers, the man with a withered hand, the paralytic, Jairus’ daughter, the woman with the hemorrhage, the boy with a demon, the Gerasene demoniac, the deaf man. All these people in the Gospel had something in common: it was their faith that allowed the Lord to heal them. The phrase used in the case of the woman with the hemorrhage is telling: “power had gone out from him” (Mark 5:30). Faith is one of the most powerful acts of the human person, since God himself chooses to be moved by it. How strong is my faith in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do I reach out and touch him in faith every day? Do I allow him to act in my life through faith? What am I waiting for?
Conversation with Christ: Lord, you are all powerful and the source of my salvation and spiritual healing. In this prayer I am reaching out to touch you in faith, even though I am unworthy and my faith is weak. Heal me, Lord. Give me the strength to resist the power of evil in my life and to adhere to your grace and goodness. Lord, I believe; increase my faith.
Resolution: I will offer up short acts of faith in the Lord throughout the day.
 
Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ 5 Thường Niên (Mark 6:53-56 )
Trong thời Chúa Giêsu, người ta tin rằng bệnh tật là do sự trừng phạt vì tội lỗi của mình đã phạm. Trong khi chúng ta biết rằng bệnh tật không phải là sự trừng phạt vì tội lỗi, nhưng bệnh tật có thể xảy ra do một số  hậu quả của tội lỗi. Những thí dụ cụ thể như chứng bệnh ung thư hôm nay càng ngày càng thấy phát hiện nhiều, nhất là các nước tân tiến và kỹ nghệ,  Mà nguyên chinh gây ra những bệnh này có thể là vì những nhà máy kỹ nghệ vô đạo đức mà sử dụng các thành phần hoá chất độc hại trong các sản phẩm của họ chỉ vì lợi nhuận?  hay là các chất thải từ kỹ nghệ đã gây độc hại cho môi trường mà chúng ta sinh sống.  Không phải là một số không ít đang phải đối phó với những vấn đề tâm lý vì một số loại bệnh  tâm thần đã được gây ra bởi những người thân yêu của chính họ?
            Tin Mừng hôm nay nhắc nhở chúng ta biết rằng là chúng ta có thể tìm thấy được sự chữa lành trong Chúa Kitô và được đảm bảo với chúng ta rằng "Tất cả những ai chạm vào Chúa thì sẽ được chữa khỏi bệnh tật."  Nhưng việc được chữa cho được lành bệnh sẽ không xảy ra nếu chúng ta không có đức tin. Và đức tin không phải chỉ là việc tin tưởng không mà thôi , nhưng chúng ta còn phải theo Chúa Kitô. Nếu như chúng ta muốn thoát khỏi cái thế giới đau ốm tâm thần này, thì  chúng ta hãy nên yêu thương nhiều hơn và hãy nên biết tha thứ nhiều hơn. Nếu chúng ta muốn thoát khỏi  được cái thế giới đau bệnh này ,  thì ít nhất các doanh nghiệp trong các nhà máy  kỹ nghệ  đừng nên sử dụng các vật liệu hay hoá chất có tính chất độc hại, và thay vào đó hãy  tìm cách để sản xuất ra các sản phẩm mà không có gì  làm hại cho thế giới. Nếu chúng ta muốn thế gìới này không còn bị những cơn lũ lụt tàn phá như những cơn bão trong năm vừa  qua, Thì chính phủ và người dân chúng ta phải biết bảo vệ các khu rừng và môi trường thiên nhiên.
            Chúng ta hãy  mang những bệnh tật, đau ốm  của chúng ta tới với Chúa Kitô và cho phép Ngài  hướng dẫn chúng ta biết tìm đến với sự thay đổi, thống hối và biết ăn năn.
 
Reflection:
There are many illnesses and diseases today that were not present before.  New viruses keep coming out and it is not uncommon to be diagnosed with some kind of viral infection that has not even been named by the medical world. We also hear of many kinds of psychological disorders. During Jesus' time, people believed that sickness was a punishment for one's sin. While we know that sickness is not punishment for sin, it may very well be a consequence of sin. For, is it not that we have cancer today because of the unscrupulous businesses that use toxic ingredients in their products just for profit? Is it not that many have to deal with emotional problems because of some kind of pain inflicted by their own loved ones?
The Gospel reminds us that we can find healing in Christ and assures us that "All who touched him were cured." But healing will not happen without faith. And faith is not just about believing, but also about following Christ. If we wish to rid this world of emotional pains, then we should be more loving and more forgiving. If we wish to rid this world of cancer and other diseases, businesses should never use toxic materials, and instead find ways to create products without harming the world.  If we wish never to suffer from another devastating flood like "Ondoy" then we should all work towards preserving the environment.  
Let us bring our sickness to Christ and allow him to lead us to conversion.