Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần thứ 5 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần thứ 5 Thường Niên (Mark 7:24-30)
Thiên Chúa đang hành động trong tâm hồn của tất cả mỗi người chúng ta, không phải chỉ ở nơi những người theo đạo Thiên chúa.  Qua đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy Thánh Marcô đã diễn tả và chứng minh cho chúng ta thấy: ý nghĩa của Đức Tin là gì?.
            Một người phụ nữ ngoại đạo rất kiên trì, kỳ nài xin Chúa Giêsu giúp cứu sống con gái của bà và Chúa đã đáp ứng sự mong muốn và cầu xin của bà. Một điều rất kinh ngạc là bà là một người ngoại giáo (những người mà người Do Thái thường khinh chê). Trong thực tại Chúa Giêsu đã phải ngưỡng mộ lòng tin của bà, Với một lòng tin và chân thành bà đã hạ mình (khi bị coi như là một con chó) cầu khẩn để sự chữa lành cho người con gái của bà. Lòng tin tưởng của bà đã làm Chúa Giêsu phải siêu lòng. Đối với một người dân ngoại như bà, một người có niềm tin vượt xa hơn cả những người Do Thái, dân riêng của Chúa.
            Đức tin không có liên quan đến cái đầu của hơn là liên quan đến với trái tim! đức tin của người phụ nữ đang ở trong Trái tim của bà. Với đức tin mãnh liệt nơi bà! bà ta sẽ không dễ dàng nản lòng và bỏ cuộc. Trong lúc đó, Chúa Giêsu đã nhận ra được đức tin của bà khi Ngài giả vờ từ chối bà! Lòng Tin cứng rắn thì bao gồm cả sự đầu hàng cần thiết, kể ngay cả nhân phẩm cá nhân của chúng ta. Chúa làm việc và hành động với những người biết khiêm tốn, vâng phục và biết sống theo cách của Ngài. Nếu chúng ta không sống theo với Lời Chúa, thì phước lành và ơn sũng của Ngài cũng có thể rời bỏ chúng ta để vào trong những thắc mắc, ghi vấn bí ẩn của chúng ta, Ngài không ban cho chúng ta những câu trả lời mà chúng ta muốn! Thiên Chúa hiện diện trong tất cả  mọi trường hợp và môi trường mà chúng ta đang sống! Chúng ta chỉ cần buông thả,  vì có Chúa sẽ luôn quan phòng cho chúng ta..!
            "Lạy Chúa Giêsu, tình yêu và lòng thương xót của Chúa được biết là không có giới hạn. Chúng con có thể luôn luôn tin tưởng vào Chúa và không bao giờ nghi ngờ về sự yêu thương chăm sóc và lòng thương xót của Chúa, Xin ban thêm cho đức tin của chúng con được vũng mạnh trong sự cứu rỗi của Chúa và xin giải thoát chúng con khỏi mọi sự dữ và nguy hiểm trong cuộc sống hôm nay và trong thê giới này."
 
REFLECTION
God is at work in the hearts of all us, not just those who are Christian. Look at today’s Gospel passage. True to his intention, Saint Mark was demonstrating what it means to have faith.
            A very persistent woman who wants her daughter to be healed confronts Jesus. She is so persistent that Jesus gives in to her and fulfills her desire. The most amazing thing is that she is a pagan.  Jesus is in fact in admiration of her faith. She literally wrests the healing and deliverance of her daughter! Her faith in Jesus, changes his orientation, towards pagan people like her, whose faith far surpasses that of the ‘God chosen’ people.
            Faith has less to do with our head than with the heart! The woman’s heart was in her faith in Jesus! She was not going to give up easily as Jesus realized from her response to his re-buff! Faith includes a necessary surrendering of our dignity. The Lord works with people who are humble and obedient to him and his ways. If we fail to live according to God's word, his blessings may well pass from us to others, just as Paul explains his proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles because the Jews would not listen to him. 
            God enters into our questions, he does not provide the answers! For us as for the woman “reality” is the best teacher. God is in the circumstances we are in! We need only to let go!
            "Lord Jesus, your love and mercy knows no bounds. May I trust you always and never doubt your loving care and mercy. Increase my faith in your saving help and deliver me from all evil and harm."
 
Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. Mark 7:25–26
A parent’s love is powerful. And the woman in this story clearly loves her daughter. It is that love that drives this mother to seek out Jesus in the hope that He will free her daughter from the demon who possessed her. Interestingly, this woman was not of the Jewish faith. She was a Gentile, a foreigner, but her faith was very real and very deep.
When Jesus first encountered this woman, she begged Him to free her daughter from the demon. Jesus’ response was at first surprising. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” In other words, Jesus was saying that His mission was first to the people of Israel, the chosen people of the Jewish faith. They were the “children” of whom Jesus was speaking, and the Gentiles, such as this woman, were the ones referred to as “the dogs.” Jesus spoke this way to this woman not out of rudeness but because He could see her deep faith, and He wanted to give her an opportunity to manifest that faith for all to see. And so she did.
The woman responded to Jesus, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Her words were not only exceptionally humble but were also based on deep faith and a deep love for her daughter. As a result, Jesus responds with generosity and immediately frees her daughter from the demon.
In our own lives, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we deserve the mercy of God. We can think that we have a right to God’s grace. And even though Jesus deeply desires to pour forth His grace and mercy in superabundance on our lives, it is essential that we fully understand our unworthiness before Him. The disposition of this woman’s heart sets for us a perfect example of how we must come to our Lord.
Reflect, today, upon the beautiful example of this woman of deep faith. Prayerfully read her words over and over. Try to understand her humility, her hope, and her love for her daughter. As you do, pray that you will be able to imitate her goodness so as to share in the blessings she and her daughter received.
My merciful Lord, I trust in Your perfect love for me and for all peoples. I pray especially for those who carry heavy burdens and for those whose lives are deeply intertwined with evil. Please set them free, dear Lord, and welcome them into Your family so that they become true children of Your Father. May I have the humility and faith I need to help bring forth this abundance of grace for others. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Thursday 5^th Ordinary Time 2023
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come before you today to learn the lessons of faith that you want to teach me. I want to learn to be patient when you test my faith. I know you want only to make it grow and bear more fruit in my life. In this prayer I desire to trust and love you as you deserve to be loved by me.
Petition: Lord, make my faith vibrant and persevering.
1. Seek Ye Higher Gifts: Our Lord is close to us in our sufferings. In this Gospel, a daughter suffered from a demonic possession, and her mother suffered with her. What most strikes us about this passage, however, is that Our Lord initially adds to the mother’s suffering by rebuking her. It seems so out of character, so foreign to the one who is “meek and humble of heart,” so unlike the gentle Jesus who is ever-sensitive to the needs of others. Yet Our Lord was about to confer upon her the greatest gift that could befall any human being: the gift of salvation represented by the healing of her daughter. Because the gift was so great, the vessel that was to contain it needed to be prepared.
2. Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings: It is important to remember two principles about our feelings. First, we are not to treat them as if they were the infallible compass of our spiritual lives. Second, their lack of support does not mean that Our Lord is abandoning us. We can easily forget these two principles and blindly follow our feelings, persuasions and seductions. We can wrongly confuse feelings with faith. This believing woman beautifully shows the attitude we must maintain. Her example of humility in the face of Jesus’ seemingly hostile rebuke truly astounds us. No rebellion, no complaints, no resentments, no pity party. She remains determinedly fixed on Christ. She maintains a spirit of humility and faith in him who has the power to deliver her daughter from the devil. Am I capable of persisting in my prayer even when it seems Our Lord is turning a deaf ear?
3. A Cathedral of Faith for All to See: If only we could learn from her example! With such a firm foundation to build on, Jesus draws out of her an even greater faith — as large as a cathedral for the entire world to see. We need to ponder and contemplate the mysterious and wise ways of Our Lord when we suffer from his rebukes. We must hold fast to humility, mindful that we are creatures always loved by Christ, our Good Shepherd. He promised he would not leave us orphans. Why then such little faith?
Conversation with Christ: Lord, let me not confuse faith with feelings. Let me not confuse trust with mere sentiment.  Never let me reduce my relationship with you to feelings, no matter how pleasurable or worthy I think they may be at that moment. Help me to remain humble in my dispositions and firm in my convictions, seeking only to trust, love and please you.
Resolution: When I experience pleasant, worthy or helpful feelings, I will thank and praise God, and I will channel these feelings toward what is more relevant: living out the deeper virtue of faith.
 
Thrusday 5th Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus withdraws to a territory, outside Israel; he wished to go unrecognized! But a desperate woman recognizes his hiding place, and came straight into the house, throwing herself at his feet. What is he to do? His “ministry” was specifically towards the “lost sheep of the house of Israel!” His initial response was to seemingly deny her request, for the deliverance of her daughter! But the woman’s amazing display of faith and utter dependence on him, won him over! He is in fact in admiration of her faith: your faith is great! (Mt. 15:28) She literally wrests the healing and deliverance of her daughter! Her faith in Jesus, changes his orientation, towards pagan people like her, whose faith far surpasses that of the ‘chosen’ people.
            Faith has less to do with our head than with the heart! The woman’s heart was in her faith in Jesus! She was not going to give up easily as Jesus realized from her response to his re-buff! Faith includes a necessary surrendering of our dignity. We learn by going where we have to go, where we dare not go!
            God enters into our questions, he does not provide the answers! For us as for the woman “reality” is the best teacher. God is in the circumstances we are in! We need only to let go!
Lord I trust You, inspire of everything and anything!
 
REFLECTION
God is at work in the hearts of all men and women, not just those who are Christian. Look at the Gospel. True to his intention, Mark was a non-Jew demonstrating what it means to have faith. A very persistent woman who wants her daughter to be healed confronts Jesus. She is so persistent that Jesus gives in to her and fulfills her desire. The most amazing thing is that she is a pagan. How could she possibly know who Jesus is, let alone have faith in him?
            The Church in it is theology of conversion and evangelization tells us that even before people hear the Gospel, the Holy Spirit is at work in their hearts preparing them for this very event. The Second Vatican Council also affirms that there are elements of the truth at work in all cultures and religions and that the Church affirms and encourages these aspects of them. St. Paul writes about our ability to know and come to believe in God through the wonder and glory of creation, even without specifically hearing the Gospel proclaimed.
            The scriptures tell us that the Lord works with people who are humble and obedient to him and his ways. If we fail to live according to God's word, his blessings may well pass from us to others, just as Paul explains his proclaiming the Gospel to the Gentiles because the Jews would not listen to him.
            If anything, we should be awed by the responsibility we bear as Catholics. The fullness of the truth necessary for salvation subsists within the Catholic Church. This means that we have a duty and a responsibility to live out this truth to the full and, as such, to be a beacon light lighting up for all peoples the path of eternal salvation.