Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần thứ Tư Mùa Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần thứ Tư Mùa Thường Niên

Trong cuộc sống hiện tại của chúng ta hôm nay, đôi lúc chúng ta cảm thấy như có rất nhiều tiếng nói đang thì thầm trong tâm hồn, trong cuộc sống của chúng ta. Những tiếng đó có thể là những lời khuyên bảo của những người trong gia đình, bạn bè, đồng nghiệp, hay là những tiếng ồn ào của các loa phóng thanh của ban văn hóa địa phương, Hay là những tiếng lải nhải trong TV…. Tuy nhiên, để biết hay nhận ra được tiếng của Chúa Kitô đang thì thầm, tâm sự với chúng ta thì thật là rất khó.

            Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta nhận thấy là mặc dù Vua Hêrôđê nhận biết là thánh Gioan tẩy giả là một người tốt lành và thánh thiện. Hơn nữa, Thánh Gioan tẩy giả cũng đã hấp dẫn thu hút vua Hêrôđê bằng những bài giảng của ông. Tuy nhiên, vì ông là vua, ông ta đã vì lo sợ phải xấu hổ trước mặt quan khách của mình, và cũng chỉ vì một đứa con gái, một chút yếu lòng mà ông đã phải giết đi một người công chính, đáng kính như thánh Gioan tẩy Giả. Vua Herôdê đã cúi đầu sợ hãi trước những áp lực của xã hội, và cũng muốn tỏ cái uy quyền, cái Tôi của chính mình. Vì thế ông đã nghe và làm theo cái tiếng nói của sự háu danh, ham thắng, của sự sợ hãi và ích kỷ mà đã không còn nghe thấy được những tiếng của lẽ phải, của Thiên Chúa..

            Một cách để chúng ta có thể xác định được tiếng nói của Chúa Kitô trong tâm hồn và trong cuộc sống của chúng ta là khi chúng ta có được cảm giác an lành, bình tâm trong lòng hay trong tâm hồn của chúng ta, ngay cả những việc mà hầu như không phải là dễ dàng cho việc xử trí của chúng ta..

            Lạy Chúa, xin ban cho chúng con những ân sủng của Chúa Thánh Thần để chúng con có nhận ra tiếng nói của Chúa đang nói với chúng ta trong cuộc sống của chúng con và giúp chúng con có được can đảm để làm theo như thánh ý của Chúa.

 

REFLECTION Fri 7th Feb 2014 4th Week in Ordinary Time

The life of David is quite remarkable. Lots of things happened to him and because of his choices. How we remember David depends a lot upon the events upon which we focus our lens. Do we remember him as a shepherd boy? Do we note his friendship with Jonathon? His victory with a sling and a stone over the mighty warrior Goliath? His refusal to kill King Saul when he had Saul at his mercy? His singing and dancing before the Lord? His adultery? The arranged death of Uriah? His mourning of Bathsheba’s child? The rebellion of his son Absalom and David's grief at his death? How do we choose to remember this complex man, King David?

            John the Baptist and King Herod are likewise complex characters. John seems to have been a person prone to the extreme and Herod a leader without a spine. But we really know so little about either of them. Really we've just snippets from which we have formed our opinions of them. Perhaps the lesson of the scriptures this day is to be careful about the judgments we make about Biblical characters or the people with whom we interact.

            We choose to honor David, to rue the cowardice of Herod, to delight in the dancing skill of Salome and to mourn the untimely death of John the Baptist. The Gospels offer us a window into snippets of the life and ministry of Jesus. Our task as disciples is to delve deeper and really get to know Jesus and become known to him.  Lord, be my wisdom.

 

Friday 4^th Ordinary Time 2023

Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man, and kept him in custody. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. Mark 6:20

Ideally, when the Gospel is preached and received by another, the effect is that the receiver is filled with joy, consolation and a desire to change. The Gospel is transforming for those who truly listen and respond with generosity. But what about those who do not respond with generosity? What effect does the Gospel have upon them? Our Gospel today gives us that answer.

The line above comes from the story of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist. The bad actors in this story are Herod, Herod’s illegitimate wife Herodias, and Herodias’ daughter (traditionally named Salome). John had been imprisoned by Herod because John told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” But what’s most interesting about this story is that, even in prison, Herod would listen to John preach. But instead of leading Herod to conversion, he was left “perplexed” by what John preached.

Being “perplexed” was not the only reaction to John’s preaching. Herodias’ reaction was one of hatred. She appeared to be stung to the heart by John’s condemnation of her “marriage” to Herod, and it was she who then orchestrated John’s beheading.

This Gospel, then, teaches us of two other common reactions to the Truth of the holy Gospel when it is preached. One is hatred and another is confusion (being perplexed). Obviously, hatred is far worse than simply being perplexed. But neither is the right reaction to the words of Truth.

What is your reaction to the full Gospel when it is preached? Are there aspects of the Gospel that leave you uneasy? Are there teachings of our Lord that confuse you or lead you to anger? First look within your own heart to determine if you struggle with having a similar reaction as did Herod and Herodias. And then consider how the world reacts to the Truth of the Gospel. We should not be surprised at all that we find many Herods and Herodiases alive today.

Reflect, today, upon any ways that you see the Gospel being rejected on one level or another. If you sense this within your own heart, then repent with all your might. If you see it elsewhere, do not allow the hostility to shake you or concern you. Keep your mind and heart upon the Truth and remain steadfast no matter the reaction you encounter.

My Lord of all Truth, Your Word and Your Word alone brings grace and salvation. Please give me the grace I need to always listen to Your Word and to respond generously with all my heart. May I repent when I am convicted by Your Word and may I wholeheartedly return to You. Give me courage when others reject Your Truth and wisdom to know how to share that Word with love. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Friday 4^th Ordinary Time 2023

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in you and all that you taught as it has been passed down to us through your Church. I hope in you, knowing that you will never send me out of your presence. Only by sin could I cut myself away from your loving hands. Although I am weak, I trust that you will keep me close. Lord, I love you and long for my love for you to grow, for you deserve so much better than my measly offering. Yet I know, too, that you are pleased with my desire for you.

Petition: Grant me, O Lord, an honest and sincere heart.

1. “It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up”: The verdict of conscience always makes itself known. Herod’s guilt regarding John the Baptist’s murder is projected into the present as a haunting memory.  Those who have radically rejected God, though they might possess great power or wealth, great intelligence or ability, are ultimately the most insecure people on earth. When true goodness appears in their life, it presents itself as a threat. It condemns them and alienates them from themselves. All this is but a reflection of their state of soul before God. Such is the power of man’s conscience: it imposes its painful sentence long before the person ever reaches the ultimate tribunal of justice.  Like Christ, we can only remain silent before the Herods of the world, praying that they break their resistance to grace.

2. “He was very much perplexed yet he liked to listen to him…”: “Fear the grace of God that passes never to return.”  In the lives of all persons, even the wicked, enough goodness is given them to be saved, enough such that God can offer them the truth of salvation within the scope of their freedom. Such graces last for only a time, not forever. These moments cannot be treated as moments that temporarily pacify our conscience, only to permit us to continue in our sin and resistance to living a holy life. Herod feared John, knew he was a holy man and felt the attraction of his words, but he did nothing to respond to it. You cannot play around with God and win. Herod loses and attacked what he knew he should love. This tragedy must teach us to be sincere and never imprison the voice of God in our soul, but to let it reign in our life. We must use our freedom to respond to God’s voice, breaking the chains of human respect or fear of sacrifice that bind us to darkness. 

3. He Was Beheaded in Prison: The last honor Christ could offer a faithful apostle, who has stood firm in the truth against the twisted provocations of evil around him, is––in some sense––a “full” participation in his Paschal Mystery. What began as testimony by proclaiming conversion, John now concludes with testimony to the victorious hope the blessed possess in Christ.  This is never clearer than in a martyr’s death as intimated in this passage from the Book of Wisdom: 

For though in the sight of men they were punished,

their hope is full of immortality.

Having been disciplined a little,

they will receive great good,

because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;

like gold in the furnace he tried them,

and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them  (Wisdom 3:4-6).

May we accept today the hard road of fidelity so as to be “disciplined a little” and be found worthy of the hope that is “full of immortality.”

Conversation with Christ: Let me experience, dear Jesus, the glory of your martyrs through many small acts of fidelity—to my conscience, to my mission and to the service to souls. Heroic and filled with hope, may I accept a sentence of love and not fear any path you set before me today. May I be like one who has died and yet lives the blossom of a holy life that will never end.

Resolution: I will work to be sincere in all I do, and use the sacrament of confession as a place of constant conversion and openness to God’s will.