Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Tại sao Chúa Giêsu có những lời chỉ trích nghiêm khắc như vậy với các nhà lãnh đạo tinh thần Do Thái vì họ có vẻ dùng chức vụ tôn giáo để mọi người biết đến để trọng vọng, Họ muốn mọi người thấy là họ hiểu luật Chúa hơn ai hết và mọi người kính nể khi ra đường, chứ không phải là vì cá nhân họ làm những gì tốt và vì sự thánh thiện của họ.
Những lời chỉ trích có căn bản đấy là một sự mời gọi tích cực thiết thực nhất mà Chúa Giêsu mong muốn nơi chúng ta cần phải để ý đến lời nói và hành động của chúng ta, chúng ta phải biết làm theo những cách như ý Chúa và phải trung thành với Thiên Chúa. Tuy nhiên, một sự lựa chọn của chúng ta mà chúng ta cho tốt thường không được những người khác chú ý tới. Trong thực tế , những người khác có thể không đồng ý hay có những hiểu lầm hoặc thậm chí còn từ bỏ chúng ta nếu chúng ta sống theo như những giá trị của Tin Mừng. Chúa Giêsu biết rõ điều này. Ngài mời gọi chúng ta phải biết chấp nhận những rủi ro, những khinh chê, có thể là bị phỉ báng vì Thiên Chúa. Chúa Giêsu mời gọi chúng ta đạt niềm tin tưởng nơi Thiên Chúa, vì Ngài sẽ nhìn và nhận thấy được tất cả những động cơ trong tâm hồn chúng ta . Ngài mời gọi chúng ta tin tưởng vào Thiên Chúa vì Ngài sẽ làm chúng ta được rạng danh sau này trong nước Chúa..
Khi Jerusalem phải đối phó với nạn đói , Thánh Cyrillô giám mục thành Giêrusalem ở thế kỷ thứ tư đã bán tài sản Giáo Hội để mua thức phẩm cho những người nghèo đói. Việc này đã cứu sống được rất nhiều người thời bấy giờ, nhưng việc đó là một việc làm đã gây ra tranh cãi trong giáo hội địa phương và Thánh Cyril đã phải đối phó với nhiều lời chỉ trích vì những hành động này. Tuy nhiên, thánh Cyril đã chọn để sống trung thành với lời giáo huấn của Thiên Chúa chứ không chọn để làm theo những gì người khác muốn và nghĩ về ngài . Sau cùng, Thiên Chúa đã nâng Người lên vào bậc các thánh. Hơn mười sáu thế kỷ sau chúng ta vẫn còn tưởng nhớ và ăn mừng sự lựa chọn của ngài là sự lực chọn trung thành với lời giáo huấn của Thiên Chúa.
Underlying this criticism is a positive call to consistency. Jesus desires us to both speak and act in ways that are faithful to God. Yet, our choices for good often go unnoticed by others. In fact, others may disagree with, misunderstand or even reject us if we live by Gospel values. Jesus knew this personally. He invites us to take a risk in God. Jesus invites us to trust that God notices the motives of our hearts. He invites us to trust that God will ultimately exalt us.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem was a bishop and theologian who lived in the Fourth Century. When Jerusalem faced a famine, Cyril sold Church property to buy food for the poor. This saved lives, yet it was a controversial choice and Cyril faced much criticism for these actions. In the end, however, Cyril chose to be faithful to God’s voice no matter what others thought of him. Ultimately, God exalted him. Sixteen centuries later we are still celebrating his choice to be faithful to God’s voice.
Lord, please give me the clarity of knowing Your voice and grant me the courage to follow.
“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:11–12
Do you want to be truly great? Do you want your life to truly make a difference in the lives of others? Deep down this desire for greatness is placed within us by our Lord, and it will never go away. Even those who live eternally in hell will hold on to this innate desire, which for them will be the cause of eternal pain, since that desire will never be fulfilled. And sometimes it’s useful to ponder that reality as a motivation to make sure that this is not the fate we encounter.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us one of the keys to greatness. “The greatest among you must be your servant.” Being a servant means that you put others before yourself. You elevate their needs rather than trying to get them to be attentive to your needs. And this is difficult to do.
It’s very easy in life to think of ourselves first. But the key is that we do put ourselves “first,” in a sense, when we practically put others before us. This is because the choice to put others first is not only good for them, it’s also exactly what is best for us. We were made for love. We were made to serve others. We were made for the purpose of giving of ourselves to others without counting the cost. But when we do this, we do not lose ourselves. On the contrary, it is in the act of giving of ourselves and seeing the other first that we actually discover who we are and become what we were created to be. We become love itself. And a person who loves is a person who is great…and a person who is great is a person whom God exalts.
Reflect, today, upon the great mystery and calling of humility. If you find it difficult to put others first and to act as their servant, do it anyway. Make the choice to humble yourself before everyone else. Elevate their concerns. Be attentive to their needs. Listen to what they say. Show them compassion and be ready and willing to do so to the fullest extent. If you do, that desire for greatness that lives deep within your heart will be fulfilled.
My humble Lord, thank You for the witness of Your humility. You chose to put all people first, even to the point of allowing Yourself to experience the suffering and death which was a consequence of our sins. Give me a heart that is humble, dear Lord, so that You can use me to share Your perfect love with others. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, the teachings you impart are profound. Send forth your Holy Spirit who can guide me to interior understanding.
2. “All Their Works Are Performed to Be Seen”: In many areas of our culture, people perform works to be seen: in politics, on Parisian runways, in movies, and in the theater. Some works are meant to be entertaining, but we detect quite easily when someone is “showing off” or seeking attention—and it’s difficult to watch, isn’t it? We naturally avoid people who make themselves the center of attention. The Pharisees' highfalutin ways were symptomatic of their deep interior emptiness. In the center of their hearts, they sat on the throne intended for Our Lord. When Our Lord is properly seated on the throne of our hearts, our need for affirmation from others is well-ordered, not extreme. We’re not show-offs. Our good deeds are cloaked in humility and oriented toward the good of the other.
3. The Greatest: “The greatest among you must be your servant.” Reading this line of Scripture can lose its potency because we’re so familiar with it. Consider how Jesus’s listeners might have interpreted his directive. Scripture tells us that servants washed feet. Servants made their owners’ lives more comfortable (Luke 17:8). Servants did what they were told (Luke 7:8). Serving others in our lives rarely involves foot washing. Still, Jesus invites us to surrender our will to God’s–to do as we’re told– so that we can be a blessing for others.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, teach me to think more like you, to “think on what is above” (Philippians 4:8). The last shall be first, and blessed are the poor in spirit. Help me, Jesus, to be more humble.
Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, you invite me into this time of prayer. Help me to quiet my mind and heart and recall that I am in your presence, that you dwell within me. I believe in you, I hope in you, and I love you. Increase my faith, and let me know you better. Increase my trust, that I may surrender myself to you in love.
1. Preaching by Practicing: How many times in the Gospels did we find Jesus calling the Pharisees to conversion? He called out their hypocrisy and found himself exasperated at their hardness of heart. Still, Jesus recognized their authority as servants of the law he himself had given to Moses. It was their manner of living it out that separated them from the God they were called to serve. They lived inauthentically. Let us allow the Lord to look into our souls to root out any pharisaical tendencies there may be hidden within us.
“If elected, I will not give in to special interest groups. I won’t forget my humble roots. I’ll be a servant of the people!” How many times have you heard an aspiring politician make these promises—only to see the exact opposite play out over time? Many a politician has promised to lighten the load of the people but, once installed, becomes just as elitist as his predecessor and loses touch with the very burdens he promised to ease!
It seems that Jesus was familiar with this tendency. But for him, it wasn’t elected officials. It was some of those who served as religious leaders in Israel. Impressed with their standing, some of the scribes and Pharisees lost track of the real burdens that everyday people were facing. Despite the good intentions of these men, the allure of elitism proved too strong, and they began enjoying their status too much to remember the call to care for the poor, the widow, and the orphan.
In contrast to these religious elites, Jesus devoted himself to setting his people free from whatever was burdening them. With words of forgiveness, he released a woman from the burden of shame over her past sins (Luke 7:36-50). While others grumbled against Zacchaeus’ taxes and extortion, Jesus offered him salvation, calling him a treas-ured son of Abraham (19:1-10). On the road to Emmaus, he consoled two downhearted disciples and lifted their hearts with words from Scripture and a taste of the bread of life (24:13-35).
Is there a burden that you’re finding hard to carry? Guilt? The pain of a wounded relationship? Powerlessness in the face of temptation? Don’t think that God is too distant to help. Jesus came not to be served but to serve. Instead of exempting himself from the Law, he fulfilled it. He became a man just like us. He shared in all the joys and sorrows we experience. He carried the cross so that we might gain heaven. Surely he can help you now!
Today, choose just one thing that is burdening you, and bring it to the Lord. Don’t think it’s too small—or too big—for him to handle. Just tell him about it. Then listen quietly for his words of comfort, wisdom, and help.
“Jesus, I surrender to you.”
“Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.” It seems at first glance that we are guilty of letting a human tradition stand in the way of the words of our Lord. It seems that way at second glance too. We cannot say that Jesus was wrong, and we cannot say that Matthew did not faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ really taught.
There are some little tricks that people use to explain this, but they are not satisfactory. True, we call our male parent, “Father”, but Jesus is talking about titles that religious people take on. True, we do not use the exact word that Jesus condemns, since he did not speak English (the word “father” had not even been invented yet), but this seems too legalistic. Jesus is saying that we should not call anyone by the same name that we use for our male parent, no matter what language. True, Jesus says “call no one on earth your father”, and we do not call anyone “Our Father” except God, but why do we come so close to breaking the command?
However, and this is a big however, the use of “Father” as a title for religious leaders goes back as far as the Church herself. The desert monks of the early Church were called “Abba”. St. Paul himself says that “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” We did not just discover the Gospel of Matthew yesterday. Even St. Jerome, 1600 years ago, struggled to interpret this verse in light of the tradition. It seems strange that this tradition grew up in a Church which always read the Gospels. The people who first started calling a priest or a monk “father” knew what Jesus had said.
One reason why tradition is so essential in the Church is that the members of the early Church understood better the literal meaning of Jesus’ words. They were closer to him culturally and historically. If they, reading this Gospel just as we do every year, did not think it was a contradiction to call religious leaders “Father” who are we to disagree? But if we do keep calling people on earth “Father”, we do so acknowledging our one Father in heaven. Let us “bow our knees before the Father, from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named.”
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