Suy Niệm Tin Mừng lễ Thánh Giuse Thợ (May 1)

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng lễ Thánh Giuse Thợ (May 1)

Hôm nay, chúng ta mừng lễ thánh Giuse Thợ, một người thợ mộc nghèo hèn ở làng Nazareth, một người lao động gương mẫu, biết giữ mái ấm gia đình và phát triển nghề nghiệp của mình. Đây là cách sống bình thường của mọi người trong thế giới hôm nay của chúng ta, Mỗi người phải biết làm lũng kiếm ăn bằng chính mồ hôi lao động.

            Theo Công tế Nhân quyền cho chúng ta biết rằng mỗi người chúng ta đều có quyền làm một công việc và được trả công. Hôm nay, Hội Thánh cầu nguyện cho ngày quốc tế lao động, để mỗi người lao động có thể thực hiện đầy đủ nhiệm vụ của mình và được sống đúng với cái quyền làm người.

Qua bài một Tin Mừng hôm nay, Phúc âm giới thiệu Chúa Giêsu là “con bác thợ mộc” (Mt 13:56), tại quê hương của Ngài là làng Nazareth, nơi Chúa đã  lớn lên và trưởng thành. Tuy nhiên, người Nazareth vẫn chưa thực sự biết rõ con người của Chúa Giêsu. Họ có thể nghĩ rằng họ biết Ngài rất rõ, rất nhiều, nhưng họ thực sự không biết gì cả. Đấy là lý do tại sao họ không thể giải thích được là từ đâu mà Chúa Giêsu nhận được sự khôn ngoan và có uy quyền đặc biệt.

               Nhưng, với người Kitô hữu chúng ta, chúng ta có biết được đầy đủ về con người Chúa Giêsu Kitô? Chúng ta cũng thuộc về dân Ngài, người của Thiên Chúa, người của Giáo Hội, tuy nhiên, việc gì có thể xảy ra cho chúng ta như tương tự đã xảy ra với những người trong làng Nazarét này, có nghĩa là, họ không biết Chúa. Nếu chúng ta có thể học hỏi những điều tốt đẹp và tích cực từ bất kỳ một người nào khác, thậm chí còn nhiều hơn thế nữa, chúng ta có thể học hỏi nơi Chúa Giêsu làng Nazareth, bằng cách lắng nghe Tin Mừng mỗi ngày. đấy là cách chúng ta có thể học hỏi và biết được nhiều điều tốt đẹp về Chúa Giêsu. Đây là cách mà chúng ta có thể làm phong phú thêm cuộc sống tâm linh ta và niềm tin của chúng ta. Chúng ta hãy thành tâm cầu xin thánh Giuse, người đã có công nuôi nấng, dưỡng dục Chúa Giêsu giúp chúng ta biết sống theo gương lao động và sự thánh thiện của Ngài

Monday, May 1, 2023

Jesus came to his native place and taught the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?” Matthew 13:54–55

On December 8, 2020, Pope Francis announced the beginning of the universal celebration of the “Year of Saint Joseph.” He introduced this year with an Apostolic Letter entitled “With a Father’s Heart.” In the introduction to that letter, the Holy Father said, “Each of us can discover in Joseph—the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence—an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble.”

The Gospel above, taken from the readings for this memorial, point to the fact that Jesus was “the carpenter’s son.” Joseph was a worker. He worked with his hands as a carpenter so as to provide for the daily needs of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Son of God. He provided them with a home, with food and with the other daily necessities of life. Joseph also protected them both by following the various messages of the angel of God who spoke to him in his dreams. Joseph fulfilled his duties in life in a quiet and hidden way, serving in his role as father, spouse and worker.

Though Joseph is universally recognized and honored today within our Church and even as a prominent historical world figure, during his lifetime he would have been a man who was largely unnoticed. He would have been seen as an ordinary man doing his ordinary duty. But in many ways, that is what makes Saint Joseph an ideal man to imitate and a source of inspiration. Very few people are called to serve others in the spotlight. Very few people are publicly praised for their day-to-day duties. Parents, especially, are often greatly unappreciated. For that reason, the life of Saint Joseph, this humble and hidden life lived out in Nazareth, provides most people with inspiration for their own daily lives.

If your life is somewhat monotonous, hidden, unappreciated by the masses, tedious and even boring at times, then look to Saint Joseph for inspiration. Today’s memorial especially honors Joseph as a man who worked. And his work was quite ordinary. But holiness is especially found in the ordinary parts of our daily lives. Choosing to serve, day in and day out, with little or no earthly accolades, is a service of love, an imitation of the life of Saint Joseph and a source of your own holiness in life. Do not underestimate the importance of serving in these and other ordinary and hidden ways.

Reflect, today, upon the ordinary and “unremarkable” daily life of Saint Joseph. If you find that your life is similar to what he would have experienced as a worker, a spouse and a father, then rejoice in that fact. Rejoice in the fact that you are also called to a life of extraordinary holiness through the ordinary duties of daily life. Do them well. Do them with love. And do them by the inspiration of Saint Joseph and his spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary who would have shared in this ordinary day-to-day life. Know that what you do each and every day, when it is done out of love and service of others, is the surest path to holiness of life for you.

My Jesus, Son of the carpenter, I thank You for the gift and inspiration of Your earthly father, Saint Joseph. I thank You for his ordinary life lived with great love and responsibility. Help me to imitate his life by fulfilling my daily duties of work and service well. May I recognize in the life of Saint Joseph, an ideal model for my own holiness of life. Saint Joseph the Worker, pray for us. Jesus, I trust in You.

Optional Memorial of Saint Joseph the Worker

Does God work? Genesis tells us “God finished His work.” “He rested from the work He had been doing.” This picture of God working gives us a human picture of God bringing into being all creatures of our world. On the last day, God rested. Was God tired? Through His working and resting the image of our God comes very close to us.    Jesus certainly worked. He was a carpenter, an artisan. For almost thirty years Jesus earned His living and supported His mother, and maybe Joseph too He knew the anxiety of upkeeing His house, making ends meet, or paying taxes. Certainly, it was Joseph who taught Him this.

            Why a feast to honour St Joseph as a worker? The Church saw that honouring the worker and work is good because work is noble, and can be our means of becoming holy. So in our celebration today we see Jesus, the all Holy One, working with His hands. Creator God, give us the grace to see the dignity and holiness in every person’s work, and let my own work be a means of my sanctification.

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter- John 10:11-18

Opening Prayer: Lord, it fills my heart to the brim to speak with you and to experience your loving hand guiding my life. Help me always to recognize your voice within the depths of my soul and to respond with ease. 

Encountering Christ: 

1. Who Is the Good Shepherd?: A newly ordained priest once asked a group of children, “In this story of the Good Shepherd, who do you think the sheep are?” They answered, “Us.” “And who is the Shepherd?” Little voices in unison called out, “Jesus.” The priest, a bit abashed and confused, then asked, “And so who would that make me?” After some thought, a boy raised his hand and offered, “The sheepdog, I guess.” The priest now chuckles as he shares this humbling story. Sometimes in life, we realize that our expectations of ourselves are not the same as those of others. So, too, God’s expectations of us may differ from ours. Like sheep, we must attend to the Shepherd through prayer and the Sacraments to meet his expectations for our lives, not those of ourselves or others.

2. Interiority: Christ says, “I know mine and mine know me.” Jesus is a Shepherd, most notably to those who develop a relationship with him. Even though God gives us human support through others and entrusts his priests with a shepherding role, God also speaks to each of us in his or her heart. “I searched for you outside myself, while all along you were within me,” says St. Augustine. The search for God is a dynamic of our interior life that leads to an encounter with him. Finding God is a work and discovery of the human heart. By His grace and through our heartfelt effort in prayer, we can be sure of his constant companionship.

3. Discernment and Choice: As life progresses, so does our experience and our need to make choices and accept the consequences of those choices. Often, we can feel overwhelmed by the overabundance of choices our society offers. I remember returning to the United States after living abroad for five years and finding far too many kinds of butter in the supermarket. I spent forever making a decision! We also sometimes have to make critical and life-changing choices about who to marry, what to do after a divorce, how to cope with an illness in the family, and who to turn to for advice. Priests, spiritual guides, and good friends are there to offer support, but ultimately we are responsible for discerning the advice we receive and deciding what to do. Knowing that Our Lord is a Good Shepherd can give us the confidence to trust him when the decisions we have to make are tough.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, you know me and love me. Give me the grace to turn to you rather than relying too heavily on human support. Grant me wisdom and spiritual discernment. Help me to discover the path that you desire me to take and give me the courage to do so, knowing that you are all good and desire only my happiness. 

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will pray about the advice I have received before making my final decision about what to do. 

For Further Reflection: “Do not go outside yourself, but enter into yourself, for truth dwells in the interior self.” – St. Augustine