Lễ kính Thánh
Giacôbê tông đồ - thứ Năm tuần 16 Thường Niên
(7/25)
Tin Mừng hôm nay thật sự là Lời ban sự sống cho tất cả chúng ta. Thật vậy, Lời Chúa là con đường hướng dẫn những Kitô hữu chúng ta đến sự sống đời đời . Như lời Chúa hôm này đã dạy cho chúng ta là: Trước tiên là phải Phục vụ những nhu cầu của người khác. Đó là một Lời trái ngược lại với tất cả những gì mà thế giới hôm nay đang dạy mà muốn chúng ta làm. Chúng ta thường nghe người ta nói:.? những gì thế lực hay sức mạnh mà chúng ta đang có trong tay?
Ngày nay đa số chúng ta ai cũng ta muốn có chức vụ cao, có quyền hành trong cơ quan của chính phủ, trong các trường học, hay cả trong giáo hội, và trên thực tế là trong tất cả các lĩnh vực hoạt động của con người để hưởng lợi , để được sống vinh hoa, phú quý. . Cái tâm lý chung của thế giới là để thống trị người khác. Đó là sức mạnh của thế lực mà chúng ta có thể được hưởng lợi, được người khác cầu cạnh đút lót. Và cuối cùng chúng ta sẽ được người khác phục vụ chúng ta theo như những gì chúng ta muốn và cần.
Nhưng đối với những người Kitô giáo chân chính thực sự thì đấy là điều ngược lại! Để trở thành người Kitô giáo đích thực, người Kitô hữu phải có sự suy nghĩ như Chúa Kitô, phải cơ những hành động như Chúa Kitô. Có nghĩa là sống trong một cách triệt để theo như Chúa Kitô, đó là sống trái ngược lại với các giá trị của thế giới bên ngoài.
Tin Mừng hôm nay Chúa mời gọi chúng ta đến với hạnh phúc thật sự, đó là đến để phục vụ như Chúa đã phục vụ người khác chứ không phải là để được phục vụ. Và nếu chúng ta làm đuợc như lời Chúa thì phần thưởng của chúng ta sẽ nhận được là chúng ta sẽ được gọi là con cái của Thiên Chúa và sẽ được ngồi cùng một bàn bữa tiệc trên Thiên quốc với Chúa, có lẽ chúng ta sẽ không được ngồi ngay bên phải hoặc bên trái của Chúa, nhưng chắc chắn là chúng ta được một chỗ nào đó trên thiên đàng.
Hôm nay chúng ta mừng kính thánh Giacôbê Tông Đồ , chúng ta hãy nên bắt chước và học hỏi nơi thánh Giacôbê người đã biết lắng nghe và thực hành lời Chúa và phục vụ Chúa trong việc mang Chúa đến với người khác và phục vụ cho đến chết và Ông đã chết vì đem Tin Mừng cho tất cả.
REFLECTION
St James was the son of Zebedee and brother of John, Evangelist and Apostle. He was born at Bethsaida in Galilee. He was the first apostle to die, martyred by Herod Agrippa I.
Today's Gospel is truly a word of life for all of us. Indeed, it shows the path of life for Christians. It gives us as a guideline: "Serve first the needs of other people. It is a word that is contrary to what the world tells us today. We often hear people say: What are we in power for? Today this is said in government, in school, in the family, in the church and in practically all areas of human activity. The mentality of the world is to dominate people. It is to have power so that we may benefit from that power. And in the end we will be served.
REFLECTION
St. James was one of the apostles who accompanied Jesus on Mount Tabor where the Transfiguration took place. After receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he went out and began to preach the gospel so persuasively that he infuriated the Jewish leadership to such an extent that they killed him.
Jesus knows us and will only call a few to the honor of imitating him so closely…"laying down your life for your friends" as St. James did. And while the vast majority of us will never come close to being a martyr in the physical sense, the Church gives us St. James' example of wholeheartedly following Jesus wherever he may take us. What Jesus asks of us is to try to discern what he wills for us and then try our very best to do that and to accept where it will lead us. This can sometimes be very difficult and the decision to accept it is sometimes as difficult a decision as the one that a martyr may have to make.
The idea that Jesus insists on: the desire to be great or `the first of all' must include being willing to be considered as a servant. In other words, in performing any act of service to others, it is best to remain anonymous; otherwise, as Jesus said, `they have already received their reward."
Reflection:
If we are serving the Lord, people may assume that we have already grown spiritually. But actually when we are faced with difficult problems, our faith is challenged and we fail to understand God's plan for us. During these times, we depend on our human strength and ability in coming up with solutions that more often lead us to failure after failure. We fail to put our trust wholly in God and forget that only He has the best solution to our problems. Thus we complain and worry. But despite our unfaithfulness, God has always been a faithful God and this can only be seen through the eyes of faith and with His grace. At times He does this by sending people to us at the right time and when we need them most. In our case, God sent us relief through the payment of a debt that was long overdue. It also came in the form of spiritual guidance from people who helped form us and bring us back to God. How blessed are we because God enabled us to experience His goodness.
Reflection:
In today's Gospel reading Jesus teaches us about his mission "to serve and to give his life to redeem many."
"To serve and give his life to redeem many:" Jesus served and gave his life to save humankind; he gave his life to show his love for us. He did everything out of love.
By experiencing Jesus' love and his goodness, hopefully we learn to love like Jesus. When we love like Jesus, the expression of love will come freely. When you truly love someone, it may cause you to suffer; authentic love remains even if we suffer, just as how Jesus loved as he suffered.
There is a saying that goes: "You have not loved enough if you have not suffered." Perhaps, this was the message of Jesus to his disciples when he taught them about service and giving up life for others.
He was already telling his disciples of the experience of the paschal mystery. Serve, suffer for the one you love. Die to yourself and you will experience the glory of the resurrection to meet our Father in heaven.
REFLECTION 2017
We think of the Apostles as "extensions" of Jesus, those who had been with Jesus, "witnesses to his resurrection." After the resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit, they went out with great faith and courage to preach the Good News of Jesus to the world. Except for John, the beloved apostle, all the Eleven gave their lives in witness of their love for Jesus.
In today's Gospel reading we see them as simple ambitious men. Jesus had to teach them what true leadership and service were.
Let us not be discouraged with our failures and ambitions. We pray that God may help and purify us, in the same way he taught and trained the Twelve. With God's grace we too can be effective witnesses to Christ and his death and resurrection.
Tuesday 16th Ordinary Time
2023 Feast of Saint James, Apostle
Saint James was the brother of the beloved disciple John and the son of Zebedee and Salome. Jesus called both James and John while they were working with their father, mending their fishing nets in their boat. Their response to Jesus’ call was immediate: “…they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him” (Mark 1:20). James was present at the raising of Jarius’ daughter, the Transfiguration, and is mentioned a few other times in the Gospels. In the Acts of the Apostles, James is identified as the first of the Apostles to give his life as a martyr, being beheaded by Herod in Jerusalem in the year 44 AD (See Acts 12:2).
Among the other references to Saint James in the Gospels is the passage quoted above in which Salome, the mother of James and John, asks Jesus for the unique favor of allowing her two sons to sit at His left and right in His Kingdom. Upon her request on behalf of her two sons, Jesus turns to them and asks if they can drink the chalice that He is going to drink, to which they respond, “We can.” And though this is a bold request on their parts and that of their mother, there is also something courageous and holy about their request.
Just prior to this passage, as Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem with the Twelve, He explained to them the fate that awaited Him. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day” (Matthew 20:18–19). This was the third time that Jesus explained this to the Twelve and, therefore, it must have started to truly sink in. It is within this context that James and John ask to remain close to Jesus in His mission of establishing His Kingdom, even though Jesus explained that the path to that Kingdom was His suffering and death.
Each of us should learn from James and John. Though their request might have had some selfishness mixed in with it, it was also courageous. It showed they did not fear Jesus’ prediction of His passion. Instead, they wanted to be part of it and were willing to endure whatever was necessary so as to share in the glory of the Kingdom to come.
Reflect, today, upon making a similar request to our Lord. Say to Him that you desire to be close to Him in His Kingdom, and do so with the full knowledge that the path to this glory is by drinking the chalice of selfless sacrifice that Christ drank. It is obtained by courageously following Him, no matter what that requires of you. If that means suffering and persecution, so be it. If that means great sacrifice, so be it. If that means abandoning certain hopes and dreams, so be it. See yourself walking with these disciples and Jesus on the road to Jerusalem where our Lord would offer His life in sacrifice. Saint James would soon follow, dying by the sword of Herod. Say “Yes” to whatever our Lord asks of you and commit yourself to the drinking of the chalice of selfless sacrificial love. Doing so will enable you to share in the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven.
My glorious King, You invite all people to share in Your glorious Kingdom to come. May I enter that Kingdom with all the saints and fully share in its glory. I choose that path that leads to that Kingdom and willingly offer my life in sacrifice to You and for others. Jesus, I trust in You.
Tuesday 16th Ordinary Time
2023 Feast of Saint James, Apostle
Opening Prayer: Jesus, you are all-powerful and yet perfectly humble. Please open my mind to hear the Word and let it convert my pride into humility.
1. “My Kingdom Is Not Here”: The mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, did not understand what Jesus’s kingdom would be like. Many of his disciples also misunderstood. They thought that Jesus would come to destroy the Romans’ political power and reign as king. But, as Jesus told Pontius Pilate during the Passion, “My Kingdom does not belong to this world. If my Kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my Kingdom is not here” (John 18:36). Jesus’s Kingdom is so much more than earthly power. He holds the keys to the infinite universe! And he has invited us to join him in heaven one day. Thy Kingdom come, Lord Jesus.
Tin Mừng hôm nay thật sự là Lời ban sự sống cho tất cả chúng ta. Thật vậy, Lời Chúa là con đường hướng dẫn những Kitô hữu chúng ta đến sự sống đời đời . Như lời Chúa hôm này đã dạy cho chúng ta là: Trước tiên là phải Phục vụ những nhu cầu của người khác. Đó là một Lời trái ngược lại với tất cả những gì mà thế giới hôm nay đang dạy mà muốn chúng ta làm. Chúng ta thường nghe người ta nói:.? những gì thế lực hay sức mạnh mà chúng ta đang có trong tay?
Ngày nay đa số chúng ta ai cũng ta muốn có chức vụ cao, có quyền hành trong cơ quan của chính phủ, trong các trường học, hay cả trong giáo hội, và trên thực tế là trong tất cả các lĩnh vực hoạt động của con người để hưởng lợi , để được sống vinh hoa, phú quý. . Cái tâm lý chung của thế giới là để thống trị người khác. Đó là sức mạnh của thế lực mà chúng ta có thể được hưởng lợi, được người khác cầu cạnh đút lót. Và cuối cùng chúng ta sẽ được người khác phục vụ chúng ta theo như những gì chúng ta muốn và cần.
Nhưng đối với những người Kitô giáo chân chính thực sự thì đấy là điều ngược lại! Để trở thành người Kitô giáo đích thực, người Kitô hữu phải có sự suy nghĩ như Chúa Kitô, phải cơ những hành động như Chúa Kitô. Có nghĩa là sống trong một cách triệt để theo như Chúa Kitô, đó là sống trái ngược lại với các giá trị của thế giới bên ngoài.
Tin Mừng hôm nay Chúa mời gọi chúng ta đến với hạnh phúc thật sự, đó là đến để phục vụ như Chúa đã phục vụ người khác chứ không phải là để được phục vụ. Và nếu chúng ta làm đuợc như lời Chúa thì phần thưởng của chúng ta sẽ nhận được là chúng ta sẽ được gọi là con cái của Thiên Chúa và sẽ được ngồi cùng một bàn bữa tiệc trên Thiên quốc với Chúa, có lẽ chúng ta sẽ không được ngồi ngay bên phải hoặc bên trái của Chúa, nhưng chắc chắn là chúng ta được một chỗ nào đó trên thiên đàng.
Hôm nay chúng ta mừng kính thánh Giacôbê Tông Đồ , chúng ta hãy nên bắt chước và học hỏi nơi thánh Giacôbê người đã biết lắng nghe và thực hành lời Chúa và phục vụ Chúa trong việc mang Chúa đến với người khác và phục vụ cho đến chết và Ông đã chết vì đem Tin Mừng cho tất cả.
St James was the son of Zebedee and brother of John, Evangelist and Apostle. He was born at Bethsaida in Galilee. He was the first apostle to die, martyred by Herod Agrippa I.
Today's Gospel is truly a word of life for all of us. Indeed, it shows the path of life for Christians. It gives us as a guideline: "Serve first the needs of other people. It is a word that is contrary to what the world tells us today. We often hear people say: What are we in power for? Today this is said in government, in school, in the family, in the church and in practically all areas of human activity. The mentality of the world is to dominate people. It is to have power so that we may benefit from that power. And in the end we will be served.
St. James was one of the apostles who accompanied Jesus on Mount Tabor where the Transfiguration took place. After receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he went out and began to preach the gospel so persuasively that he infuriated the Jewish leadership to such an extent that they killed him.
Jesus knows us and will only call a few to the honor of imitating him so closely…"laying down your life for your friends" as St. James did. And while the vast majority of us will never come close to being a martyr in the physical sense, the Church gives us St. James' example of wholeheartedly following Jesus wherever he may take us. What Jesus asks of us is to try to discern what he wills for us and then try our very best to do that and to accept where it will lead us. This can sometimes be very difficult and the decision to accept it is sometimes as difficult a decision as the one that a martyr may have to make.
The idea that Jesus insists on: the desire to be great or `the first of all' must include being willing to be considered as a servant. In other words, in performing any act of service to others, it is best to remain anonymous; otherwise, as Jesus said, `they have already received their reward."
If we are serving the Lord, people may assume that we have already grown spiritually. But actually when we are faced with difficult problems, our faith is challenged and we fail to understand God's plan for us. During these times, we depend on our human strength and ability in coming up with solutions that more often lead us to failure after failure. We fail to put our trust wholly in God and forget that only He has the best solution to our problems. Thus we complain and worry. But despite our unfaithfulness, God has always been a faithful God and this can only be seen through the eyes of faith and with His grace. At times He does this by sending people to us at the right time and when we need them most. In our case, God sent us relief through the payment of a debt that was long overdue. It also came in the form of spiritual guidance from people who helped form us and bring us back to God. How blessed are we because God enabled us to experience His goodness.
In today's Gospel reading Jesus teaches us about his mission "to serve and to give his life to redeem many."
"To serve and give his life to redeem many:" Jesus served and gave his life to save humankind; he gave his life to show his love for us. He did everything out of love.
By experiencing Jesus' love and his goodness, hopefully we learn to love like Jesus. When we love like Jesus, the expression of love will come freely. When you truly love someone, it may cause you to suffer; authentic love remains even if we suffer, just as how Jesus loved as he suffered.
There is a saying that goes: "You have not loved enough if you have not suffered." Perhaps, this was the message of Jesus to his disciples when he taught them about service and giving up life for others.
He was already telling his disciples of the experience of the paschal mystery. Serve, suffer for the one you love. Die to yourself and you will experience the glory of the resurrection to meet our Father in heaven.
REFLECTION 2017
We think of the Apostles as "extensions" of Jesus, those who had been with Jesus, "witnesses to his resurrection." After the resurrection of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit, they went out with great faith and courage to preach the Good News of Jesus to the world. Except for John, the beloved apostle, all the Eleven gave their lives in witness of their love for Jesus.
In today's Gospel reading we see them as simple ambitious men. Jesus had to teach them what true leadership and service were.
Let us not be discouraged with our failures and ambitions. We pray that God may help and purify us, in the same way he taught and trained the Twelve. With God's grace we too can be effective witnesses to Christ and his death and resurrection.
Saint James was the brother of the beloved disciple John and the son of Zebedee and Salome. Jesus called both James and John while they were working with their father, mending their fishing nets in their boat. Their response to Jesus’ call was immediate: “…they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him” (Mark 1:20). James was present at the raising of Jarius’ daughter, the Transfiguration, and is mentioned a few other times in the Gospels. In the Acts of the Apostles, James is identified as the first of the Apostles to give his life as a martyr, being beheaded by Herod in Jerusalem in the year 44 AD (See Acts 12:2).
Among the other references to Saint James in the Gospels is the passage quoted above in which Salome, the mother of James and John, asks Jesus for the unique favor of allowing her two sons to sit at His left and right in His Kingdom. Upon her request on behalf of her two sons, Jesus turns to them and asks if they can drink the chalice that He is going to drink, to which they respond, “We can.” And though this is a bold request on their parts and that of their mother, there is also something courageous and holy about their request.
Just prior to this passage, as Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem with the Twelve, He explained to them the fate that awaited Him. “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day” (Matthew 20:18–19). This was the third time that Jesus explained this to the Twelve and, therefore, it must have started to truly sink in. It is within this context that James and John ask to remain close to Jesus in His mission of establishing His Kingdom, even though Jesus explained that the path to that Kingdom was His suffering and death.
Each of us should learn from James and John. Though their request might have had some selfishness mixed in with it, it was also courageous. It showed they did not fear Jesus’ prediction of His passion. Instead, they wanted to be part of it and were willing to endure whatever was necessary so as to share in the glory of the Kingdom to come.
Reflect, today, upon making a similar request to our Lord. Say to Him that you desire to be close to Him in His Kingdom, and do so with the full knowledge that the path to this glory is by drinking the chalice of selfless sacrifice that Christ drank. It is obtained by courageously following Him, no matter what that requires of you. If that means suffering and persecution, so be it. If that means great sacrifice, so be it. If that means abandoning certain hopes and dreams, so be it. See yourself walking with these disciples and Jesus on the road to Jerusalem where our Lord would offer His life in sacrifice. Saint James would soon follow, dying by the sword of Herod. Say “Yes” to whatever our Lord asks of you and commit yourself to the drinking of the chalice of selfless sacrificial love. Doing so will enable you to share in the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven.
My glorious King, You invite all people to share in Your glorious Kingdom to come. May I enter that Kingdom with all the saints and fully share in its glory. I choose that path that leads to that Kingdom and willingly offer my life in sacrifice to You and for others. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Jesus, you are all-powerful and yet perfectly humble. Please open my mind to hear the Word and let it convert my pride into humility.
1. “My Kingdom Is Not Here”: The mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, did not understand what Jesus’s kingdom would be like. Many of his disciples also misunderstood. They thought that Jesus would come to destroy the Romans’ political power and reign as king. But, as Jesus told Pontius Pilate during the Passion, “My Kingdom does not belong to this world. If my Kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants [would] be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my Kingdom is not here” (John 18:36). Jesus’s Kingdom is so much more than earthly power. He holds the keys to the infinite universe! And he has invited us to join him in heaven one day. Thy Kingdom come, Lord Jesus.
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