Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 16 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 16 Thường Niên Scripture:  Matthew 12:38-42

“Người lớn hơn Giô-na, và lớn hơn Solomon ", Nếu con người  bình thường như chúng mà nói lên những lời này trên môi thì sẽ chỉ là lời vênh vang. Nhưng những lời này được nói ra nơi miệng của Chúa Giêsu thì cho những người tin vào Thiên Chúa, thì đó là một lời nhắc nhở về sự khiêm tốn của Thiên Chúa trong việc xuống thế để trở thành một con người thường như chúng ta. Thiên Chúa thì không thể nào có thể so sánh và do đó không thể nào so sánh Thiên Chúa với những con người đơn thuần như Solomon. Nhưng Thiên Chúa đã chọn để trở thành một con người trong Chúa Giêsu và vì thế Chúa Giêsu đi vào một thế giới của con người với nhu cầu riêng của con người "chúng tôi muốn được thấy một dấu lạ nơi ngài"  vì những người pharisêu muốn thử thách để chúng minh Ngài là Thiên Chúa, nhưng Chúa Giêsu đã chỉ trích những kinh sư và người Pharisêu, những người yêu cầu một dấu lạ một cách nặng nề .
            Tuy nhiên, chính Chúa Giêsu đã xuất hiện giữa dân Israel trong một cách mà những người đã gặp Chúa phải đưa ra nhiều câu hỏi thắc mắc về những việc Ngài đã làm, "Người này là ai?" Những câu hỏi này đã thường xuyên được đưa ra mỗi khi Ngài đã làm các phép lạ, nhưng cũng được thường xuyên đưa ra bởi những lời giáo huấn của Người. Đối với những người đã mở lòng đón nhận Chúa Giêsu trong đức tin, thì những phép lạ của Ngài và giáo lý của Ngài đã đủ là những dấu chỉ để dẫn họ đến ngưỡng cửa của đức tin. Nhưng những người kinh sư và người Pharisêu đòi hỏi cho được bằng chứng, trong khi Chân Lý sự thật của Thiên Chúa kêu gọi sự chấp nhận.
            Lạy Chúa Giêsu, Xin Chúa soi sáng tâm hồn chúng con để chúng con biết đọc Kinh Thánh, lời Chúa với con mắt đức tin sâu sắc hơn, để chúng ta có thể khám phá các phép lạ của Chúa và những lời giáo huấn của Chúa là những niềm an ủi sâu đậm nhất trong chân lý và sự thật của Chúa./
 
Reflection Monday 16^th Ordinary Time
“Greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon”, on the lips of any ordinary human being, these words would be mere boasting, perhaps true, perhaps false. On the lips of Jesus they are, for those who believe, a reminder of God’s humility in becoming a human being. God is incomparable and so could not be compared with mere human beings like Solomon. But God chose to become a human being in Jesus and so Jesus enters into a human world with its demands — “show us a sign” — and its struggle to make sense of what is more than ordinary. Jesus severely criticizes the scribes and Pharisees who ask for a sign.
Yet Jesus Himself appeared amongst the Israelites in a way that raised many questions for those who encountered him, “What kind of man is this?” These questions were frequently raised by his miracles, but just as frequently raised by his teaching. For those who were open to Jesus, his miracles and his teachings were signs enough to lead them to the threshold of faith. The scribes and Pharisees demanded proof, whereas God’s truth calls for acceptance.
Lord Jesus, enlighten our hearts to read the Scriptures with deeper faith, so that we may discover in Your miracles and Your teaching the deepest consolation of Your truth
 
Monday 16^th Ordinary Time 2023
At the judgment the queen of the south will arise with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here.” Matthew 12:42
In this passage, Jesus refers to the Queen of Sheba who traveled about 1,400 miles from Southern Arabia, which was most likely located in either modern-day Yemen or Ethiopia, to meet King Solomon. The queen had heard much about Solomon, about his wealth and wisdom, and wanted to find out if all that she heard was true. So she made the long journey and stayed with him for about six months, according to tradition. After spending time with him, she was greatly impressed and bestowed upon him gifts of gold, spices and precious stones. She said to him, “I did not believe the report until I came and saw with my own eyes that not even the half had been told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report I heard” (1Kings 10:7).
This foreign queen was deeply impressed with Solomon. Her journey, gifts and words illustrate her deep respect for him and her admiration. Jesus uses this story to illustrate the simple fact that Jesus Himself is much greater than Solomon and that He should be treated in a way that far surpasses the way the queen treated Solomon. But Jesus also makes it clear that, at the Final Judgment, this queen will rise and condemn the scribes and Pharisees because they failed to see the wisdom and kingship of Jesus. Instead, they came to Jesus, seeking signs and proof of Who He was.
In our own lives, the witness of the Queen of Sheba should be a source of true inspiration. She was someone who was powerful and wealthy herself, and yet she wanted to learn from Solomon and to benefit from his great wisdom which was given him by God. She should inspire us to do all we can to daily turn to our Lord and to seek His wisdom.
Jesus’s wisdom flows to us in many ways. The Gospels are especially important as a source of the most important lessons for life. Personal prayer, reading about the lives of the saints, and study of the teachings of our Church are also essential ways in which we receive the wisdom given to us by God. As you think about the many ways that are available to you to grow in the wisdom of God, try to use the Queen of Sheba as an inspiration. Do you have her same zeal? Are you willing to devote much time and effort to the pursuit of holy learning? Do you desire to journey to Jesus in the way that she desired to journey to Solomon?
One of the greatest hindrances to this pursuit of holy wisdom is sloth, or laziness. It is becoming increasingly easy to engage our minds in mindless pursuits. Many people can easily spend many hours in front of the television, computer or mobile devices and waste precious time and energy. Zeal for God and the pursuit of the many truths of faith must become the cure for sloth in our lives. We must want to know. And we must do all we can to increase that holy desire within us.
Reflect, today, upon the long journey made by this queen in pursuit of the wisdom of Solomon. As you do, examine whether you exhibit the same zeal that she had and how devoted you are to the pursuit of the wisdom of God. Where you are lacking, let her witness inspire you. Jesus is infinitely greater and wiser than Solomon, and we have been given full access to Him through prayer and holy learning. If you will make that holy journey to our Lord, with much determination, then unlike the scribes and Pharisees, your day of judgment will be a glorious one.
My Lord of all Wisdom, You are infinitely greater than the wisest of kings and more glorious than anything I can imagine. Please fill me with zeal, dear Lord, so that I will fervently pursue You and daily journey to You. Please guide my prayer and my study so that Your wisdom and Your very Self will be bestowed upon me. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 16^th Ordinary Time 2023
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, increase my faith in your victorious presence in my life and in the world.
Encountering Christ:
1.      Sign Seeking: The scribes and the Pharisees sought a sign from Jesus. How often are we sign seekers? The sign was standing before their eyes: the Son of Man, the God-man, in flesh among them. He manifested his supreme reign not by power but by meekness. He reached out to the outcast and sinners. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, forgave sin, and even calmed nature’s tempestuous storms. The signs were written all over his preaching of the coming of the kingdom. But the greatest sign was to be his supreme conquest over death. He sets them up for the possibility of belief by mentioning Jonah, Nineveh, and the queen of the south.
2.      Invitation to Conversion: Jesus’s references to people and events in the past were meant to provoke awareness of their need to convert. Signs, prophets, and God’s message to repent have been offered throughout history. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of the whale until he finally accepted his God-given mission to bring the message of repentance to Nineveh. Jesus would be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth. He would bring the gift of expiation from our sins. He brought true salvation to all who accepted it through the grace of faith. Nineveh, a foreign city, accepted repentance, at least temporarily, and yet the very people called to be his own continued to reject him. Likewise, the queen of the south, the Queen of Sheba, recognized the godly wisdom of Solomon’s words, yet the scribes and Pharisees, raised in the tradition of worshipping the one God, did not recognize the coming of the Messiah. Do we recognize what God has already revealed to us, explained and handed down to us by the Church? Do we recognize the Savior in our midst, or are we narrow-minded and shortsighted due to demanding specific signs from the Lord?
3.      A Judgment to Come—Hope for Eternal Life: Revelation 20:11-12 paints the picture of the Victor and Judge sitting on a large white throne as the book of life is opened and the dead are judged. Only he who is conqueror and first victor over sin and death admits all those who follow after him. The True Judge will recognize the sign of those who call themselves followers—his own seal placed upon them. They will be marked as true believers, as children of the heavenly Father. Their garments will be washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. In prayer, we can contemplate standing before the Triumphant Lord, Christ our King and Victor. We can watch him open the book of life and ask that he pour out his blood upon us, marking us with his seal, that we may enter into the fullness of his kingdom. We place our trust in his gift of salvation that he offers daily through all the means at our disposal: the Eucharist, Confession, his daily grace.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for your gift of salvation and for all the ways you make yourself known and present to me. Grant me greater faith to see your victorious grace at work in this world, in my family, and in my life. Help me to open my heart to the gift of salvation that you offer to me. May my day be offered for those who “miss the signs” of your presence and action. 
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will offer acts of faith for those who do not believe or who are on the verge of rejecting you due to doubt. 
 
Reflection: Monday 16^th Ordinary Time
     "To see is to believe." In many circumstances, similar to the teachers of the law and Pharisees in today's reading, we have to witness ourselves before we accept, we have to see with our own eyes before we believe. We always need proof or evidence and we have to experience things ourselves before we believe. Are we likewise that skeptical in matters of faith?
     Better than seeing what is visible to the human eye is experiencing it from the heart.  Be it a smooth-sailing or bumpy ride, our faith-journey with our Lord Jesus Christ should be based on pure trust in a loving God who wants nothing else but to give us salvation and everlasting life. 
     Sometimes we are too busy and pre-occupied looking for miracles that we forget to recognize and appreciate the everyday blessings we receive from God. Our lives are living testimony of his great power. What miracles do we need, what kind of proof is still needed in order for us to recognize God and love him with the same passion as he loves us?
     Just like his love for us, our faith should not be conditional; we need not demand for miracles. Instead we just need to believe and trust wholeheartedly. As the risen Jesus chided the doubting Apostle Thomas the week after his resurrection, "you believe because you see me, do you not? Happy are those who have not seen and believe.  
     We pray that, like Thomas before the risen Lord, we can say in faith and with great love, even though we have not seen, "You are my Lord and my God."