Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 13 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 13 Thường Niên

Đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay đoạn cho chúng ta thấy được niềm hy vọng, vì Chúa Giêsu đến để kêu gọi và cứu chữa những con người tội lỗi. Người thu thuế Mathêô chắc chắn đã có thấu hiểu đưoơc về sự vô nghĩa của việc tích lũy của cải vật chất. Và vì thế ông đã từ bỏ tất cả để chạy theo và nghe những lời Chúa Giêsu giảng dạy.  Tất cả của cải vật chất trên thế giới và sự đam mê của chúng sẽ không thể đáp ứng cho con người chúng ta. Chỉ có Chúa Giêsu, Con Thiên Chúa là vị cứu tinh của thế giới mới có thể đem lại chúng ta những niềm vui và hạnh phúc nước trời.            Lạy Chúa Giêsu, là Đấng Cứu Thế của chúng con, xin Chúa, sưởi ấm tâm hồn của chúng con với tình yêu vị tha của Chúa. Vì tâm hồn của chúng con đang mang đầy tội lỗi; Xin tẩy sạch chúng con bằng máu quý báu của Chúa. Va xin lấp đầy tâm hồn của chúng con với sự hiện diện của Chúa Thánh Thần.  Lạy Chúa Giêsu,  tâm hồn của chúng con là của Chúa; Xin Chúa hãy chiếm hữu tâm hồn chúng con và chỉ có Chúa mới là sở hữu tâm hồn con mà thôi.
 
Reflection:
Today gospel passage gives us hope. Jesus comes to save sinners. The tax collector Matthew must have experienced the meaninglessness of accumulating riches, exploiting others, etc.  He must also have resolved to amend his ways after listening to Jesus preach. The world and all its allurements cannot satisfy man. Only Jesus, Son of God and saviour of the world, can.
            Do we believe this?  Have you finally realized this? If you are still thinking that the world can give you happiness, true happiness, Jesus is coming to you and inviting you to change your mentality. Do not be like the Pharisees who were self-righteous and who looked down on others. Jesus is willing to dine with us even if we are sinners. Are we interested in dining with him or do we prefer the company of the devil? 
 
Friday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.  Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.  I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”  Matthew 9:12–13
Would you describe yourself as one who is “well” or one who is “sick?” Are you among the “righteous” or the “sinners?” Be careful how you answer this question. Of course, the pride that comes with our fallen human nature often tempts us to claim that we are “well” and “righteous.” But humility will reveal the truth that we are among the “sick” and “sinners.”
This statement of Jesus is a response to the Pharisees who noticed that Jesus was dining at the house of Matthew, the tax collector, whom He had just called to follow Him. Matthew did indeed leave everything behind and followed Jesus, and then he hosted dinner for Jesus at his house. At that dinner, there were “many tax collectors and sinners” who came and sat with Jesus and His disciples, which led the Pharisees to ridicule them all.
Jesus’ response is very important for us to hear. By stating that He came not for those who were well and righteous but for those who were sick and sinners, it tells us two important things. First, it tells us that we are all spiritually sick and sinful. Second, it tells us that if we cannot humbly admit to that, and in our pride claim that we are well and are righteous, then we essentially reject Jesus, the Divine Physician, from our lives. We essentially say, “Lord, I do not need You.”
It’s also helpful to notice that Jesus was not embarrassed to be seen with sinners. He did not hesitate at all and, in fact, clearly stated that they were those whom He came for. For that reason, we should not be afraid or embarrassed to admit we are sinners who are spiritually ill and in need of our Lord. To deny that fact is to deny reality and to deny the very source of the ongoing healing we most certainly need in life. It’s a denial of our need for Christ Jesus Himself.
Do you need our Lord? Do you need interior cleansing, healing, and forgiveness every day? If it’s difficult for you to wholeheartedly say “Yes” to that question, then perhaps you struggle with the pride of the Pharisees more than you know. No matter how holy you become, no matter how deeply you pray and no matter how charitable you are, you will always need the healing and forgiveness of the Divine Physician each and every day. 
Reflect, today, upon the need you have in your life today for forgiveness. What sin do you struggle with the most? Interestingly, the holier one becomes, the more clearly they see their daily sins and their need for forgiveness and healing. If you struggle with this at all, spend time examining your conscience. Look for ways to do it more thoroughly and honestly. If you do, you can be certain that our Lord, the Divine Physician, will deeply desire to dine with you today and always.
My forgiving Lord, You are the Divine Physician Who has come to forgive and heal all of our ills. Remove my pride and self-righteousness so that I can be filled with humility and see clearly the sin in my life. As I see my sin, help me to turn to You and to trust in Your abundant mercy. You came for sinners, dear Lord, and I am one of those sinners in need. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Friday 13^th ordinary time 2023
Introductory Prayer: You are pure goodness and life, Lord. Closeness to you brings peace and joy. You deserve all of my trust and my love. Thank you for the gift of life, my family, and my faith. I’m grateful, too, for the gift of the Church, which you founded on the Apostles.
Petition: Lord, help me to be simple and straightforward in my faith.
1. Simplicity Is Bliss: The tax collectors were considered traitors to the Jewish people since they worked for the Romans, the “oppressors” of God’s chosen people. The ordinary Jew would not even converse with one such as this. But Jesus says to him, “Follow me.” Matthew got up and followed him immediately; no questions asked, no conditions. What beautiful simplicity! He didn’t know that Christ would make him one of the Twelve. In a certain sense, we might say that he signed a blank check and gave it to Jesus. Matthew doesn’t sit down to calculate; he only accepts. He then goes a step further: He invites Jesus to his house for dinner. A Jew generally invited only his true and closest friends and relatives to dinner. It was a sign of intimacy, friendship, and love. Matthew goes overboard and lays out the red carpet for Christ.
2. Complicated Calculations: Unlike Matthew’s straightforwardness, we see the Pharisees’ “righteousness.” Jesus’ dining with a sinner like Matthew is a scandal for them. They have to confront this Rabbi about his “shameful conduct.” The problem is that they haven’t understood the first thing about the Messiah. Their very point of departure is flawed. They are looking at Christ (and God) from a very rational perspective when the only valid outlook is faith and love. This frequently happens in our lives as we begin to judge events, circumstances, and others without faith and charity. Before we realize it, we may have rejected and possibly even defamed our neighbor, a civil authority, or a priest or bishop. We are not looking at things from a supernatural vantage point but rather from our merely human standards.
3. Back to the Basics: Christ puts everything back into perspective. "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." Once again, Jesus invites us to elevate our thoughts to a supernatural plain. Why did God become man? We repeat it frequently, at least every Sunday in the Creed: “For us men and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.…” It is important to examine the degree to which I see and judge everything in my life through the prism of faith. A true believer, a real apostle, must form this “sixth sense” in his daily dealings. We develop this habit through prayer, our frequent and intimate contact with God. We need to ask God for the gift of faith, which gives us a new perspective on life.
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to be a simple person who accepts you and your demands without calculations and complications. Free me from all impediments and grant me your grace so that I might become a convinced, faithful, and intrepid apostle of your kingdom, as was St Matthew.
Resolution: In prayerful dialogue with God, I will examine at least three moments or events of my day. (This I can do even at home, in the car or waiting in line, etc.)
 
Friday 13^th ordinary time 2022
Opening Prayer: Lord, you nourish me with your words in Scripture, and with your body when I answer your invitation to come to your banquet table. Never stop calling me to follow you, and give me the grace to walk in your ways, with the help of your Holy Spirit. 
Encountering Christ:
1.      Seeing a Man: When the penetrating gaze of Jesus fell upon Matthew, the Lord saw a man. Instead of perceiving Matthew as the object of derision for the role he played in society, Jesus saw the man first and foremost as a reflection of himself, created in his image and likeness. Man’s first sin in the garden had surely tarnished this reflection, but neither that original sin, nor any subsequent sin committed by this particular man, diminished the incredible dignity that Matthew enjoyed as a child of God. Matthew had used his free will, granted by our loving God and Father, to side with the Roman authorities against the Jews, the chosen people into which he was born. But Our Lord also gave him, and gives us, a chance to turn his back on his former life and follow Christ, perfecting that will. “By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude” (CCC 1731).
2.      Seeing a Problem: Jesus’ invitation to Matthew, a seemingly simple “Follow me,” was anything but simple. Adding the despised tax collector to his band of followers would have immediately sowed discord among the rest of the disciples. Many of them would surely see a problem with this new addition. We can imagine what they might have been thinking, or even declaring aloud: “Lord, not him!” Today, we may be preparing for our weekend and hoping to get together with family or friends. How will we respond if we find a stranger in our company? What if this stranger has a reputation? One one hand, Jesus does tell us to be “shrewd as serpents,” but he also implores us to be “harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Furthermore, although we must always speak the truth in charity regarding behaviors we witness, Scripture frequently urges us not to judge others, leaving judgment to Our Lord (Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37, and Romans 2:1-2).
3.      The Master’s Plan: Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he called Matthew. His reasons soon became quite clear, at the “breaking of bread” that evening. The religious authorities, convinced of their superiority, took the opportunity to test Our Lord. Placing themselves above the sinners present at the dinner, they endeavored to have Jesus admit that the worth of the individual, and thus the degree to which the individual is worthy of attention, is somehow related to his or her behavior. They failed to acknowledge that they had misunderstood the God of Israel, the object of their intense study. They should, instead, have been studying this man right in front of them to witness how he was fulfilling the law. Jesus, always the teacher, reminded them, and reminds us, how we can draw near to God: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, thank you for calling men of all kinds to follow you, especially those to whom I can relate. You show me with your example that you not only desire mercy, but you freely extend mercy to sinners who return to you. Let me never think that any sin is worth distancing myself from you; on the contrary, grant me the grace to seek you often in your sacrament of Reconciliation.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray the Divine Mercy chaplet, offering each decade for somebody whom I find myself judging.