Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 20 Thường Niên.

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 20 Thường Niên.  MT 19:16-22

Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, khi được hỏi làm thế nào để đạt được sự sống đời đời, Chúa Giêsu đã liệt kê những điều răn liên quan tới các mối quan hệ của chúng ta với những người khác; Ngài không hề đề cập đến những điều răn mà chúng ta phải có bổn phận hướng với Thiên Chúa. Khi những lời đáp ứng của Chúa không làm người đàn ông trẻ thỏa mãn, Chúa Giêsu đã đi xa hơn nữa là khuyên anh ta nên phục vụ tha nhân, và vẫn không hề đề cập đến Thiên Chúa: "hãy đi bán những gì ngươi có mà cho kẻ khó, và ngươi sẽ có một kho tàng trên trời, đoạn hãy đến theo Ta". .Ý Chúa muốn nói, Chúng nên bằng cách nào đó, chúng ta phải làm tất cả những gì chúng ta có thể để giúp cho những người xung quanh chúng ta đó là việc chúng ta phục vụ Thiên Chúa, là chúng ta bắt đầu đi theo Đức Kitô.
Mỗi người chúng ta có thể được tính trong số những người nghèo, những người cần được phục vụ: không ai trong chúng ta cảm thấy rằng chúng ta được biết đến, nhưng đúng hơn là chúng ta đang bị bỏ quên, bị hiểu lầm, và bị coi thường bởi những người khác. Mỗi người trong chúng ta cảm thấy không được thương yêu và chăm sóc đầy đủ. Nhưng trong đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu chủ động sai mỗi người chúng ta đến với những người mà chúng ta biết hay gặp, và Chúa Giêsu đã đến gặp gỡ chúng ta, cũng như chúng ta mở lòng với sự phục vụ và yêu thương những người khác. Chúng ta hãy cố gắng để vượt qua luật tình yêu của Chúa trong sự quên mình để quan tâm đến người khác và đó là cách chúng bắt chước Chúa Cha trên trời.
 
Reflection (SG)
Jesus challenged the young man because his heart was possessive. He was afraid to give to others for fear that he would lose what he had gained. Those who are generous towards God and others find that they cannot outmatch God in generosity. God blesses us with innumerable spiritual goods - such as long-lasting peace, unspeakable joy, enduring love, abiding relationships and friendship that do not fade or fail - that far outweigh the fleeting joys of material possessions which fail to satisfy us beyond the present moment. God alone can satisfy the deepest longing and desires of our heart. Are you willing to part with anything that might keep you from seeking true and everlasting joy with Jesus?
Every one of us can be counted among the poor who need to be served: not one of us feels that we are sufficiently known but rather that we are neglected, misunderstood, and undervalued by others. And every one of us feels insufficiently loved and cared for. So in this passage Jesus actively sends each of us to every person we know or meet, and Jesus himself comes to meet us as we open ourselves to the service and love those others offer to us. Let us try to go beyond the law in a self-forgetting love and concern for others that is a true imitation of our heavenly Father. Heavenly Father, may we greatly increase our  sacrificial giving to the poor.
 
Monday 20^th Ordinary Tine 2023
“If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Matthew 19:21–22
This is the conclusion to the conversation that Jesus had with a rich young man who came to Him and asked, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus went on to tell him to keep the commandments. The young man said he has done so from his youth and wanted to know what else he could do. So Jesus answered his question. But the answer was more than the young man could accept.
“If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Do you want to be perfect? If so, then Jesus has set a high bar for such a goal. It seems that many followers of Christ are okay with simply being okay. In other words, it seems that it is rare to find a person who is wholeheartedly committed to perfection. Many may have good intentions, but it seems that there are few who fully commit themselves to all it takes to truly obtain the perfection to which we are all called. 
It’s interesting to note that Jesus’ initial response to this rich young man explained the requirements for entering eternal life, that is, the minimal requirement for obtaining Heaven. Simply put, Jesus said that if you refrain from serious sin by keeping the commandments, then you will inherit eternal life. Of course, that also presumes that you have the gift of faith and are thus open to the gift of salvation. So is that what you are content with? Are you satisfied with doing the minimum it takes to get to Heaven?
The idea of perfection can appear to be beyond us. Too often we can think, “I’m only human.” But as a human who is called by God, we are invited to work toward the obtainable goal of greater holiness. Though we will always fall short, we must strive to become as holy as we can, holding nothing back.
Though the invitation given to this young man to “go, sell what you have and give to the poor” is not a requirement that our Lord places on everyone, He does call some to do this literally. But for everyone else, the invitation still remains—but in a spiritual sense rather than a literal sense. This is the spiritual call to interior poverty of spirit. Everyone of us is called to be interiorly detached from the things of this world in a complete way, even though we retain our possessions. We must have as our single possession the love of God and the service of His will. This depth of spiritual detachment means that God and His holy will is all we desire in life. And if He ever were to call us to literally give everything up, we would do it without hesitation. And though that may seem extreme, it is, in fact, exactly what will benefit us the most. It is the only way to become fully human and fully the person we were meant to be. And the end reward is not only the attainment of Heaven but an incomprehensible amount of glory in Heaven. The holier we become here on earth, the greater will our eternal reward be in Heaven. Do not hesitate to do all you can to build up that treasure that will be with you forever.
Reflect, today, upon the high calling to perfection given to you by God. Ask yourself in a very sincere way whether or not you are simply okay with being okay or if you want so much more. Do you want the greatest riches in Heaven? Do you want your eternity to be one in which the spiritual treasures you build up now are with you forever? Do not hesitate to accept this high calling from Jesus. Allow His invitation to this rich young man to echo within your heart as His personal invitation to you, also. Say “Yes” to Him and know that you will be eternally grateful you did.
My loving Lord, You invited the rich young man to strive for perfection. You also invite me and all Your children to this holy and high calling. Give me the grace I need to detach from all that hinders this goal so that I can make You and Your holy will the central and only goal of my life. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 20^th Ordinary Tine 2023
Opening Prayer: Lord, here I am. Show me your face; show me your love for me. I know that without you I am nothing, and yet you want to give me everything. I want to love you—teach me how. Whether you want to console me or challenge me, I am here to listen.
Encountering Christ:
1. What Must I Be?: This young man came to Christ with the best of intentions: “How do I get to heaven?” What’s more, he really seemed willing to follow whatever instructions Christ would give him—after all, he had obeyed all the commandments for as long as he could remember. But he based his question on a falsehood (the same falsehood we all can fall into). He asked the Lord, “What good must I do?” He still thought, though perhaps without realizing it, that heaven is essentially a reward that he could earn. He forgot, or maybe just didn’t know, that if it were up to us to earn heaven, we would never arrive. 
2. You Can’t Earn Love: Treating heaven as something to be earned by good deeds goes against the very nature of God as a Father. Imagine: what true father would make his son meet certain standards before he loved him? What real father would lock his son out of the house until he “checked off certain boxes”? Heaven is God’s house; a place where we will be with him forever. This rich young man was starting from the presupposition that God wouldn’t love him unless he proved that he was worth being loved. In reality, we must start with the sure and certain knowledge of God’s love, and then let him make us worthy.
3. If You Wish to Be Perfect: Christ saw that this young man wanted more, even if he was a little misled, so he tried to help him. Jesus was patient: He started by showing the man that he had already gone as far as he could possibly go following rules—there were no more rules to follow! When Christ referred him to the same commandments he already knew, the young man persisted: “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Then Christ showed him the true way of perfection: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” That is, “Take all that you hold dear, your whole life of rules, programs, and self-satisfaction—and give it away! Follow me, for I am all you need.” When we feel the same restlessness that this young man does, the whisper in our heart that maybe there is something more to being a Christian, we must remember that we will never placate this feeling by simply doing a few more good deeds. Rather, we must let that restlessness lead us to the love of Christ, and let him do with us what He wills.
Conversing with Christ: God, thank you for taking the time to be with me, speak with me, and give me your grace. Thank you for calling me to a true relationship with you—lead me today wherever you want. 
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will do a short examen of conscience, reflecting upon for whom I do good deeds: for myself, or for you.
 
Monday 20^th Ordinary Tine 2022
Opening Prayer: Lord, allow me today to slow down and to place myself in your presence. I believe you are here, and you are speaking to me. You speak to me through your word in the Gospel, and the words of this dialogue have a special meaning for me, today, in my life. Let this message impact me, and guide me, so I can conform my life more to yours, and to your word. Let me be shaped by this meditation and let me shape my life according to it.
Encountering Christ:
What Is Good?: The young man in today’s Gospel had a sincere desire to seek what is good. He wanted to know how he should live his life, what he needed to do, and he had his focus in the right place: He wanted to obtain eternal life. When Jesus challenged his question, he pointed out that goodness doesn’t come only from works, from what one can do, but it comes from “the only One who is good.” Jesus wanted the man to stop depending on his good works, and to learn to center his life on the source of all goodness, which is the Father. While he certainly needed to do what was good and right–as was confirmed later–Jesus wanted him to spend less time looking at himself and more time looking at the Father. His life was to be driven by love for a person more than by a self-righteous desire to do the right things. 
What Do I Still Lack?: The young man confirmed that he had done what was good throughout his life. Was this question an attempt to be affirmed by Jesus? Was he assuming that he lacked nothing for his journey to heaven? Or did he ask, maybe, because he had an intuition that he was missing something important? There was a desire in his heart for something more. Simple adherence to the commandments didn’t satisfy this man and won’t satisfy us either. 
Come, Follow Me: This man, who had fulfilled the law, was invited to take the biggest step of his life—to open his heart and follow Jesus. Jesus could have simply told the man, “You need to live your life for God the Father” or, “You must give up all your possessions and serve in the temple.” Instead, acknowledging the sincerity of the man’s question, Jesus offered the only fulfillment that could truly satisfy him: “Follow me.” Jesus is the only one who can fulfill us, well beyond any joy we receive by merely “following rules.” 
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I know you want me to follow you. At times in my life, I find myself asking more questions about what I need to do, what I am still lacking than simply loving you in prayer. Help me to take the next step to put you at the center of my life. 
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pause once or twice to recall your presence in my life, and to renew my desire to follow you.
 
Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba tuần 20 Thường Niên
Chúa Giêsu nói rằng con lạc đà bước qua cái lỗ của cây kim còn dễ hơn là một người giàu có có thể bước vào được Nước Trời, Chúa Giêsu có lẽ muốn cảnh báo chúng ta về sự nguy hiểm của sự giàu có. Chúa Giêsu mô tả những cái nguy hiểm của sự giàu có. Khi lòng trí con người chúng ta đã bị sự giàu có vật chất thâm nhập vào rồi,  con người chúng ta cũng giống như hạt giống đã rơi vào giữa những bụi gai, khi những thứ vật chất, ham muốn thu hút con người nên họ tự chà đạp lấy lương tâm của họ bởi những sự quan tâm làm giàu của họ với niềm vui trong cuộc sống, và vì đó tâm linh của họ không được phát triển và trưởng thành. Họ rất nhỏ nhoi trong mắt Thiên Chúa. Ham muốn của họ và tình yêu thương của họ không thể mở rộng. Họ đã làm nô lệ cho cả nghìn thứ  nhu cầu, như những áo quần, máy móc thời trang mới nhất, hay một ngôi nhà đẹp lộng lẫy,  phaôi có những chiếc xe ô tô thứ xịn, cộng với những bữa tiệc xa hoa mỗi tuần.
Những người như vậy đang dần dần bóp nghẹn tâm linh và tinh thần của họ như những bụi gái đang lấn ép nhưng hạt giống rơi trong bụi gai. Nếu con người chúng ta đã lăn vào trong cuộc sống dư thừa của cải vật chất, có lẽ chúng ta nghĩ rằng chúng ta có thể làm được tất cả những thứ trên đời này mà chẳng cần đến Thiên Chúa! hoặc Thiên Chúa không còn tồn tại trong lòng chúng ta nữa.
Mặc dù Chúa Giêsu thường nói đến sự nguy hiểm của sự giàu có, nhưng Ngài không nói rằng những người giàu không thể vào Nước Thiên Chúa. Không phải những người giàu nào cũng không có vào được nước Thiên Đàng.  Bởi vì không phải chính sự giàu có điều là những điều xấu xa cả, nhưng sự giàu có chính là mối nguy hiểm cho sự cứu rỗi đời đời của chúng ta. Sự giàu có là một phúc lành hỗn hợp hay là người nghèo có thể là một phúc lành tuyệt vời. Tất cả phụ thuộc vào thái độ của chúng ta đối với sự giàu có và những cách mà chúng ta biết dùng của cái của chúng ta một cách thích hợp.
 
REFLECTION
In saying that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, Jesus is simply warning us of the danger of riches. Jesus' description of the danger of affluence was penetrating. Like seed among thorns, materialists are stifled by the cares, riches and pleasures of life, and they do not mature. They remain ridiculously small in the eyes of God. Their desires and their love cannot expand. They are enslaved by a thousand needs, for the latest fashions, for a beautiful house with two or more cars, for a television and computer set on every floor, another new freezer, costly cocktails and lavish parties. Such people are progressively choked spiritually and mentally.
If people are rolling in wealth for quite some time, they come to think that they can well do without God. Although Jesus often spoke of the dangers of wealth, he did not say that it was impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. It is not that those who have riches are shut out from the kingdom of God. It is not that riches are evil in themselves but they are a danger to our eternal salvation. Being rich is a mixed blessing. Being poor can be a great blessing. It all depends on our attitude towards wealth and its place and its proper use in God's Kingdom here on earth.