Trong bài đọc thứ Nhất hôm nay, Thánh Phaolô nhắc nhở Giáo Đoàn Rôma rằng họ được cứu bởi vì họ có niềm tin vào Chúa Kitô và Tin Mừng. Thánh Phao lô cũng nói rằng chúng ta biết được Thiên Chúa là do bởi những công trình mà Chúa đã tạo ra trong thế giớ và trong cuộc sống của chúng ta..
In the first reading Paul reminds the Church in Rome that they are saved by their belief in Christ and the Good News. Paul also says that we know God from his works, the world he had created..
Lord, help me to become more understanding and compassionate. Help me, Lord, not to be a fault-finder but a loving person instead. Help me to be discerning and yet not judgmental of others in their motives and actions. Teach me to be humble and generous.
After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools!” Luke 11:37–40
It’s hard to imagine Jesus calling someone a fool. But that’s exactly what He did. This Pharisee had just finished listening to Jesus give a series of teachings and then invited our Lord to His home for dinner in an apparent gesture of kindness. But as the passage unfolds, it’s clear that this Pharisee is no friend of Jesus. Instead, his hospitality and kindness are a cloak for the evil within his soul.
Why does Jesus respond so fiercely, calling the Pharisee a fool? Because this Pharisee is filled with hypocrisy. His exterior actions do not flow from a heart filled with charity and faith. Instead, his exterior actions are a show. He is a fraud. He, like many of the Pharisees, was very concerned with various external rituals, such as scrupulously washing his hands before he ate. He believed that doing so was a sign of his holiness and closeness to God. But it wasn’t. His heart was one that was filled with judgment and self-righteousness. He looked down on others and elevated himself. In doing so, he deceived others and even deceived himself.
The central message we must take from this is that we must diligently focus upon that which is in our hearts. Our hearts, our interior life, must be blooming with love of God and others. We must place all of our efforts on cultivating a sincere life of virtue within. This is done by prayer and humility. Humility will open our eyes to see the truth of who we are. Prayer will strengthen us to change as we see that which needs to be changed within. Only then, when we see clearly the truth of who we are and prayerfully rely upon grace obtained by prayer, will we be able to become people of true integrity and holiness. And only then will our interior holiness be made manifest externally in our actions.
Reflect, today, upon these powerful words of Jesus: “You fools!” Don’t be offended by these words; they are words of love from our Lord. They are His fierce attempt to wake this Pharisee up and lead him away from his hypocrisy. Listen to these words as if they were also spoken to you. Every one of us can humbly benefit from this loving chastisement from Jesus. Every one of us needs to humbly be transformed more fully interiorly. Let Jesus’ words speak to you and reveal to you the ways that you need to change. Perhaps your pride has led you to an interior practice of judgment of others. Perhaps it has blinded you to sins that you need to confess. If you can listen to these words as if they were spoken to you, then Jesus’ fervor will reach you, and your eyes will be opened to that which is in your soul that needs to be changed. Do not turn a blind eye to this. Be open, be humble and listen.
My fervent Lord, You spoke words of love in many ways. At times You were gentle and at times You were firm. Please give me the grace and humility I need to be open to Your firm rebukes of love. Help me to sincerely see the ways in which I need to change my life so that Your grace will transform my interior life, flowing over into my actions. I love You, dear Lord. Help me to love You more. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. Seventy-Two: In Jewish tradition, the number seventy-two (or seventy, depending on the sources) has symbolic significance. It was considered the number of gentile nations in the world. It was the number of members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish governing body. It was the number of elders chosen to assist Moses. Scholars disagree about how to link these Old Testament realities to Christ’s choice to send out seventy-two disciples, in addition to his original Twelve Apostles. Many Catholic spiritual writers, however, see in this gesture a preview of Christ’s great commission to his Church, given after his Resurrection and right before his Ascension, to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus wants his Gospel to spread. He wants the peace that comes with his mercy and truth to spread. He wants all people in every single corner of time and history to discover that God loves them and enter into friendship with him. This is the deepest desire of his heart. And this is why Pope St. Paul VI could write: Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize (Evangelii nuntiandi, 14). Is that how I think about the Church and my role in the Church?
us tells us that the harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few—there are many opportunities for spreading Christ’s Kingdom, but few people are taking advantage of those opportunities. Few people seem to have the spiritual sensitivity to hear God’s voice calling them to this work. Few people seem to have the spiritual courage to heed the call even when they hear it. Add to the innate difficulty of hearing and heeding the call today’s additional obstacles–the cacophonous, frenzied, secularized noise that surrounds and oppresses us through popular, digital culture–and we can see why Jesus asks us to pray. When we pray for these vocations, we send unseen spiritual reinforcements to help open the ears and strengthen the hearts of those whom God is calling. If this is something Jesus himself is asking of me, how could I not make it a priority?
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