Suy niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai tuần 30 Thường Niên

Suy niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai tuần 30 Thường Niên.

Bài Phúc âm hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu chữa người đàn bà bị quỷ ám gập lưng trong đền Thánh vào ngày Sabat không ngoài mục đích để dậy cho người phái siêu và người do thái bài học là họ phải giữ ngày Sabat, nhưng không phải chỉ giữ khơi khơi bằng môi bằng miệng, nhưng họ phải biết dùng ngày nghĩ để thờ phượng Chúa và làm việc ngay lành phúc đức. Nếu họ biết dùng ngày nghĩ để thả trâu, thả bò, thả gia súc đi ăn, đi uống nước tại sao họ lại cấm Chúa chữa bệnh ngày sabat... Đúng là bọn giả hình. Còn Chúng ta thì sao, chúng ta có giữ ngày chúa nhật như điều răn thứ ba trong mười điều răn của Chúa. Có người trong chúng ta chẳng những không giữ xác ngày Chúa nhật mà còn không đi lễ ngày Chúa nhật, một số chúng ta vì công ăn việc làm, điều đó có thể chập nhận được nhưng cần phải kiếm thời gian đi dự thánh lễ Chúa Nhật, nhưng còn một số không nhỏ trong chúng ta, có tiền có bạc rủng rỉng, chẳng phải đi làm ngày Chúa Nhật, nhưng thích du hí, trên các tàu con du lịch vào ngày cuối tuần.. tha hồ vui chơi chẳng còn nhớ ngày chúa Nhật chẳng còn nhớ thánh lễ buộc trong ngày Chúa Nhật. Ngày Chúa Nhật là ngày của Chúa, Chúa muốn chúng ta nghỉ ngơi có thời gian để đến với chúa, có thời giờ để nghĩ tới Chúa, tới người anh chị em chung quanh chúng ta.  Bài Phúc âm Chúa Giêsu dậy cho chúng ta thấy ma quỷ có quyền năng, chúng có quyền phép để hành hạ thân xác và tinh thần con người chúng ta nếu chúng ta yếu đuối hoặc để chúng tự do hành động. Nhưng quyền năng của ma quỹ chí có thể hủy hoại con người chứ không thể gải thoát con người khỏi cảnh tù đày trong hố sâu của tội lỗi. Thiên Chúa là người mới có quyền phép để giải thòat chúng ta khỏi sự dữ, sự đau khổ nơi thân xác và tinh thần. Vì thế chúng ta cần siêng đến Chúa, nhất là các ngày lễ Chúa nhật để chúng ta được thêm sức mạnh phần hồn và phần xác qua của ăn chúa ban cho chúng ta bằng chính máu và thịt của Chúa Giêsu. Chúng hãy để thân xác nghĩ ngơi để lời chúa đến và được lắng đọng trong tâm hồn, để lời Chúa đem lại cho chúng bình an và tự do và không bị ràng buộc những thèm khát cám dỗ của Satan.

 

Meditation:

 Is there anything that keeps you bound up or oppressed? Infirmity, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, can befall us for a variety of reasons and God can use it for some purpose that we do not understand. When Jesus encountered an elderly woman who was spent of her strength and unable to stand upright, he gave her words of faith and freedom and he restored her to health. She must have suffered much, both physically and spiritually for eighteen years, since Jesus remarked that Satan had bound her. How can Satan do this?

The scriptures indicate that Satan can act in the world with malice and can cause injuries of a spiritual nature, and indirectly even of a physical nature. Satan's power, however, is not infinite. He cannot prevent the building up of God's kingdom or reign in our lives. Jesus demonstrates the power and authority of God's kingdom in releasing people who are oppressed by physical and emotional sickness, by personal weakness and sin, and by the harassment of the evil one in their lives. It took only one word from Jesus to release this woman instantly of her infirmity. Do you believe in the power of Jesus to release you from affliction and oppression?.    The Jewish leaders were indignant that Jesus would perform such a miraculous work on the Sabbath, the holy day of rest. They were so caught up in their ritual observance of the Sabbath that they lost sight of God's mercy and goodness. Jesus healed on the Sabbath because God does not rest from showing his mercy and love, ever. God's word has power to change us, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Is there anything that keeps you bound up or that weighs you down? Let the Lord speak his word to you and give you freedom. "Lord Jesus, you grant freedom to those who seek you. Give me freedom to walk in your way of love and to praise and worship you always. Show me how I can bring your mercy and healing love to those in need around me.”

 

Monday 30th Ordinary Time

But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, “There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day.” The Lord said to him in reply, “Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering?” Luke 13:14–15

Why would the leader of the synagogue be “indignant” that Jesus cured a woman on the sabbath? She was crippled for eighteen years! Imagine, especially, her family. They would have seen her many years of suffering and shared them with her through years of compassion. If they were present when Jesus healed her on the sabbath, would they have immediately thought, “How dare Jesus do this healing of our mother, wife or sister on the sabbath?” Of course not! They would have rejoiced and been filled with awe, gratitude, and even tears. This normal reaction that her family would have had upon witnessing this miracle is the right response. And, of course, the reaction of the leader of the synagogue was deeply disordered. 

Why would this leader of the synagogue do such a thing? Though he and many other scribes, Sadducess, Pharisees and scholars of the law struggled with envy and hypocrisy, others may sometimes react similarly to this leader of the synagogue for other reasons. One such reason is scrupulosity.

Scrupulosity is the tendency to see God and His holy will through the lens of legalism. “Legalism” is not just being faithful to the Law of God, because that is a good thing. Legalism is a misinterpretation of God’s Law by which one tends to put more emphasis upon themselves than upon God. A scrupulous person is preoccupied with themself. They tend to be far more concerned with sin than with God Himself. And though it’s vital to be concerned with sin, when fear of sinning becomes a form of obsession, then that obsession has the effect of clouding the pure will of God and leaves a person heavily burdened and unable to joyfully live out the authentic will of God.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was one saint who openly shared her struggles with scrupulosity in her autobiography. Of this struggle, which she referred to as “oversensitivity,” she said, “One would have to pass through this martyrdom to understand it well, and for me to express what I experienced for a year and a half would be impossible.” However, she eventually experienced what she called a “complete conversion” by which the heavy burden of oversensitivity was lifted. Though this oversensitivity oppressed her in various ways, one way it affected her was that she feared that even some of her random thoughts were mortal sins and that she would be condemned for them.

Though the leader of the synagogue was most likely not struggling with “oversensitivity” in the same way as Saint Thérèse, he was acting with an extreme scrupulosity which led him to be harshly judgmental and condemning of our Lord for His good deed done to this crippled woman.

Reflect, today, upon any tendency you may have with these heavy burdens. Do you worry in an irrational way about sin? Do you ever find yourself obsessing over decisions, worrying that you may make the wrong one? Do you think about yourself far more than you think about God and others? If so, you may also be carrying a similar heavy burden that our Lord wants to lift. Serving God and His holy will must become the deepest joy of our lives, not a heavy burden. If you find your Christian walk more of a burden, then turn your eyes away from yourself and look to the merciful God. Run to Him with the utmost confidence of a child, as Saint Thérèse eventually did, and allow yourself to love Him more authentically, freed of scrupulous and self-imposed burdens.

My merciful Lord, You desire to free me from all that burdens me. You desire that I turn to You with the confidence of a child. Please do free me, dear Lord, from any way that I impose burdens upon myself by my obsessions and irrational worries. May I always understand Your infinite love for me and always walk freely and joyfully in Your ways. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Monday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time - Luke 13:10-17

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord, in today’s psalm you remind me that you are a God who bears our burdens… who is our salvation. That’s why I come to you today in prayer. You know my burdens. You know how I long to experience the spiritual freedom that comes from your healing grace. All my trust is in you, my God; show me that path of salvation.

Encountering Christ:

The Harshness of Hypocrisy: Once again Jesus came face to face with the sin that seems to stir his anger the most: hypocrisy, putting on the appearance of having virtues that one in fact does not have. The synagogue leader was perfectly happy indirectly excoriating Jesus for healing (considered a form of work forbidden by the Sabbath laws) on the Sabbath, while at the same time contentedly caring for his livestock on the Sabbath. This shows hypocrisy because the virtue behind keeping the Sabbath is faith in an all-powerful and loving God (thus we can take one day a week for rest without fearing that our lives and livelihoods will unravel), not legalistic perfectionism. The synagogue leader claimed to know and love God, as evidenced by his minute observance of Sabbath laws, but he couldn’t see how Jesus healing this oppressed, crippled woman was a magnificent manifestation of God’s power and love, deserving of praise and rejoicing. Yet, the many other worshippers did see it, and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him. How often we fall into the same deadly harshness of hypocrisy! We are so focused on perfectionism, or the appearance of perfectionism, that we blind ourselves to the wonders the Lord is working all around us! For a clue to our own unconscious hypocrisy, all we need to do is reflect prayerfully on all the things we tend to complain about. What do those complaints tell us about ourselves? Are they healthy and balanced, or are they a bit too harsh, a bit too strident, a bit too turbulent, revealing our own attachments and petty self-righteousness?

King of Kings: The most obvious lesson in this Gospel passage may slip by unnoticed if we’re not careful. Jesus points out that this woman has been suffering from a debilitating physical ailment for eighteen years. He also points out that the origin of this ailment was demonic. We don’t get any more details, except to see that Jesus was able to completely cure her with a word and a touch. Jesus is the Lord of life and history. His Kingdom is the definitive, everlasting Kingdom. The powers of evil will not prevail over Christ and his Kingdom: …I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). This power of Christ, and his solemn promise, is the source of our hope. And our hope is the source of our spiritual energy as well as our joy. Whenever we feel that energy or that joy wane, we can be sure we have lost sight of the power of Christ and his promise. To keep up our hope and our spiritual energy, we need only to keep gazing at Christ and all his loving omnipotence.

The Unhealed: Many people are not healed of their maladies in this life. Many people suffer physical or psychological ailments for more than eighteen years, despite many prayers and sacrifices offered to the Lord. Why is this? Each case is unique because each person is unique. But one thing we know for sure: God hears all our prayers. If he doesn’t answer a petition the way we wanted, we can rest assured that his way of answering will be better. In other words, suffering is not in itself contrary to growth in holiness, to growth in faith and hope and love. Ever since Jesus himself redeemed us through the immense suffering of his Passion, this unavoidable reality has become one of God’s favorite channels of grace. St. Paul puts this beautifully in today’s first reading. He points out that we are God’s children, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:17). Whatever God permits in our lives, for as long as he permits, can be woven into the tapestry of his redemption and our salvation, fitting us for the glories of heaven and the joys of deeper communion with God.

Conversing with Christ: I believe in your goodness and your wisdom, Lord. And I want to stay humble enough to always see that goodness and wisdom at work in my life and in the world around me. Please save me from the harshness of hypocrisy. Please enlighten me so that my own sufferings and challenges never become an obstacle to growth in grace. I hope in you, Lord; help me to hope more firmly.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will keep a special eye on what I complain about and how often I complain, trying to see more clearly any incipient hypocrisy at work in my life.