Là một Người Do Thái ngoan đạo, Chúa Giêsu tôn trọng luật pháp của Do Thái. Tuy nhiên, Ngài cũng chỉ ra cho chúng ta thấy rõ những trường hợp ngoại lệ mà mà luật lệ của con người quá khắt khe hơn luật của Thiên Chúa. Luật ngày Sa-bát là được làm ra không có nghĩa để làm khổ con người, được lập ra cho có lệ vì lợi ích riêng của một nhóm người giàu có, có học và làm khổ những người khác vì nghèo đói hay ít học.
Trong trường hợp ngày hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu thấy sự cần thiết để cứu chữa một người đang sống trong đau khổ vì sự tàn tật, đau bệnh trên thân xác lẫn tâm hồn…. Sự cần thiết để cứu chữa này sẽ giúp cho anh ta mau chóng vượt thoát được cái sự đau khổ chắc chắn là còn cần thiết phải thực hiện hơn là chỉ ngôi yên mà giữ luật cho đúng cách.
Luật được tạo ra là để duy trì và giúp cho xã hội và nhân loại được tốt đẹp hơn có nghĩ là Luật pháp cần phải được thực hành một cách đúng với sự công chính và trong cách vô tư, nếu như chúng ta thực hành luật pháp đúng theo như mặt đạo đức đó, thì Luật pháp chắc chắn sẽ để đem lại lợi ích cho tất cả mọi người, se trong thế giới của chúng ta sẽ có một nền hoà bình vĩnh cửu. Vì thế tất cả các những việc làm và hành động của chúng ta phải được thực hiện trong tình yêu, trong sự ngay thẳng và nghiêm minh, chính trực.
Lạy Chúa, xin lấp đầy chúng con với tình yêu của Chúa và đừng để cho chúng con phải bao giờ từ bất bình, phê phán với người khác, nhưng luôn luôn khoan dung và rộng lượng với người khác.
As a devout Jew, Jesus respects the law. But, he also points out that there are exceptions to being too strict. The laws of the Sabbath were not meant to be followed for the sake of being followed. In today's instance, Jesus saw the need to cure the man with dropsy. The need to cure and help another outweighed the need to comply with the letter of the law.
Laws were created to maintain order. But love supersedes any law. If a greater good can be achieved from bending the law, then perhaps it should be done especially if doing so morally benefits others. All action should be done out of love
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees, and the people there were observing him carefully. Luke 14:1
Jesus accepted an invitation from this prominent Pharisee to dine at his house. The people at the dinner were “observing him carefully.” It’s somewhat easy to picture the scene. For most people, being invited to a dinner with many strangers who are observing them carefully may leave them feeling quite uncomfortable and self-conscious. But Jesus showed up with perfect confidence and an unwavering commitment to share the Gospel. One thing we can learn from this dinner and Jesus’ disposition at it is that uncomfortable situations are actually great opportunities to share your faith.
We will all have times when we are put in an uncomfortable situation. Imagine, for example, being invited to a party for a distant relative or a new neighbor. You decided to attend and knew that you would know very few people there. The tendency for those who are shy would be to show up, find someone they know, and then spend the rest of the time with that person. But consider what Jesus did. He probably knew very few people at this dinner. Jesus’ primary purpose in attending was not to just relax and have a fun time while He met new friends. Instead, His primary purpose was to preach His saving message to those in need. Thus, He went to those in need and did so with confidence.
Whether you are one who likes to socialize and meet new people, or are one who dreads such settings, consider the simple fact that these settings are wonderful opportunities to share your faith. Like our Lord, if you are willing to put yourself out there, entering situations that are new and unfamiliar, then you may start to discover that the opportunities abound. New settings and new people are new opportunities to evangelize. True, they are also opportunities to make new friends and enjoy yourself. But if you have a heart set on the desire to share the Gospel, then you will regularly look for new opportunities in which you can somehow share your faith with others.
Reflect, today, upon this simple Gospel scene of Jesus attending a dinner, with many people He did not know, for the purpose of sharing the faith with them. Imagine yourself joining our Lord at this meal. How would you have felt? Would you have been self-conscious and uncomfortable? Or would you have seen it as an opportunity to share the Gospel? Reflect upon how zealous you are in your efforts to evangelize others and recommit yourself to this holy endeavor. Tell our Lord you are ready and willing to be used by Him wherever He sends you and then try to see every new adventure and experience in life as a new opportunity to share Christ’s saving message with others.
My saving Lord, You desire that Your saving message be shared far and wide, to the ends of the earth. Please fill me with zeal for souls. Give me an unwavering desire to share the Gospel with everyone I meet. Please use me, dear Lord, in the way You desire, so that Your love and mercy will be brought to those in need. Jesus, I trust in You.
Encountering Christ:
The Lure of Money: This unusual passage is part of a chapter-long discourse concerning money which is unique to Luke’s Gospel. In tomorrow’s Gospel, we will hear how one cannot serve both God and money, and at the end of the chapter, we hear the poignant story of the rich man and Lazarus. In Luke 16:14, the center point of the chapter, we learn who Jesus had in mind during this discourse: “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him.” Of course, God created us all, and he knows exactly how each one of us feels about money, whether we have a lot or very little. Let’s pray with transparency about the treasures with which Our Lord has entrusted us, asking what he would have us do with them. He calls us to use our treasures prudently, to put them to good use here on earth so as to reap eternal dividends.
I Know What to Do: We are struck by the steward’s acute situational analysis. “What shall I do?... I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. [But] I know what I shall do…” We envy him for this ability to put his finger on the problem and choose a fitting solution. Our lives, on the other hand, can be filled with doubt, and sometimes with sin. We ask: “What shall I do, now that my sin has distanced me from God? I am not strong enough to stop sinning, and I am ashamed to beg for help. I don’t know what to do!” In this passage, the Lord encourages us to act and to act shrewdly. We are not to remain indecisive, but to step away from sin and act as a child of the light. Let us summon our strength–aided by grace–in order to right our ship and restore our friendship with God through the sacrament of Confession.
Right Stewardship: It is interesting to note the crisis which set the parable in motion: “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property.” Why would a prudent steward, one capable of “dealing with those of his own generation” and “finding welcome in their homes,” be so careless as to squander his master’s property? Perhaps he squandered his master’s property to make his own life easy and comfortable. Let us always remember that all that we have belongs to God. We are custodians of creation and of souls he has put in our care. If we are careless with his “property,” God one day will call us to account for our carelessness. But if we cherish and guard the things of God and the people he has put in our life, we are really cherishing and guarding our own happiness and security in Christ.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, grant me the grace of true prudence—the kind of prudence which seeks first the Kingdom of God. I know that you will give me everything else besides. Teach me to live as a child of the light.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will trust in you and the graces you wish to give me so that I can take up the habit of tithing.
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