Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần thứ Ba Mùa Chay.
Qua bài tin mừng chúng ta thấy Chúa Giêsu đã
không ngần ngại quở trách lòng
chai đá, tội lỗi cũng như sự thờ ơ và vô tín của người Do Thái, trong khi người Do Thái xúc
phạm đến Chúa nơi
quê Ngài, vì họ đã mù quáng
không nhìn thấy lòng thương xót của Thiên Chúa và
kế hoạch cứu chuộc cho tất cả mọi
dân tộc.
Lời cảnh báo
và sự phán đoán của Chúa Giêsu đã làm cho dân Do Thái gây ra sự thù địch với Ngài.
Chúa Giêsu ban ơn chữa lành và tha thứ cho tất cả những người khiêm
tốn biết xin lòng thương xót của Ngài và
giúp đỡ, Chúa sẵn sàng giải phóng
chúng ta mọi thói quen tội lỗi và mọi
cách có hại liên quan đến người chung
quanh của chúng ta, nếu chúng ta cho phép Chúa tẩy rửa và chữa lành
chúng ta. Nếu chúng ta muốn đồng hành và theo sát trong
sự tự do và phát
triển trong tình
yêu và sự thánh thiện, thì chúng ta
phải biết khiêm tốn, phải từ bỏ con đường tội lỗi của chúng ta và sống the sự hướng dẫn của Chúa Kitô.
"Lạy Chúa Giêsu, xin dạy
chúng con biết nhanh chóng
từ bỏ tội lỗi và những thú vui
tội lỗi trong cuộc sống của chúng con hoàn toàn và biết sống làm
theo ý muốn của Chúa."
Reflection Monday third week of Lent Gospel Reading: Luke 4:24-30
When Jesus proclaimed the good news of God's kingdom to his own
people, he did not hesitate to confront them with their sin of indifference and
unbelief. He startled his listeners in the synagogue at Nazareth with a seeming
rebuke that no prophet or servant of God can receive honor among his own
people. He then angered them when he complimented the Gentiles who seemed to
have shown more faith in God than the "chosen ones" of Israel. The Jews regarded the unbelieving Gentiles
as "fuel for the fires of hell." Jesus' praise for
"outsiders" offended the ears of his own people because they were
blind-sighted to God's mercy and plan of redemption for all nations. The
word of warning and judgment spoken by Jesus was met with hostility by his own
people. They forcibly threw him out of the town and would have done him harm
had he not stopped them.
The
Lord Jesus offers healing and pardon to all who humbly ask for his mercy and
help. He will set us free from every sinful habit and every harmful way of
relating to our neighbor, if we allow him to cleanse and heal us. If we want to
walk in freedom and grow in love and holiness, then we must humbly renounce our
sinful ways and submit to Christ's instruction and healing for our lives.
Scripture tells us that the Lord disciplines us for our good that we may
share his holiness (Hebrews 12:10). Do you want the Lord Jesus to set you
free from every sinful pattern and to make you whole and well again? Ask him to
show you the way to walk in his love and truth.
"Lord
Jesus, teach me to love your ways that I may be quick to renounce sin and
wilfulness in my life. Make me whole and clean again that I may I delight to do
your will."
Monday of the Third Week of Lent
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and
led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him
down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away. Luke 4:28–30
One of the first places Jesus went to begin
His public ministry was His own home town. After entering the Synagogue and
reading from the Prophet Isaiah, Jesus proclaimed that the prophecy of Isaiah
was now fulfilled in His very person. This caused His townspeople to be
outraged at Him, thinking He was blaspheming. So they shockingly sought to
immediately kill Jesus by driving Him out of their town to the brow of a hill
off which they meant to throw Him. But then something fascinating happened.
Jesus “passed through the midst of them and went away.”
The Father eventually permitted the grave evil
of the death of His Son to take place, but only in His time. It’s unclear from
this passage how Jesus was able to avoid being killed right then at the
beginning of His ministry, but what’s important to know is that He was able to
avoid this because it was not His time. The Father had more for Jesus to do
before He would permit Him to offer His life freely for the salvation of the
world.
This same reality is true for our own lives.
God does permit evil to happen, at times, because of the irrevocable gift of
free will. When people choose evil, God will allow them to proceed—but always
with a caveat. The caveat is that God only permits evil to be inflicted upon
others when that evil is able to be ultimately used for God’s glory and for
some form of good. And it is only permitted in God’s time. If we do evil
ourselves, choosing sin rather than the will of God, then the evil that we do
will end in our own loss of grace. But when we are faithful to God and some
external evil is imposed upon us by another, God permits this only when that
evil can be redeemed and used for His glory.
The best example of this is, of course, the
passion and death of Jesus. A far greater good came forth from that event than
the evil itself. But it was only permitted by God when the time was right, in
accord with God’s will.
Reflect, today, upon the glorious fact that
any evil or any suffering inflicted upon you unjustly can end in the glory of
God and the greater salvation of souls. No matter what you may suffer in life,
if God permits it, then it is always possible for that suffering to share in
the redeeming power of the Cross. Consider any suffering you have endured and
embrace it freely, knowing that if God permitted it, then He certainly has some
greater purpose in mind. Surrender that suffering over with the utmost confidence
and trust and allow God to do glorious things through it.
God of all wisdom, I know that You know all
things and that all things can be used for Your glory and for the salvation of
my soul. Help me to trust You, especially when I endure suffering in life. May
I never despair when treated unjustly and may my hope always be in You and in
Your power to redeem all things. Jesus, I trust in You
Monday third week of Lent
Opening Prayer: Lord
God, you are able to cleanse me and wash me clean. You are all-powerful and
offer me the wondrous gift of forgiveness. Bestow your merciful love upon me
and teach me to be merciful towards my brothers and sisters.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Healing of Naaman the Syrian: Naaman’s
cleansing in the Jordan River foreshadows the great mystery of the Apostles
being sent out by Jesus to baptize the Gentiles. All nations are called to
gather into God’s family, not through the circumcision of the flesh, but
through faith in the one, true God and through the sacrament of Baptism. When
Naaman is given instructions to wash in the Jordan River seven times, he
displays his ignorance of the importance of the Jordan River and its place in
salvation history. It was the river the people of Israel crossed over into the
promised land of Canaan (Joshua 3:17), ending their 40-year exodus in the
desert. It was the river that Elisha struck with the prophet Elijah’s cloak (1
Kings 2:13-14). It will be the river of John the Baptist’s ministry and where
Jesus is proclaimed the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John
1:28-29). We learn from this that God’s action in history and in the Sacraments
is both simple and profound. In the New Covenant, the simple action of
immersion in and cleansing with water is now elevated to the Sacrament of
Baptism, by which we are purified from the stain of original sin and made sons
and daughters of God.
2. The Spread of Salvation to All Nations: Today’s
psalm is taken from Book Two of Psalms and refers to the time of the fall of
the Kingdom of David and the taking of Israel into exile. The Psalmist longs
for God’s dwelling place and his soul thirsts for God. Psalm 42 is connected
especially with the First Reading as it mentions the sources of the Jordan
River: “My soul is cast down within me, therefore I remember you from the land
of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar” (Psalm 42:6). The psalmist looks forward
to the day when he can once again approach God’s altar and praise him as his
Savior and Lord. That day will ultimately come with Jesus’ passion, death, and
resurrection, when all nations will worship God in Spirit and truth. Through
the preaching and extension of the Kingdom of God, salvation reaches the ends
of the earth.
3.
Jesus’ Preaching in Nazareth: The people of Nazareth react
in two very different ways to Jesus’ announcement of salvation. Jesus has just
read the passage from Isaiah that foretells redemption, healing, and grace from
the Lord (Isaiah 61:1-2). At first, the people of Nazareth spoke well of Jesus
and were content as they pondered his words of wisdom. This benevolence changes
quickly when Jesus implies that the Jews have rejected him just as they
rejected the prophets. Jesus does this by alluding to two prophets who were
instruments of God’s power for Gentiles. The prophet Elijah provided the
Gentile widow of Sidon with food during a famine. Elijah’s successor, Elisha,
sent Naaman the Syrian, another Gentile, to the Jordan to be cleansed of his
leprosy. The Judeans of Nazareth were pleased with Jesus’
message of salvation and divine favor but became indignant when this salvation
and favor was extended to the Gentiles. During his public ministry, Jesus will
seek out the lost tribes of Israel and preach the Gospel of God in Galilee and
Jerusalem. He will cast out demons, heal the sick, feed the hungry, and forgive
sins. After his passion and resurrection, he will send out his disciples to all
nations.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus,
you have washed me in the waters of Baptism and cleansed my soul from sin. At
Nazareth, you inaugurated the Great Jubilee Year of Mercy. Be merciful to me,
release me from the bondage of sin, and guide me as I live the freedom of the
children of God.
Living the Word of God: The
communion antiphon today invites all nations to praise God for his mercy and
love: “O praise the Lord, all you nations, for his merciful love towards us is
great.” Contemplate how God has been merciful to you. How can I rejoice in
God’s mercy today? How can I thank and praise God for his mercy?
Monday third week of Lent
Opening Prayer: Jesus, you ask me to love my enemies and pray for people who
persecute me (cf. Matthew 5:44). This is not an easy commandment. Help me to
truly love and pray for anyone in my life that has caused me harm.
Encountering Christ:
Fickle Crowds: Just before this in the Gospel passage,
Jesus had proclaimed himself the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, the
“anointed bearer of glad tidings” (Isaiah 61:1-3). They “all spoke highly of
him” (Luke 4:22). So why then, just minutes later, did they seek to murder him
by throwing him off of a cliff? This seems to foreshadow Holy Week when the
crowds in Jerusalem greeted him with praise, “Hosanna to the Son of David;
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest”
(Matthew 21:9), but then only days later called out, “Let him be crucified!”
(Matthew 27:23).
Lack of Faith: The people were angry because Jesus
condemned the lack of faith that he found in his hometown. He commented that
Gentiles–the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian–were the recipients of
God’s blessings and healings, not the Hebrew widows or lepers. This is what
filled the crowd that day with fury; they were insulted and scandalized.
However, one might wonder if they were also ashamed of their own lack of faith.
Christ Loves Our Enemies: Jesus repeatedly calls for us to love
our enemies: “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you” (Luke 6:27). The people of Nazareth could not imagine God
blessing and healing their enemies over themselves. The thought of it drove
them to attack Jesus and try to kill him. We can ask ourselves if there is
anyone in our life that we consider an enemy. Can we imagine Jesus loving and
caring for that person? How does it feel to imagine the person being loved by
Christ? When we pray for our enemies steadily over time, our hearts will soften
because we become more and more like Christ.
Conversing with Christ: Loving our enemies is difficult. It stirs up
many different emotions: anger, resentment, fear, and pride. Lord, grant me the
desire to want my enemies to be loved by you. Grant me the grace to love the
people that upset or annoy me. Grant me the courage and love to pray for anyone
who has hurt me or sinned against me.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray for one person whom
I find difficult to love.
REFLECTION
on 2 Kings 5:1-15
The miraculous healing of Naaman would not have taken place
if not for the people who were involved leading to it. These include the
Israelite servant girl, Naaman's wife, Naaman’s master, the king of Syria, the
king of Israel, Naaman’s servants and the prophet Elisha. Each had a role to
play.
Of these, two particularly stand out because, although they
played a very significant role, in the eyes of the world, they were
insignificant people. These are the Israelite servant girl who first mentioned
the prophet Elisha to her master’s wife, and Naaman’s servants, who appealed to
Naaman to do as the prophet advised. '
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