Suy Niện Tin Mừng thứ Bẩy 16 Thường Niên

Suy Niện Tin Mừng thứ Bẩy 16 Thường Niên
            Sự kiên nhẫn của Thiên Chúa là lời mời gọi dịu dàng mà Ngài lặp đi lặp lại trong lòng mọi người, lời mời gọi đó là sự biến đổi tâm hồn và cách sống của mình Ngài uốn chúng hãy biến đổi cho Ngài và cho người khác. Đó là sự kiên nhẫn của người bạn đang ở bên cạnh chúng ta, không phải chỉ là sự chờ đợi mà còn nhẹ nhàng mời gọi chúng ta biến đổi và hoán cải. Thiên Chúa có thời gian cho con người. Ngài không vội vàng và Chúa biết rằng mọi người rất cần nhiều thời giờ để vượt qua những niềm tự hào riêng của mình hay vượt qua cái tự cao của họ, bởi vì con ngưòi chúng ta không hạ mình, khiêm tốn trước người khác và dễ tha thứ, và  rất khó cho chúng ta để có thể bỏ qua cáo lỗi của người khác.
            Thiên Chúa luôn sẵn sàng chờ đợi và ban cho chúng ta những dấu hiệu kín đáo là Ngài đang ở đó. Lời chia sẻ của một người bạn, một sự đau buồn đột ngột, sự hiếu khách của một gia đình có thể đó là dấu hiệu cho thấy Thiên Chúa đang chờ đợi chúng ta. Để cho cơ hội để ăn năn, trở lại với Ngài, Đó là biểu hiện to lớn nhất của quyền năng Thiên Chúa.
            Nhiều người trong chúng ta thiếu sự kiên nhẫn này. Chúng ta bị kích thích hay cám dỗ bởi sự ích kỷ và lòng tham lam của nhiều người. Với nhiều hình thức ngoại tình, bất công và tham nhũng là nguồn gốc liên tục của những vụ xì căng đan và đau đớn cho những người biết rằng ý định của Đức Chúa Trời đối với mọi người khác nhau và đẹp hơn. Và Chúa Giêsu nói trong dụ ngôn: "Hãy để cho cả hai cho đến mùa màng, còn quá sớm để phán xét, hãy tin tưởng, phán đoán sẽ đến, nhưng hãy để tôi làm điều đó, tôi kiên nhẫn với bạn và với mọi người."
 
REFLECTION
God's patience is that gentle invitation which he repeats again and again in the hearts of people, the invitation to be converted to him and to other people. It is the patience of the friend by your side, not merely passively waiting but gently inviting to conversion. God has time for people. He is not in a hurry. God knows that people
need much time to get over their pride or self-sufficiency that it is not simple for them to forgive, that it is hard for them to overlook the faults of others.
            God waits and gives them discreet signs that he is there. The word of a friend, a sudden grief, hospitality offered by a family can be signs that God is waiting for us. To give the opportunity to repent, to return to him, is the greatest expression of God's power.
            Many of us lack this patience. We are irritated by the selfishness and the greed of many. The many forms of infidelity, injustice and corruption are a continuous source of scandal and anguish for those who know that God's intentions regarding people are different and more beautiful. And yet Jesus says in the parable: "Let both grow until the harvest. It is too early to judge. Keep trusting. The judgment will come. But leave it to me. I am patient with you and with everyone."
 
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time 2023
Jesus proposed a parable to the crowds. “The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off.” Matthew 13:24–25
This parable begins in a very good way. It states that good seed was sown. In other words, the pure Gospel was preached into good soil. This should be understood as any situation where the preacher is truly effective and where the Gospel reaches many ears and is planted in many hearts. This is worth rejoicing over. But this parable quickly points out that those responsible for guarding the good soil in which the Word of God was planted, failed in their duty to protect it. As a result, the “enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat.” In other words, the evil one also had sown his lies into the hearts of those who heard the Word of God, and those lies took root and began to grow.
This is a clear description of the world we live in today. First, it’s a description of the hearts of many Christians who have heard the Word of God and have responded, only to also struggle with doubts, confusions and lies sown by the evil one. But it is also a clear description of the world as a whole and even of the Church on earth. There are many divisions within societies and even within the Church. There are many competing voices. And among those whose hearts are good soil, it can be hard to distinguish between that which is from God and that which is a subtle deception from the evil one.
The weed referred to in this parable is called cockle. Cockle was a weed that, as it grew, looked much like wheat. It was very difficult to distinguish from wheat until the grain began to appear. But when the grain did begin to appear, it was clearly distinguishable. And if the cockle were to accidentally be ground in with the wheat, it would cause nausea when eaten.
The parable is quite clear. The lies that the evil one sows in the hearts of the faithful, those with fertile hearts, are very subtle, especially at first. It is easy for those subtle lies to confuse us. The evil one rarely succeeds in misleading the faithful through grave and obvious errors. Therefore, he deceives with small errors. As a result, the error is often not understood until much later as the fruit is born. The result is division, confusion, conflict and the like—conflict within our own souls, within our world and even within our Church.
What is the solution? Vigilance. We, as followers of Christ, must be exceptionally vigilant in regard to that which we allow our hearts to receive. Just because something sounds good at first doesn’t make it good. This is why we have the Scripture, the Magisterium of the Church and the teachings of the saints. We must constantly examine all that we allow into our hearts, our families, our world and our churches in the light of the pure and consistent teachings of our faith. And when we see divisions, this is a clear sign of some subtle error that has crept in. In the end, at the harvest time, when we all face Christ our Lord at our judgments, He will separate the good from the bad. But for our part, vigilance is essential so that only the pure seed of God’s Word is received by us and sown by us.
Reflect, today, on your own soul as fertile ground. What “seed” is sown there? What do you allow to penetrate your heart and take root? Are you vigilant, remaining attentive to the ways that the evil one tries to mislead you through subtle lies and errors? Ponder these questions honestly, and if you find conflict and confusion in your life, look more deeply at the source of these troubles. If there are lies that you have allowed into your own life, then turn them over to our Lord so that He can remove them at the proper time.
Most holy Word of God, You are the living Word who sows seed upon the fertile ground of our Hearts. You plant Yourself in the hearts of those who believe so that Your life can bear good fruit in the faithful. Please sow the seed of Your Word in my own heart, dear Lord, and protect me from the deceptions of the evil one. As You do, I pray that You bring forth an abundance of good fruit through me. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Saturday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I do not want to meet the fate of the weeds in the Gospel. Rather, I want to be gathered like wheat into your heavenly barn. I am your child and I will heed your Word and obey your commandments.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Parable of the Weeds: Jesus has faced resistance and uses parables to both hide and reveal the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. His parables hide the mystery from the prideful and reveal it to the humble. The Kingdom of Heaven, of which the Church is the beginning, has both wheat and weeds, saints and sinners. The owner of the field, God the Father, knows that an enemy sowed the weeds. He mysteriously permits the enemy to sow the weeds. The weeds are probably darnel, “a slightly poisonous plant resembling wheat in the early stages of growth. Only when it fully matures can it be distinguished and separated from wheat” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 31). It is difficult for us to accept that God permits evil to grow in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the world and in the Kingdom, it is hard to tell who’s who. We struggle to know who is truly righteous and who only gives the appearance of being righteous but is truly unrighteous. The parable itself emphasizes the need for patient waiting; its explanation, which we will hear on Tuesday, focuses on the demonic genesis and terrible end of the wicked (see Leiva-Merikakis, Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word, vol. 2, 270).
2. The Work of the Enemy: The parable first teaches us about the goodness of God. God created a good world and sows good seed. God is not the cause of evil. God’s plan is to engender us as his children through the redemptive work of his Son. In response to God’s good work, the Devil tries to thwart this eternal plan by bringing sin into the world. “When God’s plan to bestow life finally takes the form of his coming in the vulnerable person of his Son, the Devil’s strategy consists in his sowing the seeds of hatred of the light” (Leiva-Merikakis, Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word, vol. 2, 270). The Devil cannot attack God directly and so he tries to wound God through what God most loves: his Incarnate Son and the human race, called to become his children through his only-begotten Son (see Leiva-Merikakis, Fire of Mercy Heart of the Word, vol. 2, 270). The Devil can only find an entry into God’s field, the world, when God’s creatures are sleeping and fail to keep watch. Just as Adam failed to protect the garden from the ancient serpent, we can fail to protect the field we have been entrusted with. 
3. Jeremiah’s Temple Sermon: The First Reading is taken from the first section of Jeremiah’s “Temple sermon” given in 609 B.C. He warns the people that their worship in the Temple will not save them from the Babylonians if they continue to abuse the poor and vulnerable of society, violate the Ten Commandments, and worship other gods (see Bergsma and Pitre, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament, 788).“The prophet urges the sinful people of Judah to realign their lives with the covenant or they will be cast forth into exile (Jeremiah 7:15) and the Temple will become a ‘desolation’ (22:5). In particular, he debunks the popular belief that the presence of the Lord’s Temple guarantees the city’s protection from conquest (7:4). Proof that this belief is naïve and unfounded is the former destruction of God’s sanctuary at Shiloh (7:12)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 31). Jeremiah launches into a lament and dialogue with God. He expresses his grief and articulates God’s sorrow for being compelled to punish his people (Jeremiah 8:18-9:3).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, like Jeremiah, you denounced the sins of the people in your Father’s House. At times I act like a wayward child and need to be corrected and disciplined. I need to hear your words and be called out so that I can be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Living the Word of God: How am I defending the garden paradise and field of my heart? Have I let my guard down and let the enemy in to tempt me? How can I do a better job defending the spiritual health of my family? How can I best prepare them for spiritual battle?