Trong các thư của thánh Phaolô, ngài thường hay nói về đức tin, niềm hy vọng và tình yêu, nhưng đôi khi ngài chữ "kiên định, không lay chuyển" hay "kiên trì, lòng bền bỉ" thay vì "niềm hy vọng". Trong đoạn cuối của lá Thư Thứ Nhất gửi Timôthê, Thánh Phaolô đã kêu gọi, khuyên nhủ chúng ta là hãy nên "tìm kiếm sự vẹn toàn , lòng đạo đức, niềm tin, tình yêu thương, sự kiên định, và một tinh thần nhẹ nhàng." Sự bền bỉ, lòng kiên trì, sự trung thực, những chữ chúng ta dùng dù thật có chính xác, không mấy quan trọng, nhưng thái độ hay nhân đức thì mới là việc cần thiết để đạt được sự tới sống đời đời. Trong thư này, Thánh Phaolô còn nhắc nhở chúng ta về việc tuyên xưng đức tin của chúng ta, đức tin mà đã kêu gọi chúng ta đến với sự sống đời đời.
Trong bài Tin Mừng, Chúa Giêsu cảnh báo chúng ta về những sự nguy hiểm trong thế giới của chúng ta, đồng thời ngài cũng an ủi cho chúng ta với lời hứa rõ ràng: Nhưng kẻ nào kiên nhẫn đến cùng, kẻ ấy sẽ được cứu!" (Mt 24:13) chỗ nào có lời hứa của Thiên Chúa, thì chỗ đó cũng có ân sủng của Thiên Chúa. Những bài Thánh Vịnh cũng nhắc nhở chúng ta là: "không có một cách nào mà một người có thể cứu chuộc cho chính mình." Vì thế, hãy lắng nghe lời Chúa Giêsu nói với người do thái là : thật là khó cho những ai chỉ biết tin tưởng vào của cải và sự giàu có mà có thể vào được Nước Trời, vì thề đã khiến các môn đệ đã hỏi lại: "Vậy thì ai mới được cứu rỗi?"
As I noted in the reflection for September 2nd, Paul speaks of faith, hope and love, but sometimes he uses the word “constancy” or “perseverance” instead of “hope”. Towards the end of today’s passage from the First Letter to Timothy, we are urged to “seek after integrity, piety, faith, love, steadfastness, and a gentle spirit.”
Steadfastness, perseverance, constancy, fidelity — the exact word we use may not be so important, but the attitude or the virtue is necessary to attain to eternal life. The Letter reminds us of our profession of faith which has called us to everlasting life.
Jesus warned us of the many dangers facing us in the world but at the same time consoles us with a definite promise: “Those who stand firm will be saved.” (Mt 24:13) Where there is God’s promise, there is also God’s grace. The Psalmist reminds us that “in no way can a man redeem himself.” Then, too, listening to Jesus telling them how hard it is for those who trust only in riches to enter the kingdom of God, the disciples were driven to ask: “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus answered with a combined warning and a promise: “For mere humans this is impossible but for God everything is possible.” As Jesus rose from the dead, we know that salvation is not only possible: it is accessible because of God’s gift of Jesus as our Savior. The theological graces of faith, hope and love strengthen us to remain faithful unto death and so attain eternal life.
Father, grant us the grace to be faithful unto death.
Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities… Luke 8:1–2
Our Lord was on a mission. He traveled on foot from one town to another, “preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.” His message truly was “good news.” He healed the sick, cast out demons and, most importantly, He forgave sins. As a result, many began to follow Him. Not only did His followers consist of the Twelve whom Jesus personally called and who He would eventually send forth as His Apostles, but others followed Him also. Today’s Gospel also mentions three women by name: Mary of Magdala, Joanna and Susanna. These are but a few of the people who were deeply touched by our Lord, who in turn left all to follow Him.
The choice of these first followers to abandon all and follow Jesus invites us to examine the extent to which we have committed our lives to following Him also. Among the many people who heard Jesus preach, there were undoubtedly various responses. Some rejected Him, others were intrigued by Him, others believed in Him but were not willing to become His disciple, and some did commit themselves wholeheartedly to Jesus and His mission of proclaiming good news. For the latter, the good news they heard changed their lives.
What is your response to our Lord? One good way to properly answer this question is to examine the amount of time and energy you have committed to our Lord and His message of good news. How much time have you spent reading His holy Word, praying to Him, speaking about Him and learning the faith that He has taught? How much does His message affect the decisions you make in life? Being a Christian is not something we can compartmentalize. We cannot have our “faith time” a few moments of each week and then spend the rest of our time on other activities. True, our days will be filled with many activities that are simply normal parts of our lives. We all have duties and responsibilities that occupy much of our days. But being “all in,” so to speak, means that Jesus and His message permeates everything we do. Even our ordinary daily activities such as work, chores, and the like must be done for God’s glory and in accord with His divine will.
For Jesus’ first followers, though they traveled with Him from town to town and radically changed the course of their daily lives, they still would have engaged in many ordinary activities. But those ordinary activities were ultimately done so as to help them and others fulfill their ultimate mission of listening to and responding to the Word of God.
Reflect, today, upon the extent that you have consecrated every part of your life to our Lord and His mission. Doing so does not necessarily require that you become a public evangelist, spend all day at Church or the like. It simply means that Jesus and His mission are invited into everything you do every day all day. We can never serve our Lord fully enough. As you examine your daily activity, look for ways to bring our Lord into everything you do. Doing so will truly make you one of His faithful disciples who are all in with your life.
My divine Lord, You are on a mission to save souls and to build up Your glorious Kingdom. I thank You for inviting me to not only become transformed by Your holy Word but to help spread that Word to others. My life is Yours, dear Lord. Please enter into every part of my daily life and use me for Your glory. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. The Women who Accompanied Jesus: Jesus continued to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to the towns and villages of Galilee. Jesus was accompanied not only by the Twelve Apostles but also by several women. The Gospels tell us several things about these women. First, they were cured by Jesus of both evil spirits and infirmities. The natural leader of the group, Mary Magdalene, was cured of seven demons. Second, the women provided for Jesus and his Apostles out of their resources. The city of Magdala, for example, was an affluent city because of the fish trade there and Mary Magdalene was wealthy. Third, the women followed Jesus and ministered to him. Like the Apostles, they responded to Jesus’ call: “Follow me.” They listened to Jesus’ teaching and put it into practice. They expressed their love through service. Fourth, they came up with Jesus to Jerusalem. Going up to Jerusalem means more than just a physical journey. It is a spiritual journey that leads to the Cross and the Resurrection. It means preparing yourself to die with Jesus. It means walking alongside Jesus and walking in the light.
2. More about the Women: Fifth, the women were brave enough to approach Jesus as he carried the Cross. They did not abandon Jesus in the hour of his Passion (Benedict XVI, February 14, 2007). As he carried the cross, Jesus told the women not to weep for him, but for themselves and their children. Jesus made all things new through his passion and obedient sacrifice. This is not a cause for sadness but for joy (Saint Athanasius, Festal Letter 9). Sixth, the women who followed Jesus contemplated the mystery of the Cross both from afar (Matthew 27:55) and at the foot of the Cross (John 19:25). Of the Apostles, only John we are told stood by the cross of Jesus. The women, on the other hand, are with Jesus at the Cross: Mary, the Mother of Jesus; Mary, the wife of Clopas; and Mary Magdalene. Seventh, the women saw where Jesus was laid and prepared spices to anoint Jesus' Body after the Sabbath rest. Several women hurried to the tomb on the morning of the third day. They are celebrated in the East as the “myrrh-bearers”: Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha of Bethany, Joanna, Salome, Susanna, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary the Mother of James and Joseph. They did not find Jesus’ Body but rather encountered the angel who announced the Good News to them that Jesus had risen! Mary Magdalene became an “Apostle to the Apostles” and announced the Lord’s Resurrection to the Apostles in the Upper Room. “Just as a woman announced the words of death to the first man, so also a woman was the first to announce to the Apostles the words of life” (Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Gospel of John, 2519).
3. Paul’s Understanding of the Resurrection: The great mystery of the Resurrection is at the center of the passage we read from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. He had to correct the error of those who believed that Christ rose from the dead, but that there is no resurrection of the dead for anyone else. For Paul, the two truths go together. If Christ did not rise from the dead, not only would the apostolic witness be empty, but the faith of Christians would be in vain. Furthermore, if Christ did not rise from the dead, then we would still be in our sin. The Resurrection of Jesus means that when we die, the body decays, but the soul goes to meet God and awaits its reunion with its body at the final Resurrection. “God, in his almighty power, will definitively grant incorruptible life to our bodies by reuniting them with our souls, through the power of Jesus’ Resurrection” (CCC, 997). All of the dead will rise, “those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment” (John 5:29). How our bodies will rise on the last day exceeds our imagination and understanding. But our participation in the Eucharist already gives us a foretaste of Christ’s transfiguration of our bodies. As Saint Irenaeus writes, “Just as bread that comes down from the earth, after God’s blessing has been invoked upon it, is no longer ordinary bread, but Eucharist, formed of two things, the one earthly and the other heavenly: so too our bodies, which partake of the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, but possess the hope of the resurrection” (Irenaeus, Against the Heretics, 4, 18, 4-5; CCC, 1000).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, as I contemplate the group of your followers and the mystery of your Resurrection, I am filled with hope. I know that you can welcome me, purify me, and strengthen me to work for your Kingdom. You are the Resurrection and the Life!
Opening Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to your will. Make me courageous in proclaiming my faith and generous in sharing my resources.
Journeying with Christ: What an amazing time in salvation history was unfolding! The Son of God, who came “eating and drinking” (Matthew 11:19) going from town to town, preaching, sharing meals with the people he met, joyously proclaiming the good news! Not only the chosen apostles accompanied him. Grateful women who had experienced his healing accompanied him on this joyous journey. We can only imagine the excitement as people in the towns and villages gathered to hear the good news or the wonder of the Twelve as they came to a deeper awareness of who Jesus is. We too feel the wonder and excitement of knowing Jesus as we draw nearer to him on our own journey through prayer and the sacraments.
Trong bài đọc thứ Nhất hôm nay, Thánh Phaolô đã dạy dỗ và nhắn nhủ cho thánh Timôthê là nên cố tránh những sự cám dỗ vật chất và việc sử dụng tôn giáo như là "một phương tiện để đạt những sinh lợi riêng tư," nhưng phải biết sống trong "công lý, đức tin, sự tận tâm, yêu thương, sự kiên nhẫn và dịu dàng."
St. Paul is wrapping up his letter to Timothy by advising him to avoid the temptation of material things and using religion as "a means of gain," but instead "pursue righteousness, devotion faith, love, patience, and gentleness." The women who follow Jesus in today's Gospel passage illustrate this advice from St. Paul. They were devoted, faithful and "provided for Jesus and the Twelve out of their resources." We can read between the lines that they journeyed in love for Christ through towns and villages, obviously with patience and likely with gentleness to those they met. It is a pleasant surprise that Jesus not only welcomed women but also placed them in the forefront of proclaiming the Good News to all. Women have been instrumental in gaining converts for the early Christian Church, have suffered just as much as men as martyrs, and have been just as responsive to religious vocation.
We have all these to thank in Jesus who accepted women as equals among men in His mystical Body, the Church. But as women have struggled probably much harder than men throughout history to demonstrate their equal potential, let us pray that the Church will not only sustain but also continue to find ways to improve the role of women in our Christian communities.
“The love of money is the root of all evils.” This famous phrase from our reading today is often shortened, incorrectly, to “money is the root of all evil”, which then becomes, “money is evil.” Then people begin to wonder, if money is so evil, why is the Church always asking us for some, and this sort of line of thinking is considered to witty. Then people decide that the Bible says nice things which are terribly impractical and can simply be ignored. Bad exegesis has bad consequences.
Money of course does not refer strictly to coins or dollar bills. Money is time. Money is power. Money is wealth. Money is comfort. Money is respect. Money is simply how we keep track of invisible concepts. No one wants money. People want stuff that can be bought with money. People want more money than their neighbors. People want other people to do what they say. If you had a genie’s lamp with unlimited wishes, it would be foolish to wish for money; just wish for all the things you would use the money for. So the love of money does not refer to the love of money but the love of the world and what the world has to offer, the love of everything that can be bought and sold.
If we return to what St. Paul actually wrote, rather than the corruption of what he wrote, we can learn that the Bible is filled with practical wisdom which we would do well to listen more carefully to. The root of all evils is not necessarily evil. Paul is not saying that evil always springs up wherever money is found, but that, wherever evil is found, love of money can always be found at the root.
This is simple logic. All trees are plants, but not all plants are trees. All evil is rooted in the love of money, but not every desire for money leads to evil. If you desire money in order to feed your family and put a roof over their heads, this is not evil. If you desire money in order to build a good business, this is not evil. Love of money is simply part of being a member of society, but watch out! Love of money, even for good purposes, can lead to evil. How can we avoid evil then? Love something else more than money. Love money for what it can do, but love other people more and God the most.
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