Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Sau Tuần 2 Mùa Chay

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Sau Tuần 2 Mùa Chay
            Qua Bài dụ ngôn hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu cho chúng ta biết về sự tha thứ của Thiên Chúa, như Người cha nhân từ mong mỏi chờ đợi người con hư đốn trở về.. Thiên Chúa như người cha già đã vui mừng khi thấy ngưòi con đã trở về từ đằng xa. Khi người con đến, ông đã tha thứ cho anh ta mà không một có lời trách cứ. Đó là cách mà Thiên Chúa đã tha thứ cho chúng ta.
            Sự trở về của người con hoang đàng không phải là sự kết thúc của câu chuyện. Còn người anh trai nữa, Anh đã thực sự không hài lòng khi biết rằng người em của mình đã trở về và được người cha tiếp đón tiệc đãi linh đình. Người Anh này đại diện cho những người Pharisêu tự mãn, những người chỉ muốn thấy những tội nhân phải được tiêu diệt hơn là tha thứ và được cứu rỗi. Thái độ của anh ta cho thấy rằng những năm anh ta đã vâng phục cha mình, là những năm anh làm nhiệm vụ của mình trong sự  khắc nghiệt chứ không phải là sự phục vụ trong yêu thương. Thái độ của anh ta là một trong những thái độ thiếu sự thông cảm hoàn toàn, khi anh ta từ chối người Cha đến với bữa tiệc mừng người em trở về.
            Tiên tri Micah đã viết về tình yêu trung tín của Thiên Chúa và chúng ta không thể đứng trước mặt Thiên Chúa mà nói rằng chúng ta công chính; Thiên Chúa mới là Đấng từ bi và nhân hậu.
            Lạy Chúa, cho chúng con thấy được tình yêu trung tín của Chúa và xin thương xót chúng con mãi mãi.
 
 
Saturday 2^nd week of Lent
Today’s Gospel should never have been called the parable of the Prodigal Son, for the son is not the hero. It should be called the parable of the Loving Father, for it tells us rather about a father’s love than a son’s sin.
            It tells us much about the forgiveness of God. The father must have been waiting and watching for the son to come home, for he saw him a long way off. When he came, he forgave him with no recriminations. There is a way of forgiving, when forgiveness is conferred as a favour, but that is not the forgiveness which Jesus speaks about.   The Prodigal’s return is not the end of the story. There enters the elder brother who was actually sorry that his brother had come home. He stands for the self-righteous Pharisees who would rather see a sinner destroyed than saved. His attitude shows that his years of obedience to his father had been years of grim duty and not of loving service. His attitude is one of utter lack of sympathy, but the Father includes him in the feast.
            Prophet Micah and psalmist write about the faithful love of God. We cannot stand before God saying we are righteous; it is God who is compassionate and merciful. Lord, show us your faithful love and have mercy on us for ever.
 
Saturday of the Second Week of Lent
“Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.” Luke 15:22–24
This was the reaction of the faithful son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Recall that after squandering his inheritance, the Prodigal Son returns home humiliated and poor, asking his father if he will take him back and treat him as if he were a hired hand. But the father surprises him and throws a huge party for the son to celebrate his return. But the father’s other son, the one who remained with him throughout the years, would not join in the celebration.
Was it fair that the father killed the fatted calf and threw this large party to celebrate his wayward son’s return? Was it fair that that same father apparently never even gave his faithful son a young goat to feast on with his friends? The right answer is that this is the wrong question. It’s easy for us to live in such a way that we always want things to be “fair.” And when we perceive that another receives more than us, we can get angry and bitter. But asking whether or not this is fair is not the right question. When it comes to the mercy of God, God’s generosity and goodness far exceed what is perceived as fair. And if we are to share in the abundant mercy of God, we too must learn to rejoice in His superabundant mercy.
In this story, the act of mercy given to his wayward son was exactly what that son needed. He needed to know that no matter what he had done in the past, his father loved him and rejoiced in his return. Therefore, this son needed an abundance of mercy partly to reassure him of his father’s love. He needed this extra consolation so as to become convinced that he made the right choice in returning.
The other son, the one who had remained faithful throughout the years, was not treated unfairly. Rather, his discontent came from the fact that he himself lacked the same abundant mercy present in the heart of his father. He failed to love his brother to the same extent and, therefore, failed to see the need to offer this consolation to his brother as a way of helping him understand he was forgiven and welcomed back. Mercy is very demanding and far exceeds what we may at first perceive as rational and just. But if we desire to receive mercy in abundance, we must be ready and willing to offer it to those who need it the most.
Reflect, today, upon how merciful and generous you are willing to be, especially toward those who do not appear to deserve it. Remind yourself that the life of grace is not about being fair; it’s about being generous to a shocking extent. Commit yourself to this depth of generosity toward all and look for ways that you can console another’s heart with the mercy of God. If you do, that generous love will also bless your heart in abundance.
My most generous Lord, You are compassionate beyond what I can fathom. Your mercy and goodness far exceed what any of us deserve. Help me to be eternally grateful for Your goodness and help me to offer that same depth of mercy to those in most need. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Saturday 2^nd week of Lent 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are my merciful Father, always ready to embrace me when I return home. Comfort me in your arms and wipe my tears away. Do not let me forget how good it is to be in your house.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Title of the Parable: The traditional title of the parable, “The Parable of the Prodigal Son,” tends to focus our attention on the sins and repentance of the younger son. And who of us this Lent doesn’t need to hear that lesson and repent and go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Unfortunately, this focus can make us miss other important lessons about the older son. In fact, Jesus addresses the parable not just to the tax collectors and public sinners drawing near to him but also and especially to the Pharisees and scribes who complain about Jesus welcoming sinners and eating meals with them. Eating a meal in this context symbolizes entering into a covenant relationship and familial relationship with Jesus. In the parable, then, Jesus is like the father who welcomes back his wayward son. The tax collectors and sinners are like the prodigal son who returns to the father’s house and confesses his sin. The pharisees and scribes are like the older son, who remained in the father’s house but refused to welcome back his brother.
2. How God Welcomes Back His Children: When the prodigal son returns to his father’s house, he feels that he has forever lost his status as a son: “I no longer deserve to be called your son.” He asked to be treated as a servant in the house and not as a son. But when God welcomes us back, he does not reduce us to slaves in his household. No, he restores us to divine sonship: “this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.” This restoration to sonship happens often in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We enter the Sacrament as wayward children, humbled by our weakness and sin, and leave restored as royal children of God and heirs of the Kingdom. 
3. How the Older Brother Refuses to Welcome Back His Brother: The Pharisees mistakenly think that they are like God and can judge those around them. Instead of seeing themselves as sinners in need of forgiveness, they see themselves as the “separated ones,” the righteous and healthy ones who have no need of a physician. They are blind to their sin and also to their need for repentance. The parable doesn’t tell us about the eventual meeting between the two sons or how the older son reacted to the request of his father. This means that each one of us has to decide how we will welcome back our wayward brothers and sisters. Will we stay outside the feast prepared by the Father, or will we go inside and embrace our brother who has returned? 
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, your parables continue to speak to me and reveal the mysteries of God and the Kingdom. Help me to be merciful like you and your Father. When I struggle to repent, move my heart with your grace. When I struggle to forgive, soften my heart with your grace.
 
Saturday 2^nd week of Lent
Opening Prayer: Father, help me to see you more clearly through your Son’s words. Help me to know you the way he knows you—as the Father who loves me more than I can imagine and who always does everything you can to call me back to you when I have strayed. 
Encountering Christ:
1. Let Me Tell You about My Father: Jesus would like to show us how much the Father loves us, but he doesn’t have many good examples to draw from. There were many great, virtuous men in Israelite history, but they all had flaws. None would do as an example of the Father’s love because of their shortcomings. How could he make us understand, give us at least a glimmer of the Father’s love? In the end, he invented a father in this parable–a parable we often call “The Prodigal Son” because we identify more with the younger son–but which many theologians and Scripture scholars call “The Father of Mercies” because it is the father in the parable who is the real hero.
2. Breaking All the Rules: Jesus went out of his way to invent a son who was the lowest of the low. This son insulted his father by asking for the inheritance before his father died—as if to say, “You’re worth more to me dead.” He then sold that same property (which the Jews considered to be entrusted to the family by God)—an unthinkable sin for the Jews. He liquefied his assets and left the Promised Land—another unthinkable sin from the point of view of the Jews. He then proceeded to squander his money on debauchery. Jesus’s listeners must have been standing there in open-mouthed amazement by the time he finished describing what the son did. They would never dream that someone could commit so many unthinkable sins so fast. The crowning moment? The son ended up feeding pigs—another unthinkable sin for the Jews. He had sunk as low as was possible in Jewish eyes.
3. The Father’s Reaction? Love More!: Instead of being offended by his son’s actions and turning his back on him, this father continued to love him, and do everything he could to welcome his son back. Although he knew where his son was, he didn’t send him money and gifts once things went badly for him. Instead, the father lets his son hit rock bottom in the hope that he would come to his senses—and he did! We know the father was constantly thinking of the son because he saw him while he was still far away—he must have been watching every day, hoping for his return. He cut off the son’s apology; it wasn’t important to him. Instead, he threw a feast. This is not a parable that tells us how to raise teenagers. It is a parable that tells us about our relationship with the eternal Father. When we insult him in the worst ways, he takes it. When we use his gifts to do terrible things, he allows it. When we return, sometimes more for our own well-being than for love of him, he accepts us back—not as servants, but as sons and daughters! His reaction to our sinfulness is not anger—it’s to love more. 
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, too often I look at you and your Father as being like me—proud, unforgiving, more concerned with myself than with the good of others. You help me to see that your Father is not like that. Instead of putting limits on his love–as I do–he lets his love flow out more generously when he encounters a sinner like me. 
 
REFLECTION
If ever we feel distant from God, we should seek the company of children. For it is in our dealings with them that we can see ourselves clearly through God's eyes. As parents, elders or teachers, we constantly warn them to be careful. Often, we see our advice unheeded for the flimsiest reasons or out of plain stubbornness. We end up more hurt than they are because their disobedience wounds our hearts. And yet, despite this happening time and again, our love for them still grows daily. We rush to them because we feel that they are part of us. That is exactly why the father in the parable runs with joy to his repentant son even when he is still a long way off. That is how and why God loves us.
 
REFLECTION
Like the father of the prodigal son, God does not dwell on our past waywardness. He knows all your sins and weaknesses, but as you open your mouth to confess them, He stops you. He rejoices when you come back to His embrace. He has already removed your transgressions as far as the east is from the west.  Lent is the moment for us to stop, sit down, and try to reflect on our own present situations as sinners. Truly, sin has dragged us down to our lowest dignity and placed us into a most embarrassing position.
            The good news, however, is that should we at any time find ourselves burdened by our sins, we may go back to our Father and He will always run to meet us and rejoice that we have found our way back to Him. Like the Pharisees and scribes, the older brother, in his self- righteousness, has forgotten to rejoice when a sinner returns to God. Bitterness and resentment keep him from forgiving his younger brother.
 
Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Luke 15:1-3,11-32 - Thứ Bẩy Tuần 2 Mùa Chay
Giống như người cha nhân lành trong bài dụ ngôn hôm nay, Thiên Chúa không không bao giờ biết hẹp hòi cố chấp những lỗi lầm trong quá khứ của chúng ta.  Chúa biết tất cả những yếu đuối và tội lỗi của chúng ta, nhưng khi chúng ta biết mở lời thú tội trước Chúa, Chúa đã nhận lời tha thứ, Ngài rất vui mừng khi chúng ta trở về với vòng tay âu yếm và nhân từ của Ngài. Chúa đã thứ tha và quên hết những lỗi lầm của chúng ta từ khi chúng ta vẫn còn ở đàng xa, như người cha già ngóng đợi ngườì con thoang đàng đang trở về.
            Mùa Chay là thời điểm cho tất cả chúng suy ngẫm và cố gắng phản ánh về tình hình nội tâm hiện tại của chúng ta là những người tội lỗi. Quả thật, tội lỗi đã lôi kéo phẩm giá con người của chúng ta xuống quá  thấp  và đặt chúng ta vào một vị trí thật là đáng xấu hổ nhất. Tuy nhiên, nếu chúng tự thấy chính mình bị đè nặng nặng bởi tội lỗi, chúng ta có thể quay trở về với Chúa là Cha rất nhân lành bất cứ lúc nào, và Ngài luôn luôn ngóng đợi và sẵn sàng chạy đến ôm chầm lấy chúng ta trong sự vui mừng vì chúng ta đã tìm thấy con đường sám hối ăn năn và trở về với Ngài.
- Như người Pharisiêu và các thầy thông giáo, người anh tự cho mình là người sống trong sự ngay chính, nên đã không mấy vui mừng khi thấy một tội nhân trở về với Thiên Chúa. Lòng tị hiềm, oán giận, ghen tương, giận dữ, ích kỷ đã biến người anh ra nhỏ nhen, không còn bác ái để tha thứ cho em mình.  Hôm nay, chúng ta hãy tự xét mình, tự hỏi chính mình xem đã bao lần chúng ta đã ngạo mạn giống như ngưòi anh trong bài dụ ngôn hôm nay, cố chấp, ghen tương, nhỏ mọn?.  Xin Chúa giúp chúng ta có can đảm, thêm lòng bác ái để từ bỏ cái tôi của chúng ta, đế biết đối xử với nhau một cách rộng lượng và nhân từ hơn.
 
 
Reflection.
God delights in showing mercy. This is wonderful news for anyone who has ever sinned. Today we hear a story filled with images of the nature of sin and the nature of mercy — the prodigal son. We see how selfish behavior and sin may seem delightful at times. Ultimately, however, sin does not deliver on what it promises. Like the wandering son, we discover that it makes us isolated, lonely, disappointed and hungry for something that will truly fill the hole in our hearts.
            The returning son comes to the father sorry and willing to change. For the father, this is more than enough. The father does not even allow the son to give his apology speech, he runs to him and embraces him in love. The son’s return is celebrated.  Is there a place in my life that I hunger for reconciliation with God? Is there a space in my heart that I desire to be filled by God’s healing and love?
            Today is an opportunity to humbly approach the Father and ask for what we desire. If a person is sorry and willing to change, there is no sin that is unforgiveable. God yearns to be reconciled with us