Suy Niệm Tin MừngThứ Năm Tuần 2 Mùa Chay:

Suy Niệm Tin MừngThứ Năm Tuần 2 Mùa Chay: Luke 16:19-31 

Chúa Giêsu cho chúng ta một bài học hôm nay đó là ‘Hãy đặt Thiên Chúa làm trọng tâm” trong cuộc sống của chúng ta. Như trong bài dụ ngôn, người giàu có đã tự đặt mình trên hết trước cả Thiên Chúa. Thiên Chúa chỉ là khoảng cách xa vời, không quan trọng đối với ông ta. Có lẽ chúng ta cũng có thể thấy được một chút “cái TÔI” của mình trong người đàn ông giàu có trong bài dụ ngôn hôm nay. Có lẽ chúng ta cũng đã đặt những thứ vật chất, danh vọng, ham muốn của chúng ta trước nghĩa vụ của chúng ta đối với Thiên Chúa và tha nhân, do đó mà bỏ quên đức bác ái.;

            Đối với ông Lazarus, người đàn ông nghèo khốn, thiếu thốn đủ mọi điều vì ông đã đau khổ quá nhiều về thân xác. Đôi lúc chúng ta tự nghĩ:  có lẽ Thiên Chúa đã quên và bỏ rơi ông Lazarus, trong khi đó Thiên Chúa lại thiên vị với người giàu có kia, vì Chúa đã ban nhiều ơn phúc cho người giàu có kia, người ta đã giàu mà Chúa còn cho được giàu có them.

Tuy nhiên, Lazarus, người đàn ông nghèo khó đó có một điều: đó là ơn cứu độ của Thiên Chúa. Ông chỉ biết tin tưởng và hy vọng vào một mình Thiên Chúa và chẳng có một thứ gì khác để ông ta phải phụ thuộc.  Đây không phải là lời đề nghị để chúng ta chối bỏ tất cả các thứ cần thiết, các nhu cầu thiết yếu của cuộc sống trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, nhưng một bài học giúp cho chúng ta biết rằng, sau hết chỉ có một điều là đáng quan trọng trong đời sống của chúng ta: đó là đặt tình yêu Thiên Chúa làm trọng tâm cho cuộc sống của chúng ta.

            Tin Mừng hôm nay nhắc nhở cho chúng ta biết rằng để đạt được Nước Trời, chúng ta cần quay về với Thiên Chúa và phải đặt chúng ta vào sự tùy thuộc hoàn toàn ở nơi Ngài.  Và ước muốn của chúng ta là được ở gần với Chúa và mang Chúa đến tới cho càng nhiều linh hồn càng tốt. 

Xin Chúa ban cho chúng ta có sự cố gắng trong các nỗ lực đem tình yêu Thiên Chúa đến với mọi người và chia sẻ tình yêu của Thiên Chúa với tất cả những người mà chúng ta gặp gỡ trong cuộc sống của chúng ta.

 

Reflection Thursday second week of Lent.: Luke 16:19-31

Jesus is advising us, in today’s Gospel, put him at the center of our lives. The rich man in the parable put himself first. God was distant, unimportant to him. Perhaps we can see a little of ourselves in the rich man. Perhaps we put material things ahead of our duties towards God and our neighbor, thus neglecting the virtue of charity.

            The poor man, Lazarus, was in need of a great deal. He suffered much. It would seem that God had forgotten him; whereas with the rich man, it would seem that God heaped blessing upon blessing on him. However, the poor man had one thing: his salvation. He hoped in God alone. What else could he depend on? This is not to suggest that we give up the necessities of life, but it goes to show us that in the end, only one thing matters: put ting God at the center of our lives.

            Today's Gospel reminds us that in order to gain the Kingdom of God, we need to turn to Jesus in complete dependence. It should be our one desire to be with Jesus and also want to bring to him as many other souls as possible. Let us make the effort to work hard to do all the good possible and to share Jesus' love with all those whom we meet on the road of life. Let us be Jesus' untiring apostle.

 

Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.” Luke 16:19–21

One of the reasons this story is so powerful is because of the clear descriptive contrast between the rich man and Lazarus. The contrast is not only seen in the passage above, it is also seen in the final outcome of each of their lives. In the first contrast, the rich man’s life seems much more desirable, at least on the surface. He is rich, has a home to live in, dresses in fine clothing and eats sumptuously every day. By contrast, Lazarus is poor, has no home, has no food, is covered with sores and even endures the humiliation of dogs licking his wounds. Which of these persons would you prefer to be?

Before you answer that question, consider the second contrast. When they both die, they experience very different eternal fates. When the poor man died, he was “carried away by angels.” And when the rich man died, he went to the netherworld, where there was ongoing torment. So again, which of these persons would you prefer to be? One of the most seductive and deceptive realities in life is the lure of riches, luxury and the fine things in life. Though the material world is not bad in and of itself, there is great temptation that goes along with it. In fact, it is clear from this story and from the many other teachings of Jesus on this topic that the lure of riches and its effect on the soul cannot be ignored. Those who are rich in the things of this world are often tempted to live for themselves rather than living for others. When one has all the comforts this world has to offer, it’s easy to simply enjoy those comforts without concern for others. And that is clearly the unspoken contrast between these two men.

Though poor, it is clear that Lazarus is rich in the things that matter in life. This is evidenced by His eternal reward. It is clear that in his material poverty, he was rich in charity. The man who was rich in the things of this world was clearly poor in charity and, thus, upon losing his physical life, he had nothing to take with him. No eternal merit. No charity. Nothing.

Reflect, today, upon that which you desire in life. Too often, the deception of material wealth and worldly possessions dominate our desires. In fact, even those who have little can easily become consumed with these unhealthy desires. Seek, instead, to desire only that which is eternal. Desire love of God and love of neighbor. Make this your only goal in life and you, too, will be carried away by angels when your life is completed.

My Lord of true riches, You chose to be poor in this world as a sign to us that true riches come not with material wealth but with love. Help me to love You, my God, with all my being and to love others as You love them. May I be wise enough to make spiritual riches my single goal in life so that these riches will be enjoyed for all eternity. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Reflection Thursday second week of Lent 2025

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you know all things. Guide me along the path that leads to life with you. Protect me from danger and give me your grace to fight the good fight, finish the race, and receive the victorious crown of your glory.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Moses and the Prophets: As Jesus journeys to Jerusalem, he alludes through a parable to the death he will suffer in Jerusalem and his glorious resurrection from that death. The parable is addressed in particular to the Pharisees, who are hypocritically behaving like the rich man, who was indifferent to the needs of the poor man, Lazarus, at his doorstep. Jesus refers to the hardness of heart of the Pharisees, who are not listening to Moses – the first five books of the Bible – or to the prophets. What is worse, they are refusing to listen to Jesus, the Word and Son of God, who will be raised from the dead. The books of the Old Testament all point to Jesus, and the Pharisees are blind to this.

2. The Reversal of Fortunes: One of the themes that runs throughout the Gospel of Luke is the reversal of fortunes. This theme was announced early on in Mary’s Magnificat: God will humble the proud and powerful and raise up the poor, the humble, the outcast, and the lowly. In his Sermon on the Plain, Jesus pronounced a blessing on the poor and woe on the rich. Earthly blessings – wealth and pleasure – can easily lead to eternal suffering, while earthly suffering – poverty, sickness, persecution – can be a sure path to eternal happiness. This is because those who are rich tend to trust in themselves, while the poor tend to trust in the help of others, especially in the help of God. But had the rich man in the parable seen himself as a steward of earthly wealth and done all he could to help the less fortunate, he would have stored up heavenly treasure and likely enjoyed the gift of eternal life.

3. The Two Ways: The First Reading, from Jeremiah, sets forth the two ways we can follow in this life: the way of wisdom that leads to the divine blessing of life and the way of foolishness that triggers the curse of death. If we read Jeremiah in the light of the Gospel, we see that the rich man followed the way of foolishness in his earthly life and came to a tragic end in the life to come, while the poor man, Lazarus, followed the way of wisdom in his earthly life and attained the ultimate blessing in the life to come. The rich man trusted in human beings, sought his strength in earthly things, turned his heart from the Lord, and was like a barren bush, a lava waste, and empty wasteland. Lazarus trusted in the Lord as he suffered and was like a “tree planted beside the waters” that bore fruit. We know that we can unite our sufferings in this life to those of Christ and that this will bear abundant fruit for the Kingdom of God. God alone sees our mind and heart and will reward us according to our ways and the merit of our deeds, empowered by his grace.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to see your face in the poor. Move my heart to have compassion on those who need my help. Do not let me be indifferent to you and the needs of my brothers and sisters.

 

Reflection Thursday second week of Lent.

Opening Prayer: Lord, help me in this prayer to open my heart more and more to you so that I may begin to open it to others. They are your children. Help me to love them as you do. 

Encountering Christ:

1. Life Is Good!: The rich man enjoyed life. He had the finest clothes and the best foods. He had lots of money and he used it for his own benefit. Remember, the Jews believed that if a man was righteous, God would bless him with riches, health, and many other benefits. Perhaps this man was at peace, thinking that God had been pleased by the way he lived. Yet at his gate, there was someone who should have stolen his peace away. 

2. All for Me and None for You: Jewish people were taught that it was a good thing to give alms to the poor, and that they could be forgiven for sins by doing so. The rich man passed Lazarus every day and, as a Jew, his conscience should have prompted him to help, but he did nothing at all. Because he neglected Lazarus, the rich man was separated for all eternity by a great chasm from the bosom of Abraham. He had the wherewithal to beg for his brothers, but even those pleas were fruitless. By his covetousness while he was alive, he secured abject poverty for all eternity. It’s a good reminder for us that our actions each day have eternal consequences.

3. Am I the Rich Man?: Many of us lead comfortable lives. Does God see in us any semblance of what he saw in the rich man? How aware are we of the poor or needy who live nearby? We may not walk over them every time we enter our house, but perhaps we see them on our way to work or school or the supermarket. None of us can take care of all the needy people in the world, but we can certainly help them one at a time.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, open my eyes to see life as you see it. Show me how you want me to use my gifts for others, and where I may be holding back. You taught us the spiritual and corporal works of mercy and I know that these please you. May I seize the opportunity to serve everyone in my path, according to your holy will. 

 

Reflection Thursday second week of Lent.

We hear people say that life is a journey. People who say this have a point. Our life on earth ends when we die: an eternity follows. In the context of an eternity, our life on earth seems microscopic in the grand scheme of things.  And yet our eternity depends upon our life on earth.

  We can compare it to going to another country to work. What you do there and how well you do will determine the type of welcome and reception when you return home.  Did you do well in your work? Did your work in the other country help to secure your future and that of your family?  Were you rewarded for work well done or were your employers not satisfied with your work?  

   It is the same with our life.  We can consider our life as work outside of our heavenly and permanent home. In truth we are just transients, sort of passing through.  When our life ends, like a contract in a foreign country, we will be judged on how we have been and on what we have accomplished.  How we have been and what we have done in our lifetime will determine our eternity: reward or punishment.

   The parable of the rich man and the poor man Lazarus is a lesson and a warning for us.  As Abraham told the rich man, they have Moses and the prophets and indeed Christ himself. Do not say that we have not been taught and warned.