Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 11 Thường
Niên
Hãy đưa cái má bên kia cho chúng, không chống lại những người muốn làm hại chúng ta, đấy là những gì Chúa đã dạy chúng ta trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Những điều thật là khó khăn cho chúng ta thực hiện. Những điều mà chúng ta coi như không thực tế, vì chúng ta luôn có đầu óc nghĩ đến những sự kháng cự hay trả thù. Nhưng Chúa Giêsu đã dạy cho chúng ta bài học và cho chúng ta những công cụ để phá vỡ cái lòng ích kỷ, và bạo lực để sống trong sự an bình với và trong Thiên Chúa. Hãy nhìn lấy chính gương của Cha Giêsu.
Monday 11th
in Ordinary Time
Often something becomes desirable only because we cannot have it or it belongs to another. If it were ours for the taking, perhaps it would not be as attractive to us. King Ahab wanted the vineyard of Naboth, and when Naboth refused to sell it to him, his burning desire to have it made him sick and depressed and eventually led to poor Naboth’s murder. We can find ourselves competing with others for possession, recognition, power, relationships — all because we want them as our own possession. This is at the root of much of the world's conflict. When we recognize this tendency within ourselves, we can begin to break the vicious cycle and become free. Turn the other cheek — do not resist the evildoer - go the extra mile — give freely to others — these are some of the hardest words in the New Testament. They seem unrealistic, and we can think of so many situations that seem to call for resistance or retaliation. But Jesus was giving us the tools to break the cycle of violence and live in the peace of God.
Basically, he asked us to give up revenge and getting even. By all means, stand up for justice and what is right, but do not resort to hatred and violence. These are the world’s methods, and look at the terrible world they have created! When we find ourselves insulted, put down, or persecuted, resist the temptation to respond with hateful words and actions. Send out blessings of peace; pray for the other. You will find a difference in yourself and eventually in others. Lord, help me to overcome evil with kindness.
Monday of the Eleventh Week in
Ordinary Time
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.” Matthew 5:41–42
As the faith of Israel developed over the centuries, prior to the coming of Christ, there were various stages of advancement in morality. Prior to the establishment of moral laws in the Old Testament, it was common for families to inflict severe vengeance upon other families when harm was done to them. This caused ongoing violence and feuds. But advancements were made when the law of retaliation was established which said, “When a man causes a disfigurement in his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has disfigured a man, he shall be disfigured” (Leviticus 24:19–20). This was a new form of justice that forbade the vengeance from being more severe than the crime that was retaliated against. At the time, this helped end ongoing family feuds that continually escalated.
It is this law of retaliation that Jesus addresses in our Gospel today. The new and much higher form of morality that Jesus taught called His disciples to “offer no resistance to one who is evil” and to turn the other cheek when evil was done to them. Though strict justice requires satisfaction for sin, Jesus’ new teaching was that mercy pays every debt. First, His mercy bestowed upon us, for the forgiveness of our sins, pays the debt of our sins when we truly repent and change. But if we desire our debts to God for our sins to be forgiven and repaid, then we must do the same to others, holding nothing against them.
But Jesus goes even further. In the passage quoted above, Jesus exhorts His disciples to a new and radical form of charity and generosity. This new moral code was how the children of the Kingdom of God were now called to act. It was not enough to only forgive and to forget the debt one owes you because of their sin. Mercy now requires us to “Give to the one who asks” and to walk “two miles” with one who only asks you to walk one mile with them. In other words, Christian charity far exceeds every concept of strict justice and even goes beyond basic forgiveness. This was certainly a new and radical teaching from our Lord.
Think about this new moral law in your own life. What level of “justice” do you most commonly live by? When someone wrongs you, do you live like those prior to the Old Testament laws by seeking to get back at them to an even greater degree than the harm done to you? Do you live by the law that seeks the equal justice of an eye for an eye? Do you seek to forgive and offer mercy as a payment for the debt another has incurred by the sin they have committed against you? Or, ideally, do you strive to go even beyond the act of forgiveness and bestow mercy in a new and generous, superabundant way? This last level of love is difficult to obtain and live, but it is the way our Lord treats us and it is the way that He calls us to treat others.
Reflect, today, upon any hurt you may currently be struggling with. And consider the way in which you have been dealing with that hurt. As you seek to understand this new law of love and mercy given by our Lord, pray to Him that He will give you the grace you need to give to others the same level of mercy that God gives to you.
My generous Lord, You offer Your mercy in superabundance. You not only forgive when we repent, You also restore us to far greater heights of holiness than we could ever deserve. Give me the grace I need, dear Lord, to offer this same level of mercy and love to those who have sinned against me. I forgive all who have hurt me. Please help me to also love them with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You.
Monday 11th
in Ordinary Time 2025
1. Justice and Mercy as Divine Attributes: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks about the relationship between justice and mercy in the New Covenant that he is establishing. When we consider the attributes of God, these two attributes – justice and mercy – seem hard to reconcile with one another. On the one hand, we believe that God is just. God gives to his creatures good things and perfections that are proper to their nature (Psalm 11:7: “The Lord is just and loves just deeds”). On the other hand, we believe that God is merciful (Psalm 111:4: “Gracious and merciful is the Lord”). This means that God gives to his creatures good things – perfections like forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration – even when they have rebelled and sinned against him. We can question: Is it just to forgive rather than punish the sinner? It is possible, for various reasons, that we emphasize one of these divine attributes to the exclusion of the other. Some people, due to their personality, tend to think of God primarily as a Judge who is just and true. Others, also due to their personality and experiences, tend to think of God as a merciful Father. Can the two attributes be reconciled and seen together?
Monday 11th
in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Lord, your words are contrary to how the world operates. I can follow you only if you grant me the grace to do so. Please open my ears to your word. Open my eyes to your Way and open my heart to your Love.
Eye for an Eye: This “eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” justice was first instituted by Moses to moderate vengeance, “…But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21-23-27). The term the ancient Israelites used for this form of justice was called “talion,” which means “the principle that punishment should be equivalent or identical to the offense committed.” It was considered merciful justice by comparison to other forms of justice at the time that involved killing an entire tribe over the offense committed by one of them.
Hãy đưa cái má bên kia cho chúng, không chống lại những người muốn làm hại chúng ta, đấy là những gì Chúa đã dạy chúng ta trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Những điều thật là khó khăn cho chúng ta thực hiện. Những điều mà chúng ta coi như không thực tế, vì chúng ta luôn có đầu óc nghĩ đến những sự kháng cự hay trả thù. Nhưng Chúa Giêsu đã dạy cho chúng ta bài học và cho chúng ta những công cụ để phá vỡ cái lòng ích kỷ, và bạo lực để sống trong sự an bình với và trong Thiên Chúa. Hãy nhìn lấy chính gương của Cha Giêsu.
Often something becomes desirable only because we cannot have it or it belongs to another. If it were ours for the taking, perhaps it would not be as attractive to us. King Ahab wanted the vineyard of Naboth, and when Naboth refused to sell it to him, his burning desire to have it made him sick and depressed and eventually led to poor Naboth’s murder. We can find ourselves competing with others for possession, recognition, power, relationships — all because we want them as our own possession. This is at the root of much of the world's conflict. When we recognize this tendency within ourselves, we can begin to break the vicious cycle and become free. Turn the other cheek — do not resist the evildoer - go the extra mile — give freely to others — these are some of the hardest words in the New Testament. They seem unrealistic, and we can think of so many situations that seem to call for resistance or retaliation. But Jesus was giving us the tools to break the cycle of violence and live in the peace of God.
Basically, he asked us to give up revenge and getting even. By all means, stand up for justice and what is right, but do not resort to hatred and violence. These are the world’s methods, and look at the terrible world they have created! When we find ourselves insulted, put down, or persecuted, resist the temptation to respond with hateful words and actions. Send out blessings of peace; pray for the other. You will find a difference in yourself and eventually in others. Lord, help me to overcome evil with kindness.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile, go with him for two miles. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.” Matthew 5:41–42
As the faith of Israel developed over the centuries, prior to the coming of Christ, there were various stages of advancement in morality. Prior to the establishment of moral laws in the Old Testament, it was common for families to inflict severe vengeance upon other families when harm was done to them. This caused ongoing violence and feuds. But advancements were made when the law of retaliation was established which said, “When a man causes a disfigurement in his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has disfigured a man, he shall be disfigured” (Leviticus 24:19–20). This was a new form of justice that forbade the vengeance from being more severe than the crime that was retaliated against. At the time, this helped end ongoing family feuds that continually escalated.
It is this law of retaliation that Jesus addresses in our Gospel today. The new and much higher form of morality that Jesus taught called His disciples to “offer no resistance to one who is evil” and to turn the other cheek when evil was done to them. Though strict justice requires satisfaction for sin, Jesus’ new teaching was that mercy pays every debt. First, His mercy bestowed upon us, for the forgiveness of our sins, pays the debt of our sins when we truly repent and change. But if we desire our debts to God for our sins to be forgiven and repaid, then we must do the same to others, holding nothing against them.
But Jesus goes even further. In the passage quoted above, Jesus exhorts His disciples to a new and radical form of charity and generosity. This new moral code was how the children of the Kingdom of God were now called to act. It was not enough to only forgive and to forget the debt one owes you because of their sin. Mercy now requires us to “Give to the one who asks” and to walk “two miles” with one who only asks you to walk one mile with them. In other words, Christian charity far exceeds every concept of strict justice and even goes beyond basic forgiveness. This was certainly a new and radical teaching from our Lord.
Think about this new moral law in your own life. What level of “justice” do you most commonly live by? When someone wrongs you, do you live like those prior to the Old Testament laws by seeking to get back at them to an even greater degree than the harm done to you? Do you live by the law that seeks the equal justice of an eye for an eye? Do you seek to forgive and offer mercy as a payment for the debt another has incurred by the sin they have committed against you? Or, ideally, do you strive to go even beyond the act of forgiveness and bestow mercy in a new and generous, superabundant way? This last level of love is difficult to obtain and live, but it is the way our Lord treats us and it is the way that He calls us to treat others.
Reflect, today, upon any hurt you may currently be struggling with. And consider the way in which you have been dealing with that hurt. As you seek to understand this new law of love and mercy given by our Lord, pray to Him that He will give you the grace you need to give to others the same level of mercy that God gives to you.
My generous Lord, You offer Your mercy in superabundance. You not only forgive when we repent, You also restore us to far greater heights of holiness than we could ever deserve. Give me the grace I need, dear Lord, to offer this same level of mercy and love to those who have sinned against me. I forgive all who have hurt me. Please help me to also love them with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You.
1. Justice and Mercy as Divine Attributes: In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks about the relationship between justice and mercy in the New Covenant that he is establishing. When we consider the attributes of God, these two attributes – justice and mercy – seem hard to reconcile with one another. On the one hand, we believe that God is just. God gives to his creatures good things and perfections that are proper to their nature (Psalm 11:7: “The Lord is just and loves just deeds”). On the other hand, we believe that God is merciful (Psalm 111:4: “Gracious and merciful is the Lord”). This means that God gives to his creatures good things – perfections like forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration – even when they have rebelled and sinned against him. We can question: Is it just to forgive rather than punish the sinner? It is possible, for various reasons, that we emphasize one of these divine attributes to the exclusion of the other. Some people, due to their personality, tend to think of God primarily as a Judge who is just and true. Others, also due to their personality and experiences, tend to think of God as a merciful Father. Can the two attributes be reconciled and seen together?
Opening Prayer: Lord, your words are contrary to how the world operates. I can follow you only if you grant me the grace to do so. Please open my ears to your word. Open my eyes to your Way and open my heart to your Love.
Eye for an Eye: This “eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth” justice was first instituted by Moses to moderate vengeance, “…But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21-23-27). The term the ancient Israelites used for this form of justice was called “talion,” which means “the principle that punishment should be equivalent or identical to the offense committed.” It was considered merciful justice by comparison to other forms of justice at the time that involved killing an entire tribe over the offense committed by one of them.
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