Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Tư tuần 16 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Ba tuần thứ 16 Thường Niên
Hôm nay, Tin Mừng có lẽ đã làm chúng ta ngạc nhiên vì Chúa Giêsu đã tự hỏi : “ai mẹ ta?” (Mt 12:48), ,. Có lẽ chúng ta hay những người Do thái có thể nghĩ là Chúa đã thái độ bất kính đối với Đức Maria, mẹ của Ngài. Nhưng không phải thếi! Điều mà Chúa Giêsu muốn làm chomọi người đươc hiểu rõ là, trong con mắt của Ngài, của Thiên Chúa. Các giá trị quan trọng của con người không dựa trên xác thịt của con người, nhưng đựợc dựa trên việc xử lý tinh thần để chấp nhận ý muốn của Thiên Chúa: “Rồi Ngài chỉ cho các môn đệ và nói: ": "Đây là mẹ tôi, đây là anh em tôi.  Vì phàm ai thi hành ý muốn của Cha tôi, Đấng ngự trên trời, người ấy là anh chị em tôi, là mẹ tôi."Mt 12: 49-50). Vào thời điểm đó, ý của Thiên Chúa là Chúa Giêsu sai xuống với chúng ta để rao giảng Tin Mừng mọi người  lắng nghe và cho những người thực sự  nghe lời Chúa dạy. Đây là một sự ưu tiên hơn bất kỳ những giá trị ưu tiên nào khác, không có vấn đề kỳ thị. Và để tuân theo ý muốn của Cha Ngài, Chúa Giêsu Kitô đã để lại Đức Maria một mình và  giờ đay Ngài đã ra dì và rao giảng nhưng nơi xa nhà.
Nhưng, những ai là người đã từng sẵn sàng tuân theo ý của Thiên Chúa hơn là Đức Maria? “Vâng, tôi đây là nữ tỳ của Chúa, xin Chúa cứ làm cho tôi như lời sứ thần nói."(Lc 1:38). Đây là lý do tại sao, Thánh Augustinô nói rằng Đức Maria, Trước tiên là đã chấp nhận Lời Chúa với một tinh thần vâng phục, và chỉ sau đó, Đức Maria mới được thụ thai với mầu nhiệm Ngôi Hai  Nhập Thể trong cung lòng của bà.
Nói cách khác: Thiên Chúa yêu thương chúng ta theo sự thánh thiện của chúng ta. Đức Trinh Nữ Maria là người được may mắn nhất, và, do đó, là những người thân yêu nhất. Tuy nhiên, Thiên Chúa không yêu chúng ta bởi vì chúng ta có thể được nên thánh. Nhưng thật ra không phải thế mà ngược lại: chúng ta được nên thánh vì Ngài yêu thương chúng ta. Nhưng người đầu tiên mà tỏ lộ tình yêu thương chúng ta luôn luôn là Thiên Chúa (x 1Jn 4:10). Đức Maria đã chứng minh điều đó khi bà nói: “Vì Ngài đã đoái thương nhìn người tôi tớ thấp hèn” (Lc 1:48). Trong mắt của Thiên Chúa, sự khiêm nhường của chúng ta là điều hiển nhiên; nhưng Ngài muốn đưa chúng ta lên, để thánh hóa chúng ta.
 
Tuesday 16^th Ordinary Time
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”  Matthew 12:48–50
These questions of Jesus were posed by Him to a crowd of people who were inside a house where He was teaching. His mother and brothers arrived outside asking to speak to Him. First of all, it should be noted that the word “brothers” in ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and other languages did not necessarily mean siblings. The same word was used to refer to anyone within the same extended family, such as cousins. Therefore, it is clear that Jesus’ mother and some other male relatives were coming to see Him.
Jesus uses that opportunity to continue teaching the crowd about the family of God. He clearly states that we become a member of His family simply by obeying the will of the Father in Heaven. Thus, Jesus’ definition of family exceeds blood relationships to include everyone who is spiritually united to Him through the unity of their wills with that of the Father.
One reason this is so helpful to understand is because it reveals to us our identity. God wants us to belong. He wants us to understand who we are called to be. We are called to be children of the Father, brothers and sisters of Christ, and even mothers and fathers of our Lord in a spiritual sense. We become His mothers and fathers in the sense that we bring Him into this world through our obedience to the will of the Father.
Children, from the earliest ages, want to belong. They want friends, they want to be included, they want to have relationships with others. This innate desire is placed within us from the moment of our creation and is central to who we are. And that desire can only be completely fulfilled through our spiritual membership within the family of God.
Think, for a moment, about your own desire for friendship. Oftentimes when two people are the closest of friends, they refer to each other as a brother or sister. The bond of friendship is deeply fulfilling because this is what we are made for. But true friendship, true spiritual family bonds, are only fulfilling in the most pure form when they are relationships that result from our unity with the will of the Father. When you are united with the will of the Father and when another is also united to the will of the Father, then this creates a family bond that fulfills on the deepest level. And that bond not only unites us with other Christians, it also deeply unites us with Jesus, as He mentions in this Gospel passage.
Reflect, today, upon these words of Jesus as if they were a form of invitation given to you. He is inviting you into His family. He wants you to belong. He wants you to take your identity in Him. As you seek to enter into full obedience to the will of the Father, consider also the effect that that has on your relationships with others who are also seeking to live the will of the Father. Rejoice in the bond that your mutual obedience to God creates and savor those bonds with much gratitude.
My loving Lord, You have established the human family for unity and love. You invite all people to share in Your family in love. I accept Your holy invitation, dear Lord, and pledge my wholehearted obedience to the will of the Father in Heaven. As I do, I rejoice in the reward of a deepening relationship with You and with all who are united to You. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Tuesday 16^th Ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I want to do your holy will. I pray that your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Help me to overcome any obstacles or any attachments to sin so that I may truly live as your obedient child today.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Family of Jesus: The Gospel passage brings the narrative section of Book Three of Matthew’s Gospel (Chapters 11 and 12) to a close. In these two chapters, Jesus confronts an evil generation. The evil generation is seen in the unrepentant cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. It is also seen in the Pharisees who, instead of rejoicing at the work of Jesus, accuse him of violating the Sabbath. They go so far as to accuse Jesus of working on behalf of the devil. Faced with this evil generation, Jesus wants to teach us who belongs to the Kingdom and Family of God. In the New Kingdom, which he has inaugurated and will teach about in parables, the children of God are not those who are born naturally into it, but those who receive Jesus, who believe, and who act as God’s children by doing his will (see Cavins and Christmyer, Matthew: The King and His Kingdom, 216). We know that we become a member of God’s family and kingdom through the Sacrament of Baptism.
2. The Will of Jesus’ Father in Heaven: Jesus has given us the supreme example of obedience unto death, even death on a cross. He is not asking us to do something he himself has not done. “Obedience to God the Father creates relationships greater than natural family bonds. Although Jesus had no biological siblings, his spiritual brothers and sisters are the adopted children of God (Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:1). They are empowered to obey the Father as he did” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 30). Obeying and fulfilling the will of God is beyond our natural strength. But with God’s grace all things are possible. Assisted by the gift of divine grace, the infused virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and the sevenfold gift of the Spirit, we can conform our lives to that of Christ and heed the Father’s will.
3. The Contention in Micah: The third part of Micah (Micah 6-7), we see the Lord present his dispute or contention (Hebrew rib) against his people. God calls on the mountains and hills to serve as a type of jury as he presents his case against Israel. On the one hand, the Lord has been blameless in his covenant conduct. On the other, the people have broken the moral law and been unfaithful to their God. When the people ask what terms the Lord will accept for reconciliation, the Lord responds that they need to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with their God. The wicked will not be acquitted or justified and the nation will be given over to their enemies. The contention ends with the passing of a sentence: Samaria, the capital of Israel, will be destroyed in 722 B.C. by the Assyrians; Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, will be destroyed in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians. Today’s reading from Micah contains a message of hope. For those who endure God’s punishment with patience, there will be vindication. Yes, the people will be disciplined for their sins by their enemies, but these same enemies, one day, will be vanquished. “Israel’s sins will be expurgated and the remnant renewed through exile, and God will again do ‘wonders’ on Israel’s behalf as in the days of the exodus (7:15). The prophet concludes by praising God in hope of forgiveness and vindication” (Prothro, A Pauline Theology of Justification, 52). The sins of God’s people, who violated the covenant God made with the people through Moses, will be forgiven on the basis of the covenant God made with Abraham (Micah 7:18-20).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I thank you for saving me from sin and death. I thank you also for the gift of new life that you have given me in Baptism and continue to give me each day. 
Living the Word of God: Am I like a rebellious child or a docile child in relation to God the Father? Where am I stubborn? Where do I hold on to my own will instead of embracing the Father’s will?
 
Tuesday 16^th Ordinary Time
Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is for me (...) mother
Today, to start with, the Gospel surprises us: «Who is my mother? (Mt 12:48), wonders Jesus. It would seem the Lord is showing a contemptuous attitude towards Mary, his mother. Nothing of the sort! What Jesus wants to make quite clear is that, in his own eyes —God's eyes— the crucial value of a person does not lie on flesh and blood facts, but on the spiritual disposition to accept God's will: «Then He pointed to his disciples and said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is for me brother, sister, or mother’» (Mt 12:49-50). At that time, God's will was for Jesus to evangelize those who were listening and for these ones to actually listen to him. This was a priority over any other value, no matter how dear. To abide by his Father's will, Jesus Christ had left Mary and now He was preaching far away from home. 
But, who was ever more willing to abide by God's will than Mary? «‘I am the Lord's servant’, Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said’» (Lk 1:38). This is why, St. Augustine says that Mary, first accepted God's word with a spirit of obedience and, only afterwards, she conceived it in her womb for the Incarnation. 
In other words: God loves us as per our saintliness. The Virgin Mary is the most blessed, and, therefore, the most loved. However, God does not love us because we may be saints. It is rather the other way round: we are saints because He loves us. The first one to love is always our Lord (cf. 1Jn 4:10). Mary proves it when she says: «For He has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness» (Lk 1:48). In God's eyes our own lowliness is evident; but He wants to magnify us, to sanctify us.
 
Wednesday 16^th Ordinary Time
Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Tư tuần 16 Thường Niên
      Qua Phúc Âm, Chúa Giêsu nói với các môn đệ và dân chúng về dụ ngôn người gieo giống. Người gieo giống gieo hạt ở khắp mọi nơi trong ruộng của mình, nhưng không thể biết được những kết quả về việc gieo giống của mình. Một số lớn các hạt giống có thể bị lãng phí vì vương vãi trên những vùng đất cứng có hay đá sỏi.           
                                                                  Một số người trong chúng ta đã nói rằng Chúa Giêsu nói dụ ngôn này để khuyến khích những người theo Chúa. Ngài biết rằng, cũng giống như các Tiên Tri Ngày xưa và như Ngài, họ sẽ phải đối mặt với sự nhạo báng, bị chối bỏ và thậm chí bị bắt bớ giam cầm trong việc loan báo Tin Mừng. Có lúc, họ sẽ phải đối mặt với sự chán nản khi những gì họ gieo vãi dường như không có hiệu quả. Vì số lượng lớn hạt giống của họ gieo có thể bị lãng phí, nhưng sự thành công và sự phong phú của các hạt giống được đảm bảo.           
                                                                  Như chúng ta thấy trong thế giới của chúng ta đang sống, chúng ta đã chứng kiến quá nhiều việc gian ác, thù hận ngay trước mắt, vì vậy đó là nhiệm vụ của chúng ta là phải gieo những hạt giống tốt đó tình yêu và sự tha thứ. Bằng cách làm như vậy, chúng ta sẽ chứng minh được lòng trung thành của chúng ta đối với Thiên Chúa. Muốn được trung thành với Thiên Chúa chúng ta cần phải biết cố gắng để bắt chước sự tốt lành của Ngài, để nói với mọi người về sự hiện hữu của Ngài và chúng ta phải biết bảo vệ bênh vực những người thấp hèn và những người bị áp bức.            Cũng giống như Chúa Giêsu, cho dù có nhiều nhà lãnh đạo tôn giáo và chính trị phản đối các việc tốt chúng ta làm, hay chúng ta gặp phải những sự đáp ứng không mấy tốt đẹp nơi mọi người, Chúng ta hãy bày tỏ sự tin tưởng rằng Thiên Chúa sẽ thấy sự chiến thắng trong vương quốc của Ngài và những chiến công của chúng ta trong sự chiến thắng đó. Lạy Chúa, giúp chúng con trung thành trong viện loan báo Tin Mừng.
 
 Reflection Wednesday 16^th Ordinary Time
In the Gospel, Jesus preaches the parable of the sower. The sower casts the seeds everywhere in the field, but is unable to tell what may be the result of his sowing. A great number of seed may seem wasted. Bible commentators say that Jesus told this parable to encourage his followers. He knew that, like him, they will face ridicule, rejection and even persecution when proclaiming the Good News. They will face discouragement when what they sow does not seem to bear fruit. Yes, a great number of seed may seem wasted, yet the success and abundance of the seed is assured.   There is so much evil, and vengeance in the world, so it is our duty to sow seeds of goodness, love and forgiveness.  By doing so, we show our faithfulness to our God.  To be faithful to God is to try to imitate his goodness, to tell people about his existence and to defend the oppressed and the lowly. Despite much opposition from religious and political leaders, and poor response from the people, Jesus expresses confidence that God will see to the triumph of his kingdom and of its proclamation.  Lord, help me faithfully proclaim the Good News.