Suy Niêm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu tuần 21 TN

Suy Niêm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu tuần 21 TN - Matthew 25:1-13
Bài Tin Mừng hôm nay mời gọi chúng ta phải có lòng trung thành Thiên Chúa và phải biết chú tâm trong cuộc sống hàng ngày của chúng ta. Năm cô trinh nữ khôn ngoan trước khi ra đi, họ đã  chuẩn bị và sẵn sàng những thứ cần thiết cho những sự bất ngờ và họ đã nhận được phần thưởng của mình. Ngược lại, Năm trinh nữ khờ dại đã không biết chuẩn bị trước tất cả những cơ hội sẽ đến với họ, họ ỷ y với hy vọng rằng người khác sẽ giúp mình và họ đã thất vọng bỏ lỡ cơ hội đã đến với họ.
     Thiên Chúa đã có những kế hoạch riêng cho mỗi người chúng ta trong cuộc sống. Chúng ta được mời gọi để sử dụng những hồng ân mà Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta để hoàn thành những nghĩa vụ đặc biệt của chúng ta trong cuộc sống của riêng. Mỗi ân sũng là một món quà là vô cùng quý giá, và mỗi khoản khắc trong cuộc sống của chúng ta cũng rất là quý giá. Chúng ta không thể nào biết được khi nào chàng rể sẽ đến và sẽ gọi cho chúng ta.
            Có lẽ hôm nay chúng ta hãy tự đặt một vài câu hỏi cho chính mình. Nếu Thiên Chúa gọi tôi tại thời điểm này, tôi đã sẵn sàng chưa? Những gì trong cuộc sống mà tôi muốn làm, nếu tôi chỉ còn có một thời gian ngắn để sống? Ai là những người trong cuộc đời của tôi, mà tôi muốn gặp?  Trong khi chúng ta suy nghĩ và tìm những câu trả lời cho những câu hỏi này, chúng ta có thể cảm thấy sự cần thiết phải thực hiện những ước muốn của chúng ta đang phát sinh ngay trong trái tim của chúng ta hôm nay..
            Các trinh nữ khờ dại thiếu "dầu" cho những công trình tốt. Họ thất bại trong việc thực hiện kế hoạch của Thiên Chúa ngay trong cuộc sống hiện tại. Họ đã bỏ lỡ cơ hội và dịp may hiếm có của họ. Nếu chúng ta sống mỗi ngày như các trinh nữ khôn ngoan, luôn biết chuẩn bị tâm hồn và sẵ sàng thực hiện những gì mà Thiên Chúa đang mời gọi chúng ta làm, chúng ta sẽ không bao giờ phải hối tiếc. Chúng ta hãy cầu nguyện và xin Chúa ban cho cho chúng ta những ân sủng của Ngài để chúng ta biết sống mỗi ngày theo ý mà Thiên Chúa muốn chúng ta sống.
 
Comment Friday 21^st Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel reading calls us to faithfulness and attentiveness in our daily lives. The five wise virgins set out on their journey well prepared and ready for the unexpected. They received their reward. In contrast, the foolish left it all to chance in the hope that someone else would provide when the need arose. They were disappointed and missed the opportunity of seeing the Bridegroom when He arrived. God has a plan for each of us in life. We are called to use he gifts God has given to us to fulfill our particular mission in life. Each gift is precious and each moment of life is precious. We don’t know when the Bridegroom will call us.
            Perhaps today is a good day to put a few questions to ourselves. If God called me at this moment am I ready? What are the things in life I would like to do if I only had a short time left? Who are the people in my life I would like to see? What is most important in my life right now? As we reflect on these questions we may feel the need to carry out the desires that arise in our hearts today.
            The foolish virgins lacked the “oil” of good works. They failed to carry out God’s plan for them in life. They missed their opportunity. If we live each day like the wise virgins, doing what we feel God is calling us to do we will have no regret.  Let us pray for the grace to live each day in the way God would want us to live it.
 
Friday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus told his disciples this parable: “The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise.” Matthew 25:1–2
The “ten virgins” in this parable refer to the bridesmaids who were following Jewish tradition by going to the home of the bride to await the coming of the groom for a wedding. This parable is one of a few parables Jesus told that emphasizes the importance of being vigilant in our Christian walk. As the parable goes on, we are told that the groom was delayed and that the bridesmaids fell asleep. Upon waking, the foolish ones had no more oil for their lamps and had to leave to get some more. When they returned, they discovered that the groom had already arrived and that the door was locked. They then knocked and said, “Lord, Lord, open the door for us!” But the reply came to them, “Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.” And they missed out on the wedding celebration.
Traditionally, the “oil” has been understood as a reference to charity. The message is simple. As we prepare to meet our Lord in Heaven, it is not enough to make the claim that we are Christians. We must also produce the good fruit of charity by our actions. Faith must result in charity, otherwise it is not true faith at all.
This parable should be taken seriously. We should use it as a regular source of examination of our lives in regard to the charity we have…or do not have. When you look at your life, can you point to regular acts of charity that flow from your love of God and are bestowed upon others? Charity is not based on your preferences in life. It’s not based on what you feel like doing. Charity is always selfless and sacrificial. It always looks toward the good of the other. How much charity is alive in your life? Jesus clearly told this parable because He was aware of many who professed a faith in God but did not live the love of God. It’s very easy to live our lives day in and day out, doing what we do because of our personal likes or dislikes. However, it is very difficult to foster true charity within our souls and to regularly choose to love others because it is good for them.
We must work to foster charity, first, in our thoughts. Critical and condemning thoughts must be eliminated, and we must strive to see others as God sees them. Charity must also direct our words. Our words must be encouraging of others, kind, supportive and merciful. Our actions become charitable when we become generous with our time, go out of our way to serve and are diligent in the ways we express our love of others.
Reflect, today, upon the high calling you have been given to live an active and manifest life of charity. Spend time reflecting upon what charity truly is. Have you allowed yourself to become guided by a more secular and selfish form of “love?” Do you act more out of selfish preferences than out of self-giving and sacrifice? Do you truly build people up and witness the love of God to them? Try to answer these questions seriously. This parable spoken from our Lord is much more than a story. It is truth. And the truth is that some will arrive at the day of judgment without the necessary “oil” for their lamps. Take our Lord seriously and examine your life of charity. Where you are lacking, become fervent in your mission to change. In the end, you will be eternally grateful you did.
My loving Lord, You showed us all that true love is selfless and sacrificial. You came to this world to serve and to give Your sacred life for us all. May I open my life more fully to Your love so that Your love may also affect and direct every relationship I have. Fill me with the gift of charity, dear Lord, so that I will be fully prepared for the day of my particular judgment. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Friday 21^st Ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, may your Spirit always speak through me! Teach me truly to be shrewd as a serpent and as simple as a dove when I proclaim your Gospel in word and deed.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Jesus Sends Out His Apostles: The Twelve Apostles are simultaneously shepherds and sheep. Jesus saw that the people needed new shepherds and chose the twelve for this task. And yet, he warns them that they are like sheep sent out among wolves. Because of this, they need to be prudent – shrewd as serpents – and anticipate threats. At the same time, they need to be as simple as doves and as innocent as sheep. “The word for simple means ‘unmixed,’ suggesting that the apostles’ shrewd tactics should be animated by pure motives and single-mindedness for their ministry. Shrewdness should never lead them to seek survival or advantage in a way that compromises their integrity” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 145). They will experience opposition from the people of God, from Gentile rulers, and even from family members.
2. God Sends Israel to Egypt: In the First Reading, we encounter Jacob, now called Israel, as an old man. When his sons returned from Egypt and told him that his beloved son, Joseph, was still alive and was reigning at Pharaoh’s right hand, Israel set out for Egypt. In a vision, God confirmed his decision and told him, “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you a great nation.” This was the promise the Lord God made to Abraham, to Isaac, and once again to Jacob. Throughout the story of Joseph, the Bible makes clear that God is in charge of the course of history. God knew that slavery awaited the people of Israel in Egypt. But he also knew that he would save his people, make a covenant with them, and bring them through the wilderness to the Promised Land. This would be a foreshadowing of the great act of salvation that his Son will accomplish in the fullness of time. The slavery in Egypt will be a symbol of the slavery we experience due to sin. The crossing of the sea will be a symbol of the waters of baptism that bring us into the New Covenant and make us sharers of divine life and the freedom of the children of God.
3. The Coming of the Son of Man: At the end of today’s Gospel reading, Jesus prophesies that his apostles will be persecuted and will not finish visiting the towns of Israel before “the Son of Man comes.” This is a reference to the Book of Daniel, which envisions: “One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven,” to receive an everlasting and universal kingdom (Daniel 7:13). This coming of the Son of Man can be interpreted in three ways. First, Jesus’ death and resurrection are his coming, and, in this context, it means that the apostles will not visit all the towns of Israel before the end of the specifically Jewish mission. They will not have visited all of the towns before they are sent out to bring in the Gentiles into the Kingdom Jesus establishes through his passion, death, and resurrection. Second, this coming could refer to the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. This means that the apostles will not have visited all the towns of Israel during the 40 years that pass from Jesus’ death to the judgment upon Jerusalem. Lastly, it could refer to the mission of the Apostles down through the centuries until the end of time. This means that the mission to Israel, who has been scattered among the nations, will continue from Jesus’ resurrection until his second coming at the end of time.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have restored the kingdom of David and inaugurated the Kingdom of Heaven. Allow me to see how the Kingdom has transformed the world around me so that I may be encouraged and filled with hope as I work on your behalf.
 
Friday 21^st Ordinary Time 2023
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come to you again in prayer. Even though I cannot see you, I know through faith that you are present in my life. I hope in your promise to be with me. I love you, and I know you love me. Accept this prayer as a token of my love.
Petition: Lord, make me long for and strive to enter the kingdom of heaven.
1. A Severe Oil Shortage: The Gospel invites us to have oil for our lamps, that is, to be always ready for the coming of the Lord. He appears in moments and ways we do not expect and at all times throughout our day. The foolish virgins failed to anticipate when and how the Lord would come to them, and they were unprepared. So often, we get caught up in a thousand affairs and worries, and we can miss what is essential. We miss the presence of Christ in the people around us in the circumstances in which we live. Sometimes, Christ comes to us through some sacrifice or suffering, but we do not recognize him in it and reject it. We need to strengthen our faith and see how the Lord may appear in our lives.
2. The Door Closes: Over and over in the New Testament, Jesus makes evident that there is a real possibility some people, due to their own choices, may not be saved. The most terrible thing that could happen to anyone would be hearing those words from the Lord who created us and died to save us: “I do not know you.” The Lord takes our freedom to choose very seriously. He never forces our will. He never imposes himself on us. Rather he invites us to make a free response of love and obedience to him and the way of life he taught us. We must choose to remain steadfast in the way of Christian life. God cannot save us without our cooperation.
3. Stay Awake: Saint Augustine said, “Beware of the grace of God that passes and does not return.” We need to perceive God’s presence in the little things of each day and never let the opportunity to love and serve him pass by. Our faith must be ready and watching for him. If we take him for granted or presume that we are already saved, we can miss our chance to be with him.
Conversation with Christ: Jesus, thank you for teaching us so clearly about the seriousness of our choices. It would be terrible to opt for death instead of eternal life with you! I want to choose you and your ways, but I am weak. Make me watch and always wait, ready to see you in all things and do your will.
Resolution: I will actively look for signs of Christ in others today.
 
Friday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time
It is very difficult for us to understand this parable. Why are ten virgins waiting outside for the bridegroom? Why do they need lamps? Even scholars are not sure. What is definite is that these virgins are not the brides. Our best guess is that they are more like bridesmaid; they are waiting to process the bridegroom into his feast.
            Let us forget about the foolish virgins and consider two details about the wise virgins. First, they have flasks of oil with them. What do these flasks signify? We do not know. They are something extra, something beyond, but what they are is uncertain. After all the virgins fell asleep, they need what is in the flask. Perhaps it is prayer or study. The wise virgins had a stronger foundation of prayer and studying the Scriptures and the Catechism, so they were able to be ready when the time came.
            The oil in the flask could also be a symbol of the Holy Spirit; oil often is used to symbolize the Holy Spirit. Then we would say that the light of faith burned out in those who were relying only on themselves for faith. The Holy Spirit is the only fuel for our faith that is sure to be there when we need it.
            The second detail could be called holy selfishness. The wise virgins do not let the foolish virgins share what is in the flasks. There are many people in this world who would like to keep you from doing what you need to do to be ready for Christ, people who will complain that you are praying or studying or going to Mass when they need you for their own purposes. Do not let them prevent you from being prepared. Be selfish!
            We do have human relationships which demand our time and effort. Failing to live up to them is not a holy thing. A mother who did not care for her children but spent all her time in prayer as if she were a nun would not be practicing true devotion. Nevertheless, our relationship with God comes first. We must not allow the world or anyone in the world to demand that we stop praying and studying, to demand that we give up whatever is in the flask that allows us to keep the fire burning. We must be selfish because we will not be able to do any good if we do not first seek God.