Suy Niệm thứ Tư Tuần 28 Thường niên

Suy Niệm thứ Tư Tuần 28 Thường niên
Công lý và hòa bình
Qua Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy trong cuộc tranh cãi với những người Pharisêu, Chúa Giê Su đã đặt nặng vấn đề công lý và tình yêu của Thiên Chúa như là lõi cốt chính của cuộc sống chung trong xã hội trên hơn tất cả bất cứ quan điểm cá nhân nào. Hòa bình và Pháp luật, Công lý và Hoà bình được kết nối không thể tách rời. Khi Luật Pháp bị chà đạp và sự bất công nổi lên nắm quyền, thì hòa bình luôn bị đe dọa.
Những tiêu chí chính trị phải dựa trên những giá trị đạo đức, chứ không phải là do con người chúng ta tạo ra, nhưng chúng phải được công nhận trên sự bình đẳng cho tất cả mọi người. Nếu không có sự bình đẳng thì Luật pháp có thể được áp dụng theo hình thức của những người có quyền theo kiểu cường hào ác bá bởi vì luật pháp được lập ra vì những lợi ích của phe phái hay phe nhóm có quyền.
Hai yếu tố sau đã làm nổi bật vì chúng biến công lý không còn có ý nghĩa mà là công cụ̣ bất chính cho kẻ cầm quyền. Thứ nhất, "chủ nghĩa hoài nghi của hệ tư tưởng", làm cho lương tâm trở nên tồi tệ hơn khi tìm mọi cách để biện minh cho những việc làm bất lương của kẻ cầm quyền bằng bất kỳ phương tiện nào để đạt được những mục tiêu và quyền lợi phe nhóm. Thứ hai, "chủ nghĩa hoài nghi cùa trong việc kinh doanh (khai thác vô nguyên tắc các nguồn tài nguyên thiên nhiên), khi con người lợi dụng những tài nguyên thiên nhiên dùng quyền lực để thay thế Luật pháp.
Lạy Chúa, đạo giáo của Chúa Kitô không làm cho  lý trí của chúng con ra mù quáng, nhưng xin Chúa hãy soi sáng cho chúng con biết dùng lý trí để mang lại sự hoà bình và xin đức tin của chúng con có thể lấy lại sự bình tĩnh cho lý trí bởi vì cuộc sống hiện tại luôn có sự bóp méo sự thật và kìm chế tư tưởng của chúng con..
 
Justice and Peace
Today, in controversy with the Pharisees, Jesus Christ places justice and God’s love, as axes of social coexistence by setting them above personal viewpoints. Peace and Law, Justice and Peace are inseparably connected. When Law is trampled on and injustice comes to power, peace is always threatened.
            Political criteria should be based on those moral values, not created by us, but recognized and equal for all men. Without them Law can be criminally used with factional purposes. Two factors of justice dilution stand out. First, the “cynicism of ideology”, which obfuscates consciences by justifying any means to achieve factional objectives. Second, the “cynicism of business” (unscrupulous exploitation of natural resources), where the useful also takes the place of the good and power displaces Law.
              O Lord, Christianity do not lead us far from reason, but illuminates it instead: make that to achieve peace, faith may calm down reason, often distorted by ideological tyranny.
 
Wednesday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Then one of the scholars of the law said to him in reply, “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.” And he said, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”  Luke 11:45–46
This scholar of the law had been listening to Jesus firmly rebuke the Pharisees. As he listened, his own conscience was pricked, and he challenged our Lord. What does Jesus do? He quickly and firmly rebukes the scholar of the law, pointing out that the scholar uses the law to impose heavy burdens on people. Jesus did not back down in this rebuke of love. Instead, He directed it to the very place that His rebuke was bearing fruit: in the conscience of this scholar of the law.
This experience of the scholar of the law teaches us two important lessons. First, we learn from him the importance of paying attention to our conscience when it is “pricked.” Second, it teaches us that when this happens, it is very easy to become defensive.
What is it that pricks your own conscience? Think back over the past month and reflect upon anything that you became defensive about. Did something someone said bother you? If so, pay attention to this. Sometimes we are bothered for reasons other than our own sin. But oftentimes, what actually bothers us is that we come face-to-face with some sin with which we struggle, and we do not want to admit it.
What if this scholar of the law would have listened to Jesus and, instead of being offended, became grateful for Jesus’ words? What if he would have humbly looked at his own life and realized that he was also guilty of the very things that Jesus was condemning the Pharisees for? If he would have done that, he would have been put in a position to sincerely examine his actions and begin a process of change. But this is hard to do.
Reflect, today, upon anything that has recently offended you. Be honest and admit that it is often the case that when God presents you with your sin through some means such as the loving rebuke of another, you must work diligently to overcome any pride. And when you feel defensive, you must immediately see that as an indication that there is something in your life that you need to change. A pricked conscience is a gift from God. Rejoice when that happens, rather than being offended, and you will discover one of the best ways by which you can grow in holiness of life by becoming free of the very sin our Lord is presenting to you.
My challenging Lord, You are constantly speaking to me in various ways. Sometimes You are gentle, and at other times You lovingly rebuke me. Please help me to see my sin. As I do, I pray that I will not become defensive or dismissive, rationalizing my erroneous actions. May I learn to rejoice in all that You say to me, especially when You speak Your rebukes of love. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Wednesday 28^th Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, enlighten my heart to know how I am responding to your gracious love. I hear the warning your Son gave to the Pharisees and the Scholars of the Law. Help me to know if I have unknowingly fallen into hypocrisy and sinful ways. May I help your people attain salvation!
Encountering the Word of God
1. Woe to you Pharisees! In the Gospel, Jesus is dining at an unnamed Pharisee’s home. The Pharisee was shocked that Jesus did not follow the prescribed washings before meals. And Jesus used the opportunity to warn the Pharisees about how they were living. The Pharisees mistakenly thought that holiness was a question of meticulous fulfillment of the law of Moses and separation from the impurity of the Gentiles. They built up an entire tradition of practices aimed at living the law perfectly. In the case of washing hands before meals, it was a way of extending the priestly rituals of washing before offering a sacrifice to every meal. Holiness, then, was seen as something exterior rather than interior. The Pharisees gave meticulous attention to lesser commandments like paying their taxes, but neglected the virtue of justice and the first commandment to love God above all things. In fact, their fulfillment of hundreds of human traditions puffed them up in pride, rather than walking humbly before God. They sought the praise of men and not the glory of God. Instead of teaching the people to walk humbly, they corrupted those they taught. The scholars of the law were not exempt from this warning. They too built up wearisome burdens for the people in their teachings and traditions instead of bringing the people to the heart of the law – love for God and neighbor.
2. To Those who Judge Others: One of the main traits of the Pharisees was their tendency to judge others. Paul addresses this in his Letter to the Romans. He speaks to Jewish persons who pass judgment on Gentile sinners. “Evidently, some, inflated with a sense of moral superiority, felt justified in playing the judge and condemning the non-Jewish world for its wickedness” (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 22). Yes, pagan practices were abominations and worthy to be condemned. However, Paul criticizes his debate partner here for holding others to a standard that they themselves struggle to attain. Paul then charges his fellow Jews with the same sins committed in the pagan world (Romans 2:1). Paul is making a parallel here: just as the pagan Gentiles are inexcusably culpable for sinning against God’s revelation in creation, so the Jews are culpable for sinning against God’s revelation in the Torah (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 22). According to Paul, the Jews have fallen into hypocrisy – like the Pharisees and scholars of the law in the Gospel – and infidelity and presumption. They have a prideful overconfidence that they, as members of God’s people, will escape the judgment of God. “It seems that some Jews regarded their ethnic ties to the patriarchs, along with the privilege of being counted among God’s people, as an insurance policy against the fiery day of judgment. It was a false confidence that every Israelite was guaranteed mercy, no matter what” (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 23).
3. Judgment according to Works: Paul argues that we will be judged not by our ethnicity, but by our works. “This is the belief that God will hold every person accountable for his or her actions, public or private, and assign each person a corresponding destiny. One will either receive eternal life at the final judgment, or face the wrath and fury of the God who punishes evil” (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 24). This teaching that we will be judged on our works is not opposed to Paul’s later teaching in the letter that we are initially justified not by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, Chapter Two concludes with a teaching on the necessity for both Gentiles and Jews to observe the law. While the Jews have the revealed law of God written in the Torah, the Gentiles have the natural law of God written in their hearts. The Gentiles also have a conscience which bears witness to what is good and evil. What Paul teaches is that we are initially justified by grace, and this grace of justification is not dependent on our works. It is an unmerited gift of God given to us through Jesus and the Spirit. However, the gift is an empowering gift that enables the Christian to perform works that result from God’s operative power in the believer. The works the believer does in union with Christ have a salvific value. And that is why we, as believers, need to work out our salvation (Philippians 2:12) (see Barber, Four Views on the Role of Works at the Final Judgment, 157-159).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to hear with fresh ears your warnings against hypocrisy. I pray that I may see myself as your Father sees me, as I truly am. Guide me in my thinking so that I can know my faults, failings, and imperfections. Purify my intentions as I serve others in love.
 
Wednesday 28^th Ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, enlighten my heart to know how I am responding to your gracious love. I hear the warning your Son gave to the Pharisees and the Scholars of the Law. Help me to know if I have unknowingly fallen into hypocrisy and sinful ways. May I help your people attain salvation!
 Encountering the Word of God
1. The Three Woes Pronounced upon the Pharisees: Earlier in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus pronounced a series of four covenant blessings and four covenant curses or “woes” (Luke 6:20-26). A “woe” is a cry of warning of coming judgment. Jesus taught that the poor, the hungry, those who weep, and those who are reviled on account of him enjoy God’s blessing. The rich, those who are full, those who laugh, and those who are spoken well of are given a warning. Jesus voices this cry “to warn that disaster awaits the comfortable of the world whose prosperity and notoriety have turned them away from God and the demands of his covenant” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 118). In today’s Gospel, Jesus warns the Pharisees with three “woes” that judgment is coming upon them. They are first warned about their religious hypocrisy. This means that they present themselves as righteous because of their detailed exterior fulfillment of lesser matters of the Law, and yet, interiorly, they are full of wickedness. They are two-faced: exteriorly and superficially, they give the appearance of holiness while, at the same time, they are interiorly and deeply wicked. Second, they are then warned about how they strive to attain temporal earthly honors instead of eternal heavenly glory. Third, Jesus warns them that they have become like unseen sources of defilement. Instead of bringing the people to God, they keep the people from entering the Kingdom of God. In short, Jesus warns the Pharisees that they are hypocrites, that they are full of evil, and that they have failed in their religious duties. For this, they are judged by Jesus and given a covenant warning of woe.
2. The First Woe Pronounced upon the Scholars of the Law: When the Scholars of the Law object that Jesus, by calling out the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees, is insulting them too, Jesus does not apologize to them. He doubles down, so to speak, and pronounces three “woes” upon the Scholars of the Law. We hear the first one in the Gospel today and will hear the second and third warnings tomorrow. The first warning that Jesus gives concerns their interpretation of the Law of Moses. Jesus accuses them of burdening the people and not helping to ease the load. This means that they have added their human traditions to God’s Law and made it even harder to bear. In contrast to the Scholars of the Old Law, when Jesus gives us the New Law, he also gives the strength and power to fulfill it: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Although the New Law is a higher standard than the Old Law, we are empowered to fulfill it through the gift of the Holy Spirit and the merits and grace of Jesus Christ.
3. Works of the Flesh vs. the Fruit of the Spirit: In the Letter to the Galatians, Paul speaks about what it means to enjoy freedom in Christ. This is not freedom to choose between and to do good or evil, but a freedom to do good and serve one’s brothers and sisters in love (Galatians 5:13-14). Instead of having to submit to the Old Law, we are guided and empowered by the Spirit to live according to the New Law. We need to walk by the Spirit in this freedom Christ has given us (Galatians 5:15-17). “The works of the flesh are obvious, and [Paul] has warned [the Galatians] before of the judgment coming against them. But avoiding them is a matter not of the law but the Spirit, who produces good fruit in those joined to Christ. So live by the Spirit” (Prothro, The Apostle Paul and His Letters, 156). Paul lists fifteen works of the flesh, including immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, strife, selfishness, rivalry, dissension, division, envy, and drunkenness (see ESV-CE translation). He then lists nine fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you truly lived according to the Spirit. You loved, were full of joy, brought peace, were patient and kind, were generous beyond measure, were faithful to your Father’s will, were gentle, and manifested self-control in everything. Help me to imitate you in all that I do today.