Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần 29 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần 29 Thường Niên
Nhiều người thường nghĩ là Chúa Giêsu đến thế giới này để thuyết dạy con người trong sự mềm giẻo trong giáo lý của Ngài. Họ nghĩ rằng là những Kitô giáo, thì họ có thể sống một cuộc sống không bị xáo trộn và yên bình nếu như họ hoàn thành một số nghĩa vụ như đi lễ như luật buộc nhất định. Đối với họ, thì những giá trị như sự tha thứ và bình an được Thiên Chúa ban cho không mà không đòi hỏi họ phải có những nỗ lực ở nơi họ.
Tuy nhiên, trong Tin Mừng ngày nay, Chúa Giêsu nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng những sứ điệp của Ngài đòi hỏi chúng ta là những Kitô hữu phải hoàn thành nghĩa vụ của chúng ta nhiều hơn nữa chứ không phài là việc đi nhà  thờ đi lễ mà thôi. Ngài mời gọi và muốn chúng ta cam kết hoàn toàn với cuộc sống của Ngài. Điều này có nghĩa là chúng ta phải có quyết định một là theo Ngài hay hai là chống lại Ngài. Vì chúng ta không thể trở thành một Kitô Hữu với cái tên... Để trở thành một người Kitô giáo có nghĩa là chúng ta phải biết từ bỏ mọi thứ hay mọi người đang cẳn bước chúng ta trên con đường đến với Đức Kitô mà chúng ta đã hứa.
Đây là lý do tại sao làm môn đệ Chúa Kitô là phải chấp nhận sự tổn thất hoàn toàn. Thật ra, sự lựa chọn theo Đức Kitô có thể gây ra cho chúng ta sự phân chia và mâu thuẫn ngay trong gia đình hay trong cộng đồng. Khi đối mặt với những điều này, là Người Kitô hữu chúng ta  cần phải biết nắm giữ giá trị phúc âm và có những sự ưu tiên rõ ràng. Sự cam kết của chúng ta với Chúa Giêsu không phải là chủ yếu dựa vào quan hệ con người nhưng là việc biết biết để tâm  lắng nghe và làm theo lời của Chúa.
Vì thế chúng ta phải dành cho Chúa Giêsu những gì? Nếu chúng ta chưa hứa sống hoàn toàn với Chúa Giêsu, Chúng ta vẫn còn  thời gian để suy nghĩ đến lời cảnh báo của Chúa Giêsu để cho chúng ta làm một quyết định. Chúa đã đến để thiêu hủy trái đất này. Với ơn Chúa Thánh Thần, Ngài đã bắt đầu tách lúa mì ra khỏi những nhánh rơm khô. Vì vậy, chúng ta đừng chờ đợi quá lâu. Bởi vì trước khi chúng ta biết điều đó xảy ra, thì giờ phán xét đã đến với chúng ta. Lạy Chúa, giúp chúng con luôn giữ mãi lời hứa với Ngài
 
Reflection:
Many people think that Jesus came to preach a soft gospel. They think that as Christians they can live an untroubled and peaceful life by fulfilling certain religious obligations and rituals. To them, values such as forgiveness and peace are readily given and require no effort on their part.
However, in today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that there is a side to his message that demands all of us Christians to do more than fulfill obligations or participate in rituals. He demands that we must commit our lives totally to Him. This means that we have to decide whether we are for him or against him. It is not enough to be a Christian by name. To be a Christian means that we forsake everything and everyone who stands in the way of our total commitment to Christ.
This is why Christian discipleship is costly. The choice that we make for Christ may even cause divisions and conflicts in the family and community or even death. In the face of these, a Christian needs to hold on to a clear set of gospel values and priorities. This commitment to Jesus is not based primarily on human kinship but on hearing and doing God’s word.
So, today are we totally for Jesus? If we have not committed ourselves totally to Jesus, then there is still time for us to make a decision about the warning from our Lord Jesus. He has already come to set the earth on fire. And by sending the Holy Spirit, he has started to separate the wheat from the chaff. So do not wait too long. Because before we know it, the time for judgement will be upon us. Lord, help us to commit ourselves to You totally.
 
Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time.
Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!” Luke 12:49–50
There is much that we can take from these teachings of our Lord. Not only did Jesus say, “I have come to set the earth on fire…” He also said that it’s His desire that this fire be “blazing!”
Fire is powerful. A blazing fire, for example, can purify the precious metal gold. When heated to a liquid state, the impurities rise to the surface for easy removal. Fire can also consume. When a blazing fire completes its burning, what’s left are only ashes. Many great saints have reflected upon the image of fire as an image of the purification God wants to do within our souls. Saint John of the Cross, for example, reflected in depth upon this image. He explained that entering into divine union was similar to a log burning. At first, as the log begins to burn, it crackles and pops. This is because the impurities within the wood, such as moisture or sap, do not burn as the wood burns. But as a log continues to burn, as Saint John explains, eventually the log becomes one with the fire. At first, you can distinguish the log from the fire when only part of the log is burning. But once the entire log is engulfed in the flames and all the impurities are burnt out, you have a piece of wood that is one with the fire. It glows and emits light and heat.
When we ponder these words from Jesus regarding His desire to “set the earth on fire,” we must first see this as His desire to purify our souls. Within our souls, there are many impurities that need to be removed if we are to become one with God, emitting His radiance and glory.  This purification involves a process of allowing God to bring our sins to the surface so that they are seen and can be removed. But this is only possible if we allow the blazing fire of God’s purifying love to consume us.
Oftentimes in life, we are content with simply being mediocre in our faith journey. We pray, go to Mass on Sunday, and try to be good. But this is not the life our Lord wants for us. He wants a life that is radically consumed with the blazing fire of His love. He wants us to become so purified from our sin that He is able to become one with us, sending forth the radiance of His glory through our lives. 
Reflect, today, upon this image of a blazing and purifying fire. Use the image of gold melting to the point that all impurities rise to the surface. Or use the image that Saint John of the Cross uses with the log. God wants so much more from you. He wants to transform you and use you in ways beyond your imagination. Do not be afraid to make the radical decision to allow the blazing and purifying fire of our Lord’s mercy to transform you. And don’t wait for this to start tomorrow—kindle that flame today.
My purifying Lord, You deeply desire to set my heart and soul on fire with the transforming mercy of Your love. Please give me the grace I need to permit You to kindle this fire of love in my heart so that it will truly become blazing and all-consuming. May this blaze ignite me in the inner depths of my heart so that You will shine brightly in my life, bringing forth the warmth of Your love into our world. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Thursday of 29th Week in Ordinary Time. 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, send forth your Spirit into my heart that I may understand your divine Word. Grant me the gift of counsel so that I may know what to say and how to act within my family. I want to bring all my family members to share in your divine life.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Fire and Baptism: In the Gospel, we hear how Jesus desires to send the Holy Spirit upon the earth. He will do this fifty days after his “baptism,” that is, after his death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit will manifest itself as tongues of fire on the day of Pentecost. This is how Jesus sets the earth on fire. It is the gift and fire of divine Love that Jesus sends that sets the world ablaze. In this way, Jesus fulfills the promise made to Abraham of a universal blessing for all the families and nations of the world. The fire of the Spirit purifies us and empowers us to give witness to Christ. Fire also symbolizes God’s presence, power, holiness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit truly transforms us to be children of God and soldiers of Christ in the world.
2. The Tribulation of Division: Jesus brings both peace and division. Some will accept and welcome the peace he brings. And others will reject his peace, resulting in division. The division will be so deep that it will affect household relationships. This was prophesied centuries before Jesus by Micah: “For the son belittles his father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and your enemies are members of your household” (Micah 7:6). Micah’s description of familial strife was followed by a description of Israel’s regathering and restoration by the divine Shepherd who performs wonderful signs (Micah 7:12-15). What Jesus foretells is that he, the divine Shepherd, has set in motion this time of tribulation, marked by deep division within Israel concerning him. The time of tribulation will be followed by the time of salvation and restoration. The restoration will continue throughout history and will only be complete at his glorious second coming. Until then, Jesus’ disciples “must be willing to bear with the divisions that may result among family and friends” (Gadenz, The Gospel of Luke, 248).
3. The Wages of Sin and the Gift of God: In the Letter to the Romans, Paul is still addressing possible misunderstandings. A person could erroneously think that we should keep sinning so that more grace is unleashed upon the earth by God (Romans 6:1). A person could also erroneously think that we are free to sin because we are not under the law but under grace (Romans 6:15). And Paul answers that our freedom fromsin does not give us the freedom to sin. Paul even argues that we are liberated from sin and its oppression initially through baptism and that this makes us “slaves” of righteousness (Romans 6:18). We have new responsibilities as members of God’s family. At the beginning of today’s First Reading, Paul points out that he is speaking in “human terms.” He is using the metaphor of slavery since this was familiar to the Romans. He also appeals to our common experience of struggling to overcome sin in our lives. We are no longer slaves to impurity and sin. Freed from sin, we have become slaves of God. “Serving God leads to greater and greater degrees of sanctification and eventually to eternal life” (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 106). Paul concludes that eternal death is payment (wages) for a life of service to sin and that eternal life is the gift of God that Christ offers us.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I do not know how to pray as I ought. I need to sit again and again at your feet and learn from you. Guide my thoughts and prayers so that I may ask for good things from the Father.