Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba tuần 33 TN.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba tuần 33 TN.

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta hãy tự hỏi? Chúng ta sẽ phản ứng ra sao hay là sẽ phải làm những gì nếu Chúa Giêsu gõ cửa nhà của chúng và nói, "Ta phải lưu lại nhà ngươi hôm nay!" Chúng ta có thể vui mừng hay xấu hổ? Chúa Giêsu thường đến thăm chúng trong những lúc thật bất ngờ " những lúc không mời mà đến" người nghèo, người què, thậm chí tội lỗi công khai như Gia kêu là người thu thuế! (Người Thu thuế lúc bấy giờ thường được xem như hạng người phản bội, gian giảo nên bị đối xử như người ngoại bang không có thành thật vì họ làm giàu trên xương máu của người khác).

Ông Gia kêu là một người thu thuế trưởng và bị rất nhiều người thù ghét.   Ông cần tình yêu thương xót của Thiên Chúa và trong cuộc gặp gỡ với Chúa Giêsu, ông ta đã tìm thấy lòng hương xót và tình yêu nơi Chúa Giêsu nhiều hơn những gì ông có thể tưởng tượng. Ông đã cho thấy sự ăn năn thống hối thật tình của mình bằng cách quyết định dâng cúng một nửa số gia tài của mình cho người nghèo và sử dụng một nửa khác đền bù thiệt hại cho những ai mà ông ta có sự gian lận. Những việc ông ta đã làm đẵ làm chứng còn nhiều hơn là những lời ông ta nói. Sự thay đổi tâm hồn của ông ta dẫn đến một sự thay đổi của cuộc sống, một sự thay đổi mà cả cộng đoàn có thể trải nghiệm chân thật.

Chúa luôn luôn sẵn sàng đến để làm niơi trú ngụ của Ngài trong chúng ta, măc dù chúng ta có tội lỗi nhiều đi đến đau năm, nếu chúng ta có lòng quyết tâm hối cải và biến đổi như Gia kêu, thì chúng ta phải dành chỗ cho Ngài trong tâm hồn, trong trái tim và trong gia đình của chúng ta, Và nhờ đó mà Ngài sẽ sống với và trong chúng ta mãi mãi.

Lạy Chúa, xin Chúa đến và ở lại với chúng con, xin Chúa khỏa lấp nhà chúng con với sự hiện diện của Chúa và lấp đầy tâm của chúng con với lời khen ngợi Chúa. Xin Chúa giúp chúng con biết thể hiện lòng tốt và lòng thương xót đến với mọi người, ngay cả những người chúng con không ưa thích và cà những người đã gây ra thiệt hại cho chúng con.

           

Reflection (SG)

What would you do if Jesus knocked on your door and said, “I must stay at your house today?”  Would you be excited or embarrassed? Jesus often “dropped-in” at unexpected times and he often visited the “uninvited” — the poor, the lame, even public sinners like Zacchaeus, the tax collector! Tax collectors were despised and treated as outcasts, no doubt because they accumulated great wealth at the expense of others. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and was much hated by all the people. 

Zacchaeus needed God’s merciful love and in his encounter with Jesus he found more than he imagined possible. He shows the depth of his repentance by deciding to give half of his goods to the poor and to use the other half for making restitution for fraud. Zacchaeus’ testimony included more than words. His change of heart resulted in a change of life, a change that the whole community could experience as genuine. The Lord is always ready to make his home with us. We have to make room for him in our hearts and in our home, so that he lives with us forever.

Lord, come and stay with me. Fill my home with your presence and fill my heart with your praise. Help me to show kindness and mercy to all, even those who cause me harm.

 

Tuesday 33^rd Ordinary Time 2023

At that time Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. Luke 19:1–3

Once again, our Lord reaches out to someone who comes to Him in humility and need. Zaccheaus was a wealthy man, materially speaking. But interiorly he was poor and in need. And it was this spiritual poverty he was experiencing that led him to seek out Jesus with much determination.

Zacchaeus probably never imagined that day that Jesus would offer to come to his home. Clearly, he climbed the tree to get a glimpse of Jesus because he felt a strong desire to know our Lord. Since he was physically wealthy, it seems clear that he no longer was satisfied in life simply because of a comfortable lifestyle. Something was missing, and he couldn’t help but know that Jesus held the answer. So Zacchaeus did what some may have thought unusual. He climbed a tree to be able to see Jesus.

Why did Jesus stop, look up at Zacchaeus, and call him down, stating that He was going to stay at Zacchaeus’ home? It’s because Jesus was able to sense the need within the heart of Zacchaeus. Hearts that are poor, in need, and open are very attractive to Jesus. He never misses the opportunity to come to humble souls like this. Zacchaeus responds to our Lord immediately by promising to right the wrongs he has done in the past. He promises to give away half of his possessions and to repay anyone he has extorted fourfold. This reveals the authenticity of Zacchaeus’ heart. 

As Jesus passes by you, what does He sense? Is He drawn to your heart? Is He drawn to you because of your interior disposition of humility and need? It is easy for us to go through life acting as if we have it all together. We can put on a facade that portrays an attitude of strength and success. But Jesus rarely comes to the soul who expresses little need. If we want to draw Jesus to ourselves, then we must acknowledge the poverty within ourselves, even if we are materially wealthy and successful in a worldly way. Every one of us must humble ourselves like Zacchaeus by knowing that Jesus is the only answer in life.

Reflect, today, upon the fact that you and you alone have the ability to draw Jesus to yourself. You can do this by looking at your need for Him. Do not hide it. Climb the figurative tree by which you will be able to look for Jesus and, more importantly, by which Jesus can see your manifest desire for Him. As you express your need for Him, know that He will be compelled, by His unshakable love and mercy, to come to you and to stay with you in the house of your soul. And when He does, be ready and willing to abandon all that has been a hindrance to your meeting with Christ in the past.

My attentive Lord, You are always aware of every heart that longs for You. You never ignore those who desire You in their life. Please help me to see my own interior needs and struggles and to see You as the only source of fulfillment in life. I commit myself to seeking You out, dear Lord. And as You come to me, I commit to abandon all that has kept me from You in the past. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Tuesday 33^rd Ordinary Time 2025

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you sent your Son to seek me out and save me. I was lost but have been found! Help me to be detached from the things of this passing world and store up true treasure with you in heaven.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Conversion of Zacchaeus: Luke records two events in Jericho before Jesus’ final ascent to Jerusalem. Yesterday, we read the story of Jesus curing the poor blind man. Today, we hear about the conversion of a rich man named Zacchaeus. Both the poor man and the rich man had to overcome obstacles to get to Jesus. The crowd and even Jesus’ disciples kept the poor man from Jesus, while Zacchaeus was hindered by his short stature. The poor man overcame the crowds by calling out to Jesus even louder. Zacchaeus overcame his obstacle by climbing a Sycamore tree. What both stories teach us is how much God can do with the little we are capable of and can offer. How can I call out to Jesus in prayer so that he hears me? How can I climb the sycamore tree so that I see Jesus and Jesus sees me?

2. Second Maccabees: Yesterday, we read from First Maccabees and learned about the campaign of King Antiochus IV against the Jewish religion in the second century B.C.. While some Jewish people gave in to the king’s commands and forsook the Law and the covenant, First Maccabees records the violent revolt of the Hasmoneans against the Seleucids and how they took back the Temple and rededicated it to God’s service. Second Maccabees offers a different perspective and a third response. While some followed the Hasmoneans and took up arms, others laid down their lives in martyrdom. The latter gave witness to their fidelity and their trust in God, offering themselves as a sacrifice that cried out to heaven for God’s mercy (see Gray and Cavins, Walking with God, 232). Second Maccabees can be seen as a subtle critique of the violent approach of the Hasmoneans, which ended in irony. In the beginning, the Hasmoneans were zealous for the Torah and resisted pagan Greek culture, yet in the end, they became very much like the people they fought. Was there an alternative to violent resistance? Second Maccabees, in a very subtle way, responds “yes,” and proposes the path of suffering and martyrdom.

3. The Martyrdom of Eleazar: Second Maccabees records two vivid accounts of martyrdom. Today we read the first and tomorrow we will read the second. “The first account is about an elderly man, Eleazar, who was killed because he refused to eat pork and thereby violate the Torah. Although encouraged to perform the ritual, substituting clean meat in place of the unlawful pork and thus making a pretense of performing the pagan rite, Eleazar instead chose a clear and faithful response” (Gray and Cavins, Walking with God, 242). The First Reading concludes with this assessment of Eleazar: “This is how he died, leaving in his death a model of courage and an unforgettable example of virtue not only for the young but for the whole nation” (2 Maccabees 6:31).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me. Find me among the crowd and invite yourself into my home. Teach me about the strengths and weaknesses, the opportunities and threats in my world. Allow me to see things as you see them and not as the world does.

 

Tuesday 33^rd Ordinary Time 2024

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you sent your Son to seek me out and save me. I was lost but have been found! Help me to be detached from the things of this passing world and store up true treasure with you in heaven.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Conversion of Zacchaeus: Luke records two events in Jericho before Jesus’ final ascent to Jerusalem. Yesterday, we read the story of Jesus curing the poor blind man. Today, we hear about the conversion of a rich man named Zacchaeus. Both the poor man and the rich man had to overcome obstacles. The crowd and even Jesus’ disciples kept the poor man from Jesus. Zacchaeus was hindered by his short stature. The poor man overcame the crowds by calling out to Jesus even louder. Zacchaeus overcame his obstacle by climbing a Sycamore tree. What both stories teach us is how much God can do with the little we are capable of and can offer. How can I call out to Jesus in prayer so that he hears me? How can I climb the sycamore tree so that I see Jesus and Jesus sees me?

2. The Letter to the Church in Sardis: Yesterday, we read the first of seven letters sent to the churches of Asia Minor. Today, we read the fifth letter written to Sardis and the seventh letter written to Laodicea. Each of the seven letters is a powerful exhortation to faith and a call to repent from evil and corruption. On the one hand, the Letter to Sardis praises the few who continue to walk with the Lord, who are dressed in white, and who are deemed worthy. We will learn later on that the garments of the saints are white because they have been washed in and purified by the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. On the other hand, the Church in Sardis is asked to repent from incomplete and dead works. Jesus exhorts them to be watchful, to remember what they have received, and to finish their good works. To those who heed this and who are faithful, Jesus will clothe them in white garments, their names will never be blotted from the Book of Life, and Jesus will present them to God the Father.

3. The Letter to the Church in Laodicea: The seventh letter, written to the Church in Laodicea, does not contain any words of praise. The city of Laodicea was located between Colossae, which had cold water from the mountains, and Hierapolis, which had hot mineral springs. Therefore, the water in Laodicea was neither cold nor hot but lukewarm. God points out that the Church in Laodicea was poor, naked, and blind. Jesus offers purified gold to alleviate their spiritual poverty, white garments to cover the nakedness of their idolatry, and ointment to cure their spiritual blindness. Symbolically, the letter written to Laodicea represents the age of the Pharisees. They thought they were rich, but they were poor. They thought they were robed in righteousness, but they were naked. They thought they saw clearly, but they were spiritually blind. Will they accept what Jesus offers?

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, show me where I have been victorious and where I have fallen. Move me to gratitude for my victories and to contrition for my sins. Fill me with divine hope in your promises and in your grace to help me attain what you have promised.