Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ
Bẩy Tuần 33 Thường Niên
Tin
Mừng hôm nay nói về sự sống lại của những người
đã chết và cũng như những trạng thái của con người khi được sống
lại ở trong thế giới bên kia. Qua bài Tin Mừng Chúa
Giêsu đã nói cho chúng ta biết rằng trong sự sống lại của người ở
trong Nước Thiên Chúa, không có sự kết hôn vì con người sẽ không bao
giờ phải chết nữa. Lúc đo con người chúng ta cũng sẽ giống
như các thiên thần và con cái Thiên Chúa Trên Thiên
Đàng.
Tin
Mừng hôm nay mời gọi tất cả chúng ta hãy nhìn vào cuộc
sống của chúng ta một
cách nghiêm túc. Chúa Giêsu đề cập đến sự tồn tại của con
người trên trái đất của chúng ta, những người mà Ngài so
sánh, đối chiếu với "con cái của sự sống lại” là những
người đã sống lại trong cuộc sống mới. Rõ
ràng là chúng ta đã được mời gọi để tham dự và thống
phần vào trong của sự sống lại với Chúa
Giêsu. Nhưng trước
khi đạt đến những sự hứa hẹn trong
sự sống lại, con người phải trải qua một cuộc phán xét để xác
định rõ trình trạng của mỗi người, để xem ai là
người xứng đáng được sống lại với Chúa Kitô trong nước Trời, hay là sẽ
phải là môt trong những người bị loại.
Chúng ta cũng phải tập
trung và chú ý vào sự sống lại của những người
đã chết. Cuộc sống với Chúa Giêsu Kitô ở trên trời phải
là mục tiêu hàng đầu của chúng ta. Điều đó cũng phải là trọng tâm trong
các nỗ lực của chúng ta để được sống lại và được nâng lên
làm con cái Thiên Chúa như Ngài đã hứa ban cho chúng
ta. Mục tiêu này củng đã đem lại và giới thiệu cho chúng
ta với một thách thức hết sức đầy gian nguy và to lớn, vì thế
giới xung quanh đã đưa ra cho chúng ta một
cách sống hoàn toàn khác biệt như việc hướng dẫn, nuôi dạy con
cái: theo đuổi cái hạnh phúc trong thế giói hiện
tại, sống một cuộc sống phải có đầy đủ những thừ vật chất
và hưởng thụ mọi thứ đang hiện hữu trong thế giới hiện tại ở đây trên
trái đất này.
Cuộc chiến hàng
ngày của chúng ta trong thế giới này chỉ có thể chiến
thắng và đạt được qua những lời thành tâm cầu nguyện và với
sự giúp đỡ của Chúa Thánh Thần là Đấng ban cho chúng ta sức mạnh, sự
kiên trì và can đảm để tồn tại trong cuộc chiến và sự đấu
tranh của chúng ta. Đây là những là tin tức thực sự tốt cho
chúng ta để chúng tabiết rằng Thiên Chúa của
chúng ta là Thiên Chúa của kẻ sống và Con của
Ngài là ĐứcGiêsu Kitô đã vượt qua mọi sự cám dỗ
và đã mở ra một con đường cho chúng ta đi theo
REFLECTION
This Gospel speaks of the resurrection of the dead and it gives us some
inclination as to what the status of spouses will be in the next world. The
Gospel says that in the resurrection of the dead people do not marry because
they no longer die and are the same as angels and sons of God.
Today's Gospel invites all of us to
look at our lives seriously. Jesus mentions "the children of this
world," referring, of course, to our existence on earth, whom he contrasts
with the "children of the resurrection" - those who have risen to new
life. Clearly, we are called to participate in the promise of the resurrection.
But before reaching the promised resurrection there is judgment that will
determine whether one is worthy or not of being a child of the resurrection. We
must also focus their attention on the resurrection of the dead. Life with
Jesus Christ in heaven should be our objective. It must also be the center
point in our efforts to raise the children God has given us. This goal presents
us with a tremendous challenge. For the world around us proposes to us an
entirely different way of raising children: pursue happiness now, live life to
the fullest here on earth.
This daily battle can be won through
prayer and with the help of the Holy Spirit who gives us the strength,
perseverance and courage to persist in our struggle. It is truly good news to
know that our God is the God of the living and that his Son Jesus Christ has
overcome all temptations and has trod a path for us to follow.
Saturday
33 ordinary Time
Saturday
of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
“That the dead will rise
even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called
‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is
not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” Luke 20:37–38
Jesus gives this response to some of the Sadducees who question
Him about the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees did not believe in the
resurrection of the body, whereas the Pharisees did. Thus, the Sadducees asked
Jesus about the resurrection of the body using an almost unheard of example.
They refer to the levirate law found in Deuteronomy 25:5ff which
states that if a married man dies before having children, the brother of that
man must marry his wife and provide descendants for his brother. Thus, the
Sadducees present the scenario where seven brothers die, each one subsequently
taking the same wife. The question they posed was, “Now at the resurrection
whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her.” Jesus
answers by explaining that marriage is for this life, not the life to come at
the resurrection. Therefore, none of the brothers will be married to her when
they rise.
Some spouses have a hard time with this teaching, in that they
love their spouse and desire to remain married in Heaven and at the time of the
final resurrection. For those who feel this way, rest assured that the bonds of
love we form on earth will remain and even be strengthened in Heaven. And when
the end of the world comes and all of our bodies rise and are reunited with our
souls, those bonds of love will remain stronger than ever. However, marriage,
in the earthly sense, will be no more. It will be replaced by the pure love of
the new life to come.
This teaching gives us reason to ponder further the beautiful
teaching of our Lord about His return in glory and, as we say in the Creed,
“the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” We profess
this belief every Sunday at Mass. But for many, it can be hard to understand.
So what do we actually believe?
Simply put, we believe that when we die, our body is “laid to
rest,” but our soul enters a moment of particular judgment. Those who remain in
mortal sin are eternally separated from God. But those who die in a state of
grace will eternally live with God. Most people who die will most likely die
with some lasting venial sins on their soul. Thus, Purgatory is the grace of
final purification that the person’s soul encounters upon death. Purgatory is
simply the purifying love of God which has the effect of eliminating every last
sin and imperfection, and every attachment to sin, so that the purified soul
can see God face-to-face in Heaven. But it doesn’t stop there. We also believe
that at some definitive time in world history, Jesus will return to earth and transform
it. This is His Final Judgment. At that time, every body will rise, and we will
live eternally as we were intended to live: body and soul united as one. Those
souls who are in mortal sin will also be reunited with their bodies, but their
body and soul will live separated from God forever. Thankfully, those who are
in a state of grace and have endured their final purification will be
resurrected and share in the new Heavens and new Earth forever, body and soul
as God intended.
Reflect, today, upon this glorious teaching of our Lord that you
profess faith in every time you pray the Creed. Keeping your eyes on Heaven
and, especially, on the final and glorious resurrected state in which you will
live in the new Heaven and Earth must become your daily practice. The more we
live with this holy expectation, the more we will live here and now as a time
of preparation for this final existence. Build treasure now in anticipation of
this glorious day and believe that it is the eternity to which you are called.
My resurrected Lord, You now reign in Heaven, body and soul, in
anticipation of the final and glorious resurrection of all the dead. May I
always keep my eyes on this final goal of human life and do all that I can to
prepare for this eternity of glory and love. Jesus, I trust in You.
Saturday
33 ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I am your child. I sit at your feet
to learn from you. I play before you and look up to see your smiling face. Care
for me and guide my steps. Correct me when I foolishly choose what is evil.
Encourage me when I wisely do what is right and good.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Life in the Coming Age: When members of the Sadducees, who denied that there
was a resurrection of the dead, approached Jesus with their theological
question, they intended to undermine Jesus’ teaching authority. They were
probably aware of Jesus’ position on the resurrection because of the parable
Jesus told the Pharisees about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Jesus
wasn’t befuddled by their question and easily responded to the Sadducees. He
first showed them that they misunderstood what life in the coming age would be
like. Life after death – life in the coming age – is not a mere continuation of
earthly life. One of the purposes of marriage in this life is to transmit life
by having and raising children (CCC, 2363). But since those who attain eternal
life can no longer die, they no longer need to marry and procreate to maintain
the human race or perpetuate their name and lineage.
2. The Resurrection of the Dead: The second thing Jesus
did was to show that the Five Books of Moses – the only books of the Bible that
the Sadducees accepted as authoritative – do teach the resurrection of the
dead. Jesus points out that when God revealed himself as the Lord to Moses in
the burning bush, he revealed and identified himself as the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:15). The Lord identifies himself
as being in a continued relationship with the three patriarchs long after their
deaths. God is not the God of the dead but of the living! This means that the
three patriarchs are still alive with God in some way and await their future
resurrection. Jesus teaches that the children of God – and we have become
children of God through our baptism – will be cared for and will be raised to
new life by God the Father.
3. From King Antiochus IV to Jesus: In the First Reading, Judas the Hammer has been
successful against King Antiochus and other non-Jewish ethic groups living in
and around Judea. During these events, Antiochus had been attempting to raise
funds in the east through the imposition of tribute and the robbing of temples.
“His efforts, however, provoke rebellion among local inhabitants, and his plans
fail. Forced to withdraw to Babylon, an imperial stronghold, the king becomes
deathly ill upon hearing the news of the defeat of his forces in Judea. He
dies, believing himself accursed because of his abuses of Jerusalem and its
inhabitants (1 Mac 6:8-16)” (Bergsma and Pitre, A Catholic Introduction
to the Bible: Old Testament, 511-512). If we continue to read the story of
the Maccabees, we learn that Judas the Hammer thought that he needed assistance
to continue to resist the Seleucid monarchy. And he sought the help of Rome, a
rapidly growing world power. One hundred years after King Antiochus, the
Romans, led by the general Pompey in 63 B.C., would conquer and capture
Jerusalem. “Like Antiochus IV before him, Pompey entered the sanctuary of the
Temple and killed the priests who were ministering there. He established one of
the claimants to the high priesthood, Hyrcanus II, and inaugurated the Roman
captivity of Judea, which lasted into the days of Jesus and after. Hyrcanus
II’s head advisor was Antipater, an Edomite …, who managed to establish a good
relationship with the Romans. Julius Caesar appointed Antipater to be
procurator of Judea in 47 B.C. and Anipater’s son Herod the Great would rule
Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth” (Gray and Cavins, Walking with God,
241).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Resurrection and the
Life. Raise me up! You are the Bread of Life and the Good Shepherd. Nourish me
and bring me to good pasture! You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You are
the Sheep Gate. Let me in and keep me safe! You are the Light of the World and
the True Vine. Enlighten my mind and unite me to you!
Saturday
33 ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I am your child. I sit at your feet
to learn from you. I play before you and look up to see your smiling face. Care
for me and guide my steps. Correct me when I foolishly choose what is evil.
Encourage me when I wisely do what is right and good.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Life in the Coming Age: When members of the Sadducees, who denied that there
was a resurrection of the dead, approached Jesus with their theological
question, they intended to undermine Jesus’ teaching authority. They were
probably aware of Jesus’ position on the resurrection because of the parable
Jesus told the Pharisees about the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Jesus
wasn’t befuddled by their question and easily responded to the Sadducees. He
first showed them that they misunderstood what life in the coming age would be
like. Life after death – life in the coming age – is not a mere continuation of
earthly life. One of the purposes of marriage in this life is to transmit life
by having and raising children (CCC, 2363). But since those who attain eternal
life can no longer die, they no longer need to marry and procreate to maintain
the human race or perpetuate their name and lineage.
2. The Resurrection of the Dead: The second thing Jesus
did was to show that the Five Books of Moses – the only books of the Bible that
the Sadducees accepted as authoritative – does teach the resurrection of the
dead. Jesus points out that when God revealed himself as the Lord to Moses in
the burning bush, he revealed and identified himself as the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob (Exodus 3:15). The Lord identifies himself
as being in a continued relationship with the three patriarchs long after their
deaths. God is not the God of the dead but of the living! This means that the
three patriarchs are still alive with God in some way and await their future
resurrection. Jesus teaches that the children of God – and we have become
children of God through our baptism – will be cared for and will be raised to
new life by God the Father.
3. The Death and Resurrection of the Two
Witnesses: In the
Book of Revelation, John contemplates the death of God’s two witnesses. The
actions of these two witnesses recall Moses, who turned water into blood and
afflicted Egypt with plagues, and Elijah, who sealed the sky so that no rain
fell (1 Kings 17:1). Moses especially represents the witness of the Law, while
Elijah especially represents the witness of the Prophets. The death of the two
witnesses in Jerusalem, the city where “their Lord was crucified,” symbolizes
all of the prophets who warned Israel to repent and were killed (Barber, Coming
Soon, 141). The time of “three and a half days” refers back to Daniel
(Daniel 7:25; 12:7) and symbolizes a time of persecution and tribulation before
the day of salvation. It recalls the three and a half years of persecution by
Antiochus IV (167-164 B.C.) and prophesies the three and a half years of
tribulation by the Romans (66-70 A.D.). The death of God’s two witnesses is not
their end. John sees the breath of life from God reenter their corpses. They,
like the saints who were persecuted and murdered, will be raised from the dead
and brought to heaven in a cloud.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Resurrection and the
Life. Raise me up! You are the Bread of Life and the Good Shepherd. Nourish me
and bring me to good pasture! You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You are
the Sheep G
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