Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thừ Năm Tuần 31 Thường Niên.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thừ Năm Tuần 31 Thường Niên. Luke 15:1-10.  
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Thánh Luca mô tả Thiên Chúa không phải là người ưa thích báo thù hay muốn trừng phạt con người, nhưng là một Thiên Chúa đầu yêu thương, Ngài hằng mong tìm kiếm những con người tội lỗi để đem họ về trong ơn cứu rỗi. Thiên Chúa đang tìm kiếm chúng ta, những con người tội lỗi, và yếu kém đức tin! Trong bài dụ ngôn hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đuợc mô tả như một người mục tử nhân từ đang tìm kiếm con chiên đi lạc trong sa mạc. Và khi tìm thấy được nó, anh ta không tức giận, la mắng hay trừng phạt nó vì cái tội đi lang thang để bị lạc bày, nhưng anh ta đã đặt nó trên vai và mang nó về nhà với niềm vui hớn hở. Tương tự như vậy, Thánh Luca tiếp tục miêu tả Thiên Chúa như người phụ nữ tìm đồng tiền bị mất của mình. Cô quét nhà, thắp đèn cho sáng, cô đã bỏ ra hằng giờ và cố công để tìm cho ra đồng bạc bị mất của mình. Mặc dù đồng bạc ấy có giá trị không bằng cái công đã bỏ ra đi tìm, và có thể cô còn tốn tiền nhiều hơn cái giá trị của đồng tiền trong việc ăn mừng với bạn bè làng xóm sau khi cô đã tìm thấy được đồng bạc ấy.
            Kitô giáo của chúng ta chú trọng về việc Thiên Chúa tìm kiếm chúng ta, con người tội lỗi  hơn là việc chúng ta đi tìm kiếm Thiên Chúa: việc Thiên Chúa tha thứ, đón nhận, và mời gọi chúng ta đến với Bí Tích Thánh Thể. Kinh Thánh mời gọi chúng ta suy ngẫm về những gì chúng ta có thể đã vô tình đánh mất. Có lẽ chúng ta đã đánh mất một cái gì đó đọc đường trong cuộc sống vất vả, cam go,  hay chúng ta bị thất lạc những gí đó trong một cuốc sống đầy bon chen vật chất, hoặc chúng ta đã vô tình hay cố ý bỏ lại sau lưng những gì đó vì cuộc sống đầy vội vã, và đua chạy với đồng tiền, danh vọng.. Chúng ta đã mất những gì? Chúng ta cỏn thiếu những gì cho cuộc sống của chúng ta? Thiên Chúa đang tìm kiếm chúng ta, đang chờ đợi chúng ta và sẵn sàng chào đón và đưa chúng ta về nhà Chúa. Hãy đến với với tâm hồn thống hối và ăn năn.  Lạy Chúa, linh hồn chúng con đang mong chờ và đợi Chúa, xin cho chúng con biết vtin tưởng vào lời Chúa đã hứa.
 
Thursday 31^st Ordinary Time Rom. 14:7-12; Lk. 15:1-10
Contrary to some fire and brimstone preaching, our God does not delight in sending people to Hell. In fact, God grieves when people turn away from him. Our God does not cast us out. God leaves the door unlocked and we can freely choose to stay or go or even come home as we please.
            The gospel today portrays God, not as vengeful and punishing, but as a God who searches for sinners so he can save them. God is searching for us! In the first parable Jesus describes a shepherd searching for a lost sheep in the desert. When he finds it, he does not scold or punish it for wandering off and becoming lost, but puts it on his shoulders and brings it home with great joy.
            Likewise, Luke portrays God as a woman searching for her lost coin. She sweeps the house, lights a lamp. She spends more time and energy searching for her coin than it is probably worth and probably spends more than its value in celebrating its finding with her friends.
            Christianity is more about God seeking us than it is about us seeking God: about God forgiving, welcoming, and inviting us to the Eucharist, sinners though we all are. The scriptures invite us to reflect upon what we may have unknowingly lost. What is missing? Perhaps something we dropped or have misplaced or accidentally left behind or maybe just gradually fell away unnoticed. Perhaps something was taken from us. What have we lost? What’s missing? God is looking for us, waiting to welcome us home.  My soul is waiting for the Lord, I count on his word.
 
Thursday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’”  Luke 15:4–6
Some of the great saints point out that the number one hundred represents perfection. One hundred refers to the perfection of the Kingdom of God, which represents not only all of the saints in Heaven but also the angels. The one lost sheep represents all of humanity as we make our way through this life. Jesus, of course, is the Shepherd Whose attention turns to fallen humanity on a diligent search for us so as to carry us home.
First, notice that the Shepherd does not search for the one stray sheep out of anger but out of concern and love. Understanding this is essential if we are to have a correct understanding of how our Lord sees us when we stray. We must see His deep concern, His diligence in searching, and His unwavering commitment to find us in our straying condition. This is not a God Who sits back in judgment and anger but a God Who came to us, took on our fallen human nature, and endured all suffering so as to find us and bring us home.
Notice also that in this parable, the Shepherd places the lost sheep on His shoulders and carries the sheep home. Oftentimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that we must make our way back to God by our own effort. But the truth is that God is always there, waiting to pick us up and carry us home. Our duty is to surrender to His merciful hands and to stop running. This is done by turning to Him and allowing Him to come to us and minister to us. The primary effort is on the part of our Lord once we surrender ourselves into His gentle Hands.
Finally, notice that the rejoicing mentioned in this parable is on the part of the Shepherd. Of course we also will rejoice at being picked up and carried home to the perfection of God’s Kingdom, but our rejoicing is done in response to the joy of our Lord. It is His joy we are invited to share in. It is His heart that is filled with gratitude as we allow Him to tenderly carry us home. “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep,” He says.
Reflect, today, upon this holy image of the Good Shepherd. As you ponder this parable and imagery, be attentive to the various thoughts, memories, emotions and fears that are evoked within you. Each one of us is different, and our Lord deeply desires to come to each one of us right where we are, in the midst of our sins. Pondering the compassion of this Good Shepherd will open the door for our Lord to speak to you and to invite you personally to come to Him, turning away from the ways that you personally have strayed. Do not run away. Remain in confidence as He comes to you. Listen to His voice and say “Yes” to Him as He lifts you up to carry you home.
My gentle Jesus, You are the Good Shepherd. You love me and search for me with diligence and fidelity. May I trust You enough to stop running from You and hiding from Your gentle voice. Please come to me, pick me up, place me on Your shoulders and carry me home. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Thursday 31^st Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I pray that you may find me when I am lost. For my part, I will seek you in all good things. I am thankful for the gift of your grace that empowers me to do good works.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Parable of the Lost Sheep: In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus prepares for the Parable of the Prodigal Son and his Older Brother (Luke 15:11-32) by telling two parables. The Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7) focuses on God’s concern for sinners who are like the younger, prodigal son. The twist in the parable is that the shepherd leaves the ninety-nine. Any sensible shepherd would just cut their losses. They still have 99 sheep, losing one is no big deal. God, however, is not a sensible shepherd. He is madly in love with each one of us. He knows each one of us by name. We are each precious to God, and he will do whatever it takes to bring us back into the flock of his sheep.
2. The Parable of the Lost Coin: The second parable, the Parable of the Lost Coin (Luke 15:8- 10), applies especially to those who are like the Pharisees and scribes. They haven’t wandered far like the lost sheep. They are in the house of God, but they are lost too! Just as Jesus seeks out the lost sheep, he will seek out the lost coin. We are familiar with both groups of people. We know family members, friends, coworkers, and others who have fallen into “sins of the flesh” and have left the Church. We also know people who remain in the Church but are like the scribes and Pharisees. They refuse to welcome sinners, they judge them no matter what they do, and they relate to God more like an accountant than a Father. Instead of growing in love for God and their brothers and sisters, they check off boxes of external pious practices and are confidently self-righteous because of all the sins they are avoiding. They refuse to celebrate God’s mercy. They are lost in the House of God and need to be found. Jesus asks us to imitate the merciful father, who goes to the older son and asks him to celebrate the return of his brother and welcome him into the family once more. He asks us to imitate the woman who searches her house for the lost coin and calls all her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her when she finds it.
3. Why Do You Judge? In the Letter to the Romans 14-15, Paul is trying to foster unity in the Roman church without imposing uniformity in nonessential matters. He identifies two factions in the community, and labels one “the weak and the other “the strong.” The weak are persons who abstain from meat and wine and follow a calendar that regards some days as more important than others. The strong, by contrast, are persons who embrace an unrestricted diet and make no distinction between one day and another. “Basically, the weak are committed to following a traditional Jewish way of life, while the strong believe that Judaism’s ritual observances are nonissues for Christians” (Hahn and Mitch, Romans, 241). Theologically, Paul teaches that the strong are right to hold that no food is unclean in itself. By pastorally, Paul asks that the strong not overassert their Christian freedoms to the detriment of the weak in the community. Both the strong and the weak shouldn’t be critical of one another, but practice respect and acceptance. This is the context for Paul asking them: “Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother?” (Romans 14:10). We always need to keep in mind that we will be judged by God.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I trust in you. You offer me the wonderful gift of divine righteousness. When I stray, you do not abandon me but seek me out as a Good Shepherd and bring me home on your shoulders.