Suy Niệm bài đọc thứ Ba tuần thứ 9 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm bài đọc thứ Ba tuần thứ 9 Thường Niên
            Qua bài đọc thứ nhất hôm nay, chúng ta thấy bà con của ông Tôbit đã đau buồn, khổ sở vì một tai nạn  không may đã xảy ra cho ông ta và làm ông ta phải chịu cảnh mù loà.  Như câu chuyện ông Tôbit đã kể lại về vuộc đời của mình, chúng ta có thể chắc chắn là sẽ đặt câu một hỏi với Thiên Chúa một cách khắc nghiệt và cay cú: là tại sao Thiên Chúa đã để cho một người hết sức Đạo đức như Ông Tôbit đã phải chịu những sự khốn khó như thế…. chúng ta biết rằng ông ta thật là một người tốt bụng, biết kính sợ Thiên Chúa và yêu thương mọi người, đã đã không biêt mệt mỏi khi chôn cất những người bị giết hại ngoài đồng.  Trước bị mù đôi mắt, ông đã làm những công việc bác ái không biết mệt mỏi,  thế nhưng tại sao những điều xấu này lại xảy ra cho ông, một người tốt lành biết kính sợ Thiên Chúa?
            (Như chúng ta được biết trong trong sách Tôbia, thì ông Tôbit là một Người Do Thái rất trung thành với Thiên Chúa, một trong những "người nghèo của Chúa", như là để nói rằng một trong những người bất chấp mọi thảm họa, nguy hiểm trong cuộc ông lưu vong  vì chính trị và chiến tranh, những vẫn cực kỳ trung thành với Thiên Chúa. Thế nhưng ông Tobit đã không bao giờ thắc mắc, và phàn nàn với Thiên Chúa vì sự lưu vong, li tán gia đình hay thắc mắc về tai nạn và hậu quả đem đến sự mù loà, và tàn tật của chính mình.)
            Trong cuộc của chúng ta, đôi lúc chúng ta đã gặp phải những nghịc cảnh đáng buồn,  những tạ nạn hay sự không may đã xảy đến với chúng ta hay gia đình, chúng ta đã có những sự phản ứng ra sao trong tâm hồn của mỗi người hay trong cuộc sống của chúng ta. Những người yếu kém đíc tin hoặc không có niềm tin thường có lẽ sễ đặt câu hỏi tại sao Thiên Chúa đã lại để cho những điều đó xấu xảy ra cho họ để họ phải gánh nhận những sự kém may mắn này và sự thất vọng. Còn chúng ta, chúng phải có một đức tin vững chãi để tránh những tiến dèm phà không tốy và chúng ta cũng phải biết cố gắng, can đảm để học hỏi và bắt chước ông Tôbit là biết đặt tất cả sự hy vọng và niềm Tin của chúng ta vào Thiên Chúa.
            Lạy Chúa Giêsu, Chúa đang sống giữa chúng con, Chúa là niềm hy vọng và vinh quang của chúng con. Xin Chúa ban cho chúng con những ân sủng để chúng con tin rằng tất cả những gì xẩy đến cho chúng con sẽ được tốt đẹp, vì Chúa đã toàn thắng thế gian này.
 
Reflection SG
Many accidents happen in this world, some very minor, others more devastating. All of them call forth different reactions in human hearts and lives. People with a weaker faith or no faith at all, will often question why God allows such things to happen. Tobit’s kinsmen grieved at his blindness, the result of an unfortunate simple accident.
            As Tobit recounts his story, we discover an element in it which would certainly make some people question God more harshly. He tells us that he was fatigued from burying the dead. He was obviously a good man, engaged, just before the accident to his eyes, in doing works of charity.         Why do bad things happen to good people? Tobit was a faithful Jew, one of “the poor of the Lord”, that is to say one of those, who in spite of the great disaster of being in exile because of Middle-East politics and warfare, remained extraordinarily faithful to God. As Tobit did not question God over the exile, so he did not question God over his own accident and his consequent disability. Let us learn from Tobit to place all our hope in God.
Lord Jesus, you are alive in our midst, our hope of glory. Grant us the grace to believe that all will be well, for you have overcome the world.
 
Tuesday 9^th Ordinary time 2026
Some Pharisees and Herodians were sent to Jesus to ensnare him in his speech. They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” Mark 12:13–14
Just prior to today’s Gospel, the chief priests, scribes, and elders confronted Jesus in the Temple area while He taught, challenging His authority to drive out the moneychangers and merchants. Though they withdrew out of fear of opposition from the crowds, they sent the Pharisees and Herodians to trap Him (cf. Mark 11:27–33). The alliance of these five groups, who were often opposed to one another—especially the Pharisees and the Herodians—well illustrates the old adage: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
The Pharisees were known for their strict adherence to oral traditions derived from the Mosaic Law. They frequently clashed with the chief priests and elders, who focused on Temple worship and ceremonial rites.
The Herodians were despised by both the Pharisees and the other leaders for their support of Herod and Roman occupation. Their allegiance to Rome enabled them to maintain political influence under Herod’s rule. Despite their usual animosity, these groups united in their shared opposition to Jesus. His ongoing influence among the people, His teachings that exposed their hypocrisy, and His actions in the Temple all threatened their authority and control.
Though all five of these groups are less than inspirational, we can learn from them. They depict fallen human tendencies—such as pride, fear, and self-interest—that we all struggle with. First, true unity only comes from aligning ourselves with God and His Truth, which fosters humility, charity, and a desire to seek God’s will above our own interests. By contrast, the “unity” shared by this coalition of factions was grounded in malice. Hatred can so blind us that we turn from our core values and seek ways to fuel our resentment. This is precisely what these normally divided groups did: Their mutual hatred for Jesus and fear of losing influence over the community drove them to unite in a shared mission of opposition—something we, too, can fall into if we let malice guide us.
In today’s Gospel, we can also learn from the questioning of the Pharisees and Herodians. They begin with flattery, which is always deceptive and manipulative. Their insincere praise was not meant to honor Jesus but to disarm Him and lure Him into their trap. Perhaps they failed to recall the wisdom found in Proverbs: “Those who speak flattery to their neighbor cast a net at their feet” (29:5) or “Charm is deceptive…” (31:30). Flattery not only deceives others but often ensnares those who use it, leading them into sin, as seen in today’s Gospel.
Second, the question they ask is a carefully constructed trap. If Jesus said, “Yes, it is lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar,” the Pharisees could accuse Him of disregarding Jewish law and collaborating with Roman oppressors. If He said, “No,” the Herodians could report Him to Herod as a revolutionary opposing Roman authority. Their malice was cunning, but Jesus’ wisdom transcends theirs, and He escapes their trap. His response not only avoids their deceit but also exposes their hypocrisy, turning their malicious scheme into an opportunity to teach eternal truths.
Reflect today on these fallen human tendencies vividly illustrated by these five groups who were aligned in their opposition to our Lord. When you look at your own “alliances,” what is it that unites you? Shared hate and resentment? A common fear or opposition to something? Bonds formed over shared negativity or resentment are fleeting and destructive. True and lasting unity is found only in aligning ourselves with the Truth of the Word of God, striving together for holiness, and building relationships grounded in Christ. Reflect on whether your relationships draw you closer to Christ or distract you from Him, and seek to realign them with His Truth.
Lord of all Wisdom, at times I form bonds, like the Pharisees and Herodians, that are grounded in sin and negative emotions rather than in Your charity and truth. Free me, I pray, from these oppressive sins, and make me honest, pure of heart, and a seeker of the unity found only in You. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Tuesday 9^th Ordinary time 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, in every age you have been our refuge. You are the eternal God, and I am your humble creature. I am in this world as a pilgrim and long for my home. I do not belong to this passing world. I belong to you and am yours.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Give the Image of Caesar to Caesar: The Gospel of Mark narrates three attempts to test and ensnare Jesus on the same day. Jesus, the Son of David, has entered the city of Jerusalem as a King (Mark 11:1-11), purified the old Temple (11:15-19), and alluded to himself as the cornerstone of a new Temple (Mark 12:10-11). Jesus is acting here like a New Solomon. His actions and words provoke the religious leaders to question and try to undermine Jesus’ authority. They test Jesus and hope to trap him in his speech or make him stumble when asked a difficult question. In his responses, Jesus will show that his wisdom far surpasses Solomon's. Just as the devil tempted and tested Jesus in the desert at the beginning of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 1:12-13), Jesus is tested three times by the religious authorities at the end of the Gospel. 
2. The Coin of Tiberius Caesar Augustus: The first of three tests comes from the Pharisees and Herodians. They represented opposite ends of the political spectrum. The Herodians supported Herod Antipas and were willing to cooperate with Rome. The Pharisees sought to separate themselves from any contact with the Gentiles and wanted nothing to do with Rome. If Jesus says to pay taxes to Caesar, the Pharisees will go before the people and accuse Jesus of violating God’s law, committing blasphemy, and supporting the Roman occupation. If Jesus says it is unlawful to pay taxes to Caesar, the Herodians will denounce Jesus to the Roman authorities and hope they will imprison Jesus for treason. Jesus knows they are testing him and asks to see a denarius. On the one side, the coin proclaimed Tiberius Caesar Augustus as the son of the divine Augustus. On the flip side, the coin proclaimed Caesar as the High Priest (Pontifex Maximus), meaning that he was the supreme mediator between human beings and the gods. “Tiberius’s claim of divinity was a way of promoting the emperor worship that was widespread in Roman civic religion, but was an abomination to Jews. Jesus’ questioners bring him a denarius, revealing that they were carrying the idolatrous coin within the temple precincts” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 241). In response to Jesus’ question, the Pharisees and Herodians acknowledge that the image and inscription are Caesar’s. Jesus then resolves the dilemma: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
3. Give the Image of God to the Lord God: Jesus has a message for both groups. He tells the Pharisees, who rejected the legitimate political authority, that they are to give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. And he tells the Herodians, who were somewhat indifferent to God’s authority, that they are to give to God what belongs to God. Caesar has placed his image on a coin. The Lord God has placed his image in human beings. The elements, minerals, plants, and brute animals of the world do not bear the image of God. Human beings and angels are spiritual creatures, endowed with intellect and freedom and capable of knowing and loving God. They have been made in the image of God. On the one hand, we are called to be faithful citizens while on this earth. And it is an act of justice to pay our taxes and work with public authorities to create a more just and charitable society. On the other hand, we are called to offer ourselves, all that we are, to God. We are called to love God above all things with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength
 
Tuesday 9^th Ordinary time 2023
“Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” Mark 12:14–15
These Pharisees and Herodians were sent to trap Jesus in His speech. These men were very politically minded and loved to pick sides and find fault with others. They were self-righteous and cared little about the salvation of souls. So they came to Jesus with what appeared to be an innocent question. They appear to presume that Jesus would voice opposition to paying the census tax to Caesar, and, if He did, they were ready to report Him to the civil authorities. They didn’t care about the truth; they only cared about trapping our divine Lord. When they brought the Roman coin to Jesus with the image of Caesar on it, Jesus spoke that profoundly wise line, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Clearly, if these hypocritical religious leaders would have come to Jesus with humility and sincerity, Jesus would have responded to them much differently. But because they came only to trap, twist and destroy our Lord, Jesus puts them in their place with an act of divine wisdom. He doesn’t show support for paying the census tax, nor does He speak against it. Therefore, this Gospel passage ends with the line: “They were utterly amazed at him.” “Amazement” is the right response. Therefore, in a sense, we can learn from these hypocritical religious leaders. Whenever we come face-to-face with the profound wisdom of God, we should experience awe and holy amazement.
Of course, the amazement they experienced was on account of Jesus thwarting their evil trap. But even though that is the case, we can learn from this that the wisdom of God can never be outdone. God’s wisdom silences the foolishness of the age and reveals the hidden malice behind that evil.
Have you ever been confronted by the trickery of the secular “know-it-alls” of our age. Have you ever been challenged by another, had your faith directly attacked, or your moral convictions called into question? Most likely, if you have chosen to live your faith openly and with confidence, you may have felt the attack of another. For those who lack a deep faith and a clear gift of divine wisdom, such trickery can cause confusion and anxiety. You may find you do not know how to respond and feel trapped by the erroneous “wisdom” of the age. In that case, what do you do? The only answer to the false doctrines and deceptions we will all encounter within the growingly secular and atheist world is the answer that comes from divine wisdom. By ourselves, none of us is wise enough to combat these errors. Therefore, our only recourse is to continually turn to the wisdom of God.
We turn to the wisdom of God through prayer and sacred study. Our prayer opens our minds to the clear voice of God Who speaks pure truth. And sacred study, especially of the Scripture, the teachings of the Church and the lives of the saints, will help to clarify God’s voice and dispel the confusion the world tries to throw at us. In the end, if we are not immersing our minds in the true wisdom of God, we will be unprepared for that which we encounter within the world.
Reflect, today, upon your need to be filled with divine wisdom so as to navigate the trickery and foolishness of the world. Acknowledge that you are not wise enough on your own to cut through the confusion of life. Pray for the gift of wisdom and allow our Lord to bestow it upon you.
Lord of all Truth, You are wise beyond all worldly wisdom, and You thwart the trickery of the evil one. Open my mind, dear Lord, to Your holy Truth so that I may be able to navigate through the challenges of life. Bestow Your wisdom upon me, dear Lord, so that I may follow You wherever You lead. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Tuesday 9^th Ordinary time 2023
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come before you humbly. As one who has frequently fallen into sin, I know my weakness. Your great love assures me that your grace can keep me on the path to holiness.
Petition: Guide me, Lord, on a big decision I must make.
1. Setting the Trap: The Pharisees and Herodians use an old ploy, flattery, to try to trap Jesus. It is a ploy that enjoys a long shelf life. Flattery can cause us to lower our guard. "You're an intelligent person, why don't you …?" Or: "You're a good parent; you already have two kids. You don't really believe the Church on …?" Being Christian in the world often means living among devious people. Hence, Jesus warned us to "be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves" (Matthew 10:16). To maintain a balance, we must live only for God. Is it Christ who shapes my day?
2. Lying in Wait: They pose a false dilemma to Jesus. It's "either/or." Either Jesus must accept Caesar totally or rebel against Rome. Such is how the world sees it. It's still either/or. Either we embrace Darwinism (no questions asked) or cling to Creationism. Either we are tolerant of alternate lifestyles, or we are insufferable bigots. But things are more complicated than that. Moreover, the Catholic faith is often "both/and." Hence, we give to Caesar and God what belongs to each. And how do we decide what belongs to whom? That's where things get tricky. And that is precisely why we are called as Christians to develop our gifts, intelligence, and prayer life, to make the right choices. Catholicism is not a religion for robots. It demands that we responsibly use our freedom and gifts to do God's will. Am I using my gifts well? Do I develop my skills and intellect to serve God better?
3. The Trap is Sprung; the Game is Over: Jesus' response floors his critics. Why? Partly because he throws the question back to them. Now they have to decide what belongs to Caesar — and what belongs to God. "You must decide," was Karol Wojtyla's signature phrase as a confessor. Nothing can so frighten us as freedom. It frightened Jesus' audience. How am I using my freedom? How am I using the time God gives me?
Conversation with Christ: Help me realize that you are calling 

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 9 TN

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần 9 TN Mark 12:1-12 ,
Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta biết rằng nhờ Chúa Giêsu mà chúng ta có thể gọi Thiên Chúa trên trời là Cha. Và cũng là nhờ cái chết của Chúa Giêsu mà chúng ta được cứu khỏi mọi tội lỗi và thoát khỏi được những cơn giận của Thiên Chúa khi Ngài ngự đến trong ngày phán xét. Thánh Phêrô nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng là như sự công minh của Thiên Chúa và Chúa Giêsu Kitô là đấng Cứu Thế mà chúng ta có thể được thông phần trong bản tính của Thiên Chúa. Nhưng để đạt được điều này, chúng ta cần phải phấn đấu để sống một đời sống thánh thiện: phải sống phù hợp với những giáo huấn của Chúa Giêsu, và bước đi trong con đường của Chúa Kitô vì Ngài là Ngôi Lời của Thiên Chúa.  Nếu như làm được như vậy, chúng ta có thể biến đổi được nội tâm và thậm chí cả bên ngoài, và vì vậy mà hình ảnh của Thiên Chúa có thể được thể hiện một cách đúng đắn qua danh tính của chúng ta là con cái của Ngài.
Điều này thật sự không phải là một việc làm dễ dàng cho chúng ta. Nhưng với sự thánh thiện mà chúng ta có thể đạt được nhờ ân sủng của Thiên Chúa và ân sũng này đã trở thành một động lực bên trong thúc đẩy chúng ta sống theo sự mặc khải của Thiên Chúa, là sống trong kiên nhẫn và cung kính theo ý muốn của Ngài, và biết phục vụ những người khác hết lòng mà không đắn đo.
Hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu nhắc nhở chúng ta một lần nữa là con cái của Thiên Chúa, chúng ta phải kiên quyết giữ gìn, bảo vệ và xây dựng Giáo Hội của Người. Chúng ta không thể để bị hư hỏng hoặc để những ngoại vật bên ngoài cản trở nhiệm vụ này. Nếu không, chúng ta sẽ sẽ bị kết thúc cuộc sống như những người thuê vườn nho tàn ác,  tồi tệ.  Thiên Chúa sẽ đuổi chúng ta ra khỏi vườn Nho của Ngài và đưa vào ngục tối đời đời.
Lạy Chúa, xin giúp chúng con biết củng cố đức tin của tôi trong Trong Lời Chúa..
 
REFLECTION
It is through Jesus that we can address God our heavenly Father. It is through Jesus’ death that we are saved from our sins and escape God’s anger at his coming in judgement. St Peter reminds us that it is through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ that we can share the divine nature. But in order to attain this we must strive to live a life of holiness: to live in accordance with Jesus’ teachings, and to walk in the path of the Word. In doing so, we can be transformed totally interiorly and even exteriorly, so that the image of God can be manifested rightly through our identity of being his children.
This is obviously not an easy task for us. But holiness can be achieved with God’s grace and become an interior driving force motivating us to follow God’s revelation, to live patiently and reverently according to his will, and to serve others wholeheartedly without reservation.  Jesus’ parable of the tenants reminds us again that, being God’s children, we must steadfastly preserve, safeguard and build his Church. We must not be corrupted or hindered in this duty. Otherwise, we shall end up otherwise like the atrocious tenants paying for what we have done wrongfully.    Lord, help me to strengthen my faith in the Word.
 
Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time  2026
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard.” Mark 12:10–12
Today’s Gospel takes place during the Passover at the Temple in Jerusalem, just days before Jesus’ Passion and Death. The chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people were outraged and wanted to put Jesus to death, but they feared the people who were hanging on His every word.
In today’s parable, the “vineyard” is a biblical metaphor for Israel. The Prophet Isaiah chastised the people of Israel for being like a fruitless vineyard, and Jesus’ parable would have been immediately understood by His audience as a reference to that prophecy (cf. Isaiah 5:1–7). Fearlessly yet mercifully, Jesus brings this metaphor to life, applying it directly to Israel and the religious leaders who were present and plotting His death.
Jesus’ parable teaches that God is the owner of the vineyard and has provided everything necessary for it to flourish: the hedge for protection, the wine press for fruitfulness, and the tower for vigilance. These symbolize God’s providence, blessings, and the spiritual resources given to His chosen people to bear fruit. The tenant farmers, to whom the vineyard is leased, represent Israel’s leaders, who were entrusted with shepherding God’s people.
The servants sent by the owner symbolize the Old Testament prophets, whom God sent to call the people of Israel to repentance and fidelity. These prophets were often rejected, mistreated, or killed by Israel’s leaders—a sobering reminder of humanity’s resistance to God’s call throughout history, and our resistance to His grace today.
The beloved son represents Jesus Himself, sent by the Father in a final appeal for repentance. However, the tenants of Israel—now referring to the chief priests, scribes, and elders before Him—plot to kill the son, mistakenly believing they can maintain their control over the Jewish people. Their envy and pride blind them to their God-given responsibilities within the community and their duty to accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Though tensions were high and anger filled the hearts of the religious leaders, Jesus spoke boldly. While the people were amazed at His authority and teaching, they were likely uncertain and fearful of what might happen next.
Most people in Jesus’ position, risking their lives as our Lord was, would quickly become worried for their own safety. Jesus was not. He knew the Father’s will and the eternal value that would come from His Passion and Death. For that reason, He quotes Psalm 118:22–23: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. By the LORD has this been done; it is wonderful in our eyes.”
Jesus knew that He was about to be rejected: betrayed, falsely accused, arrested, tortured, and killed. Yet He also knew that He was the fulfillment of Psalm 118. He was the “stone” that, once rejected, would become the “cornerstone” of the Church and the New Covenant of grace. With this divine hope and mission in mind, Jesus didn’t run and hide; He confronted rejection directly. He knew that His rejection would transform the worst—the murder of the Son of God—into the best—salvation for all who believe in Him and repent.
Reflect today on Jesus’ courage during that sermon as He foresaw all that would unfold that week. While we might expect such courage from the Son of God, He invites us to imitate Him. Every evil that befalls us has the potential, through grace, to become part of that cornerstone. As members of Christ’s Body, the Church, we are called to courageously allow grace to transform our own rejections and sufferings in Christ. In doing so, the foundation of Christ’s Church continues to be made manifest in our world today through us.
My Lord, the Cornerstone of the Church, You willingly accepted and endured rejection, transforming it into the means of our eternal salvation. Grant me the courage to not only imitate You but to embrace and share in Your rejection. May my own experiences of rejection be transformed by grace into a foundation for faith in our world today. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, help me to welcome your messengers and your Son. I want to conform my life to your Word. Inspire me to know what to teach my family, to produce good fruit for the Kingdom, and to love my neighbor.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Parable of the Wicked Tenants: In the Gospel, Jesus refuses to speak directly to the religious leaders about the nature and origin of his authority. He chooses, rather, to speak to them about his divine authority through parables, which conceal the divine mysteries from the proud and reveal them to the humble. On the one hand, the Parable of the Wicked Tenants gives a powerful account of Jesus’ authority and, on the other, discredits the authority of his opponents. Earlier, Jesus hinted that his authority was from heaven. Now, he tells the parable to reveal that he has authority because he is the Son of God. He is God’s unique and most privileged agent. He has the right to pronounce judgment on the Temple because he is the Son of the true owner of the vineyard of Mount Zion (Gray, The Temple in the Gospel of Mark, 61).
2. The New Temple and the New Leaders of Israel: Jesus is the beloved Son rejected by the wicked tenants but vindicated by the Lord. The parable teaches us that the old leaders of Israel have rejected Jesus as the Son of God and as the Cornerstone of the New Temple. This rejection recalls the story found in Ezra about the beginnings of the Second Temple. When Judah returned from the Babylonian Exile, and the humble foundation stone was laid for the Second Temple, the younger generation rejoiced, but the older group of priests, Levites, and elders began to weep. The latter group didn’t think that the humble beginning of the new Temple matched the glory of the Old Temple of Solomon. The same thing happened in Jesus’ day. Jesus was the Son of David and led the people out of exile. He laid the foundation stone for the New Temple. The crowds rejoiced and praised this new work, but many of the leading priests, scribes, and elders despised and rejected this humble beginning. “Locked in the old ways of being Israel, they reject the new plans the Lord has for them. The builders reject the would-be cornerstone of the new Zion, but the Lord himself promises that the work will be completed. Despite the humble beginnings, the splendor of the new temple will be greater than that of the old” (Gray, The Temple in the Gospel of Mark, 76). When the old leaders put Jesus to death, Jesus rose from the dead and handed over the vineyard of the Lord to his apostles, the new leaders of the new Israel. 
3. Bearing Fruit in the Vineyard of the Lord: The Parable of the Wicked Tenants is not only about the failure of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day; it is also a warning and invitation addressed to each of us. The vineyard of the Lord has now been entrusted to the bishops of the Church and, in various ways, to every Christian disciple. God has given us countless gifts — the grace of Baptism, the Eucharist, Sacred Scripture, our vocations, and the daily opportunities to love and serve him — and he asks that we bear spiritual fruit in return. The danger is that we can slowly begin to act like the wicked tenants, treating God’s gifts as though they belonged to us rather than to him. Whenever pride, self-reliance, or attachment to our own plans closes our hearts to Christ, we risk rejecting the very Cornerstone upon whom our lives must be built. Yet the Gospel calls us to something greater: to welcome Jesus with humility, to allow him to reorder our lives, and to bear the fruits of holiness through prayer, charity, repentance, and faithful perseverance. If we remain united to Christ, the rejected stone who became the cornerstone, then the Lord will continue to build us into living stones of his new Temple.
 
Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time 2023
Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.” Mark 12:1–3
This was the first of “many” servants the owner of the vineyard sent to the tenants to obtain some of the produce of the vineyard. Some of the servants were mistreated, some beaten and others were killed. In the end, the owner sent his son. The tenants killed him, thinking that they would inherit the vineyard if the son were dead.
The context of this parable is important. Jesus had just entered Jerusalem for the beginning of the first Holy Week, which would ultimately end with His death and resurrection. The day before, Jesus had cleansed the Temple of the money changers. The chief priests, scribes and elders were outraged and began to plot His death. Jesus especially addressed this parable to them.
To understand this parable, you need to understand who represents whom. The religious leaders of Israel were the tenants, the vineyard was the Jewish nation, God the Father was the man who planted the vineyard, the many servants sent to gather the produce were the prophets of old, and Jesus was the Beloved Son Who was killed. The parable concludes by saying that the owner of the vineyard (God the Father) will put the tenants to death and give the vineyard to others. In other words, the scribes, Pharisees, chief priests and elders would soon have their religious authority taken away from them, and it would be given to the Apostles and their successors. This parable, therefore, presents us with a summary of the way the Church was formed. 
It’s helpful to note that the religious leaders of the time knew that Jesus addressed this parable to them, but they failed to heed the lesson. Ideally, if they were open to the gift of faith, they would have realized that they were attempting to steal the “vineyard” from God. They were attempting to control and manipulate the Kingdom of Israel, to make it into their own image, and to disregard the will of God Who established it.
This parable is especially important for anyone who exercises some form of holy authority. Parents exercise authority within the home. Bishops and priests exercise authority within the Church. And we all exercise a certain spiritual authority when we seek to fulfill our unique mission in life. The lesson from this parable is simple: don’t abuse your authority. Don’t exercise authority according to your own will; exercise it with humility only in accord with God’s will. Every leader, always and everywhere, must lead according to the mind and will of God. If they fail, they will suffer the consequences.
Reflect, today, upon any way that God has entrusted you with a spiritual duty to fulfill His mission in this world. When a duty of leadership is entrusted to a person, the leader is also entrusted with the spiritual authority to fulfill that duty in accord with the mind and will of God. This requires constant humility so that it is only God’s will that is fulfilled. Seek to exercise all authority in accord with the mind and will of God, and the vineyard entrusted to your care will bear an abundance of good fruit.
Loving Father, You have chosen to send me, as a tenant of Your Kingdom, to bear good fruit for eternal life. Please help me to always exercise the authority and duty entrusted to me with humility so that I will seek to fulfill Your will and Your will alone. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time 2023
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I come before you humbly. As one who has frequently fallen into sin, I know my weakness. Your great love assures me that your grace can keep me on the path to holiness.
Petition: Lord, let me be open to you and your messages.
1. Stand Corrected: Being corrected hurts. Being corrected in public hurts even more. And having one's whole way of life corrected — well, that really stings. And so it must have been for the leaders who approached Jesus. In a not-so-subtle way, our Lord tells them they are wrong. Wrong about their self-righteousness, their narrow reading of Scripture, and how they think God works in the world. This blinded them to the Son of God when he came among them. We think we would have been different; we would not have rejected Jesus, we tell ourselves. Are we so sure? Aren't we like the leaders of Jesus' time when we fail to listen to his agents; a bishop, a parish priest, a legitimate superior? Have I said no to Christ lately?
2. "Another Servant" God doesn't give up on us after one try. He often sends several messengers into our lives to draw us closer to him. Such is the illogic of a Father's love. Where do we miss the clues that God sends us? It could be in something a child says, a line from a homily, or an e-mail from a friend in crisis. These are the ordinary means God uses to reach out to us. Old Testament prophets faced rejection by the people of God. Have things changed much? Could I be turning a deaf ear to a prophet?
3. "This Is the Heir" The tenant farmers don't seem very bright. They murder the son to get his inheritance. What father would give an inheritance to someone who killed his son? It doesn't make sense. Then again, sin doesn't make sense either. We often reject Christ and then wonder why our prayers to God the Father go (seemingly) unanswered. What could we be thinking? How often do I offer up a sacrifice or an act of charity for a prayer intention?

 

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật Lễ Ba Ngôi

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật Lễ Ba Ngôi Jn 16,12-15
              Bài Tin Mừng hôm nay tiếp tục lời giảng dạy của Chúa Giêsu về Chúa Thánh Thần. Chúa Giêsu biết rằng những ngày cuối cùng trong thân phận con người của Ngày sắp hết.  Thế nhưng, những mặc khải của Thiên Chúa tiết lộ cho các môn đệ của Ngài đã không bao giờ hiểu được hoàn toàn và đầy đủ như Ngài nói:"Bây giờ anh em không thể hiểu nổi".
              Tuy nhiên, Chúa đã an ủi họ với sự  bảo đảm và chắc chắn rằng Thần Khí sự thật sẽ đến sau Ngài, để hướng dẫn họ, và tất cả những người đã tin vào Ngài và trong Chân Lý. Thiên Chúa chính là lòng thương xót, từ bi, ân sủng và sự tha thứ. Trong Toàn bộ Kinh Thánh đã cho chúng ta biết về Thiên Chúa, và Thiên Chúa đã công bố tên riêng của Ngài! cho chúng ta biết: Tên Ngài là Nhân Từ, là Ơn Sủng, là Trung Tín (Xh 34:6)               Thiên Chúa tuy ba ngôi nhưng là Một vì Ngài là tất cả, và chỉ có tình yêu và bởi vì chính vì YÊU mà Ngài cởi mở, chấp nhận, đối thoại với chúng ta là con người tội lỗi trong mối quan hệ mật thiết với Ngài, vì Ngài nhân hậu, từ bi, ân sủng và luôn tha thứ.
              Trong Ơn sủng của Một Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi đang hành động: Chính Chúa Cha đã xử lý và đặt chúng ta vào trong sự thân thiết nhất của Ngài, Chúa Con, cùng hợp ý với Chúa Cha, trút bỏ chính mình, và vinh quang của mình để ban cho chúng ta chính Ngài. Chúa Thánh Thần, Người đem lại sự bình an của Thiên Chúa với sự yêu thương và tưới xuống cho nhân loại với tình yêu thương đó.
              Trong lời cầu nguyện hàng ngày của chúng ta, chúng ta hãy cho phép Chúa Thánh Thần đến để hướng dẫn chúng ta được hiểu biết sâu sắc hơn về Chúa Giêsu và giáo huấn của Ngài, để giúp chúng ta áp dụng lời Chúa và giáo huấn của Ngài cho cuộc sống của chúng ta, để ban thêm sức mạnh cho chúng ta để chúng ta có thể vượt qua được những khó khăn và thử thách mà chúng ta chắc chắn gặp phải gặp trong cuộc sống, để ban phúc lành của Chúa cho chúng ta với sự kiên nhẫn và lòng can đảm để chúng ta đối phó với đau khổ, và ban cho chúng ta sự an bình và cam chịu chấp nhận ý muốn của Thiên Chúa, và biết luôn ghi giữ trong tâm hồn chúng ta là Ngài luôn luôn hiện diện trong chúng ta.
              Khi Chúa Giêsu hứa ban Thánh Thần cho chúng ta. Thần Khí của Chúa Kitô, Đấng Cứu Thế bây giờ được kết hợp với thần khí của chúng ta, hay nói cách khác hay hơn là của Thần khí của chúng ta được kết hợp với Ngài. Tất cả những gì chúng ta phải làm là hãy tin vào thần khí Chúa Thánh Thần trong chúng ta. Chúng ta cần có những Chúa Thánh thần ở trong chúng ta để Chúa Thánh Thần nghe thấy chúng ta và để chúng ta có thể nắm bắt được những gì Chúa Thánh Thần đang nói với chúng ta. Điều gì đúng theo trật tự của tự nhiên thì cũng đúng theo thứ tự của ân sủng. Nếu sự gần gũi là thước đo của sự thân mật và nếu chúng ta ở gần ai đó để có thể nghe người ấy nói, thì chúng ta sẽ nói gì về sự gần gũi của Đức Kitô đấng Cứu Thế đối với người tin vào Ngài?
              Không một người nào, hay một ai có thể gần gũi với chúng ta như Con Thiên Chúa trong Thần Khí ngự trong tâm hồn chúng ta. Do đó, tất cả những gì chúng ta phải làm là phải có đức tin, và mở mang lòng trí của chúng ta trong những lời kinh cầu nguyện.Khi chúng ta làm dấu thánh giá là chúng ta bày tỏ niềm tin của chúng ta trong Ba Ngôi Thiên Chúa  "Nhân danh Cha, và Con, và Thánh Thần." Nói một cách đơn giản, màu nhiệm về  Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi tượng trưng cho sự hợp nhất của Một Thiên Chúa nhưng có ba Ngôi riêng biệt, Ngôi thứ Nhất là Cha, Ngôi thứ Hai là Con và Ngôi thứ  Ba là Chúa Thánh Thần. Ngôi Cha là Thiên Chúa, Ngôi Con là Thiên Chúa, và Ngôi Thánh Thần cũng là Thiên Chúa. Tuy nhiên, không có ba Chúa, nhưng chỉ có một Thiên Chúa. Mầu nhiệm Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi là sự mặc khải mà Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta.
Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Thánh Matthew đã nói cho chúng biết rõ về Ba Ngôi Thiên Chúa trong đoạn cuối của bài Tin Mừng khi Chúa Giêsu dạy các môn đệ của Ngài là: “Các con hãy đi giảng dạy muôn dân, làm phép rửa cho họ nhân danh Cha, và Con, và Thánh Thần. ..”
Trong những đoán cuối Tin Mừng thánh Gioan, Chúa Giêsu đã an ủi các Tông đồ của Ngài rằng: " Thầy sẽ xin Chúa Cha và Người sẽ ban cho anh em một Đấng Bảo Trợ khác đến ở với anh em luôn mãi. Đó là Thần Khí sự thật, Đấng mà thế gian không thể đón nhận, vì thế gian không thấy và cũng chẳng biết Người. Còn anh em biết Người, vì Người luôn ở giữa anh em và ở trong anh em. " (Gioan 14: 16-17)
Trong trong bài đọc Hai hôm nay Thánh Phao đã viết: “Quả vậy, phàm ai được Thần Khí Thiên Chúa hướng dẫn, đều là con cái Thiên Chúa. Phần anh em, anh em đã không lãnh nhận Thần Khí khiến anh em trở thành nô lệ và phải sợ sệt như xưa, nhưng là Thần Khí làm cho anh em nên nghĩa tử, nhờ đó chúng ta được kêu lên: "Áp-ba! Cha ơi! " Chính Thần Khí chứng thực cho thần trí chúng ta rằng chúng ta là con cái Thiên Chúa.” ( Rom 8:14-16.)  .
Thưa Quý ông bà, anh chị em,
Chúng ta hãy nhớ rằng, con người chúng ta được tạo dựng theo hình ảnh  của Thiên Chúa. Điều đó có nghĩa rằng tất cả chúng ta đã được tạo dựng nên theo hình ảnh của Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi. Trong hình ảnh của Thiên Chúa là tình yêu. Vì vậy, Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi đã cho chúng ta biết được cái ý nghĩa về cuộc sống của chúng ta. Chúng ta được tác tạo để sống một cuộc sống của Thiên Chúa trong thế giới này như là con cái của Thiên Chúa, như là đền thờ của Chúa Thánh Thần. Đấy mới thực sự là căn bản cho đời sống Kitô hữu của chúng ta.
Thánh Phaolô đã từng nói, chúng ta là đền thờ của Thiên Chúa hằng sống. Đó là sự thật. Thiên Chúa đang cư ngụ trong mỗi người chúng ta bởi ân sủng của Ngài!
Trong dịp Đại Lễ Chúa Ba Ngôi, Giáo hội muốn kêu gọi chúng ta thực sự tin tưởng vào Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi và sống với một nhận thức rõ hơn về một Thiên Chúa có thật, và sự hiện diện của Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi ở giữa chúng ta. Chúng ta có thể nói chuyện với Thiên Chúa bất cứ lúc nào một cách  thân thiết. Ngài không cần chúng ta phải nói to tiếng, nói nhiều, chúng ta có thể nói với ngài bằng những tiếng thì thầm, nhỏ nhẹ, Ngài vẫn nghe chúng ta. Chúng ta có thể đến với Ngài để xin Ngài giúp đỡ, bằng với tất cả nguồn cảm hứng của chúng ta và bất cứ lúc nào. Đó là một cảm nghiệm tuyệt vời vì chúng ta có thể nói chuyện với Thiên Chúa là Cha yêu thương của chúng ta. Điều đó chứng tỏ là chúng ta có thể đi cùng một bước với Chúa Giêsu như người anh cả của chúng ta. Và chúng ta có thể sống bằng ánh sáng và những ân sũng của Chúa Thánh Thần trong tình yêu của Thiên Chúa Ba ngôi.
Chúng ta hãy cầu xin Chúa Ba Ngôi ban cho chúng ta những ân sủng để làm sâu sắc thêm sự nhận thức của chúng ta về tình yêu thương và sự hiện diện của Thiên Chúa Ba Ngôi trong tâm của mỗi người chúng ta.
 
Suy niệm Chúa Nhật Chúa Ba Ngôi
Hôm nay chúng ta được mời để suy ngẫm về mầu nhiệm Chúa Ba Ngôi, chúng ta biết rằng chúng ta không thể hiểu thấu đáo mầu nhiệm này nhưng chúng ta sẽ có thể trải nghiệm một chút về mầu nhiệm về Thiên Chúa Ba ngôi khi chúng ta dành chút thời gian chiêm ngưỡng về Mẩu nhiệm bí ẩn này!
Thiên Chúa yêu thương thế gian đến nỗi Ngài đã ban cho thế gian này người Con duy nhất của Ngài (Ga 3:16) Thiên Chúa Cha đã ban Chúa Giêsu cho thế giới và Chúa Giêsu đã hy sinh tất cả để cứu chuộc chúng ta. Có bao giờ chúng ta hỏi: Thiên Chúa cảm thấy thế nào về cái chết của Chúa Giêsu trên Thập giá? Thiên Chúa có yêu thương chúng ta nhiều hơn nữa vì những gì Con của Ngài đã làm cho chúng ta không?
Suy niệm về điều này cho phép chúng ta trải nghiệm được là tình yêu của Thiên Chúa dành cho chúng ta một cách chân thành và vô điều kiện và cách mà Chúa Giêsu hằng luôn tiếp tục tỏ lộ chính Ngài cho chúng ta qua Chúa Thánh Thần. Khi chúng ta chiêm ngắm về tình yêu say đắm của Thiên Chúa đang được thể hiện trong Chúa Giêsu qua Chúa Thánh Thần hôm nay, chúng ta hãy cảm tạ và biết ơn Thiên Chúa về món quà này một cách sâu sắc hơn. Tình yêu Ba Ngôi của Thiên Chúa! Thiên Chúa ban cho chúng ta với lòng thương xót, từ bi và độ lượng dịu dàng. Khi chúng ta trải nghiệm những hồng ân này, thì chúng ta cũng nên bắt đầu trải nghiệm sự thân mật này với Thiên Chúa của chúng ta trong ba ngôi – Chúa Cha, Chúa Con và Chúa Thánh Thần!
Ngày hôm nay, Chúa Thánh Thần hướng dẫn chúng ta đến với hành trình trong việc tìm kiếm Thiên Chúa qua Chúa Giêsu theo cách là chúng ta kính mến Thiên Chúa và yêu thương tha nhân. Điều này có thể được thể hiện trong sự hợp nhất, hòa bình và đoàn kết với những người yếu hèn, những người bị kinh chê và bị gạt ra ngoài lề xã hội và những người đang bị bị bóc lột trong xã hội của chúng ta. Xin Chúa Cha, Chúa Con và Chúa Thánh Thần, ở lại trong chúng con mỗi ngày trong cuộc sống.
 
THE MOST HOLY TRINITY  Ex. 34:4-6,8-9; (R. Ps).  Jn. 3:16-18
As we are invited today to reflect on the Holy Trinity, we know that we cannot fully comprehend this mystery
but will be able to experience it a little of what it is like when we spend time contemplating on this Triune God!
“God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son…” (Jn. 3:16) Father God gave Jesus to the world and Jesus sacrificed his all for our redemption. Have we ever asked: “How does God feel about Jesus’ death on the Cross? “Does God love us even more because of what His Son did for us?”
Reflecting on this allows us to experience God’s unconditional love for us and the ways Jesus continues to reveal Himself to us through the Holy Spirit. When we contemplate on the assurance of God’s love as expressed in Jesus through the Holy Spirit today, we feel deeply grateful for this gift; The Trinitarian Love of God! This Triune God gives us compassion, mercy and tenderness. As we experience these gifts, we begin to experience this intimacy with our God in the three persons — Father, Son and the Holy Spirit!
Today the Holy Spirit leads us into the journey of seeking God through Jesus in the way we love God and our neighbors. This is expressed in unity, peace and solidarity with those who are deprived, marginalized and exploited in our society.  “Father God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, be with us every day of our life.”
 
The Most Holy Trinity Sunday 2026
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:16–18
Saint John the Apostle is identified in his Gospel as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” a title that appears multiple times and has been consistently understood in the Church’s tradition to refer to John himself (cf. John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7; 21:20). By calling himself the beloved disciple, John was revealing his interior experience of the perfect love he encountered in Jesus. Certainly, Jesus loved everyone—equally and without limit. Yet John includes this personal designation not to claim favoritism, but to offer a personal testimony to the divine love made manifest in Christ’s humanity—love he experienced firsthand and which changed his life.
Love plays a central role in John’s writings—not only in his Gospel but also in his letters and the Book of Revelation. In his First Letter, likely written to the Christian communities he helped convert and shepherd, John declares: “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16). This is both a personal sentiment and a profound theological affirmation. John speaks from both divine inspiration and lived experience; he had walked with Love Incarnate. To say “God is love” is to profess that love is not something God merely does—it is who God is. God’s love is not a feeling, not sentimentality, but the pure, self-giving, eternal communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—a love that precedes and surpasses all creation.
That mystery lies at the very heart of today’s Solemnity. Because God is Love in His very essence, love naturally flows from His divine nature in superabundance. God loves because He is Love. Today’s Gospel reveals the most perfect expression of that divine essence: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” This eternal, Trinitarian love is made visible in time when the Father sends the Son, conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Why does God give His Son? So that we might not perish but have eternal life. That is, so we may be drawn into the very life of God—into the Trinitarian communion of love. God desires to rescue us from condemnation and to share with us His Divine Existence.
This is the essence of Divine Love. This is the Trinity. And this is the astonishing invitation extended to every soul: To believe in the Son is to begin participating in the eternal love that flows ceaselessly between the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit—a love that never ends. We are invited to be caught up by the love of God into Love Himself: the eternal communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Trinity Sunday is set apart on the Church’s calendar to renew our awe, deepen our understanding, and intensify our worship of the central mystery of our faith: that God is One in essence and Three in Persons. While every liturgy honors the Trinity—through prayers to the Father, in the Son, by the power of the Holy Spirit—this solemnity invites us to pause and gaze more intentionally into the inner life of God as it has been revealed to us. We do not celebrate a theological abstraction but a divine Personhood: the eternal exchange of love between the Father and the Son, perfectly expressed and eternally proceeding in the Holy Spirit.
Reflect today on the Most Holy Trinity. We were made to share in Their Life and Love. Though the fullness of the Trinity remains a mystery beyond human grasp, it is not beyond human encounter. Through grace, revelation, and contemplative union, God draws us to Himself—not to explain Himself, but to be consumed by Him. Celebrate this day by repeatedly praying one of the most ancient and simple prayers in the Church:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen! Most Holy Trinity, I love You and trust in You!
 
The Most Holy Trinity Sunday A 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, my deepest desire and hope is to see you as you are in heaven. My mind, in this life, struggles to understand how you are a Trinity of Persons. But I believe and trust that one day I will see you face to face. I long for your loving embrace and will do my best to lead others to you.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Love of God the Father: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity invites us to contemplate the central mystery of the Christian faith: the one God who is Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father sends the Son, the Son redeems humanity, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies and unites the Church. In the Second Reading, we hear a familiar phrase, used as a greeting at the beginning of Mass: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” This verse from Paul attributes love to the Father, grace to the Son, and communion to the Spirit. The First Reading from Exodus (34:4b–6, 8–9) reveals God as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity.” Even after Israel’s sin with the golden calf, the Father remains faithful to his people. His loving mercy is greater than human sinfulness. This mercy reaches its fullness in the Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16). The Father’s eternal plan was to share his divine life with humanity. Out of love, he sent his Son into the world for our salvation and sent the Spirit to dwell within us. Salvation history is the unfolding of the Father’s loving plan to gather his children into communion with himself. The Father’s love reminds us that we are not abandoned or forgotten. We are created, sustained, and called by a God who desires our eternal happiness. The Christian life begins with receiving this love and learning to trust in the Father’s providence and mercy.
2. The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ: Saint Paul’s blessing in the Second Reading speaks of “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 13:13). Jesus Christ, the eternal Son made flesh, came into the world to save humanity from sin and death. As the Gospel declares, God sent his Son “that the world might be saved through him.” Through his life, death, and Resurrection, Jesus reconciled humanity to the Father. On the Cross, he conquered sin; through the Resurrection, he opened the way to eternal life. Christ continues his saving mission through the Church, which he established as the sacrament of salvation for the world. Jesus also gave the sacraments as channels of grace. In Baptism, we become children of God; in the Eucharist, we are nourished with Christ’s own Body and Blood; in Reconciliation, we receive mercy and healing. Through these sacraments, the grace of Christ transforms us and strengthens us to live holy lives.
3. The Communion of the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is the source of communion and holiness within the Church. Sent at Pentecost, the Spirit guides the Church, sanctifies believers, and empowers the proclamation of the Gospel. The Spirit dwells within every baptized person, drawing us into deeper union with the Father through Christ. He strengthens us in prayer, forms us in charity, and gives spiritual gifts for the service of others. The Holy Spirit also unites the Church as one Body despite the diversity of vocations and gifts. The Trinity is the source and goal of the Christian life. The Father loves us, the Son redeems us, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies us. Every time we make the Sign of the Cross, we profess this mystery and place ourselves within the life of the Triune God, who calls us into eternal communion with him. 
 
The Most Holy Trinity Sunday A 2023
“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19–20 (Year B Gospel)
Of all the great feasts we celebrate within the Church throughout the year, today’s Solemnity presents us with a Mystery that is so deep and transcendent that our eternity will be spent in perpetual contemplation. The Trinity, the life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, will never get old, never be fully understood, and will be the cause of our everlasting adoration and joy. Though the Church has used philosophical concepts to explain the Trinity, no human concept or description will ever fully explain Who God is. Though we can point to some general truths about God, we will never be able to fully depict the inner essence, depth, beauty and omnipotence of the Trinity.
As we consider that fact, it’s important to understand that the Trinity is not first a theological mystery we try to define. Rather, the Trinity is first a communion of Persons we are invited to know. We do not primarily come to know God through intellectual deduction. We come to know God through prayerful union with Him. Though theology is exceptionally useful and important, the essence of God is beyond any and every philosophical concept we can define.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are Persons. And as Persons, they want to be known. And they want to be known primarily through a life of deep and intimate prayer. Praying to One Person, of course, is praying to all, since they are One God. But we are, nonetheless, called to a relationship of love with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And though our feeble minds may not be able to fully comprehend the essence of God, He will draw us deeper and deeper into a knowledge of Him if we let Him.
Prayer often begins by saying prayers, by meditating upon Scripture, and by listening. But true prayer is something much deeper. True prayer is contemplative prayer that ultimately leads to divine union. Only God can initiate this form of prayer in our lives, and only God, through this deep form of prayer, can communicate Himself to us as He is. Some of the greatest mystics of our Church, such as Saint John of the Cross and Saint Teresa of Ávila, explain in their mystical theology that the deepest knowledge of God does not come through concepts or images. In fact, if we wish to obtain a knowledge of God in His essence, we must allow Him to purge every concept of Who He is so that the pure light of His essence can be poured forth upon our minds. This knowledge, they say, is beyond knowing “about” God. It’s the beginning of a knowledge “of” God.
Reflect, today, upon the Most Holy Trinity. As you do, say a prayer to God asking for a deeper and more intimate knowledge of Him. Ask Him to communicate to you His divine love and to open your mind and heart to a deeper understanding of Who He is. Try to humble yourself before the great Mystery of the inner life of God. Humility before the Mystery of God means that we know how little we know about Him and how little we know of Him. But that humble truth will help you move closer to the deeper relationship of love to which you are called.
Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, please draw me into a relationship of love with You Who are one God and three divine Persons. May the mystery and beauty of Your life become more known and loved by me each day through the gift of transforming mystical prayer. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
The Most Holy Trinity Sunday A2023
Opening Prayer: Father, I turn to you in my need and my weakness: Please grant me your grace this day, so that I can continue to grow in faith, hope, and love. Jesus, I turn to you as my friend and companion: Please keep me aware of your presence in my life today, of your smile and your eagerness to walk with me. Holy Spirit, I turn to you as my guide and protector: Pour out your gifts upon my mind and my heart, so that I can be docile to all your inspirations.
Encountering Christ:
1. The Truth about God: The first verse of today’s Gospel passage is perhaps one of the most famous verses in the whole Bible: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” In many ways, it is a summary of the entire Christian message. Within this single verse, we find, in capsule form, the truth about God, about the world, and about ourselves. The truth about God has to do with his deepest identity, which is love (“God is love” [1 John 4:8]), and which was the motivation for Jesus’s incarnation (“God so loved the world…”). But for God’s deepest identity to be love, his deepest identity must also be personal and relational. After all, love always involves the generous acceptance of another person, as well as the generous giving of oneself to that person. And so we discover our first glimpse of the greatest mystery of the universe, the mystery the Church celebrates today in a special way: that God is a Trinity, and that from all eternity God is one divine nature and three divine persons, truly one God, but at the same time Triune in his divinity. We can never fully fathom the depths of this mystery. How can God be at the same time one and three? We cannot comprehend it fully. But we can contemplate it. And we can delight in knowing that God is not just some kind of a vague, impersonal force, as many New Age spiritualities claim; that eternity is not populated by hundreds, or thousands, or even millions of conflicting deities, as some pagan religious claim; and that God is not only all-knowing and all-powerful, not a grim and demanding taskmaster, but also all good. God is love! What idea of God dominates my mind, my attitude, my reactions to the ups and downs of life, when I pray?
2. The Truth about the World: The truth about the world around us is also hinted at in this verse when it tells us that life here has two possible endpoints: we can either “perish,” or we can enter into “eternal life.” This world is an arena in which each one of us, exercising the gift of our spiritual freedom, works out our everlasting destiny. This world is a war zone, and each one of our hearts is a battleground. God comes to our aid in Christ, and if we believe in him–in other words, if we accept the offer of his friendship and follow where he leads–all that is good and true and beautiful will triumph in us and we will make our way to greater and greater wisdom, peace, and joy in this life and forever in heaven. If we stubbornly resist the advances of God–his whispers in our conscience, his invitations to our hearts, his providential signs and encounters–we may be able to entertain ourselves for a while with the pleasures and delights of this world, but in the end God will respect our decision to separate ourselves from his friendship. And when our lives come to an end, we will suffer the everlasting frustration that comes from such a separation: We will “perish.” This world is not our true home or final resting place. This world is a place of journeying, fighting, and–we hope–growing to spiritual maturity.
3. The Truth about Ourselves: This verse also reveals the truth about ourselves. We are loved; we are loveable; we are known; we are pursued; we are chosen; we are wanted; we matter. Many experiences we have in this fallen world, this battleground world, seem to contradict that. As children, adolescents, and even adults, the people around us often don’t treat us according to the dignity we possess in our very selves by having been created by God in his own image and likeness. And so, we find ourselves often belittled and abused, abandoned and ignored, objectified and neglected. These experiences cause us pain, and to deal with that pain we begin to believe lies about ourselves—that we are not worthy of being loved, that we don’t need to be loved, that our desires for fulfillment and connection are unreasonable and unfulfillable. Jesus came to shatter the darkness of those lies, to release us from the spiritual and emotional chains they forge, and to heal us of the wounds beneath them. This is what it means when St. John explains the meaning of John 3:16 in the following verse, John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” To save the world, to repair what is broken and redeem what is lost—that is why Jesus came. That is why Jesus continues to come, every day, through the working of the Holy Spirit, through the holy sacrifice of the Mass and Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, through the governance of all things by the Father’s providential wisdom. The Blessed Trinity is continuously unfolding a tapestry of salvation that includes the full restoration of our own broken and divided human nature. And that is why we can say, with today’s responsorial psalm: “Blessed are your, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever” (Daniel 3:52).
as your beloved child and disciple.
 
The Most Holy Trinity Sunday A
«God so loved the world that He gave his only Son»
Today, it does us good to hear John's Gospel reminding us again that «God so loved the world...» (Jn 3:16) because in the festivity of the Blessed Trinity, God is worshipped, loved and served, because God is Love. In God we find an association with Love, and whatever He actively does He does it for Love. God loves. He loves us. This great truth is a truth that transforms us, that makes us better. Because it penetrates our discernment and becomes absolutely evident. And it deeply affects our actions honing them into total loving actions which, the purer, the greater and the more perfect.\
St. John of the Cross has written: «Where there is no love, put love, and there you will draw out love». And this is true, because this is what God does all the time. He «did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved» (Jn 3:17) thanks to Jesus' Christ's life and to his love, all the way to his death on the Cross. Today, we contemplate him as the only one that reveals us the authentic love. We speak so much about love, that perhaps it has lost its freshness. Love is what God feels for us. Love and you will be happy! Because to love is to offer our life for those we love. Love is gratuitous and simple. Love is to deny oneself, awaiting everything from God. Love is to diligently serve those who need us. Love is to lose to recover up to a hundred-fold your losses. Love is to live without accounting for what one is doing. Love is what makes us resemble God. Love —and only love— is eternity already amidst us!
Let us live the Eucharist, which is the sacrament of Love, as it gives us God's love made flesh. It makes us share the fire burning in Jesus' heart, forgives us and recasts us anew to let us love with the same kind of Love as Jesus bears us.