Chia sẻ Lời Chúa

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Bẩy tuần 28 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Bẩy tuần 28 Thường Niên

Bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta có cảm giác lạ và khác thường khi chúng ta nghe Chúa Giêsu nói về một thứ tội mà không thể tha thứ được. Qua bức hoạ của Thánh Luca về Chúa Giêsu thì Chúa là một người luôn có bàn tay mở rộng và luôn tha thứ cho những người tội lỗi, Chúa là người mà dường như không thể có khả năng từ chối sự tha thứ cho những ai có tội. Tuy nhiên, hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu nói về một thứ tội lỗi mà không thể nào có thể tha thứ được.

Khi những người Pharisi đã thấy Chúa Giêsu làm phép lạ và trừ quỷ ra khỏi người bị quỷ ám. thế nhưng họ cho rằng Chúa Giêsu bị ám bởi quỷ Beelzebul, và khi Ngài trừ quỷ ra khỏi người bị quỷ ám này ngài đã nhờ chính sức mạnh của các hoàng tử quỷ. Họ nhìn Chúa Giêsu mà coi như Ngài như là chúa quỷ Sa-tan; họ nghĩ là họ đang chứng kiến rõ ràng là Thiên Chúa không còn chấp nhận việc làm tốt của Chúa Giêsu đã làm mà họ chỉ thấy việc làm hiện tại của Sa-tan. Họ đã mù quáng và không còn thấy được lòng thương xót đầy nhân hậu và sự thật nơi Chúa Giêsu. Họ không còn có thể phân biệt giữa cái ác và tội lỗi khi họ phải đối mặt với chúng. Kể từ khi họ không còn có thể nhìn thấy tội lỗi là tội lỗi, họ không còn thấy sự cần thiết cho sự ăn năn. Họ bị sa lầy vĩnh viễn trong tội lỗi của họ. Họ đã khổng thể thấm nhuần được những ân sủng của Chúa Thánh Thần.

Trong cuộc sống hiện tại Chúng ta cũng có lúc phải đối mặt với mối nguy hiểm này. Tội lỗi phải được công nhận là tội lỗi, tội ác xấu xa là tội ác, sự thật và sự thiện hảo phải là sự thật và thiện hảo. Nếu chúng ta có thói quen không nhìn thấy tội lỗi ở những nơi tội lỗi, thì chúng ta có thể đã đánh mất đi cái khả năng của chúng ta để phân biệt giữa thiện và ác. Mặc dù có tội, chúng ta sẽ không còn có khả năng ăn năn. Chúng ta đã bị mù trong chính tâm hồn của chúng ta.

REFLECTION

It's very strange to hear Jesus speak about an unforgivable sin. The portrait Luke paints of Jesus is of a man whose arms are constantly open to sinners, who seemingly is incapable of refusing forgiveness to sinners. Yet today, Jesus speaks of the unforgivable sin,

The Pharisees had looked at Jesus working miracles and driving demons out of people possessed. What they saw was Jesus possessed by Beelzebul, driving demons out of people possessed by the power of the prince of demons. They looked at Jesus and saw Satan; they witnessed the obviously God-sanctioned works of Jesus and saw Satan at work. They blinded themselves to the goodness and truth in Jesus. They could no longer discern between evil and sin when confronted by them. Since they could no longer see sin as sin, they no longer saw the need for repentance. They were mired permanently in their sin. They had made themselves impermeable by the grace of the Spirit.

We also face this danger. Sin must be recognized as sin, evil as evil, truth and goodness as truth and goodness. If we get in the habit of not seeing sin where there is sin, we will lose our ability to discern good and evil. Though culpable, we will be incapable of repentance. We will have blinded ourselves.

Saturday 28th Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: I come before you, Lord, to praise and bless you. You have filled the earth with your glory, with signs of your goodness, your power, your wisdom. I want to live with an awareness of that, of your presence and your love reaching out to me at all times. In this time of prayer, please grant me the grace I need to grow in the faith that will open my eyes to your glory.

Encountering Christ:

· Acknowledging Christ: Jesus encourages us to acknowledge him before others. He promises that if we deny our allegiance to Christ, we will break our connection with him—he will not acknowledge us to the angels in heaven. What does it mean to “acknowledge Christ before others”? It means so many things! Everything we do that indicates to others our faith in Christ is a way of giving witness to Christ. Pausing to pray and make the sign of the cross before a meal at a restaurant or in the cafeteria is a way of acknowledging Jesus. Arriving late to a social engagement because we attend Mass on Sunday is a way of acknowledging Jesus. Speaking calmly but clearly about the Church’s teaching on moral and social issues, even defending those teachings when they are attacked, that too is acknowledging Jesus. Having religious images in our houses is a way to acknowledge Jesus to those who come and visit us. If in our own minds and hearts the core of our identity is that we are disciples and messengers of Jesus Christ, almost everything we do will in some way announce to those around us that he is real, that he is the Lord, and that we belong to him. And the more we do that, the deeper our bond with him becomes, and the greater our joy will be, now and forever.

· Resisting God’s Grace: God’s mercy is infinite; we can never sin so badly that he cannot forgive us. And yet, Jesus says in today’s Gospel passage that those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. How to explain this apparent contradiction? The one thing that impedes God’s mercy is our persistent refusal to accept God’s mercy. The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, is active in the world communicating God’s love and grace to human hearts. To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to refuse, over and over again, the love and grace he offers. To die in that state of refusal is to die outside of friendship with God. We all need God’s mercy and grace—the “gift” of “righteousness,” as St. Paul puts it in today’s second reading. Refusing to receive what we need for salvation means we won’t experience salvation. This is a sobering thought. Somehow, although we can’t save ourselves without God’s grace, God still respects our freedom so deeply that he won’t force us to live in that grace. Here is how the Catechism (1864) puts it: “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.”

· Preparing for Persecution: Jesus makes it clear that if we are faithful to his friendship, we will at times find ourselves in situations where it will be difficult, costly, to acknowledge our faith in him. Many of his first disciples, including the Apostles, were taken “before synagogues, before rulers and authorities,” because of their Christian faith. This fallen world and the diabolical powers at work within it are not fond of the truth of Christ and the demands it makes on us. And so those who proclaim and bear witness to that truth will run into opposition and be called to give an account of their counter-cultural beliefs, standards, and actions. We are not to be afraid of that. We are to trust that God will actually use that opposition and persecution to further this Kingdom. The Holy Spirit will guide us in those times of crisis and suffering and will work through us to allow the Gospel to penetrate hearts that otherwise might not be reached. This wasn’t just the case for the early Christians. This isn’t just the case for Christians who live under violently anti-Christian political regimes. This is the case for all Christians who stay true to their friendship with Christ. Sooner or later we will face a choice to acknowledge or deny our Lord in a stressful situation. Jesus doesn’t want us to worry about that: …do not worry about how or what your defense will be… (Luke 12:11). But neither does he want us to be blindsided. He wants us to be ready, to be unsurprised, and to trust that the Lord will be with us making all things work together for good for those who love him (Romans 8:28).

Conversing with Christ: I am sorry, my Lord, for the times when I have hidden my Christian identity. You know how weak I am, how vain I am, how anxiously I want to be accepted and welcomed. And sometimes I fear that acknowledging you as my Lord will lead only to ridicule, or even to rejection. I know that you can handle those situations, that you will never abandon me, even if others do, even if they persecute me. Holy Spirit, make me strong in my faith, joyful in my trust, and courageous in my love for Jesus Christ and his everlasting Kingdom.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will look for an opportunity to acknowledge Christ to others that I normally might not take advantage of, and I will take advantage of it.

Opening Prayer:28 Thường Niên

Holy Spirit, you are my light and guide. Please bless me during this time of prayer by opening my ears to hear the message you have for me today.

Encountering Christ:

1. Angels as Our Witnesses: Christians by definition acknowledge that they live for Christ. We do our best to know, love, and serve the Lord and we begin each day by reflecting on his holy word so as to grow more “Christian.” Today, we learn that Jesus may someday “introduce” us to the angels—perhaps by name. What delight! It’s good to reflect from time to time on heaven and imagine what it might be like. These thoughts can help to enliven our faith and motivate us to do just a little bit better today than we did yesterday, all for God’s glory.

2. Blaspheming the Spirit: Can’t Jesus forgive anything we do? Yet, he tells us in this Scripture that we will not be forgiven if we blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Saint John Paul II explains: “‘Blasphemy’ does not properly consist in offending against the Holy Spirit in words; it consists rather in the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit, working through the power of the cross” (Dominum et Vivificantem, #46). If we are so hard of heart as to reject the mercy God offers through the Holy Spirit, “it may lead to final impenitence and eternal loss,” according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1864. May our pride never be so great as to assume we can’t be forgiven for something we’ve done!

3. No Words: How many times have we found ourselves at a loss for words? Or speaking the wrong words? Jesus reassures us in this Gospel passage that when we call on the Holy Spirit in those moments of grief, fear, or suffering, we will find the words we need to communicate God’s love to another. What a consolation it is to know that the Holy Spirit stands by to put his words on our hearts, so that we may speak God’s healing into this needy world. May we often whisper a prayer to the Holy Spirit before we speak! “Set a guard, Lord, before my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalms 141:3).

Conversing with Christ: Lord, as someone who often speaks before I think, I find the promise you make to send the Holy Spirit to inspire my words very comforting. Thank you for sharing your awesome power and might, your light and love with me. May I always bring glory to you in speech and actions.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will whisper “Come Holy Spirit” before I speak to my friends at work about anything substantive.

Meditation:

What is the unforgivable sin which Jesus warns us to avoid?

Jesus knows that his disciples will be tested and he assures them that the Holy Spirit will give them what they need in their time of adversity.

He warns them, however, that it's possible to reject the grace of God and giving up the faith out of cowardice or disbelief.

The scriptural expression to deny someone means to disown them. Jesus also speaks against blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

What is blasphemy and why is it reprehensible? Blasphemy consists in uttering against God, inwardly or outwardly, words of hatred, reproach, or defiance. It's contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. Jesus speaks of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit as the unforgivable sin. Jesus spoke about this sin immediately after the scribes and Pharisees had attributed his miracles to the work of the devil instead of to God. \

A sin can only be unforgivable if repentance is impossible. If someone repeatedly closes his heart to God and shuts his ears to his voice, he comes to a point where he can no longer recognize God even when God makes himself known. Such a person ends up perceiving evil as good and good as evil (Isaiah 5:20).

There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who refuses to accept God's mercy by repenting of wrongdoing, rejects the forgiveness of their sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit.

God gives grace and help to all who humbly call upon him. Giving up on God and refusing to turn away from sin and disbelief results from pride and the loss of hope in God.

Saint John tells us that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Jesus' death on the cross won for us our salvation and adoption as the children of God.

The love and mercy of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit are freely given to those who acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Is your hope securely placed in Christ and his victory on the cross?

"Lord Jesus, you are my hope and salvation. May I trust you at all times and rely on your grace in times of testing and temptation? Let the fire of your Holy Spirit burn in my heart and fill me with a consuming love for you."

Suy Niệm Thứ Sáu Tuần 28 Thường niên (GKBM)

Suy Niệm Thứ Sáu Tuần 28 Thường niên

Tin mừng hôm nay cho chúng ta thấy đám đông vây quanh Chúa Giêsu cứ mỗi ngày một đông hơn. Tuy nhiên, Chúa Giêsu không bị say mê bởi cái sự nổi tiếng mỗi ngày càng tăng lên như thế này. Chúa Giêsu không buông xuôi thả lỏng cái bản ngã tự cao tự đại của mình vì số người theo Ngài ngày càng đông. Chúa đã không bao giờ muốn lấy lòng những người theo Chúa. Trên thực tế, khi Chúa dạy cho những người theo Ngài đừng nên bận tâm đến những gì xảy ra với họ trong suốt cuộc sống trong đời này mà hay chú tâm đến những gì sẽ xảy ra với họ trong cuộc sống mai sau.

Thánh Thomas Aquinas, một trong những nhà thần học vĩ đại nhất trong lịch sử hai ngàn năm của Giáo hội, mô tả loại tình yêu được Thiên Chúa ban cho chúng ta bằng món quà ân sủng được gọi là “bác ái” theo thuật ngữ thần học; như tình yêu của tình bạn. Thật vậy, chính ân sủng là một món quà nâng cao bản chất con người hạn chế của chúng ta để chúng ta có thể liên hệ với Thiên Chúa không chỉ đơn giản là tạo vật của Người, mà là bạn của Người.

Chính việc khám phá ra Chúa Kitô như một người bạn đích thực, và là một người bạn đồng hành đích thực, đã truyền cảm hứng cho Thánh nữ Têrêxa thành Avila, chúng ta kính nhớ hôm nay. Và giúp thánh nữ cải tổ Dòng Cát Minh và khơi mào một cuộc canh tân thuộc linh trong Giáo hội vẫn còn vang danh đến ngày nay, năm trăm năm sau.

Tình bạn với Đức Kitô có ý nghĩa gì đối với Chúng ta?

“Men” của người Pha-ri-siêu mà Chúa Giê-su cảnh báo những người thân cận nhất của ngài là đạo đức giả: Đối với người Do Thái, men là dấu hiệu của sự dữ.

Đó là một miếng bột từ bánh mì thừa đã lên men. Quá trình lên men có liên quan đến sự thối rữa; tình trạng phân hủy tinh bột có mùi hôi.

Tại sao Chúa Giê-su cảnh báo các môn đồ tránh đường lối của người Pha-ri-si?

Người Pha-ri-si muốn mọi người nhận ra rằng họ là những người Do Thái ngoan đạo và tốt vì họ đã thực hiện các bổn phận tôn giáo của mình một cách tỉ mỉ và cẩn thận.

Trong tin mừng hôm qua, Chúa Giê-su đã lật ngược tình thế với họ khi Ngài nói vớ họ rằng bề ngoài không phải lúc nào cũng phù hợp với ý định bên trong của trái tim. Ai trong chúng ta cũng có thể có lúc thể hiện ra bên ngoài những dấu hiệu tốt lành, nhưng ngay trong.

Người Pha-ri-si trau dồi một cách hăng hái và xảo quyệt vẻ ngoài của lòng nhiệt thành tôn giáo và lòng sùng đạo cao cấp. Tuy nhiên, bên dưới vẻ ngoài đó, họ không thực sự sống một mối quan hệ sôi nổi và khiêm tốn với Thiên Chúa.

Thay vào đó, họ đang sử dụng địa vị và danh tiếng của mình để nuôi sự phù phiếm và kiêu hãnh của bản thân, để gia tăng ảnh hưởng xã hội và chính trị, với tất cả những lợi ích thế gian mà ảnh hưởng đến cuộc sống cá nhân của họ. Điều tương tự cũng có thể xảy ra với chúng ta nếu chúng ta say mê cá vẻ bề ngoài hoặc đạo đức của chính mình, coi mình là công bình và giác ngộ hơn những người khác, đến mức chúng ta bắt đầu coi thường và đánh giá những người khác. Đây là một cái bẫy tâm linh mà ai cũng có thể bị rơi vào. Đó là một cách chắc chắn sẽ làm suy yếu tình bạn của chúng ta với thiên Chúa.

Chúa Giê-su đã khuyên nhủ chúng ta nên tránh điều này. Kẻ đạo đức giả che giấu mặt tối của chính mình ngay cả với chính bản thân mình, nhưng họ quên rằng cuối cùng, khi chúng ta đối mặt với Thiên Chúa, thì sẽ không có gì được che giấu trước mắt Ngài. Tốt hơn là chúng ta hãy trung thực hơn là đạo đức giả. Một người trung thực sẽ dễ phát triển trong tình bạn với Thiên Chúa và những người khác, trong khi một kẻ đạo đức giả thì sẽ dễ bị thu mình vào sự cô lập càng ngày càng sâu đến mức có thể đánh mất chính bản thân của mình.

Chúa Giêsu đã cho chúng ta biết rằng rằng sau khi chết, chúng ta phải đối mặt với sự phán xét. Ngài nhắc nhở chúng ta về điều này và khuyến khích chúng ta luôn luôn sống với quan điểm này trong tâm hồn của chúng ta. Chúng ta không sống cho cuộc sống trần gian này một mình.

Trên thực tế, cuộc hành trình của chúng ta ở đây là hướng đến cùng đích vinh quang trong Nước Trời. Chúng ta thật ngu ngốc biết bao, khi chúng ta đánh mất điều này! Chúng ta rất dễ dàng bị thao túng bởi những nỗi sợ hãi sai lầm và những lời hứa sai lầm!

Chúa Giê-su muốn cứu chúng ta khỏi cuộc sống lo âu và bấp bênh không cần thiết đó. Và Chúa làm như vậy bằng cách nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng Thiên Chúa là Cha của chúng ta, chúng ta quan trọng đối với Ngài như một đứa trẻ quan trọng đối với sự yêu thương của cha mẹ nó. Chúa Giêsu đã so sánh những con chim sẻ nhỏ không đáng bao nhiêu tiền mà vẫn được Thiên Chúa nuôi dưỡng chăm sóc, quan phòng mỗi giây phút tồn tại của chúng. Chưa hết, chúng ta còn đáng giá hơn rất nhiều những con chim sẻ đó… Kể cả những sợi tóc trên đầu chúng ta cũng đã được Thiên Chúa đế ý đến…

Những thử thách và đau khổ trong cuộc sống giữa thế giới sa đọa này đầy rẫy những bất công và bạo lực, là có thật. Nhưng Chúa Giêsu không muốn chúng ta sống trong những nỗi lo sợ này. Ngài mời gọi chúng ta hãy đặt niềm tin vào Thiên Chúa. Ngài có thể xử lý mọi sự và trong kế hoạch của Thiên Chúa là tạo ban hạnh phúc vĩnh cửu cho chúng ta.

Lạy Chúa, Chúa đã cho Thánh Têrêxa Avila một kinh nghiệm thực sự thay đổi cuộc sống về lòng tốt, sự hiện diện và tình yêu của Chúa đã làm thay đổi lối sống của bà. Chúng con biết là Chúa cũng đã cho chúng con rất nhiều kinh nghiệm về những điều đó. Tuy nhiên, chúng con vẫn còn cần nhiều hơn nữa! Vì chúng con rất yếu đuối và rất dễ bị cuốn vào những sự lo lắng của thế gian này! Xin Chúa giúp chúng con có can đảm để nghe lời Chúa lả “đừng sợ.” Để chúng con nghe rõ được tiếng Chúa mời gọi chúng con và tin tưởng vào Chúa mà không có sự kiềm chế… Xin Chúa hãy dẫn dắt chung con đi theo đường lối của Chúa.

Meditation: Friday 28 Ordinary time

Opening Prayer: Lord as I come before you in these quiet moments of prayer, please bring your light into my darkness.

Encountering Christ:

· The Friends of Jesus: The crowd surrounding Jesus kept getting bigger and bigger. St. Luke makes a point of showing this. And yet, Jesus didn’t become intoxicated by this growing popularity. He was not trying to feed his own ego by multiplying followers; he was trying to win true friends. In fact, as he instructed his listeners to care less about what happens to them during their life than what will happen to them once they pass beyond death’s door–entering heaven or hell–he called them my friends. Jesus wants our friendship. Would I characterize my relationship with Jesus as a friendship? Do I interact with him as easily and sincerely as I do with a true friend? Do I recognize his voice as easily as I recognize the voices of my other friends? St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians in the two-thousand-year history of the Church, describes the kind of love given to us by the gift of grace–called “charity” in theological terms–as the love of friendship. Indeed, grace itself is a gift that elevates our limited human nature so that we can relate to God no longer simply as his creatures, but as his friends. It was the discovery of Christ as a true friend, a true companion, that inspired today’s saint, Teresa of Avila, to reform the Carmelite Order and spark a spiritual renewal in the Church that is still reverberating today, five hundred years later. What does friendship with Christ mean for me? What would I like it to mean for me? What would God like it to mean for me?

· The Poison of Hypocrisy: The “leaven” of the Pharisees about which Jesus warned his closest followers is hypocrisy: the radical clash between what we appear to be and what we truly are. The Pharisees cultivated energetically and cunningly the appearance of religious fervor and advanced piety. And yet, underneath that appearance, they were not truly living a vibrant and humble relationship with God. Rather, they were using their status and reputation to feed their own vanity and pride, to increase their social and political influence, with all the worldly benefits such influence included. The same can happen to us. We can begin to fall in love with our own religious or moral appearances, considering ourselves more righteous and enlightened than others to the point where we begin to look down upon them and judge them. This is a spiritual trap anyone can fall into. It is a sure way to weaken one’s friendship with God through the suffocating grip of self-referentiality. Jesus exhorts us to avoid this. The hypocrite hides his own dark side even from himself, forgetting that in the end, when we come face to face with God, nothing will be hidden. It is better to be honest than hypocritical. A person committed to sincerity will live with greater peace in this life and the next. An honest person will grow in friendship with God and others, while a hypocrite will only shrink more and more into deadening isolation so deep that he may even lose sight of his very self.

· Confidence in God: Jesus has revealed that after we die we face judgment. In this passage, he reminds us of this and encourages us to live with this perspective always in mind. We are not living for this earthly life alone. In fact, our journey here is directed towards a glorious destination beyond this earth. How foolish we are when we lose sight of this! How easily manipulated by false fears and false promises alike! Jesus wants to save us from that life of unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty. And he does so by reminding us that God is our Father, that we matter to him as much as a little child matter to its loving, doting parents. The small little sparrows Jesus uses in his comparison owe every moment of their existence to God’s providential sustenance and care. And yet, we are worth more than many sparrows… Even the hairs of your head have all been counted… The challenges and sufferings of life in this fallen world, riddled with injustice and violence, are real. But Jesus doesn’t want us to live in fear of them. He invites us to trust that God can handle them, and that God’s plan for our eternal happiness far surpasses anything we could possibly imagine.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, you gave St. Teresa of Avila a truly life-changing experience of your goodness, presence, and love. I know you have given me many experiences of those things as well. And yet, I need more! I am so easily tangled up in the anxieties of this world! I hear you telling me not to be afraid. I hear you inviting me to trust in you without restraint… Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom; lead Thou me on… I do not ask to see the distant scene, one step enough for me.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pause in the midst of my busy schedule to admire the beauty of your creation and let it remind me of your providential care for me.

Meditation:

What does leaven have to do with hypocrisy? To the Jews leaven was a sign of evil. It was a piece of dough from left-over bread which fermented. Fermentation was associated with decay and rotting - the state of foul-smelling decomposition. Why did Jesus warn his disciples to avoid the ways of the Pharisees? The Pharisees wanted everyone to recognize that they were pious and good Jews because they meticulously and scrupulously performed their religious duties. Jesus turned the table on them by declaring that outward appearance doesn't always match the inward intentions of the heart. Anyone can display outward signs of goodness while inwardly harboring evil thoughts and intentions.

The word hypocrite means actor - someone who pretends to be what he or she is not. But who can truly be good, but God alone? Hypocrisy thrives on making a good appearance and masking what they don't want others to see. The good news is that God's light exposes the darkness of evil and sin in our hearts, even the sin which is unknown to us. And God's light transforms our hearts and minds and enables us to overcome hatred with love, pride with humility, and pretense with integrity and truthfulness. God gives grace to the humble and contrite of heart to enable us to overcome the leaven of insincerity and hypocrisy in our lives.

What does fear have to do with the kingdom of God? Fear is a powerful force. It can lead us to panic and flight or it can spur us to faith and action. The fear of God is the antidote to the fear of losing one's life.

"I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no want! ..Come, O sons, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord." (Psalm 34:4,9,11)

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần 28 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần 28 Thường Niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng, Chúa Giêsu cho chúng ta biết là cuộc sống chúng ta đang sống hôm nay thật sự chỉ là cuộc sống tạm thời. Chúng ta không nên sợ cái chết ở trần thế, mà nên sợ cái chết đời đời. Đó là lý do tại sao chúng ta không nên chỉ chú ý đến cuộc sống trần gian, nhưng chúng ta phải chú ý đến sự sống vĩnh cửu đời đời ngày sau. Vĩnh cửu, đời đời là những chữ mà chúng ta thấy khó để liên kết với con người bởi vì tất cả mọi thứ ở đây không thể kéo dài mãi được. Tất cả mọi sự ỡ đời này đều có sự giới hạn. Vì tất cả mọi thứ, dù có bao bền lâu bao nhiêu, rồi cũng sẽ bị huỷ diệt. Ngay cả thế giới này cũng thế, rồi thì cũng qua đi. Và bất cứ điều gì chúng ta làm, đặc biệt là những điểu ẩn kín vẫn được Thiên Chúa nhìn thấy rất tỏ tường. Tất cả những hành động của chúng ta sẽ được phát hiện khi chúng trình diện mặt Chúa trong ngày sau hết của cuộc đời.

Chúng ta hãy bắt đầu ngay bây giờ, hãy bắt đầu làm việc cho những thứ cần thiết cho thiên đường, chứ không phải là chỉ để mắt của chúng ta hướng về những mối quan tâm trần thế, hữu hình. Hãy nhớ, Thiên Đàng thì tồn tại mãi mãi và có thật!

Reflection:

It is clear that the life we live today is temporary. We are not to fear the earthly death, but rather the eternal death. That is why we should not just pay attention to the earthly life, but rather also to the eternal life. Because eternal life lasts forever. Forever is a word we find hard to relate with because all things here do not last. Warranties are limited and guarantees have a lifespan of its own, no matter the assurances we get, All things, no matter how durable get broken. Even this world is passing away slowly. And whatever we do, especially those hidden, are seen by God. All our actions will be uncovered and exposed at the end of time. Nothing will escape God's sight. Let us then start working then for the things of Heaven, rather than just fix our eyes always and only on tangible earthly concerns. Heaven exists. Forever is real!

Friday 28th Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Lord as I come before you in these quiet moments of prayer, please bring your light into my darkness.

Encountering Christ:

· Confidence in God: Jesus has revealed that after we die we face judgment. In this passage, he reminds us of this and encourages us to live with this perspective always in mind. We are not living for this earthly life alone. In fact, our journey here is directed towards a glorious destination beyond this earth. How foolish we are when we lose sight of this! How easily manipulated by false fears and false promises alike! Jesus wants to save us from that life of unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty. And he does so by reminding us that God is our Father, that we matter to him as much as a little child matters to its loving, doting parents. The small little sparrows Jesus uses in his comparison owe every moment of their existence to God’s providential sustenance and care. And yet, we are worth more than many sparrows… Even the hairs of your head have all been counted… The challenges and sufferings of life in this fallen world, riddled with injustice and violence, are real. But Jesus doesn’t want us to live in fear of them. He invites us to trust that God can handle them, and that God’s plan for our eternal happiness far surpasses anything we could possibly imagine.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pause in the midst of my busy schedule to admire the beauty of your creation and let it remind me of your providential care for me.

Friday 28th Ordinary Time

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: Lord, give me courage to keepnot to shy away from following you even in the face ofwhen I am faced with anytemptation.

11. Lion Food: St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was arrested and then transported to Rome, where death by lions awaited him. During the journey he wrote letters to some of the Christian communities he passed through, most notably the Christian community in Rome. In thea letter, he urges the Romansthem to do him no “untimely charity” of interceding with the emperor to spare him from execution. He writes to them, “I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable goodwill towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God” (Letter to the Romans). When Christ speaks of having no fear of those who kill the body but after that can do no more, he means it quite literally. If we encounter a situation in which we must either be faithful to Christ or cave in to pressure and abandon the path of the Lord, we should never hesitate. Follow Christ. Do not fear those who might “kill” by their criticism or disapproval of our rectitude of conscience. Do not be afraid.

2. Becoming Eucharist: St. Ignatius continues, “I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God” (Letter to the Romans). He is drawing a connection between his own coming martyrdom—wheat ground by the teeth of wild beasts—and the Eucharist—the pure bread of God. These words are not just grisly yet pious analogy; rather, they touch on the most profound meaning of the mystery of the Eucharist and our participation in it. The Eucharist is the most complete worship given to God the Father: It is the Incarnation of God among us, it is Christ’s sacrifice of his body on the Cross, and it is his Resurrection from death to eternal life. Through the EucharistChrist’s incarnation, sacrificial death, and resurrection are not merely examples we are called to imitate in the way an amateur athlete might imitate a professional. The Eucharist is much more profound than that. In receiving the Eucharist, we are united to Christ’s humanity (the Incarnation), his suffering to fulfill the Father’s loving will, his death to sin and his resurrection (our life in grace here and eternal life in the next). In this union we become the “pure bread of God”, as St. Ignatius writes. Wwe become an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord. We need to offer the struggles and challenges of each day in order to remain united with Christ in the Eucharist.

3. More than Birds: In our daily life we take many small things for granted because they seem to have little import in the grand scheme of things. “What were the high and low temperatures a year ago today?” “What does it matter now?” we might as well respond. “Where will the four sparrows I saw in the park two weeks ago get food to eat?” It’s not even a question that occurs to us. We have many other things of immediate importance that require our attention and action. Yet such a question is important enough to occur to God. Christ tells us in Luke 12:24, “They do not sow or reap; they have no storehouses and no barns; yet God feeds them.” He continues, “And how much more are you worth than the birds!” If God would make time to think about something so insignificant among all the goings-on in the world, how much more will he be taking care of our needs!

Conversation with Christ: Lord, when I look at the difficulties and rough spots I know I will be facing today, I worry about the sacrifices I’ll have to make. Maybe I won’t be as patient or generous as I ought. Maybe events won’t turn out as I hope. Help me to have confidence and trust in you like St. Ignatius. Help me realize that you have taken care of every minute detail of all that will occur today.

Resolution: When faced with any worry today I will pray, “Jesus, I trust in you.”

REFLECTION

In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to be "on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees." Jesus was referring to their hypocrisy. The Pharisees pretend to be God-fearing but all their words and actions are just for show – to make people think they are pious so they will be shown respect. But deep down, they are selfish, manipulating, pretentious, and even violent. Jesus tells his disciples not to fear them even though they could "kill the body." They cannot kill the soul or destroy the Holy Spirit that God has put in the hearts of His disciples.

In the first reading, St. Paul says that Christians are those who hope in the Lord, who wait for his glorious coming. As they have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit, they feel a freedom that others do not have: that of being sons of God, of having experienced God as a Father, which gives them great joy and peace. It also emboldens them to preach the Good News of salvation to others. We are called to experience the joy and freedom of God's children. We are also called to preach the Gospel of Jesus to all men. To preach how Jesus died for our sins and was raised by the Father for our justification is our joy and privilege.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần 28th Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần 28th Thường Niên

Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã quở máng những người Pharisêu và các thầy thông giáo vì những luật lệ họ đã áp đặt trên dâan chúng và những hành động đạo đức giả của họ. Trong khi họ khoe khoang và rao giảng sự công bình và công lý, nhưng chính họ lại thiếu đức bác ái và còn hành động ngược lại với những gì họ rao giảng. Họ xây dựng đài tưởng niệm cho các tiên tri, những người mà tổ tiên của họ đã giết. Họ đã không sống cuộc sống tốt lành: "Khốn cho các người, hỡi những nhà thông luật! Các người đã cất giấu chìa khoá của sự hiểu biết, các người đã không vào, mà những kẻ muốn vào, các người lại ngăn cản.".." (Lc 11: 52)

Ngược lại trong bài đọc thứ nhất trong thư gửi cho các Kitô hữu ở Êphêsô, Thánh Phaolô đã chúc lành ông mang tình yêu, lòng nhân ái với ân sủng của Thiên Chúa đến với "các vị thánh ở Ephêsô," "Trong Đức Ki-tô, Bởi chưng Người đã chọn ta trong Ngài, từ trước tạo thiên lập địa, để ta được nên thánh và vô tì tích trước mặt Người.."(Eph 1: 4) Chúng ta hãy cầu nguyện để cho chúng ta không giống như những người Pharisêu đạo đức giả và các thầy thông luật mà Chúa Giêsu đã nguyền rủa trong bài tin mừng hôm nay, chúng ta hãy xin Chúa cho chúng ta được trở nên một trong những" vị thánh " ở thành Êphêsô mà Thánh Phaolô đã yêu mến, nuôi dưỡng và dậy dỗ.

Reflection

In the Gospel reading Jesus strongly admonishes and even puts curses on the Pharisees and the Jewish teachers of the Law for their hypocrisy. While preaching righteousness and justice, they themselves were lacking in action and even did the opposite of what they preached. They built memorials for the very same prophets whom their ancestors had rejected and even killed. They had not lived good lives and had not taught people well; thus their people had not led good lives because they knew no better: "for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have prevented others from entering." (Lk 11: 53)

In contrast in the first reading from his letter to his beloved Christians in Ephesus, Paul blesses God for his loving-kindness and grace to the "saints in Ephesus," to those "God chose in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in his presence" (Eph 1: 4) We pray that we be not counted with the hypocritical Pharisees and teachers of the Law whom Jesus cursed but be among the "saints" whom Paul loved, taught and nourished.

Thursday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: I join my voice to the words of today’s psalm: Lord, let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. I come into your presence knowing that you are interested in my life, that you care, that you want me to grow in holiness and bear everlasting fruit for your Kingdom. I open my heart to receive whatever word, whatever grace you want to give me. Hallowed be Thy Name, O Lord, in me and through me…

Encountering Christ:

· A Love-Hate Relationship: The history of God’s chosen people, the Jews, and indeed, the history of the entire human family, is marked by the beneficiaries of God’s generosity repeatedly rebelling against God. Jesus invoked this history when he pointed out the violence committed against Abel and Zechariah, two bookends of the Old Testament. He showed that the generation of religious leaders who were rejecting him, and who would crucify him, were linking themselves to all the past rebellions against God, bringing them to a climax, in fact. In short, Jesus called out their sin. He hoped that in so doing, he would stimulate them to reflection and repentance. This rebellious spirit is within each one of us. As children of Adam and Eve, the initiators of mankind’s rebellion against God, we have a strong tendency to want to dictate how things should be in our lives and in the world, regardless of God’s providence or sovereignty. Where do I see this rebellious spirit in my life? Where do I join the crowd who opposes God’s will and God’s plan?

· What Knowledge Is For: Jesus rebuked the scholars of the law for having much knowledge but not living in accordance with that knowledge. Unfortunately, this too is a trap that we easily fall into. We know so much, simply by knowing our catechism and having heard so many explanations of the Gospel. We know that obeying the moral law is the path to a flourishing life; we know that we are each called to help build up Christ’s Kingdom; we know that happiness is not to be found in money, pleasure, power, or popularity. And yet, do we act according to this knowledge? Do we follow the moral law? Do we dedicate ourselves to bringing people closer to Christ and his Kingdom? Do we direct our energy towards living in communion with God, confident that whatever else we may need will be given us as well if we keep his Kingdom first? Yes and no. Like the scholars of the law, we profess faith in the truths God has revealed, and we follow them to a certain extent. But when we take an honest assessment of the authenticity of our Christian discipleship, we find an awful lot of room still to grow.

· The Pharisees Got Defensive: Jesus hoped his “woes” would startle the Pharisees into openness or repentance. Maybe in the end, after his Passion and Resurrection, these words came back to their minds and helped them accept the Gospel. But their immediate reaction was to get defensive: the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him. What do I get defensive about? In what circumstances do I get defensive? When we interact with our loved ones, when we have challenging encounters at work, we often find ourselves getting defensive. Anytime a difference of opinion seems to question our intelligence or integrity, our initial reaction is usually to assert our intelligence and integrity, even violently. If we can catch ourselves when we do that, if we can become aware of when we are acting defensively, we will capture a golden opportunity for spiritual growth. Defensiveness exposes insecurities. Insecurities expose areas in need of God’s grace and light. Jesus pointed out in his Sermon on the Mount that the meek and the poor of spirit are blessed. The peacemakers are blessed. Whenever we find ourselves reacting to something violently, it’s an opportunity to pause, ask ourselves where that reaction is coming from, and adjust the reaction to be more Christlike, more in harmony with virtues like humility and patience. The truth is that we all have weak points, blind spots, areas where we need to work hard to grow in wisdom, fortitude, faith, and temperance. When someone triggers emotional defensiveness, we can rest assured that nine times out of ten they have exposed one of those weak points, giving us a golden opportunity to exercise one of those virtues.

Conversing with Christ: I want to welcome your words, Lord. I want to truly hear what you are saying to me. But I fear that I may be more like the Pharisees than I realize. I may be closed to your grace without realizing it. I may be attached to my own opinions and expectations and ideas so furiously that there is little room left for me to learn from you. Help free me from my stubbornness, from my blindness. As painful as it may be, I want to leave my old self behind, every single day, so as to become the new creature you want me to be.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will notice quickly whenever I start feeling defensive and respond by inquiring about the reasons behind someone’s statements instead of just shutting that person down.

Reflection:

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: Lord Jesus Christ, help me to follow your example and set a good example for others. you have invited me to live in your love and bring others to do the same. I ask you for the grace to respond fully today, despite whatever obstacles may arise.

1. History Will Teach Us Something: Throughout the Old Testament, the history of the people of Israel is the drama of God, a profound gesture of his love and protection, as he reveals himself to his chosen people in ever-greater ways. Israel’s response to God’s love, as seen in the Old Testament, that love is pocked and pitted with infidelity, abuse, and ingratitude. At times the people outright reject God and whomever he sends to guide them back to his loving care. These falls from God’s grace are instructive for us today. We see the grandeur of what God did for the people of Israel and marvel at it. We should be aghast at how a people who received so much could respond so little. But more than this, we need to use this history of Israel as a mirror in which to regard our own lives: to recognize the same patterns of failure and lack of fidelity in our own lives and use this self-reflection to inspire us to return to the Lord. If we fail to admit our weaknesses and failures, however, we will be like the Pharisees to whom Christ spoke, who brought the blood of the prophets upon their own heads because of their stubbornness and hardness of heart.

2. History Repeats Itself: In the parable of the vineyard owner who leased out his vineyard (cf. Luke 20:9-16), Christ explains that the owner sent servant after servant to collect from the tenants what was his due, but each was mistreated, beaten or even killed. The situation comes to a head when the owner sends his own son, who is killed.

On one another occasion Christ warns the disciples that if this is the way he is treated, they should expect no less themselves (cf. John 15:20). Do we honestly expect not to have to face some difficulty as disciples of the Lord? Of course not. But what if that difficulty comes from within? This is from where the most serious menaces to our discipleship come. Our pride, our vanity, our love of comfort: these are the battlegrounds and the martyrs’ fields where first and foremost we need to suffer for being a disciple of the Lord. The prophets and martyrs who suffered for their zeal for the Lord did so even up to the cost of their lives. He might not need us to lay our lives on the line in quite the same way, but an interior sacrifice is what Christ does ask of everyone whom he calls.

3. Stoppage Time: One of the key moments in Edith Stein’s conversion happened when from Judaism to Catholicism occurred on a mid-week afternoon. Sshe went into a Catholic Church to see what it was like, and as she sat there in silence, an older woman came in to spend a few moments with Christ in the Eucharist. She had groceries in her hand and was obviously on her way home to prepare dinner. For young Edith, still struggling with belief in God, it was an example of just how grounded in day-to-day reality the Catholic faith is. The woman’s example helped to open Edith’s heart and mind to receive the gift of faith. There is little chance that woman ever knew the importance her example played in helping form this future saint and patronness of Europe, but the woman’s authentic faith was just what Edith needed to see. Our living witness is critical for those around us, whether or not we ever see or hear of the consequence. We can serve as an occasion of grace, or we can be a stumbling block on the path that delays someone from arriving at the place God wants to lead them.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I know that I am an integral part in your plan to save souls. You have the confidence to use me as a channel of your grace for those around me, particularly those closest to me. I offer you my life today. Use me as a channel of grace and a testimony to your love.

Resolution: I will offer to God today the sacrifice necessary to change something in my behavior that might be an obstacle for someone else coming to know Christ better.

Reflection:

In the Gospel, Jesus challenges the motives of the Pharisees and the scribes on showing off their good deeds. This kind of hypocrisy is still very much alive in our generation. We are driven to show off what we have or do because of our need to be appreciated and recognized. Showing off our material wealth and success is often a cover up of our iniquities and incapacity to love. That is why in the first reading, God is encouraging us not to be scandalized of our sins because the sacrifice of Jesus to die on the cross was an act of love that has the power to redeem us, and his resurrection can free us from our sins.

This life transformation took flesh in St. Teresa. She had a lot of sufferings and pains early in her life struggles which ordinary people like us experience. But through prayer and faith in the love of God, she overcame all her "dark nights" and saw the light of Christ. She said, "Prayer is an act of love, and words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts us from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love." She also said that "it is of great importance, when we begin to practice prayer, not to let ourselves be frightened by our thoughts." If we embrace this kind of attitude in our prayer life, we can remain happy and be at peace in the midst of our daily life struggles. May these words of St. Teresa comfort us, "Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing make you afraid. All things are passing. God alone never changes. Patience gains all things. If you have God, you will want for nothing. God alone suffices."

REFLECTION

In the first reading St. Paul reminds us that we are all sinners, but, because of God's love and mercy and through the redeeming suffering and death of his Son Jesus Christ, God has forgiven us and made us righteous. Every time we approach God for forgiveness through the ministry of the Church in the sacrament of reconciliation, we cannot but be overwhelmed by his forgiving love and mercy which forgive us our offenses and make us righteous before him and the Church.

If God is so forgiving to me, can I do less to those who have wronged me? Pope Francis has said, "If I cannot forgive, I cannot ask for forgiveness. Jesus teaches us to pray like this to the Father: 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."'

In the Gospel reading we hear very strong condemnation of our Lord for the religious leaders of the Jews for their hypocrisy and lack of care and concern for those committed to their care and leadership

Suy Niệm thứ Tư Tuần 28 Thường niên

Suy Niệm thứ Tư Tuần 28 Thường niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta có vẻ ngạc nhiên và tự hỏi: Tại sao Chúa Giêsu lại quá nặng lời với các giáo sĩ, những người biệt phái và các luật sĩ Do Thái. Chữ “khốn” trong tiếng Do thái cũng có thể được dịch là than ôi. Chữ khốn này cũng được dùng để biểu hiện sự thương hại đau buồn cũng như tỏ lộ sự tức giận.

Tại sao Chúa Giêsu lại than thở và khiển trách những người này một cách nghiêm khắc như vậy?

Có lẽ chúng ta ai cũng biết là Chúa Giêsu đã giận giữ với các nhà lãnh đạo Do thái giáo vì họ đã không vâng lời Thiên Chúa mà họ còn lừa dối những người theo họ. Họ sống theo lối trần tục, không tuân theo luật của Chúa dạy mà họ lạị còn dùng Thiên Chúa để hướng dẫn người khác theo đường lối trần tục của họ, chứ không phải cách sống theo như ý Chúa muốn..

Những người Do thái hay các giáo sĩ Do Thái thường dành cả cuộc đời của họ để nghiên cứu Luật Môisen và họ được coi như là những chuyên gia luật của người Do thái. Họ chia mười điều răn của Chúa ban cho Môisen thành hàng ngàn quy tắc và luật lệ khác nhau. Họ đã diễn giải các luật này rất chính xác và cố gắng sống nghiêm khắc và tuân thủ theo các điều luật của họ đưa ra, đến nỗi họ có không còn thời gian để làm bất cứ việc gì khác.

Trong sự nhiệt thành sai lầm của họ, họ bắt buộc dân chúng phải tuân thủ theo như những quy tắc, luật lệ không cần thiết của họ và họ đặt trên vai những người dân chất phát hiền lành những gánh thuế nặng nề, và họ đã coi trọng những điều lệ này còn trên cả những những điều răn của Thiên Chúa, chẳng hạn như kính mến Thiên Chúa và yêu thương đồng loại. Họ đang dẫn mọi người đến thuyết tà giáo hơn là đến với Thiên Chúa.

Hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã dùng ví dụ về thuế phần mười trăm để cho thấy là họ đã bỏ sót 10 điều răn của Thiên Chúa bao xa. Khi Thiên Chúa đã ban lệnh cho đóng một phần mười hoa lợi đầu mùa trên sức lao động của con người như là một sự tỏ bày lòng biết ơn và tôn kính Thiên Chúa vì sự quan tâm của Ngài đối với dân tộc của Ngài (sách luật 14:22; Lê-vi 27:30). Tuy nhiên, những người luật sĩ này sau khi ghi chép đã tìm cách tính cả thuế trên những thứ rau cỏ kể cả rau thơm. Họ để ý kỹ đến những vấn đề nhỏ nhặt không quan trọng, nhưng họ lại bỏ qua những việc quan tâm đến bác ái.

Chúa Giêsu khiển trách họ vì họ không có lòng khoan dung rộng lượng. Họ tràn đầy tự hào về họ và khinh thường những người khác. Họ đặt gánh nặng những thứ không cần thiết lên người khác trong khi đó họ lơ là với những việc làm bác ái, đặc biệt là đối với những người goá phụ yếu thế và những người nghèo khổ.

Vì thế hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã so sánh và ví họ như những nấm mồ vô danh, không một tấm bia. Theo sách Dân số (Ds 19:16), nếu một người tiếp xúc với một xác chết hay thăm một ngôi mộ thì người ất sẽ trở nên ô uế và phải thực hành nghi thức tẩy rửa ô uể trong bảy ngày. Chúa Giêsu hôm nay lật ngược tình thế đối với những người Pharisiêu khi Ngài tuyên bố rằng những ai tiếp xúc với những người thông luật hay pharisiêu và nghe theo sự hướng dẫn tự lập của họ thì những người đó sẽ trở nên ô uế bởi giáo lý sai lầm của họ. Họ lây nhiễm cho người khác những ý tưởng sai lầm về Thiên Chúa và về ý định của Ngài.

Vì những người biệt phái này cũng như những nấm mồ không có bia, nên những người khác không nhận ra sự thối rữa bên trong ngôi mộ và không nhận ra sự nguy hiểm của sự ô nhiễm tâm linh. Những người biệt phái phải coi lời buộc tội của Chúa Giêsu như là một sự sỉ nhục nặng: Họ không chỉ ô uế về mặt thiêng liêng vì họ từ chối lời Thiên Chúa, mà họ còn làm ô nhiễm người khác bằng “men pharisiêu, biệt phái” nguy hiểm của họ (Lu-ca 12: 1).

Hôm nay Chúa Giêsu muốn dạy chúng ta là bản chất căn bản của các điều răn mà Chúa dạy là yêu thương, yêu thương là điều thiện hảo tối cao, Kính mến Thiên Chúa trên hết và yêu thương người xung quanh của chúng ta, vì họ là những người cũng được dựng nên theo hình ảnh giống như Thiên Chúa.

Thiên Chúa là tình yêu (1 Gioan 4: 8) và mọi việc Ngài làm đều bắt nguồn từ tình yêu của Ngài dành cho chúng ta. Tình yêu của Thiên Chúa là tinh yêu thương vô điều kiện và hoàn toàn đem đến sự tốt đẹp đến cho người khác. Tình yêu chân chính vừa bao dung vừa trút bỏ gánh nặng cho người khác. Thánh Phaolô đã nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng “tình yêu thương của Thiên Chúa đã đổ vào lòng chúng ta qua Chúa Thánh Thần đã ban đến cho chúng ta” (Rôma 5: 5).

Nếu chúng ta biết chia sẻ những gánh nặng và giúp đỡ những người xung quanh Thiên Chúa sẽ chúc phúc lành và ban tặng cho mỗi người chúng ta có đủ ân sủng mỗi ngày để chúng ta biết yêu như Ngài đã yêu và trút bỏ gánh nặng của những người khác để họ cũng có thể cảm nghiệm được ân sủng và tình yêu của Chúa Giêsu Kitô.

Lạy Chúa Giêsu, xin Chúa hãy thổi phùng trái tim của chúng con bằng tình yêu của Chúa để chúng con luôn biết theo đuổi tình yêu của chúng con đối với Chúa và tình yêu của chúng con dành cho những xung quanh chúng con mà Chúa đã tạo nên theo hình ảnh của Chúa và có sự giống hệt như chúng con.

Xin Chúa hãy giải thoát trái tim của chúng con thoát được những sự ham muốn ích kỷ nhưng xin Chúa giúp cho lòng chúng con chỉ có chỗ cho lòng tốt, sự thương xót và lòng nhân từ đối với mọi người mà chúng con biết và gặp gỡ trong cuộc sống của chúng con.

Meditation:Wednesday 28th Ordinary Time,

Why does Jesus single out the religious teachers and lawyers for some rather strong words of rebuke? The word woe can also be translated as alas. It is as much an expression of sorrowful pity as it is of anger. Why did Jesus lament and issue such a stern rebuke? Jesus was angry with the religious leaders because they failed to listen to God's word and they misled the people they were supposed to guide in the ways of God.

God's commandments are rooted in his love and care for us

The scribes devoted their lives to the study of the Law of Moses and regarded themselves as legal experts in it. They divided the ten commandments and precepts into thousands of tiny rules and regulations. They were so exacting in their interpretations and in trying to live them out, that they had little time for anything else. By the time they finished compiling their interpretations it took no less than fifty volumes to contain them! In their misguided zeal, they required unnecessary and burdensome rules which obscured the more important matters of religion, such as love of God and love of neighbor. They were leading people to Pharisaism rather than to God.

Do not lay heavy burdens on others

Jesus used the example of tithing to show how far they had missed the mark. God had commanded a tithe of the first fruits of one's labor as an expression of thanksgiving and honor for his providential care for his people (Deuteronomy 14:22; Leviticus 27:30). The scribes, however, went to extreme lengths to tithe on insignificant things (such as tiny plants) with great mathematical accuracy. They were very attentive to minute matters of little importance, but they neglected to care for the needy and the weak. Jesus admonished them because their hearts were not right. They were filled with pride and contempt for others. They put unnecessary burdens on others while neglecting to show charity, especially to the weak and the poor. They meticulously went through the correct motions of conventional religion while forgetting the realities.

Why does Jesus also compare them with "unmarked graves"? According to Numbers 19:16 contact with a grave made a person ritually unclean for seven days. Jesus turns the table on the Pharisees by declaring that those who come into contact with them and listen to their self-made instruction are likewise defiled by their false doctrine. They infect others with wrong ideas of God and of his intentions. Since the Pharisees are "unmarked", other people do not recognize the decay within and do not realize the danger of spiritual contamination. The Pharisees must have taken Jesus' accusation as a double insult: They are not only spiritually unclean themselves because they reject the word of God, but they also contaminate others with their dangerous "leaven" as well (see Luke 12:1).

Love lifts the burdens of others

What was the point of Jesus' lesson? The essence of God's commandments is love - love of the supreme good - God himself and love of our neighbor who is made in the image and likeness of God. God is love (1 John 4:8) and everything he does flows from his love for us. God's love is unconditional and is wholly directed towards the good of others. True love both embraces and lifts the burdens of others. Paul the Apostle reminds us that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given us" (Romans 5:5). Do you help your neighbors carry their burdens? God gives each of us sufficient grace for each day to love as he loves and to lift the burdens of others that they, too, may experience the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with your love that I may always pursue what matters most - love of you, my Lord and my God, and love of my fellow neighbor whom you have made in your own image and likeness. Free my heart from selfish desires that I may only have room for kindness, mercy, and goodness toward every person I know and meet

Suy niệm lời Chúa Thứ Tư 28 thuờng niên (Luke 11:42-46)

Điểm chính của bài học mà Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta hôm nay là cốt lõi của giới răn Thiên Chúa đó là tình yêu thương, yêu thương là giới răn quan trong nhất, và yêu mến Thiên Chúa và thương yêu những người chung quanh là những người được tạo dựng nên theo giống hình ảnh Thiên Chúa. Thiên Chúa là tình yêu (1 Gioan 4:8) và tất cả mọi thứ Ngài dựng nên đuộc phát sinh ra từ tình yêu của Ngài cho chúng ta. Tình yêu Thiên Chúa là Tình yêu vô điều kiện và hoàn toàn hướng tới những lợi ích cho người khác. Tình yêu thương chân thật đều biết chia xẻ và nâng đỡ những gánh nặng của người khác. Thánh Phaolô đã nhắc nhở chúng ta như trong thư gửi tín hữu Rôma rằng "Thiên Chúa đã đổ tình yêu của Ngài vào lòng chúng ta, nhờ Thánh Thần mà Người ban cho chúng ta." (Rô-ma 5:5). Mỗi ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, Thiên Chúa đã ban cho mỗi người chúng ta những hồng ân của Ngài hầu giúp chúng ta có đủ sức mạnh để chúng ta yêu thương nhau như Ngài đã yêu thương chúng ta và giúp chúng ta dỡ bỏ những gánh nặng của người khác để họ cũng có thể trải nghiệm được ân sủng và tình yêu của Chúa Giêsu Kitô.

Reflection Luke 11:42-46

Justice and Peace

Today, in controversy with the Pharisees, Jesus Christ places justice and God’s love, as axes of social coexistence by setting them above personal viewpoints. Peace and Law, Justice and Peace are inseparably connected. When Law is trampled on and injustice comes to power, peace is always threatened. Political criteria should be based on those moral values, not created by us, but recognized and equal for all men. Without them Law can be criminally used with factional purposes. Two factors of justice dilution stand out. First, the “cynicism of ideology”, which obfuscates consciences by justifying any means to achieve factional objectives. Second, the “cynicism of business” (unscrupulous exploitation of natural resources), where the useful also takes the place of the good and power displaces Law. O Lord, Christianity do not lead us far from reason, but illuminates it instead: make that to achieve peace, faith may calm down reason, often distorted by ideological tyranny.

The point of lesson Jesus teach us today is the essence of God's commandments is love; love of the supreme good ; and Love God himself and love of our neighbor who is made in the image and likeness of God. God is love (1 John 4:8) and everything he does flows from his love for us. God's love is unconditional and is wholly directed towards the good of others. True love both embraces and lifts the burdens of others. Saint Paul reminds us in the letter to the Romans that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given us" (Romans 5:5).

Each day in our lives, God gives each of us sufficient grace in order for us to love as he loves and to lift the burdens of others that they, too, may experience the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Suy Niệm thứ Tư Tuần 28 Thường niên

Công lý và hòa bình Qua Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy trong cuộc tranh cãi với những người Pharisêu, Chúa Giê Su đã đặt nặng vấn đề công lý và tình yêu của Thiên Chúa như là lõi cốt chính của cuộc sống chung trong xã hội trên hơn tất cả bất cứ quan điểm cá nhân nào. Hòa bình và Pháp luật, Công lý và Hoà bình được kết nối không thể tách rời. Khi Luật Pháp bị chà đạp và sự bất công nổi lên nắm quyền, thì hòa bình luôn bị đe dọa.

Những tiêu chí chính trị phải dựa trên những giá trị đạo đức, chứ không phải là do con người chúng ta tạo ra, nhưng chúng phải được công nhận trên sự bình đẳng cho tất cả mọi người. Nếu không có sự bình đẳng thì Luật pháp có thể được áp dụng theo hình thức của những người có quyền theo kiểu cường hào ác bá bởi vì luật pháp được lập ra vì những lợi ích của phe phái hay phe nhóm có quyền.

Hai yếu tố sau đã làm nổi bật vì chúng biến công lý không còn có ý nghĩa mà là công cụ̣ bất chính cho kẻ cầm quyền. Thứ nhất, "chủ nghĩa hoài nghi của hệ tư tưởng", làm cho lương tâm trở nên tồi tệ hơn khi tìm mọi cách để biện minh cho những việc làm bất lương của kẻ cầm quyền bằng bất kỳ phương tiện nào để đạt được những mục tiêu và quyền lợi phe nhóm. Thứ hai, "chủ nghĩa hoài nghi cùa trong việc kinh doanh (khai thác vô nguyên tắc các nguồn tài nguyên thiên nhiên), khi con người lợi dụng những tài nguyên thiên nhiên dùng quyền lực để thay thế Luật pháp.

Lạy Chúa, đạo giáo của Chúa Kitô không làm cho lý trí của chúng con ra mù quáng, nhưng xin Chúa hãy soi sáng cho chúng con biết dùng lý trí để mang lại sự hoà bình và xin đức tin của chúng con có thể lấy lại sự bình tĩnh cho lý trí bởi vì cuộc sống hiện tại luôn có sự bóp méo sự thật và kìm chế tư tưởng của chúng con..

Wednesday 28th Ordinary Time, 2021

Opening Prayer: As I call to mind your presence, Lord, I make my own the words of today’s psalm: Only in God is my soul at rest… He is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all (Psalms 62:2-3). I want to have a faith as strong as that, to find always in you the strength I need to live joyfully, courageously, uprightly. I come to you in prayer today seeking your grace. I lift my heart and mind to you; be everything for me, Lord. Show me your ways.

Encountering Christ:

· Four Woes: In Luke 6, we find four beatitudes and six woes (four of them in today’s passage). Most biblical scholars see a connection here, a certain contrary parallel. Beyond the specific nuances of each woe, the parallel reiterates one of the most overlooked characteristics of Jesus’s doctrine: that we are responsible for our own destiny. Many factors condition the choices we make throughout life—the geographical and sociopolitical environment where we are born and raised, the emotional and spiritual state of our parents, the educational opportunities available to us, and many others. God is fully aware of all these things. And yet, Jesus continually invites us to take responsibility for our lives by choosing freely how we will relate to ourselves, to others, and to God. His Gospel continues to shine like a beacon, illuminating a path of living in which we see ourselves as called into friendship with God and called to build up God’s Kingdom–not our own personal kingdoms–in the world around us. Somehow, God’s invitation reaches each person—where the Church is strong, it resounds clearly and attractively; where the Church is weak or has not yet reached, it may barely resound at all. But God loves us too much not to give each of us multiple opportunities to choose and follow along the path of life, or not. This is why he can exclaim: blessed are you… or woe to you… In the end, we either accept his grace or we don’t, and we have no one to blame but ourselves in either case.

· The Patience of Jesus: This series of deprecations sounds harsh to our modern ears. We picture Jesus accusing the Pharisees, and it’s hard to picture him smiling as he does so. But let us not forget that this passage comes halfway through St. Luke’s Gospel. Jesus had had many interactions with the Pharisees—conversations, meals, meetings in the synagogue. The Pharisees had heard his parables. They had witnessed his miracles and exorcisms. The Lord smiled and reached out to them patiently and gently. But most of them still refused to hear him, refused to welcome his message and his mercy. Jesus loved them too much to give up on them. And so he changed his tone. He tried to shake them up and wake them up. He didn’t lose his temper. He didn’t wish for their condemnation. He was reaching out to them still, urgently and eloquently, trying to break through their self-satisfied hypocrisy so that his redeeming mercy could renew their hearts and minds. Jesus still follows the same patient and persistent method with us. He will not give up on us, and he will keep trying new ways to convince us to repent and believe in the Gospel every day, as we truly need to. The Catechism (27, 30) puts it beautifully: God never ceases to draw man to himself… Although man can forget God or reject him, he never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness…

· Face to Face: Clearly, Jesus was upset with the Pharisees—the most educated and influential members of the Jewish people, and yet the most resistant to his message of salvation. But Jesus didn't take his dissatisfaction underground. He didn’t excoriate the Pharisees behind their backs. He spoke the truth to them directly, lovingly, and consistently. Resorting to harsh and dramatic language, conflictual language, surely wasn’t comfortable for the Lord. He would have preferred to be able to reason with them calmly. But he tried that and it didn’t work. Here is a lesson for us. When we find ourselves criticizing other people, we should guard against doing so in a destructive way. For a Christian, criticism must always be constructive, ordered towards repentance and growth. This means we can never say something about someone when they are not present that we wouldn’t say about them if they were present. Backbiting, gossiping, and spreading accusatory stories behind people’s backs may give us an intoxicating sense of superiority and control, but it is never constructive. It never builds up trust and brotherhood, whether in family, in the Church, at work, or in society at large. Every human being, even those like the Pharisees, is created in God’s image and likeness and was redeemed by Christ’s precious blood. And so we can never glorify God and promote his Kingdom by disdaining the intrinsic honor and dignity of our fellow human beings, however far they may have fallen from grace.

Conversing with Christ: I am sorry, Lord, for the many times I have behaved like the Pharisees—judging my neighbors instead of respecting them, pontificating at them instead of understanding and accompanying them, wasting energy in search of vain praise for myself instead of investing all my gifts and talents so as to build up your Kingdom. Have mercy on me, Lord, and grant me the grace I need to humble myself and seek only what is truly good for myself and everyone around me.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will make sure that every word I speak in conversation is truthful and constructive, no matter what. And if I unwittingly fall back into useless or destructive criticism, I will immediately ask God for forgiveness and try to make amends.

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Wednesday 28th Ordinary Time,2018

Petition: I want to see my heart as you see it, Lord, make my heart more like yours.

Encountering Christ:

1. Falling into the Same Trap: Do we ever find ourselves rooting for Jesus in this Gospel passage? “Give it to ’em hard, Lord! They deserve it!” We imagine ourselves there in the scene—our arms sternly crossed, our heads shaking in disapproval of those oh-so hypocritical Pharisees. Soon our thoughts turn to someone we know who “should also receive a good verbal lashing!” Even a priest or a bishop might be the subject of our mental reprimand. In this second scene, however, Christ has faded or disappeared altogether, and we are the ones telling it like it is. Yet we now find ourselves right in the shoes of the very Pharisees we so deplore: Our hearts are embittered and dry. Although we are able to condemn with the Lord, we do not love with the Lord. We forget that Christ would lay down his life for these Pharisees he is calling to conversion—even if they were the only ones who needed to be saved. We’ve become like the lawyers who bind up loads of criticism, yet won’t offer a prayer of help. Pointing the finger is easy, but a call to conversion can come only from a heart that loves.

2. The Grumpy Catholics Guild: Is there anyone who can’t find at least one thing wrong in their parish or diocese? As long as the Church is made of human beings there will always be aspects to improve. One thing is to see, pray for, and help resolve these difficulties. Another matter is to dwell on them. That is what the members of the “Grumpy Catholics Guild” (GCG) do. They could be in the most thriving diocese in the country, in the most fervent and engaging parish, yet they have only negative things to say. This Gospel passage is the one exclusive lens through which they view everything. For the Rosary, members of the GCG pray the “Vengeful Mysteries”: Jesus curses the fig tree, Jesus clears the temple, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus separates the sheep from the goats and sends the goats to “you know where”. Might I be an anonymous member—or at least a supporter—of the GCG? Christ used hard words, but they were only fruit of an intense love and longing for the scribes’ and Pharisees’ salvation, not an intense bitterness toward them. If I have any bitterness in my heart, I need to ask Christ for the grace to forgive and to forgive as Christ forgives.

3. Helping Hand: Our Lord was the greatest teacher, the great pedagogue of the fullness of life: the love of the Father. He knew how to bring souls along little by little, at their pace and to the extent they were capable. The way he dealt with the Samaritan woman is exemplary (cf. John 4:5-29). If anyone’s life could have been used by Christ as the occasion for a series of ‘woes to you’, hers could have served well. But that is not how Christ dealt with her. He didn’t heap opprobrium on her; rather, he gently brought her to recognize her own desire for the goodness and love of God. The same can be said of Christ’s treatment of the woman caught in adultery (cf. John 8:3-11). Because of his love, he forgave her and set her back on her feet. The opposite is true of the lawyers at the end of this Gospel passage. They would load restrictions, unwieldy responsibilities and weighty sacrifices upon the people, but would not reach out a helping hand to assist the people in carrying the weight. As Christians we are called to help illuminate the consciences of those around us so that they might have a closer relationship with God. However, if illuminating their consciences is merely our euphemism for “throwing the book at them”, we need to stop and see if Christ’s words don’t apply to us as well: “You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, at times I look at my heart and see that it is hard and bitter. It is ready to jump self-righteously at the first opportunity self-righteously to condemn someone else, but only so as to assure myself of my own moral superiority. Grant me a heart, meek and humble like yours.

Resolution: If I find myself thinking critically about someone today, I will pray for them and look for two good qualities in them.

Wednesday 28th Ordinary Time (October 17):

Suy niệm lời Chúa Thứ Tư 28 thuờng niên (Luke 11:42-46)

Mỗi ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, Thiên Chúa đã ban cho mỗi người chúng ta những hồng ân của Ngài hầu giúp chúng ta có đủ sức mạnh để chúng ta yêu thương nhau như Ngài đã yêu thương chúng ta và giúp chúng ta dỡ bỏ những gánh nặng của người khác để họ cũng có thể trải nghiệm được ân sủng và tình yêu của Chúa Giêsu Kitô.

Reflection Luke 11:42-46

The point of lesson Jesus teach us today is the essence of God's commandments is love; love of the supreme good ; and Love God himself and love of our neighbor who is made in the image and likeness of God. God is love (1 John 4:8) and everything he does flows from his love for us. God's love is unconditional and is wholly directed towards the good of others. True love both embraces and lifts the burdens of others. Saint Paul reminds us in the letter to the Romans that "God's love has been poured into our Each day in our lives, God gives each of us sufficient grace in order for us to love as he loves and to lift the burdens of others that they, too, may experience the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Reflection 2018

Jesus spoke with so much emotion in today's Gospel reading. Woe connotes elements of sadness and anger. Jesus laments that people who should know better behave in such unloving manner. At the same time he is angry exactly for the same reason.

In Sacred Space, the author says that "Jesus is attacking a certain mentality which can all too easily be among us Christians and if we are honest, sometimes in ourselves. It is the scrupulous observance of even the tiniest regulations, not because it is wrong but because they by-pass the love of God which is what really matters."

God's commandment is rooted on love of God and love of neighbor. In essence it is life giving. Often it becomes a measure by which people regard each other. Following it to the letter does not guarantee one's goodness in the eyes of God. Such mindset ignores the fact that salvation comes from God's grace and mercy.

We also have to face the reality that as human beings we are all sinners. Accepting our sinful nature is the first step to conversion. For only when we see our sinful state will we be able to appreciate God's goodness towards us. Then and only then can we be thankful for this grace. Our response to His immense love will be our gratuitousness in the form of our love toward our neighbor.

The question now is, do we accept that we are sinners?

Reflection:

Have you ever found yourself making a judgment on another person and then realizing that you are guilty of the same offense? Probably not often because we so easily see the faults of other people but are very hesitant to admit our own.

When it comes to sinfulness and wrongdoing we tend to be demanding and harsh on others, but kinder and more considerate on ourselves. How readily we assail graft and corruption in government officials? And yet we are not unwilling to evade paying the correct taxes? When others curse or use foul language, they are foul-mouthed and boorish; when the same comes out of our mouths, they are harmless "expressions." The courts would easily condemn a cell-phone thief-snatcher but take ages to convict a plunderer.

In the Gospel reading Jesus condemns the Pharisees and the teachers and leaders of Israel for their self-righteousness and hypocrisy: they focus on externals and minutiae of observance of the Law and forget the Spirit and real purpose of the Law. They stress observance of the Law and forget about the people to be served and protected and helped by the Law.

How much of the Pharisees condemned by Jesus is there in each one of us? How much hypocrisy is there in us? How easily do we judge others? How much do we ourselves focus on externals? How often have we forgotten the spirit behind the Law and that the real purpose of Law is to help and protect real people?

Suy Niệm bài đọc Thứ Ba Tuần thứ 28 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm bài đọc Thứ Ba Tuần thứ 28 Thường Niên

Trong bài đọc thứ Nhất hôm nay, Thánh Phaolô nhắc nhở Giáo Đoàn Rôma rằng họ được cứu bởi vì họ có niềm tin vào Chúa Kitô và Tin Mừng. Thánh Phao lô cũng nói rằng chúng ta biết được Thiên Chúa là do bởi những công trình mà Chúa đã tạo ra trong thế giớ và trong cuộc sống của chúng ta..

Trong bài Tin Mừnh, Chúa Giêsu đã khiển trách những người Pharisêu vì lòng đạo đức giả của họ, họ thờ phượng Thiên Cha bằng môi miệng trong nhiều quy tắc: họ có hàng đống luật lệ như nhỡng toa thuốc vô tận về sự thanh tẩy và sự sạch sẽ của họ với những nghi thức bề ngoài như việc chuẩn bị thức ăn và cách ăn uống. Tuy nhiên, lòng của họ thì "đầy tham lam và ác độc."

Điều quan trọng thực sự chính là những gì chúng ta đang làm bằng tất cả trái tim, lòng nhiệt huyết và cuộc sống của chúng ta.

Lạy Chúa, xin giúp chúng con hiểu biết về Chúa nhiều ơn thêm và có ược tấm lòng quảng ại và từ bi. Xin Chúa giúp chúng con lạy Chúa, đừng bao giờ để con đi tìm lỗi của người khác nhưng giúp chúng biết yêu thương lại. Xin Chúa giúp chúng con biết thông cảm và không xét đoán người khác trong động cơ và hành động của họ. Xin Chúa dạy chúng con biết khiêm tốn và rộng lượng.

REFLECTION

In the first reading Paul reminds the Church in Rome that they are saved by their belief in Christ and the Good News. Paul also says that we know God from his works, the world he had created.

In the Gospel reading Jesus reprimands the Pharisees for their hypocrisy in their many rules: they have endless prescriptions about ritual purity and cleanliness, about preparing food and eating. Yet they are "full of greed and evil." What is truly important is what we are in our hearts and inmost being.

Lord, help me to become more understanding and compassionate. Help me, Lord, not to be a fault-finder but a loving person instead. Help me to be discerning and yet not judgmental of others in their motives and actions. Teach me to be humble and generous.

Reflection Tuesday 28th Ordinary Time 2021

Opening Prayer: You have given me this new day, Lord. You have given it as a fresh chance to know you better, to love you better, to follow you better. I turn to you right now so as to give you praise by listening to your word, and so as to receive the grace I need to battle for your Kingdom joyfully.

Encountering Christ:

· The Essence of Christianity: Jesus and the Pharisees were always getting into scrapes. The Pharisees were the religious leaders in Israel at the time of Christ. They were the ones who knew the divine law best, and who had made a radical decision to follow it even in the minutest details. Their desire to be pure and exemplary was a good desire, but unfortunately, it had led them to a place of spiritual pride, of spiritual self-sufficiency. They believed that entering into a right relationship with God required above all external obedience to certain ritualistic norms (like the washings St. Luke refers to in this passage). By following those norms perfectly, they considered themselves in a perfect relationship with God. This made many of them deaf to Christ’s message because the essence of Christ’s message was not about obedience to norms, but about relationship. For Jesus, the numerous ritualistic ordinances of the Old Testament are all summarized in his two great commandments of loving God and loving neighbor. Love is a relational virtue, not a ritualistic virtue. Certainly rituals–like certain vocal prayers, or like the sacraments–can contribute mightily and objectively to the health of our relationship with God, but without our hearts engaged honestly and affectionately with the real person of Jesus, we will simply miss the spiritual boat.

· A Solid Pharisaical Insight: One thing the Pharisees understood better than most Christians in our day and age was the importance of purification from sin. In fact, throughout the Gospels, and the whole New Testament, really, Jesus is continually calling us to repentance, to a turning away from the lusts and greed and sloth of our fallen human nature in order to welcome his mercy and his transforming grace. Many of the Pharisees’ rituals were directed towards purifications, toward putting themselves in a state in which they would be in harmony with God’s own desires and so be open to receiving God’s saving grace. This is a healthy attitude for all of us. Even though we have been wounded by original sin, we are still capable of turning our lives toward God or away from God. But this turning doesn’t happen primarily through external rituals, as the Pharisees thought, but through our moral choices. This is why Jesus says that giving alms is a path to interior purification. Giving alms is a term used to refer to any sincere act of love towards our neighbors who are in need. Those acts turn our hearts toward God; they put our hearts in harmony with God’s own heart, which is a heart burning with infinite love. When, on the other hand, we willingly turn away from our neighbor in need, we turn our hearts away from God’s heart, closing ourselves off from receiving his light and his grace.

· Obedience and Peace: The liturgical calendar for today remembers St. John XIII, the pope who called the Second Vatican Council. His motto as bishop, and later as pope, was three words in Latin: obediencia et pax, obedience and peace. The path to interior peace is obedience to God’s will. This motto reminds us of Jesus’s own phrase given to us in the Our Father: Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Christ’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of peace, joy, and meaning. And making that Kingdom present in our lives and the lives of those around us requires nothing more than living in obedience to the law of the King—to the commandments, the beatitudes, the teaching and example of Christ and his Church. In our secular world, this praise for the virtue of obedience may strike a discordant note. The postmodernism of today’s culture minimizes a humble recognition of objective truth and maximizes an arrogant embrace of subjective autonomy. It encourages us to create our own meaning as if human nature were not something we had received. The invitation to invent our own meaning appeals to our fallen nature, within which there always lurks a desire to be godlike, unlimited by the parameters of creaturehood and finitude. But whether we accept them or not, those parameters are real. We can no more disobey the objective moral order and expect to be morally satisfied than we can disobey the laws of biology and expect to be physically healthy. Let us learn from today’s saint, and give obedience to God’s will its proper place in our lives so that we experience the peace–of conscience, of soul, and of mind–that God wants for us.

Conversing with Christ: Dear Lord, you were the freest, most balanced person who ever walked this earth. I want to share in your freedom, to experience the peace that comes from living fully in your love. But I need your help. I am just like the Pharisees: I want to control everything and have absolute clarity once and for all. Instead, you invite me to live in the dynamism of discipleship, following you day by day and gradually discovering more and more of your goodness and truth. That journey takes trust and faith. Increase my faith and my trust, Lord; free me from the narrow confines of my insecurities and arrogance.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will make a point of reaching out to someone in need, “giving alms” as Jesus admonishes.

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REFLECTION Tuesday 28TH ORDINARY 2018

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: Lord, you call me not just to a conversion of exterior actions and ways of living, but to a conversion of heart, a conversion of always loving more. Grant me this grace of conversion.

Encountering Christ:

1. Law for the Law’s Sake: The Pharisees placed great emphasis on fulfilling the Mosaic Law down to its last iota. They also had many more customs and regulations to ensure that they were adequately fulfilling the Law—layer upon layer of laws to enforce laws. Their mental checklist of laws fulfilled and regulations completed was impressive and a source of pride and satisfaction that they were living as they were supposed to. But they were missing the point. The Mosaic Law was intended to free them for worship, delivering them from slavery to pagan gods and from slavery to sin. When the Law (and the added customs and regulations) became an end in itself, it was truncated and severed from the One to whom it was meant to lead. Today in the Catholic Church, there are enough laws, customs, and regulations to make even the most rigorous Pharisee proud. The danger is that we can fall into one of two traps. First, we can adhere to them with such vigor that we lose sight of the One they are freeing us to worship. We don’t allow our hearts and minds to be educated and formed by them; we just follow them blindly. We wind up cleaning the outside of the cup and stopping there, without going on to see God’s love and let it purify our hearts.

2. The Second Trap: The second trap we can fall into is at the other extreme: to give ourselves an easy pass by presuming that “if my heart is in the right place, I don’t need to worry about all these rules and such.” With a lax attitude we permit ourselves to ease up on fulfilling these laws which in truth will free us. “I know today is Sunday and I should go to Mass, but it’s vacation! God knows I’m a good person.” Yet it is in the Sunday Mass that we receive the many graces necessary toward our being that “good person”. The commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, as with any of the Ten Commandments and customs of the Church, is there to lead us to God. These free us from our often confused, subjective conclusions about how we should worship God and live our lives.

3. Cleaning the Cup: “Charity covers a multitude of sin” (1 Peter 4:8). This is how St. Peter rephrased the words of Christ, “But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” The Law of love is the most important of all the commandments of the Lord. In Chapter 12 of the Gospel of Mark, Christ responds to a scribe’s question about the first of all the commandments: “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Love of God and neighbor is both the source and the summit of the Law of the Old Covenant and of the New. Living these two greatest commandments purifies and cleanses our hearts—the inside of the cup. So, when Christ says to give alms, he is telling the Pharisees to love their neighbors. Then their hearts will be clean.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I want my heart always to be focused on you. I need your guidance, for I can’t do it alone. I need you to teach me how to love you, how to worship and serve you. The laws you give me free me and guide me toward you. Help me to see your hand leading me ever closer to you.

Resolution: If there is a rule or custom of the Church that I don’t understand or don’t practice, I will read up on it to better understand how it frees me and guides me in my relationship with Christ.

REFLECTION Tuesday 28TH ORDINARY 2018

In the first reading Paul reminds all that "in Christ Jesus it is irrelevant whether we be circumcised or not: what matters is faith working through love." Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Church affirmed that all, Jews and Gentiles, were called to salvation through faith in Christ.

At times we too could be like the Pharisees, quick to judge others while we ignore our own failures and imperfections. I am reminded of a woman who from her kitchen window saw her neighbor's laundry hanging to dry in the yard. The woman was critical that her laundry was not properly cleaned and washed.

One day she was surprised to see the neighbor's laundry looking clean and spotless. She told her husband, "Finally, our neighbor has learned to wash her laundry properly." Her husband said, "You did not notice? Yesterday I found time to clean our kitchen windows."

Lord, help me to become more understanding of others. Help me, Lord, not to be a fault-finder but a loving person instead. Help me to be discerning and yet not judgmental of others in their motives and actions. Teach me to be humble and generous.

Tuesday 28TH ORDINARY

Đối với Thiên Chúa điều nào quan trọng hơn, bàn tay sạch bế ngoài hay cái sạch từ bên trong, trong tâm hồn của chúng ta. Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu quở trách những người Pha-ri-si đã chấp chứa những tư tưởng xấu xa mà làm cho ô uế cả tâm linh, như tham lam, kiêu ngạo, ghen ghét, hờn dận, tự kiêu, và ham muốn vật chất. Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta tha thứ là một việc bác ái tự đến từ tấm lòng nhân hậu, thuơng yêu. Có những người trong như có vẻ bề ngoài, phô trương nhưng đó chỉ là những thứ giả hình, mà không phải thật sự. Có những thứ giả hình nhìn bề ngoài chúng ta không thể nhận ra, nhưng nếu nhận xét từ bên trong lòng họ đầy những giả dối . Họ cố chấp và không bao giờ biết tha thứ. Do đó, họ không bao giờ tha thứ cho người khác. Tâm hồn chúng ta vẫn còn nặng thù hận, cố chấp, chưa biết tha thứ là được bắt nguồn từ những thói quen của chúng ta tự cho mình là trung tâm của vũ trụ. Khi chúng ta không thể nghĩ xa hơn chính chúng ta, chúng ta không

Reflection Luke 11:37-41

Which is more important to God? Clean hands or a clean mind and heart? In the Gospel reading today, Jesus chided the Pharisees for harboring evil thoughts that make us unclean spiritually such as greed, pride, bitterness, envy, arrogance, and the like.

Jesus didn’t care much for what people might say or what is politically correct, whether we like it or not. These are not criteria on which Christians should base their decisions. Jesus clearly condemns double morality, which clearly seeks convenience or deception, as He said in Gospel: “you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside yourselves you are full of greed and evil. Fools” (Lk 11:39).

God's word, as usual, questions us about customs and habits of our daily life, when we end up converting trivia into “values”, to disguise our sins of arrogance, selfishness and conceit, while attempting to “globalize” morals with political correction in order to avoid being out of tune or being marginalized.

There is time our hearts are still bitter and heavy, tempt us want to revenge rather than forgive.

- Un-forgiveness is rooted in our habit of thinking self-centered thoughts.

- When we cannot think beyond ourselves we cannot forgive.

When we freely give and give generously to those in need we express love, compassion, kindness, and mercy. And if our heart is full of love and compassion, then there is no room for envy, greed, bitterness, and the like. Let us allow God's love to transform our heart, mind, and actions toward our neighbors and others.