Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên: (Mark 4:21-25 )
Chúa Kitô là ánh sáng của thế gian, Ngài đã đến để xua tan những bóng tối đã bao phủ tâm hồn của nhân loại, con người sa ngã.  Mỗi người chúng ta, khi nhận lãnh phép rửa tội, chúng ta nhận được ánh sáng của Chúa Kitô, chúng ta có bổn phận là phải mang chuyển những ánh sáng này đến với mọi người trong thời đại của chúng ta, ngay trong gia đình, xóm làng và những người chúng ta quen gặp. Nhưng, chúng ta có thật sự là ngọn đèn sáng như Chúa Kitô mong muốn?  Khi mọi người nhìn vào chúng ta, họ có thể biết được là chúng ta người Kitô hữu hoàn hảo?  Một số người trong chúng ta đã có thể đang cố gắng che dấu mình là một tín hữu Kitô giáo  để  được "sống một cuộc sống tốt" và không muốn ai biết  mình là người Công giáo;  nhưng những điều này có thể giúp cho người khác nhận biết được Chúa Kitô?
            Đây không phải là một câu hỏi để phô trương tôn giáo của chúng ta một cách phóng đại, nhưng có những biểu tượng không phải là sự phô trương: như đeo một cây thánh giá hoặc một huy chương thánh;  hay có  những tấm ảnh Thánh Tâm Chúa trên bàn thờ trong nhà của chúng ta;  Kiêng thịt ngày thứ Sáu, ngay cả khi chúng ta phải ăn trưa với các đồng nghiệp của chúng ta  và giải thích cho họ cái lý do tại sao. Những dấu hiệu tỏ ra bên ngoài không phải là yếu tố cần thiết của tôn giáo của chúng ta;  Nhưng những hành vi và thái độ tốt ủa chúng ta đối với người chung quanh chính là ánh sáng mà chúng ta đang chiếu toả quanh họ. Tuy nhiên, những hành động mang tính biểu tượng như vậy ít nhất có thể cho mọi người chung quanh một tia ánh sáng và nhờ đó có thể làm cho người khác muốn tìm hiểu thêm về ngòn đèn Chúa Kitô.   Lạy Chúa Giêsu,  xin cho chúng con có được sự can đảm và sự nhiệt tình để cho những người khác.được biết Chúa và tìm đến với Chúa.
 
Thursday 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Christ is the light of the world. He came to dispel the darkness that envelopes the minds of fallen humankind. We are called to be the lamp that passes on that light to the men and women of our day. But do we? When people look at us would they know we were Christians at all? Some people hide their Christianity preferring to “lead a good life” without wishing to be known as Catholics — but is this going to help anyone to come to know Christ?
            It is not a question of parading our religion in an exaggerated way, but there are unobtrusive symbols: wearing a crucifix or a holy medal; having a picture, say, of the Sacred Heart on our house door; declining to eat meat on Fridays, even when lunching with our colleagues — and explaining why. These outwards signs are not the essentials of our religion - the examples of our own attitudes and behaviour are of far greater moment.
            Nevertheless, such symbolic actions can at least show a glimmer of light which could lead others to want to see more. Then we can tell them about Christ. Lord Jesus, give me the courage and the enthusiasm to make You known to others.
 
Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
“For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.” Mark 4:22
What a fascinating little line in the Gospel for today! What does this line mean? Though many have offered various commentaries upon the meaning of this line, let’s turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church for some insight:
In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life… (CCC #1039).
This passage comes from the section on “The Last Judgment” rather than “The Particular Judgment.” The Particular Judgment will come for all of us at the moment of our passing from this world. It will be an accounting of our sins and virtues before God in a personal and private way. But the Last Judgment will come at the end of time and should be seen as a universal judgment upon all in a very definitive and public way. Thus, this line from the Catechism seems to suggest that both our good actions and evil ones will be revealed for all to see.
If the Scripture passage above, as well as the passage from the Catechism, are properly interpreted to mean that during the Last Judgment even our deepest sins, including those that have been forgiven through the Sacrament of Confession, will be made manifest for all to see, this idea can, at first, be a bit frightening. But it shouldn’t be. It should be liberating.
If every action of our lives, both good and bad, will be made manifest for all to see at The Last Judgment, then this will result in one thing and one thing alone for those who are in Heaven: the glory of God and much rejoicing! In other words, if God reveals every sin we have committed, then He will also reveal our repentance from those sins, the purification we endured, and the forgiveness we received. Therefore, those who make up the Communion of Saints will not look upon us with judgment; rather, they will glorify God in the same way we glorify God and thank Him for His abundant mercy and forgiveness. We must always remember His forgiveness and continually rejoice in that fact. Therefore, if all truly is made manifest, then it will be so that we can all rejoice together in the incredible mercy of God and can look at each other with gratitude for all that God had done for the other.
Reflect, today, upon the possibility of that glorious moment. Imagine the freedom you will experience by allowing God to share the deepest sins and the deepest virtues of your life with all who share Heaven with you. Shame will be gone. Judgment will be gone. Rejoicing and gratitude alone will remain. What a glorious moment that will be!
My glorious Judge, I thank You for Your mercy and forgiveness in my life. I thank You for freeing me from all sin. Please continue to purify my soul and free me from even the attachment to all sin. May I never forget all that You have done for me, and may Your mercy become the cause of my eternal rejoicing and Your eternal glory. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Thursday 3^rd Ordinary Time 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, visit me throughout the day so that I may accomplish your work. Inspire my words to give you praise and glory. Move my heart to be generous, kind, and merciful towards all.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Insiders and Outsiders: When the scribes and Pharisees turn on Jesus (Mark 3:6), and Jesus chooses the Twelve, he begins to speak in parables to those who are hostile to him and make a division between insiders – his disciples – and outsiders – those who reject him and plot against him. “Outsiders get parables with no clear point, while insiders receive the revelation of the mystery of the kingdom” (Huizenga, Loosing the Lion, 133). The large crowd heard the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9), but not its explanation (Mark 4:10-20). In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues to teach his disciples – the insiders – with four cryptic sayings. These four sayings – grouped into two pairs, with the first pair using the image of light and pointing out how we use the light of a lamp and how what is hidden will come to light, and the second pair reflecting on how, by giving generously, we will receive more from God. These four somewhat cryptic sayings will be followed by two more “seed parables” about the Kingdom of God that we will read tomorrow. 
2. The Light of the World: In the first pair of cryptic sayings, Jesus invites his disciples to consider how they use lamps: When they light a lamp, do they put it under a basket, or do they bring it out and put it on top of a lampstand? The implication is that Jesus himself is the lamp or light of the world, who has come into the world to bring the light of the Gospel to humanity. Here, “Jesus wishes to prevent a mistaken interpretation of his earlier words about the mystery of the kingdom (Mark 4:11). Despite the obscurity of the parables and the difficulties people have in understanding his teaching, his purpose is not to hide the kingdom but to make it known” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 89). The mystery of the kingdom of God, present in Jesus and hidden among them for a time, will be made visible and fully revealed. On the one hand, the secrecy about the kingdom is only temporary. One day, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Apostles will be commanded to go out into the world to proclaim it openly. On the other hand, we can never fully grasp or comprehend the mystery of the Kingdom. It is a mystery that will always – in this life – invite us to go deeper. None of us is capable of fully comprehending the reign of God over all things and how God directs all things to their consummation at the end of history. Only in heaven, when we see God face to face, will all that is hidden be brought to light.
3. Divine Generosity: Amid the parables about the Kingdom of God, Jesus encourages his disciples to be generous with others. We need to realize that God has been so generous toward us and grants us the gift of mercy without reserve. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God the Father to forgive the debt of our sins insofar as we forgive those who have sinned against us. God is generous with his mercy, but also with his grace that empowers us to do good works. Here, Jesus promises that to the one who has, more will be given. Just as an employer entrusts a good employee with more responsibility over time, God wisely bestows the abundance of his grace upon his faithful servants. The second pair of cryptic sayings, then, invites insiders, like Jesus’ disciples, to go deeper, for no one can ever exhaust the depths of Jesus Christ. If we strive to hear well and are persistent in seeking Jesus, we will be given even more. “[W]hoever responds to Jesus with openness and a desire to learn will be given even more insight; whoever does not will lose even the little understanding he has. God’s revelation is a gift, but it is a gift that must be freely accepted” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 90).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I hear your words and parables and earnestly desire to understand them and put them into practice. Sustain me with your grace as I work through trials and resist temptation.
 
Thursday 3^rd Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, visit me throughout the day so that I may accomplish your work. Inspire my words to give you praise and glory. Move my heart to be generous, kind, and merciful towards all.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Light of the World: In the first pair of cryptic sayings, Jesus invites his disciples to consider how they use lamps: When they light a lamp, do they put it under a basket or on top of a lampstand? The implication is that Jesus himself is the lamp or light of the world, who has come into the world to bring the light of the Gospel to humanity. Here, “Jesus wishes to prevent a mistaken interpretation of his earlier words about the mystery of the kingdom (Mark 4:11). Despite the obscurity of the parables and the difficulties people have in understanding his teaching, his purpose is not to hide the kingdom but to make it known” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 89). The mystery of the kingdom of God, present in Jesus and hidden among them for a time, will be made visible and fully revealed.
2. Divine Generosity: Amid the parables about the Kingdom of God, Jesus encourages his disciples to be generous with others. We need to realize that God has been so generous toward us and grants us mercy without reserve. In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask God the Father to forgive the debt of our sins insofar as we forgive those who have sinned against us. God is generous with his mercy, but also with his grace that empowers us to do good works. Here, Jesus promises that to the one who has, more will be given. Just as an employer entrusts a good employee with more responsibility over time, God wisely bestows the abundance of his grace upon his faithful servants.
3. We Have Confidence: As we journey toward heaven, we do not trust solely in our own strength, as the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us. We have the confidence to enter into the heavenly sanctuary through the Blood of Jesus. As the pioneer of our salvation, he has opened a new and living way for us. We can approach the throne of God’s mercy and grace with sincere hearts and absolute trust because we have been washed clean and our hearts purified in the waters of Baptism and in the mercy of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Letter to the Hebrews encourages us to look at the members of our community and family and see how we can rouse them to love and do good works. The Pharisees thought they could grow in perfection by separating themselves from others. The Letter to the Hebrews doesn’t fall into that false line of thinking: We are in this together and should not stay away from the liturgical assembly of the Church, but encourage one another as we journey and the day of the Lord’s second advent draws near.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, Light of the world and Pioneer of salvation, direct my eyes toward your heavenly throne. Do not let me be overcome by the anxieties and cares of this world. Sustain me with your grace as I work through trials and resist temptation.
 
Thursday 3^rd Ordinary Time: 
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank you for calling me to this time of prayer, and I ask that you silence the distractions around me and just let me be in your presence. I know that you have something to say to me today that will be for my benefit. I want to hear you, and I want to do your will.
Encountering Christ:
The Source, and Our Hope: In the first reading, King David humbly came into the Lord’s presence with absolutely no misunderstanding of who was in charge. The awesome power granted to David had a source, and as shrewd, skilled, and courageous as David showed himself to be, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it had been God’s hand at work all along. With great gratitude, the King acknowledged his good fortune. But in a lesson to us all, he didn’t stop there. He looked to the future with hope—hope that the promise that his Lord made to his servant would truly be fulfilled. We, too, baptized into the multitudes of the chosen, cry out similarly in hope, thankful that the Lord, Our Father, keeps his promises.
No Hiding: One hundred years after the song “This Little Light of Mine” was penned for children, a television commercial in 2020 was thanking our health care workers with pandemic video footage backed by the chorus: “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” Civil rights figures of the 1960s borrowed the words to animate nonviolent opposition to oppression. Sometime in between, most of us sang the refrain, maybe as a child or as a Sunday school teacher, perhaps tracing out motions in the air signifying light, an emphatic “No!”, or the world. In “light” of today’s Gospel reading, we may recall the four verses that the songwriter, Harry Dixon Loes, shares about “it” (the light freely given to us by God): Hide it under a bushel? No! I’m gonna let it shine; Don’t let Satan blow it out, I’m gonna let it shine; Shine all over the whole wide world, I’m gonna let it shine, and Let it shine til Jesus comes, I’m gonna let it shine. Lord, how, and to whom, would you like my light, which is your light, to shine today?
Growing Capacity: We might find it odd when Christ tells his disciples, “to those who have much, more will be given.” This claim, at first, is hard to reconcile with Our Lord’s teachings about detaching from possessions, or that the “first shall be last.” Consider, though, this wisdom from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “God is love and in himself he lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in his own image...God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion” (CCC 2331). As we grow our capacity to love, we shouldn’t be surprised when God gives us more to love. Welcoming children in the womb, fostering or adopting children, or otherwise brightening the lives of children (ours or others) are beautiful means by which we finite beings can grow our capacity to love selflessly, and begin to image God in his infinite love. “Let the little children come to me” (Matthew 19:14).
Conversing with Christ: Lord, thank you for your light in the world and in my heart. I recall your words to your disciples recorded by St. Matthew: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Give me the grace to be your disciple and fulfill these words today.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên: ( Mark 4:1-20 )
            Qua bài đọc Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu muốn dạy chúng ta hãy nên tự xét mình, để xem coi chúng ta là loại "đất" nào khi chúng ta đón nhận lời Chúa. Một số hạt giống đã rơi vào luống đất phì nhiêu đã được cày bừa và chuẩn bị trước. Số hạt giống này sẽ được nẩy mầm, bén rễ, lớn lên, phát triển và có được năng xuất cao trong mùa thu hoạch. Nước Trời là những gì như thế. Nước Trời là hạt giống mang lại sự sống mà tất cả mọi người chúng ta mong muốn và được đón nhận. Hạt giống thiêng liêng trong một số người chúng ta đã bị dẫm đạp đến chết nghẹt bởi những người khác, bởi vì sự vô tâm hay cố tình. Tuy nhiên vẫn có nhiều người trong chúng ta có một trái tim biết rộng mở và dễ tiếp nhận. Nên Hạt giống thiêng liêng của họ sẽ được đâm chồi , nẩy lộc và phát triển với sản lượng thật phong phú.
            Làm thế nào chúng ta để có thể làm cho tâm hồn chúng ta được trở nên màu mỡ hơn, để dễ hấp thụ và phát huy được Lời Chúa trong cuộc sống của chúng ta? Đó là một vấn đề do chúng ta tự sắp xếp để thích hợp, Một khi chúng ta nhận ra được những sự phiền nhiễu hay sự cám dỗ vật chất, ham muốn những ảo ảnh của quyền lực, của niềm tự hào, ích kỷ riêng trong mỗi người chúng ta, hy vọng chúng ta có thể nhận thức được những nết xấu đó mà cố gắng thay đổi để trở nên tốt hơn. Khi chúng ta biết chuẩn bị chính bản thân của chúng ta trong sự khiêm nhường, chúng ta sẽ cởi mở hơn và dễ chấp nhận những điều gì mà Thiên Chúa đã định sẵn hay an bài trưóc cho chúng ta. Chúng ta là thữa đất phì nhiêu, màu mỡ bởi vì chúng ta biết đón  nhận tình yêu của Thiên Chúa và nhờ thế Tình Yêu của Thiên Chúa đã sinh ra và nẩy nở trong chúng ta. Và qua chúng ta, tình yêu của Thiên Chúa sẽ được sinh sôi và phát triển ở những người khác nữa.\
           
My Wednesday 3rd in Ordinary Time - Gospel text (Mc 4,1-20):
In today’s Gospel message, helps us to examine what kind of "soil" we are. Some of the seeds will fall into rich trenches in the ploughed fields, take root, grow and produce a hundred times its own weight in harvest?.             
            That's what the Kingdom of heaven is like. It's a life-giving seed that everyone desires and receives it.             The sacred seed in some people is crushed to death by others. But many people have an open and receptive heart. Their sacred seed will grow and produce abundant fruit.
            How can we make our hearts more fertile to accepting God's word in our lives?     It's all a matter of proper disposition. Once we recognize the distractions of material things, of the illusion of power, of our own selfish pride, hopefully we become more teachable.
            When we prepare ourselves in humility, we become open to whatever God has in store for us.  We are fertile because we accept God's love to be brought forth in us and through us that love will grow in others.
            Take time, in prayer, to remember our sacred seed. Where do we feel there has been stony ground, rocks, or thorniness in your life? Where are the rich fruitful trenches? Does the word of God have a fighting chance to take root in our life? Pray to our loving God who sows his seed so generously.
 
Wednesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
“Those sown among thorns are another sort. They are the people who hear the word, but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit.” Mark 4:20
This description from the Parable of the Sower seems to describe a growing number of people in our world today. The first grouping of people mentioned in this parable have little to no faith and are represented by the seed sown on the path which is quickly consumed by satan. The second group of people have a little initial faith and are represented by seed sown on rocky ground. The passage above represents the third grouping of people who are like seeds sown in good soil but are also among thorns. The fourth are those who are like rich soil and the Word of God grows deeply in their lives. Let’s consider the third grouping of people in more detail. 
There are three evils that choke off the Word of God in our lives: “worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things.” In our day and age, there are many who encounter various types of anxieties, are consumed with a desire for material wealth and find themselves craving many other things. In all three cases, these interior temptations have the effect of overwhelming the pure Truth of the Word of God in their lives.
Anxiety is a common problem today. And though this is a psychological struggle much of the time, it also can have spiritual roots. Anxiety is the struggle of worrying excessively, nervousness about many aspects of life and an uneasiness about the future. In this case, when the Person of Jesus and the Truth of the Gospel message does not consume and direct our lives, we are left on our own to “figure it out.” And this loneliness will almost always lead us into a loss of hope, fear and lack of deep peace.
Most people who struggle with anxiety will constantly look for a cure. And one place they often look is the deceptive consolation of material wealth or the “craving for other things.” Imagine if you won a tremendous amount of money. Would this resolve your worries in life? Though you may be tempted to think it would, deep down we all know that this is a lie. Material wealth is never a reliable source of satisfaction in life. The same is true with almost everything else we “crave” in life. One thing and one thing alone can satisfy. And that one thing is God.
Reflect, today, upon those things in your life that seem to occupy your mental energy. What do you worry about, hope for, deeply desire? What do you falsely believe will relieve your interior struggles? What do you crave? Take time today to remind yourself of the irrefutable truth that God, His holy will and all that He has revealed as True is the only source of satisfaction. Seek to let that Truth sink in deeply in your heart so that the Truths of God will grow and bear the abundant good fruit you so deeply desire.
My merciful Lord, help me to be open fully to Your holy Word so that the seed of Your Word will be planted deeply in my heart. May I always reject the many lies and deceptions of the world so that I can be freed of the anxieties and fleeting pleasures of life. May I seek only the deep and sustaining delights that come from a life fully given over to You so that I will live in the peace and grace of Your holy will. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Wednesday 3rd in Ordinary Time 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, today we celebrate the memorial of Thomas Aquinas. Help me to discern, as he did, the great mystery of who you are and what you have done for the human race by sending your only-begotten Son and your Holy Spirit.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Goal of the Moral Life: Today, we celebrate the memorial of Thomas Aquinas, a Dominican priest and one of the greatest Doctors of the Church. Aquinas’s most influential work was his incomplete Summa theologiae. The bulk of this work is dedicated to the moral life. Aquinas doesn’t reduce morality to a simple list of dos and don’ts; he sees it rather as the path that leads to eternal life. He begins the part on the moral life with the goal of our moral action (I-II, qq. 1-6), which he identifies as happiness, or beatitude. This ultimate happiness is found in the vision of God’s essence. It is a vision that satisfies all our desires, since God is infinite goodness, truth, and beauty. This ultimate beatitude transcends our natural powers, and we need the help of divine grace to achieve this vision. Aquinas identifies two primary guides for moral action: law and grace, which together direct the human will toward the good and enable its attainment. While grace resides in our souls and makes us participants in the divine nature, our natural powers are disposed by the supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and charity toward God. Sin, as a turning away from God, obstructs this path, leading to ultimate unhappiness. 
2. Seven Virtues: Aquinas’s moral teaching prominently features the seven virtues – four cardinal (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance) and three theological (faith, hope, charity) – as habitual dispositions that perfect human faculties and direct actions toward the good, ultimately facilitating beatitude. The cardinal virtues, rooted in Aristotelian ethics but adapted to Christian anthropology, govern practical life: prudence perfects reason, enabling discernment of the true good in particular circumstances; justice inclines the will to render each their due, fostering social harmony; fortitude strengthens the irascible appetite to endure hardships for the sake of virtue; and temperance moderates the concupiscible appetite, restraining sensual desires. These four natural virtues can be acquired through repeated acts and are essential for moral excellence, but they remain incomplete without supernatural infusion. The theological virtues, bestowed by grace, orient the soul directly to God: faith enlightens the intellect to assent to revealed truths; hope fortifies the will to trust in God’s promises amid difficulties and in the aid God will give to attain what he has promised; and charity, the form of all virtues, unites the soul to God and neighbor in perfect love, animating the others. For Aquinas, virtues are interconnected; charity vivifies the cardinal virtues, making actions meritorious for eternal life. The virtues counteract vices and the capital sins, structuring moral growth. Aquinas stresses that virtues are not static but dynamic, perfected through practice and divine aid, leading to moral maturity.
3. Christ and the Sacraments: The New Law, sanctifying grace, and the theological virtues are not given to us without Christ and the sacraments of the Church. Habitual or sanctifying grace is merited for us and given to us by Christ, who came to save us from sin and is truly our way to the Father. Sanctifying grace is communicated to us through the Church’s seven sacraments. Baptism regenerates us as children of God. Confirmation strengthens us in the Spirit for spiritual combat (III, q. 72, a. 4). The Eucharist nourishes us, gives us spiritual life (III, q. 79, a. 1), and unites us to Christ. Reconciliation forgives the mortal and venial sins we have committed after our baptism. For Aquinas, our entire moral and spiritual life should be seen as the way that leads us to heavenly union with God. The moral life is less about submission to prohibitions and commandments, and more about growing in the freedom of the children of God. Unlike the philosophers and theologians who came after him, Aquinas focuses on what brings us to ultimate happiness rather than obligation; he focuses on growing in the practice of virtue, rather than listing the sins that break God’s commandments (see Pinckaers, The Sources of Christian Ethics, 399).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, as you sit enthroned at the Father’s right hand, intercede for me and request the good things I need to grow in holiness and continue on the path that leads to eternal life.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, as you sit enthroned at the Father’s right hand, intercede for me and request the good things I need to grow in holiness and continue on the path that leads to eternal life.
 
Wednesday 3rd in Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, thank you for sowing your Word into the depths of my heart. May the Word find in me deep, rich soil that is free of thorns. If there are rocks or thorns that need to be removed, remove them.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Three Failed Responses to God’s Word: God the Father has spread his Word throughout human history. Jesus, the incarnate Word of God, speaks about three failures to welcome the seed of the Word and bear fruit. The first failure is to be like a hardened path. Any seed that falls on the path remains outside the heart and is rejected outright. The outright indifference and rejection of God’s Word gives Satan free rein to keep the person from welcoming God’s transforming divine life. The second failure is to be like rocky ground. Unlike the hardened soil of the path, the rocky ground is welcoming soil, but it is not deep soil. This is like the person who is enthusiastic about encountering God’s Word, but whose conversion only lasts a couple weeks or months. After the initial enthusiasm passes, they quickly fall away. It is like a person who makes a New Year’s resolution, but after a month reverts to their old ways. The third failure is to be like seed sown among thorns. Unlike the hardened soil of the path, they welcome the word. Unlike the rocky soil, they have deep soil. The problem is that another type of vegetation – thorny plants – takes over. Here, Jesus identifies three things that can choke the Word and prevent it from bearing fruit: worldly cares and anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things. Which of these chokes the Word of God in my life?
2. Three Good Responses to God’s Word: The parable about the sowing of God’s Word is not completely negative. The three negative responses are contrasted with three positive and supernatural responses to God’s Word. Thirty, sixty, and one hundred fold are all harvests that exceed nature. Only empowered by God’s grace, can our works bear supernatural fruit. What Jesus’ parable teaches is that the fruit – the spiritual harvest – of divine grace is not identical in each person. We are all called to collaborate with God’s grace and bear fruit in different ways. How am I collaborating with divine grace? How is God uniquely acting in my life?
3. The Word Sits at God’s Right Hand: The Letter to the Hebrews speaks about the mystery of where Jesus, our eternal high priest, currently ministers and reigns. The author of the letter points out that the Levitical priests stand daily and frequently offer – twice daily – animal sacrifices that can never take away sins. This Levitical priesthood is in stark contrast to that of Jesus. The Levitical priests stand; Jesus sits. The Levitical priests are subject to time and repeat their actions daily; Jesus is eternal. The Levitical priests cannot take away sins through their sacrifices; Jesus’ sacrifice is perfect and effective. The Levitical priests belong to the old Covenant written on tablets of stone. Jesus establishes the New Covenant, written on the heart. Jesus reigns now at his Father’s right hand and patiently waits until his enemies are definitively made his footstool. Jesus was victorious and has conquered but only at the end of time will his victory and conquest be definitive. Even now, Jesus intercedes with us as our high priest and reigns over all creation as our king. 
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, as you sit enthroned at the Father’s right hand, intercede for me and request the good things I need to grow in holiness and continue on the path that leads to eternal life.
 
Wednesday 3rd Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, merciful sower of all that is good, grant me the grace to receive your word with humility and obedience. You have created me in your image and invited me to be part of your Church, where “those who have ears ought to hear.” Enable your words to take root in me, and spur me to spread your Kingdom.
Encountering Christ:
Pass It Down: How beautiful a grandmother’s faith is! Many of us can joyfully recall the way our grandmother had devotionals stuffed in her well-worn Bible, straining the binding or even demanding a rubber band around the whole bundle. St. Paul deeply appreciated the grandmother and mother of his precious friend, Timothy, and how they passed along their sincere faith to him. Lois and Eunice today are recalled by all of us who read the Apostle’s second letter to Timothy, and we can dream about what St. Paul would include about us if he were to write to our children or grandchildren. Have we set a courageous example that can be emulated by those who come after us? Do our words and deeds point toward Christ being at the center of our life? Would our pastor know our name as somebody who tirelessly serves our family and the Church?
Preparing for the Seed: The parable of the sower presents a broad array of potential dispositions of each seed that the sower drops; where the seed falls almost appears random. We, though, who are the beneficiaries of sacred Scripture, are blessed to have this parable explained to us again and again as our fallen nature requires. We know from the Lord’s patient explanation that where the seed falls is certainly not random. We need grace to steer away from a fruitless path of concrete indifference. We need to discover the rich deposit of faith that provides depth for planting. We need to detach from material goods that threaten to choke off our branch from the life-giving vine. May we cling to the sower so that we bear abundant fruit for the Kingdom.
Greeting the Sower: Today’s Gospel acclamation is a fine distillation of the well-known parable of the sower. The seed is the word of God—the living, breathing, and life-giving force that we have at our disposal at any moment. How much of the word of God echoes in our daily conversations? Christ is the sower—and we hear in today’s psalm that he deserves our glory and praise for his marvelous deeds, which include making this world for us firm, “not to be moved.” How grateful are we for this foundation? Lastly, the acclamation goes right to the ripe harvest, assuring the faithful that all who come in good conscience to Christ, the just and merciful sower, will live forever. What have we done to cultivate an ever more delicate conscience, driving sin from our life so as to come ever closer to the Lord?
Conversing with Christ: Lord, thank you for placing grandparents, godparents, parents, and friends in my path to help me to cultivate good soil. You know that I sometimes allow the thorns and brambles to creep in, but you, in your mercy, continue to plant good seeds. Give me the grace to humbly acknowledge my faults and strip my planting field of anything that inhibits your good seed from growing.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will perform a good examination of conscience during my night prayers.
 
Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên: (Mark 4:1-20 )
            Qua bài đọc Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu muốn dạy chúng ta hãy nên tự xét mình, để xem coi chúng ta là loại "đất" nào khi chúng ta đón nhận lời Chúa. Nước Trời là hạt giống mang lại sự sống mà tất cả mọi người chúng ta mong muốn được đón nhận. Hạt giống thiêng liêng trong một số người chúng ta đã bị dẫm đạp đến chết nghẹt bởi những người khác, bởi vì sự vô tâm hay cố tình. Tuy nhiên vẫn có nhiều người trong chúng ta có một trái tim biết rộng mở và dễ tiếp nhận. Nên Hạt giống thiêng liêng của họ sẽ được đâm chồi, nẩy lộc và phát triển với sản lượng thật phong phú.
            Làm thế nào chúng ta có thể làm cho tâm hồn của húng ta được trở nên màu mỡ hơn, để dễ hấp thụ và phát huy Lời Chúa trong cuộc sống của chúng ta? Đó là vấn đề chúng ta phải tự sắp xếp để thích hợp, Một khi chúng ta nhận ra được những sự phiền nhiễu hay sự cám dỗ vật chất, hay ham muốn những ảo ảnh của quyền lực, của niềm tự hào, ích kỷ riêng trong mỗi người chúng ta, hy vọng chúng ta có thể nhận thức được những nết xấu đó mà cố gắng thay đổi để trở nên tốt hơn. Khi chúng ta biết chuẩn bị chính bản thân của chúng ta trong sự khiêm nhường, chúng ta sẽ cởi mở hơn và dễ chấp nhận những điều gì mà Thiên Chúa đã định sẵn hay an bài trưóc cho chúng ta. Chúng ta là thữa đất phì nhiêu, màu mỡ bởi vì chúng ta biết đón  nhận tình yêu của Thiên Chúa và nhờ thế Tình Yêu của Thiên Chúa đã sinh ra và nẩy nở trong chúng ta. Và qua chúng ta, tình yêu của Thiên Chúa sẽ được sinh sôi và phát triển ở những người khác nữa.\
 
My Wednesday 3rd in Ordinary Time - Gospel text (Mc 4,1-20):
In today’s Gospel message, helps us to examine what kind of "soil" we are. Some of the seeds will fall into rich trenches in the ploughed fields, take root, grow and produce a hundred times its own weight in harvest?. 
            That's what the Kingdom of heaven is like. It's a life-giving seed that everyone desires and receives it.             The sacred seed in some people is crushed to death by others. But many people have an open and receptive heart. Their sacred seed will grow and produce abundant fruit.
            How can we make our hearts more fertile to accepting God's word in our lives?     It's all a matter of proper disposition. Once we recognize the distractions of material things, of the illusion of power, of our own selfish pride, hopefully we become more teachable.
            When we prepare ourselves in humility, we become open to whatever God has in store for us.  We are fertile because we accept God's love to be brought forth in us and through us that love will grow in others.
            Take time, in prayer, to remember our sacred seed. Where do we feel there has been stony ground, rocks, or thorniness in your life? Where are the rich fruitful trenches? Does the word of God have a fighting chance to take root in our life? Pray to our loving God who sows his seed so generously.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần thứ Ba Mùa Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần thứ Ba Mùa Thường Niên

Ông bà chúng ta có nói "Máu còn đặc hơn nước lã". Trong bài Tin Mừng này, Chúa đã không nói về những mối liên hệ ruột thịt gia đình, bạn bè, hàng xóm và đồng nghiệp của chúng ta, nhưng thay vào đó Ngài đã nhấn mạnh tới mối quan hệ của chúng ta với Ngài và tất cả những người đã thật sự tin vào Chúa và sống trong ơn Nghĩa của Ngài. Chúa Giêsu định nghĩa lại ý nghĩa sự liên hệ của chúng ta không phải chỉ là trong vấn đề xác thịt và máu mủ con người, mà sự liên hệ này bao gồm tất cả nhữ ai nghe, sống và thực hành theo ý của Thiên Chúa, "Đó là những người mà chúng ta thấy và gặp trong mỗi Thánh Lễ, những người sống và làm những việc lành phúc đức và những người theo chân Chúa, đó là những người thật sự là anh em, là chị em của chúng ta.

Ngưòi Việt chúng ta nói chung là thường có một sự liên kết chặt chẽ với gia đình và họ hàng của họ từ đời ông, đến đời bố, đời con cho đến đời cháu… Điều này được thực hiện một cách rất công khai trong các dịp lễ giỗ ông bà, tổ tiên hay trong dịp Tết… Đại gia đình gắn bó với nhau trong tình thân thương, và che chỡ và giúp đỡ cho nhau. Nhưng hôm nay, Chúa kêu gọi chúng ta hãy mở ra vòng tay của chúng ta rộng lớn hơn để chào đón các mối liên hệ mới trong cuộc sống của chúng ta với những người có cùng một niềm tin Công giáo với chúng ta, và đặc biệt nhất, để làm mới mối quan hệ của chúng ta với Thiên Chúa.

Thiên Chúa đang thách thức chúng ta hãy trở nên là một người tốt, Chúng ta phải luôn có niềm hy vọng. Chúng ta cũng đừng quên rằng Thiên Chúa có khả năng biến đổi chúng ta để trở nên giống như Ngài, để biết yêu thương nhiều hơn cũng như biết rộng lượng với anh chị em đồng nghiệp của chúng ta.

Ngài cũng mời gọi Chúng ta tiếp tục tìm kiếm sự hướng dẫn của Chúa Giêsu trong việc tăng cường các mối liên hệ đặc biệt mà tất cả đều được bắt nguồn từ lời khen ngợi và phượng thờ Thiên Chúa, là Cha hằng yêu thương của chúng ta.

 

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

In this gospel, Jesus does not talk about the relationships that we have with our family, friends, but instead, He means to emphasize the relationships that are born through people congregating together to praise Him; those who become one and believe in Him. Jesus redefines the meaning of relationships. It is not just in the matter of flesh and blood, but anyone who "…does God's will…". Those people whom we see at Mass, and those who do good and follow the footsteps of Jesus, these are the people whom we should truly call our brothers and sisters.

    Many of us in general have a strong bond with their families. This is overtly practiced by having family reunions, celebrating holidays and birthdays together. There is no problem with this relationship, but Jesus calls us to open up our minds, to welcome new relationships in our life with those who have the same Catholic beliefs, and most especially, to renew our relationship with him.     Jesus shares a true and perfect relationship with us.  Where in the world can we find someone who is as compassionate, understanding, loving and forgiving as God is? He challenges us to be the best that we can be and helps us to see through the darkness.           There is always hope. Let us not forget that Jesus our Lord is capable of transforming us to become like him, to be more loving and generous to our fellow brothers and sisters.         He invites us to do this together as a community, as a real family.   May we continue to seek his guidance in strengthening these special relationships all rooted in our praise and worship of a loving Father.

 

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time 2026

The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” Mark 3:31–32

In Jesus’ time, family bloodlines were of great importance. They determined one’s identity as part of the chosen people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham. Being part of God’s covenantal family was understood primarily in terms of physical ancestry. Bloodlines also played a crucial role in determining rights to land ownership, which was tied to one’s family lineage. This connection between lineage and land had important theological significance, as the Promised Land was a visible sign of God’s covenant with Israel.

The lineage of two of the Twelve Tribes of Israel held particular significance. Members of the Tribe of Levi were uniquely chosen to serve as priests in the Temple. Additionally, the Messiah was prophesied to descend from the Tribe of Judah, specifically from the line of King David. This gave David’s lineage an elevated status. This significance is reflected in Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogies, which establishes Jesus’ legal and spiritual claim as the promised Messiah.

It is for these reasons that Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel surprised many. When Jesus’ mother and his brothers—meaning His cousins or other extended family—arrived at the house where He was teaching, they wanted to see Him. First, it should be noted that in Jewish culture, there was no specific word for “cousins” or “extended family,” so the terms “brothers” and “sisters” were used more broadly. Naturally, those present might have expected Him to go out immediately to see them in deference to His familial ties. Yet He takes that opportunity to offer a new teaching when He asks the crowd, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Answering His own question, He pointed to those around Him, saying, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother” (Mark 3:34–35).

Jesus was in no way diminishing the value of His blood relatives. In fact, the bond He shared with His mother went far deeper than DNA. Instead, He used the opportunity to expand the people’s natural familial bonds to include all those who were united spiritually. He taught that kinship in God’s family is not based on physical descent but on obedience to His will. This redefinition transformed their understanding of what it means to belong to God’s people, opening the door to new bonds of unity based in faith and grace.

Today, families remain the most important foundation of life. “The family is, so to speak, the domestic church” (Lumen Gentium, 11). The family is chosen by God as the primary community from which love, virtue, and faith are born, making them a community of love, participating in the unity of the Trinity. However, natural family bonds are now expanded by the supernatural bonds we share through the Blood of Christ, which unites all of us more deeply. Ideally, those supernatural bonds are first experienced within natural families, but even when they are not, the supernatural bonds we share through Christ’s Blood create a spiritual family that transcends earthly relationships. As Christians, we are called to extend this familial love beyond our households, embracing all who do the will of God as brothers and sisters in faith.

Reflect today on the blessings and challenges you have within your own family. What is of paramount importance is that, within those natural bonds, we strive to move deeper, forging spiritual bonds that are eternal. Reflect also on your wider Christian community. Do you strive to build bonds of faith and charity with others? As you ponder Jesus’ words today, look at your natural family and beyond, giving thanks for those who do the will of God, and work to foster deep relationships grounded in the new Bloodline of Christ’s grace.

Most Holy Trinity, You are the source of perfect harmony and unity, sharing a love that is beyond all understanding. Draw me, and all people, into that unity of love. Bless my natural family on earth and unite us ever more deeply through Your grace. Bless also my spiritual family, my brothers and sisters in faith, united by the bonds we share in fulfilling Your holy will. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Tuesday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time 2026

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I seek to do your will always. Your will is my food. Your will is holy and will bring me to everlasting happiness and beatitude. Help me to discern your will each day in prayer so that I may act as your faithful child.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The New Family of God: In the Gospel, Jesus establishes the new family of God. No longer is membership in the people of God dictated by physical or genealogical descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Becoming a member of God’s new family is accomplished through faith and baptism. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus “is establishing a new family, the family of God, whose members are united around Jesus in a bond of love, familiarity, and loyalty far stronger than any blood relationships (see John 1:12; Romans 8:29; Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 2:10-11). In doing so, he is not rejecting his earthly family; rather, he is establishing a new basis for their claim on him. That his brothers did eventually accept this new basis for kinship with Jesus is shown by the active presence in the early Church (Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19)” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 80). In fact, both James and Simon, who were cousins of Jesus, were the first two bishops of Jerusalem (see Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 124-126). 

 

2. Life in Family: Much of our lives are lived in family. For better or for worse, we are shaped by our childhood spent in a family. And then we begin our own families. Hopefully, we don’t repeat the mistakes our parents made raising us, and hopefully, we strive to live out and imitate all the good we learned from them and from our brothers and sisters! But Jesus invites us to elevate our thinking about our family. When we attend mass or meet fellow Christians, we are encountering our spiritual family. Baptized Christians in the world currently number around 2.4 billion. All of them are our brothers and sisters in Christ. All of them have received the forgiveness of sins through baptism and are called to spread the Gospel and live according to the New Law of charity. The next time we are at mass, we can look around and see not strangers, but the brothers and sisters of Christ – my brothers and sisters who are all called to do the will of the Father.

3. The Will of God: When we hear the phrase, “will of God,” we have to approach this with a great deal of humility, as we are dealing with a very deep mystery. We shouldn’t think of God’s will as an arbitrary imposition or as a command of a master given to a servant. The word “will” in Hebrew (ratzon) means something like “goodwill,” “delight,” “acceptance,” “pleasure,” or “favor.” In Biblical Greek, the word “thelema” is used to refer to God’s sovereign and gracious plan for creation and human beings. God’s will, then, is a loving and gracious will that wills to bring the human beings he has created to share in his divine life. That is why Jesus teaches that we become part of God’s family – we become his brothers and sisters – and share in his life by doing his Father’s holy and divine will. Instead of sinning and working against God’s plan and rejecting God’s love and mercy, the one who accomplishes God’s will is the one who attentively listens to the Word of God, meditates on it in prayer, and puts it into practice. There is a healthy and creative discernment that goes into doing “God’s will.” To do God’s will, we need to bring all that we are into prayerful conversation with God. We need the help of good and holy spiritual guides, as well as the example and teaching of the Church’s saints who have gone before us.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I thank you for bringing me into your divine family. Help me to be an obedient child of the Father. Direct my thoughts to think as you do. Pour out your Spirit into my heart and help me cry, “Abba, Father.”

 

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

“Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”  Mark 3:34–35

Jesus said many things that caused people to pause and think. Today’s Gospel passage is one of those times. Just prior to the passage quoted above, Jesus was told that His mother and brothers were outside looking for Him. After hearing this, instead of going to greet them, He asked those around Him, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then He looked around and answered His own question with the above quoted Scripture.

What may have caused some people to pause and think at that time, and even now when this passage is read, is that Jesus’ comments can easily be misunderstood. Some will conclude that He was distancing Himself from His own family and that He was even disowning them to a certain extent. But nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all, we know that Jesus had a perfect love for His dear mother Mary and that she loved Jesus with a perfect reciprocal love. As for His “brothers,” it was common to refer to one’s extended family (such as cousins) as brothers and sisters. Therefore, these brothers who were coming to see Jesus were relatives to one degree or another. And though our Blessed Mother, the mother of Jesus, was perfect in every way, Jesus’ extended family was not. Recall that some of them thought Jesus was out of his mind and tried to prevent His public ministry.

But back to our question: Was Jesus disowning His family members in some way? Certainly not. Instead, He was establishing a deeper context for His new family in grace. Though biological bonds are a gift and must be respected and cherished, the spiritual bonds established by our joint conformity to the will of God is of much greater importance. Jesus simply pointed to this fact, elevating the spiritual family bond over the purely natural. Of course, it’s also important to point out that Jesus’ mother was first and foremost His mother, not only because she gave physical birth to Jesus, but primarily because she was in perfect conformity to the will of God with Him and, thus, the most intimate member of His family by grace. And the same can be true for all of us. When we conform our wills to the will of God, we become Jesus’ “mother” in the sense that He enters our world through us. And we become His “brothers and sisters” in that we become intimate members of His eternal family and enjoy a profound and spiritual union with Him.

Reflect, today, upon the fact that you are called to be so much more than just a physical brother or sister of Christ Jesus. You are called to the most intimate and transforming familial union imaginable. And this union is more fully accomplished when you seek to fulfill the will of God with your whole heart, mind, soul and strength.

My dear Lord, I desire deeply to become more fully a member of Your most intimate family in grace. Help me to always dedicate myself to the complete fulfillment of the will of our Father in Heaven. And as I conform my will more fully with that of the Father’s, draw me deeper and deeper into union with You. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time 2025

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I seek to do your will always. Your will is my food. Your will is holy and will bring me to everlasting happiness and beatitude. Help me to discern your will each day in prayer so that I may act as your faithful child.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The New Family of God: In the Gospel, Jesus establishes the new family of God. No longer is membership to the people of God dictated by physical descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Becoming a member of God’s new family is accomplished through faith and baptism. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus “is establishing a new family, the family of God, whose members are united around Jesus in a bond of love, familiarity, and loyalty far stronger than any blood relationships (see John 1:12; Romans 8:29; Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 2:10-11). In doing so, he is not rejecting his earthly family; rather, he is establishing a new basis for their claim on him. That his brothers did eventually accept this new basis for kinship with Jesus is shown by the active presence in the early Church (Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19)” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 80). In fact, both James and Simon, who were cousins of Jesus, were the first two bishops of Jerusalem (see Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 124-126). 

2. I Come to do Your Will: The Letter to the Hebrews contemplates the new priesthood of Jesus. The Law of Moses established the Levitical priesthood, but this was only a shadow of the good things to come. Each year the high priest would offer a bull and goat in sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. But these sacrifices were only a “remembrance of sins,” and did not effectively cleanse the people from their sins. Jesus’ sacrifice is different. It is an effective and obedient offering. Jesus assumed our human nature and was lovingly and freely obedient to the Father’s will. In this way, God took away the ineffectively sacrificial system of the Law of Moses to establish the salvation of the human race through the one all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ (see Healy, Hebrews, 199). Jesus’ sacrifice transforms our human nature from within; “it heals the self-will, pride, rebellion, and unbelief that have deeply wounded human nature ever since the fall” (Healy, Hebrews, 199).

3. Aquinas on Grace: Thomas Aquinas, whose memorial we celebrate today, has been called the “Angelic Doctor” and the “Common Doctor” of the Church. Through his writings and teachings, he influenced all of Christian doctrine and theology. One of his most important teachings was on divine grace. Meditating on Paul’s writings, Aquinas understood that the gift of grace, given to us in Baptism, makes us sharers in the divine nature. Grace regenerates us as children of God, makes us new creations in Christ, and makes the three Persons of the Triune God dwell in us. The Son of God, through grace, instills divine wisdom in us and enables us to contemplate and judge all things from a divine perspective. The Spirit of God, through grace, instills divine charity in us and enables us to love God and our brothers and sisters in a divine way. Empowered by divine grace and the infused virtues, we can merit eternal life through works of justice, love, charity, and mercy.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I thank you for bringing me into your divine family. Help me to be an obedient child of the Father. Direct my thoughts to think as you do. Pour out your Spirit into my heart and help me cry, Abba, Father.

 

Suy Niệm bài đọc thứ Ba Tuần Ba Thưòng Niên (Mark 3:31-35 )

Cha mẹ làm việc rất khổ cực kiếm tiền và để dành tiền của chuẩn bị cuộc sống mai sau cho con cái của họ. Họ hy vọng vhúng ₫ có thể có được một cuộc sống tốt đẹp. Tuy nhiên, đôi khi bố mẹ cũng tự hỏi tại sao con cái của họ dường như không nghĩ đến những sự hy sinh của họ đã dành cho chúng. Có lẽ bởi vì cha mẹ quá bận rộn, họ đã không dành đủ thời gian để gần gũi với con cái của họ. Thời gian mà bố mẹ dành để dạy dỗ, vui chơi với con cái rất là qúy giá vì đó chính là tình yêu và đó mới là những gì quan trọng mà con cái rất cần nơi bố mẹ, đi làm có tiền nhiều, con cái hư hỏng thì tiền đó có đem lại hạnh phúc cho gia đình?. .

     Tương tự như vậy, trong mối quan hệ của chúng ta với Thiên Chúa, Chúng ta đã dành bao nhiêu thời gian của chúng ta cho Thiên Chúa? Chúng ta đi dự lễ ngày Chúa Nhật và nghe lời Chúa qua những bài đọc và bài giảng : chúng ta có dành thời gian suy niệm về những gì chúng ta đã nghe? Thánh lễ là lời cầu nguyện của Giáo Hội: Chúng ta có tham gia trực tiếp với Thánh Lễ với những phần thưa đáp trong phụng vụ, có cùng với cộng đồng hát những bài hát ca đoàn hát trong thánh lễ? Do chúng ta có cầu nguyện trong Thánh Lễ với các cộng đồng Kitô hữu, và thực sự, với toàn thể Giáo Hội?

     Chúng ta có tìm hiểu thêm về kiến ​​thức và sự thân mật với Thiên Chúa?

     Trong bài đọc Tin Mừng Chúa Giêsu nói với chúng ta, "Những ai mà làm theo ý muốn của Thiên Chúa là anh chị ta và là mẹ ta." Là con cái của Thiên Chúa Cha trên trời, chúng ta phải có nhiệm vụ là làm theo ý muốn của Chúa Cha, như chúng ta cầu nguyện trong Kinh Lạy Cha mỗi ngày, "Ý Cha thể hiện dưới đất cũng như trên trời."

 

REFLECTION

     Parents work very hard to give and prepare their children for a good life. Yet they sometimes wonder why their children do not seem to fully appreciate their sacrifices for them. Maybe because the parents are so busy, they have not spent enough quality time with their children. Quality time spent with the ones we love is important precisely because we love them.

      Similarly, in our relationship with God, how much quality time do we spend with God? We go to Sunday Mass and listen to the readings and the homilies: have we spent time reflecting on what we have heard? The Mass is the prayer of the Church: do we participate as much as we can in the responses and the singing? Do we pray the Mass with the Christian community and, indeed, with the whole Church?

      Do I seek knowledge of and intimacy with God?

      In the Gospel reading Jesus tells us, "Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me." As children of our heavenly Father, our task is to do the Father's will, as we pray always in the Lord's Prayer,

 

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên (Mark 3:22-30 )
Đức Chúa Thánh Thần có hai chức năng đó là : Mặc khải chân lý và sự thật của Thiên Chúa và làm cho con người chúng ta hiểu biết và có thể nhận ra được chân lý của Thiên Chúa . Nếu một người không chịu nhận sự hướng dẫn của Chúa Thánh Thần dù chỉ là một khoảng khắc thời gian, thì người ấy thế nào cùng sẽ bị mất hết khả năng để nhận ra Chân lý của Thiên Chúa. Người ấy sẽ không còn có khả năng để nhận ra những nét đẹp và sự tốt lành của Thiên Chúa nữa, mà chỉ biết nghĩ là tất cả những việc “xấu” hay sự gian ác
 Những người này thường xuyên bất tuân Luật Chúa, Cho đến một lúc nào đó hành vi phạm tội này đã trở thành một cách sống không còn có một chút e sợ (hay không có lương tâm). Đó là là hình ảnh của  những kinh sư và người những Pharisêu mà chúng ta đã được nghe trong Tin Mừng hôm nay. Đó là lý do tại sao họ có thể nhìn vào Chúa Giêsu và nói Chúa Chúa Giêsu là Hoàng Tử Beelzebul, hoàng tử của ma quỷ, của tất cả những điều ác dữ.
            Khi một người đã phạm tội phạm thượng và kêu ngạo,  thì trong tâm hồn của họ không thể ăn năn được nữa. Chỉ có một điều kiện của sự tha thứ đó là ăn năn, sám hối, thay đổi cách sống. Nhưng nếu một người đã lặp đi lặp lại từ chối sự hướng dẫn của Thiên Chúa, thì người này đã có những giá trị đạo đức của họ đảo ngược, họ coi những việc ác dữ của họ là tốt và những sự  tốt làng với ngưới ấy lạ là xấu, ác,  Người ấy nghĩ rằng họ không bao giờ có tội, hay phạm tội, vì thế họ không thể hối cải và ăn năn và do đó người ấy không bao giờ có thể được Thiên Chúa tha thứ.
            Chúng ta phải lắng nghe Lời của Chúa trong tất cả mọi ngày trong đời sống của chúng ta để cho thính giác tâm linh của chúng ta không bao giờ trở thành người bị điếc thiêng liêng.
 
REFLECTION
For our reflection today, we concentrate on one verse: "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, never have forgiveness." What exactly is this unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit?  The Holy Spirit has two functions: to reveal God's truth to people and to enable people to recognize that truth when they see it and hear it. If a person refuses the guidance of the Holy Spirit long enough and often enough, he will in the end become incapable of recognizing the truth when he sees it. He can no longer recognize God's beauty and goodness. He comes to a stage when his own evil seems to him good and when God's good seems to him evil. He so often and consistently disobeys God's will to a point that this sinful behavior becomes a way of life with no qualms or conscience. That was the stage to which the Scribes and Pharisees had come. That is why they could look at Jesus and say that he was Beelzebul, the prince of devils, the all evil one.
Why should a sin against the Holy Spirit be unforgivable? What differentiates it from all other sins? When a person reaches that stage, repentance becomes impossible. There is only one condition of forgiveness and that is penitence. But if a person, by repeated refusing God's guidance, has got his moral values inverted until evil to him is good and good to him is evil, he is conscious of no sin, he cannot repent and therefore he can never be forgiven. So long as a person sees loveliness in Christ, so long as he hates his  sin even if he cannot leave it, there is still hope for repentance and forgiveness. It is only when serious sin means nothing at all, when Christ means nothing anymore, that's when a person has shut himself out from the love of God and his kingdom. There is a dreadful warning here. We must listen to God in all our days that our spiritual hearing never becomes spiritual deafness.
 
Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
“Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” For they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.” Mark 3:28–30
Consider the sobering reality of suffering the guilt of everlasting sin. Though alarming and unpleasant, understanding this possibility is foundational to a healthy spiritual life. This is best illustrated in the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, one of the co-founders of the Jesuits. The Spiritual Exercises are considered one of the most transforming retreat formats ever written. They guide spiritual directors who lead retreatants through a thirty-day retreat, helping them experience profound conversion and make major life decisions. The first week of those exercises contains various meditations on the horror of hell and the seriousness of one mortal sin.
Today’s Gospel is not only ideal for those beginning a thirty-day retreat, but also for everyone serious about spiritual growth. On our spiritual journey, we often must do that which is initially difficult and unpleasant so as to reap the fruit of that exercise. One such exercise is to meditate on our Lord’s words: “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.”
In commenting on this, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “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” (#1864).
Traditionally, the sin this Gospel refers to has been called the “Sin Against the Holy Spirit.” Saint Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa Theologica (II-II, Question 14, Articles 1–3), articulates six ways that one can be guilty of this sin:

1. Despair: rejecting God’s mercy and refusing to believe one’s sins can be forgiven.

1. Presumption: believing one can attain salvation without grace or repentance.

1. Impenitence: a refusal to repent for past sins.

1. Obstinacy: a hardened resolve to remain in sin.

1. Resisting the Known Truth: deliberately rejecting the truths of the faith to justify sin.

1. Envy of Another’s Grace: resenting the Holy Spirit’s work in others.

God alone knows the depths of our human heart and comprehends our guilt or mitigating circumstances. God alone is the perfect Judge. He judges with divine equity, His perfect justice and mercy united as one.
Though God’s mercy is limitless, this does not mean that everyone goes to Heaven. Recall Jesus’ teaching: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13–14).
The common thread in the ways Saint Thomas articulates this “everlasting sin” is an obstinate refusal to see our sins in the light of eternal Truth and then to repent and change. When properly understood, attaining Heaven is easy! All we need to do is be honest, turn from sin, and abandon ourselves to our loving God—especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A thorough and honest confession is a sure path through the narrow gate that leads to eternal life.
Reflect today on the serious and consequential demands God places on us. His generosity knows no bounds, but we must receive that generosity on His terms. Ideally, today’s Gospel will inspire us with the spiritual gift of Fear of the Lord. The perfection of this gift is not a fear of punishment, but a deep reverence and love for God that moves us to avoid anything that might offend Him. It deepens our relationship with Him and strengthens our resolve to walk the narrow path. If you find yourself obstinate at times, beware of the danger of that interior disposition.
Most merciful Lord, please free me from all obstinacy and help me to see my sin as You see it. I repent of my sin and profess my need for Your Divine Mercy. Please open the gate to that Mercy so that I can be with You forever in Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I rejoice in the generous offer of your mercy. Help me to see the good in others and leave the judgment of the human heart to you alone. You know my heart and what I most need. Cleanse me from my sin and grant me your grace.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Divine or Demonic Empowerment? In the Gospel, the local scribes and Pharisees who lived in Galilee were at a loss on how to explain what Jesus was doing. Mark has just narrated five conflicts between Jesus and the local religious authorities. These conflicts culminated in the religious authorities plotting with the supporters of Herod to kill Jesus. But the local religious authorities were still unable to explain the origin and nature of Jesus’ healing power and power to exorcise demons. And so, they called in the “big guns,” the scribes from Jerusalem. These scribes came up with an explanation: Jesus’ power wasn’t divine; it was demonic. The scribes couldn’t deny that Jesus was doing mighty works – healings and exorcisms – but they could try to reframe all of Jesus’ actions. In response to the scribes’ and Pharisees’ accusations, Jesus showed that their logic was faulty. He asked them: Why would Satan empower him, Jesus, to drive out demons and dismantle Satan’s kingdom? It just doesn’t make sense. It isn’t logical. The only real possibility is to acknowledge that Jesus was empowered by God, not Satan, to do his mighty works. The healings and exorcisms Jesus performed were signs that the time of salvation, prophesied by Isaiah and the other prophets, had arrived. 
2. From Conflicts to Parables: Jesus responded to the accusations by teaching with parables. The etymology of the word “parable” means “to place or throw beside.” A parable juxtaposes a familiar, everyday story or image with a deeper spiritual or moral truth to create a comparison. In today’s Gospel, Jesus uses two images to create two comparisons. The first image is that of a divided kingdom. This image was taken from the history of Israel, when the ten northern tribes of Israel broke from the two southern tribes of Judah after the reign of King Solomon. This divided kingdom was weakened, fell into civil war, and was eventually destroyed first by the Assyrians and later by the Babylonians. Just as a divided kingdom that descends into civil war cannot last, so also Satan’s kingdom, if it were divided and working against itself, cannot last. The second image is that of a strong man defending his house. In this case, the strong man is the devil, and Jesus is the one who binds the strong man and plunders his house. Jesus is not working in league with Satan but releasing those in bondage to Satan. 
3. Overcoming Division in Our Lives: The first parable or comparison teaches us that we cannot be divided or two-faced. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pronounced a blessing on the pure of heart, those whose loyalty is not divided. Jesus warned the scribes from Jerusalem that they were about to commit the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This meant that they were hardening their hearts and rejecting God’s forgiveness and mercy. All sins can be forgiven by God except the obstinate rejection of God’s merciful forgiveness. The scribes were calling evil what was good and were denying the good deeds that Jesus was doing. The scribes were calling Jesus’ gifts of merciful forgiveness and healing demonic when they were truly divine. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus will pronounce seven woes upon the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matthew 23:13-36). A hypocrite is someone who is two-faced and divided. They outwardly try to appear righteous, when inwardly they are corrupt. Instead of humbly acknowledging their faults, weaknesses, sins, and limitations, they grow in pride like leavened dough and trust in their righteous works rather than in God’s merciful grace. We will only overcome hypocrisy or being divided through true humility and trust in God’s care.
Conversing with Christ: Come, Lord Jesus! I lift my eyes to the horizon and await your glorious advent. You are my Lord and Savior. I am your servant. You are my brother, my kinsman who has mercifully redeemed me from the darkness of sin and death!
 
Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” Mark 3:22
By this time, Jesus was fully engaged in His public ministry. He had healed the sick and lame, cast out many demons, called the Twelve Apostles and given them authority over evil spirits, and preached the Good News to many. Just prior to this Gospel passage, some of Jesus’ own extended family had criticized Him, claiming that Jesus was out of His mind. Then the scribes began their public condemnation of our Lord.
The scribes were faced with a dilemma. They saw Jesus cast out demons from those who were possessed, so they needed to come up with an explanation. They concluded that Jesus was able to cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons. Jesus goes on to address the scribes’ criticism by identifying their condemnation as a sin against the Holy Spirit. Jesus explains that every sin can be forgiven except the sin against the Holy Spirit. He says that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” Why is that?
In this case, the sin against the Holy Spirit is not only the false condemnation spoken by the scribes against Jesus. First and foremost, their sin is one of obstinacy. They spoke falsely about our Lord, which is a grave sin, but what’s worse is that they did so in such a way that they remained firmly grounded in their error. They refused to humble themselves and reconsider their error. And it is this stubbornness that leaves them with an “everlasting sin.”
Perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from this passage is that we must avoid remaining stuck in our pride in an obstinate way. We must always be humble and be ready and willing to reexamine our actions. Humility will help us to perpetually remember that we can easily become misled in life. And though this will happen from time to time in various ways, if we remain humble and open to change, then we can always receive the mercy of God and find forgiveness. But if we are prideful and continually refuse to admit our errors, then we are also potentially guilty of a sin against the Holy Spirit.
Reflect, today, upon any tendency you have in your life to be stubborn. Stubbornness can be a virtue when the stubbornness is an unwavering commitment to the Gospel and to the will of God. However, you must always intentionally reexamine the path you are on so that you can change when that path begins to deviate from the Truth of God. Humble yourself this day and allow God’s voice to lead you back from any errors with which you now struggle.
My merciful Jesus, I sin every day and will continue to fail to follow You with perfection. For this reason, I thank You for Your abundant mercy. Please help me to always be open to that mercy by regularly re-examining my decisions in life. Give me humility, dear Lord, to always repent and to turn back to You when I stray. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Reflection Monday 3rd Week in Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I rejoice in the generous offer of your mercy. Help me to see the good in others and leave the judgment of the human heart to you alone. You know my heart and what I most need. Cleanse me from my sin and grant me your grace.
Encountering the Word of God
1. He is Possessed: In the Gospel, the scribes from Jerusalem tried to explain Jesus’ power as something demonic rather than divine. The scribes couldn’t deny that Jesus was doing mighty works – healings and exorcisms – but they could try to reframe all of Jesus’ actions. By doing this, they showed that they were trapped by ideology. When a person is an ideologue, they tend to impose their main idea on reality and filter everything through that one lens, instead of humbly discerning the truth that reality presents. Jesus didn’t conform to the traditions the Pharisees built upon the Mosaic Law and their practice of not associating with Gentiles, tax collectors, and public sinners. In response to the Pharisees’ accusation, Jesus showed that their logic was faulty. He asks them: Why would Satan empower him to drive Satan out and dismantle Satan’s kingdom? It just doesn’t make sense. But their adherence to their ideology has made them blind to the truth.
2. The Rejection of Mercy: The only real possibility is that Jesus is empowered by God, not Satan, to do his mighty works. The healings and exorcisms Jesus performs are signs that the time of salvation, prophesied by Isaiah and the other prophets, has arrived. Jesus warns the Scribes from Jerusalem that they are about to commit the unforgivable sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This means that they are hardening their hearts and rejecting God’s forgiveness and mercy. All sins can be forgiven by God except the rejection of his merciful forgiveness. They denied the good that Jesus was doing by granting forgiveness to sinners and healing the sick. They were calling Jesus’ gift of mercy demonic when it is truly divine.
3. Mediator of a New Covenant: We have been reading from the Letter to the Hebrews for two weeks now. The first ten chapters of the letter make the case that Jesus is superior to all the mediators of the Old Covenant. According to Jewish thought, the covenant was mediated by the angels to Moses, and then by Moses to Joshua, and then to the High Priest. Chapters 1-2 argued that Jesus is superior to the angels. Chapters 3-4 argued that Jesus is superior to Moses and Joshua. Chapters 5-10 make the case that Jesus is superior to the Levitical-Aaronic High Priests. The covenant that Jesus mediates is new and superior. By dying, Jesus delivered us from the curses of the Old (first) Covenant. In the New Covenant, we are offered the promise of eternal life. In his first humble appearance, two thousand years ago, Jesus took away the sins of many through his sacrifice on the Cross. In his second glorious appearance, at the end of time, Jesus will bring salvation “to those who eagerly await him.”
Conversing with Christ: Come, Lord Jesus! I lift my eyes to the horizon and await your glorious advent. You are my Lord and Savior. I am your servant. You are my brother, my kinsman who has mercifully redeemed me from the darkness of sin and death!
 
Reflection Monday 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant me the grace to be your humble servant, attentive to my faults and full of hope in the promise that you will be with me always, until the end of the age. Thank you for sending your advocate to be the sweet guest of my soul as I make my pilgrim’s journey towards you. 
Encountering Christ:
Strong Man: At the age of thirty, David was anointed king, and the first reading proclaimed that he grew in power since the Lord was with him. David cultivated the gifts he was given, and his strength, already legendary since his slaying of Goliath, grew immeasurably throughout his forty-year reign. This strong man, however, when he eventually let down his guard, allowed sin to enter in—first lust, then sins of the flesh, then even murder of the tragic figure Uriah. Did the Lord abandon this strong man, leaving him to his own devices? No, David turned his gaze away and fell. Our history of salvation includes many such fallen men and women. Thankfully, David, a man after God’s own heart, came to terms with his evil deeds and showed each of us how to be meek and humble before God.
House Divided: Jesus spoke of a house divided. How does such a house stand? Into the complicated history of salvation, figures such as Martin Luther, Henry VIII, and John Calvin arose in the sixteenth century to sow division. Today’s saint, Frances de Sales, preached in those days (and acted according to) the axiom, “A spoonful of honey attracts more flies than a barrel full of vinegar.” His approach allowed him to persuade his father to accept his vocation to the priesthood. He went on to lead a Counter-Reformation movement by developing pamphlets about the truths of the Catholic faith and sliding them under the doors of his neighbors. It is recorded that some 40,000 Calvinists returned to the Catholic Church as a result. Wherever division occurs, we, the followers of Christ, first are asked to choose sides. “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). But what does the Lord want us to do about the division? “Follow me,” he says. Christ spoke the truth in love throughout his ministry and asks us to do the same to heal division. 
The Sweet Guest: The scribes accused Jesus of having an unclean spirit because they did not understand that his power over demons, illness, and even death, came from the God that they exhaustively studied but did not yet adequately understand. We can make similar mistakes when we fail to attribute our blessings to God, commit offenses against him, and conclude that he will never forgive us. The Holy Spirit, the endless love of the Father for the Son and the perfect reciprocal love of the Son for the Father, wants us to invite him to be the guest of our soul. He wants to bring us power, light, and life, and to forgive even the most wretched of our sins. In the company of the Holy Spirit, we need not fear pharisaical denials of God.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit, the sweet guest of our soul. Help me to be attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, particularly as I reflect on how I have been living out my Christian faith. I sincerely want to fortify “my house” with your word and your sacrament; let me not be distracted from opportunities to do just this today.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace let me perform a good examination of conscience, and see where I have opportunities to improve.
 
Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai tuần thứ Ba Thường Niên
            Có chúng ta sẽ không bao giờ nhận ra được cái tầm quan trọng của sự hy sinh của Chúa Kitô trên thập giá cho đến khi chúng ta thấy tất cả những tội lỗi của chúng ta và chứng kiến ​​những tội lỗi  và sư đau khổ qua sức của người khác. Nhiều người trong chúng ta phạm tội bởi vì những vấn đề riêng của chúng ta, bởi vì chúng ta không thể chấp nhận sự chối bỏ của xã hội, vì nghèo khó, bị thiếu thốn vật chất, vv.  Chúng ta có thể làm những điều xấu, phạm tội vì chúng ta không thể chấp nhận được sự đói nghèo của chúng ta, sự bất công chống lại chúng ta, vv Ai được miễn trừ khỏi cái vấn đề này và đau khổ?
            Ngay cả Chúa Giêsu cũng phải chịu đựng nhưng Ngài đã chấp nhận mà không nổi loạn, Ngài không phạm tội. Chúa Giêsu đã chết không phải vì tội lỗi của Ngài, vì Ngài là đấng vô tội, nhưng vì tội lỗi của chúng ta, sự ích kỷ của chúng ta, và chúng ta thiếu tình yêu thương, thiếu kiên nhẫn,  và sự thờ ơ của chúng ta và tất cả các tội phạm khác mà loài người đã xúc phạm. Cái chết để cứu độ chúng ta của Ngài trên thập giá thật là tuyệt vời, và như vậy không có ai có thể phải tuyệt vọng với những tội lỗi của mình.
            Trong Tin Mừng hôm , chúng ta thấy các thầy thông luật đã tuyên bố rằng Chúa Giêsu là một công cụ của ma quỷ và nhờ thần quỷ để làm phép lạ. Thật là xấu hổ và thất vọng khi thấy những thái độ mà những người pharisêu này đã làm, họ bất chấp những phép lạ và tất cả những điều tốt đẹp mà Chúa Giêsu đã làm, họ đã mù quáng và không thể nhìn thấy bàn tay của Thiên Chúa làm việc qua Chúa Giêsu.
            Chúng ta hãy cầu xin Chúa giúp cho tâm hồn và trái tim của chúng ta sẽ không bị mù quáng như những người Pharisêu mà không thể nhìn thấy sự hiện diện và hành động của Thiên Chúa trong cuộc sống hàng ngày của chúng ta.
Những người đang có đầy đũ vật chất và mọi thứ như sự giàu có của cải, tham vọng và quyền bính, có thể rất khó để thấy sự hiện diện và hành động của Thiên Chúa vì những thứ phù phiến bên ngoài đã làm mù cặp mắt đức tin của họ. Chúng ta phải liên tục cầu nguyện để có thể nhận thấy sự hiện diện và hành động của Thiên Chúa trong cuộc sống của chúng ta.
 
REFLECTION 2017
We will never realize the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice on the cross until we see all our sins and witness the deep sufferings and sins of others. Many of us sin because of our problems, because we cannot accept rejection, being poor, being deprived, etc. We do bad things because we cannot accept our poverty, injustices committed against us, etc. Who is exempt from problems and suffering?  Even Jesus suffered but he did so without rebelling. And without sinning, Jesus died not for his sins for he was sinless, but for our sins, our selfishness, our lack of love, our impatience and indifference and all the other crimes humankind has committed. His saving death on the cross was so great that no one should despair of his sins.
            In the Gospel reading we see the teachers of the Law claiming that Jesus was a tool of the devil. It is so hard and so disappointing to see how these men, despite the miracles and all the good things Jesus was doing, could not see the finger of God working through him.
            We pray that our minds and hearts would not be so blind and unable to see God's presence and action in our daily lives. People, who are so full of themselves, their wealth and possessions, ambitions and aspirations, could easily fail to see God's presence and actions. We should be in constant watch to see God's presence and actions in our lives.