Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 11 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 11 Thường Niên
Tin Mừng hôm nay đưa ra cho chúng ta ra một câu hỏi rất khó: nếu chỉ có một mình Thiên Chúa, mà không có ai khác chứng kiến được những việc tốt mà chúng ta đã làm thì điều này có đủ cho cho chúng ta thoả mãn?
    Những khi chúng ta làm việc gì đó mà có ai công nhận và khen ngợi, thì việc này có thể là một cái khích lệ lớn cho chúng ta, Tuy nhiên, nếu chúng ta cứ thích dựa vào lời khen, hay sự ca ngợi của những người khác thì những việc làm này cũng sẽ tạo cho nền tảng cuộc sống của chúng ta trở nên lung lay, cũng giống như người ngu xây nhà trên cát. Vì như ông bà chúng ta thường nói “mật ngọt thì chết ruồi..” người mà khen ngợi chúng ta,  là người đang hại chúng ta.  Khi nhận những lời khen ngợi, con người thường hay có cái tự đắc, rồi từ tự đắc sinh ra tự cao, ngạo mạn rồi đâm ra khinh người... Vì thế những khi chúng ta không nhận được những lời khen ngợi của người, chúng ta lại đâm ra thất vọng, tâm hồn đâm ra buồn chán... cũng vị cái tạo tự cao và ngạo mạn!
Trong chương 6 Tin Mừng Thánh Mathêu hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu mời gọi chúng ta nên quan hệ mật thiết với Thiên Chúa và sự liên hệ này, Thiên Chúa phải là trung tâm cuộc sống của chúng ta. Điều này chỉ có thể được khi chúng ta "khép kín cửa" lòng vỉ kỷ, ngạo mạn của chúng ta, khi chúng ta biết sống trong sự khiêm tốn khi được nhận những lời khen của người khác, chúng ta phải biết chấp nhận những cái yếu kém và thiếu xót, lỗi lầm của chính mình và biết vui tươi với những lời chê bai hay chỉ trích của người khác, và cũng nên tìm cái thất bại, những chê bai để mình biết cố gắng mà sửa đổi.
Chúng ta cần nên dành nhiều thời giờ với Thiên Chúa, dù chỉ có một vài phút mỗi ngày với Chúa, chúng ta sẽ thấy sự thay đổi, Chúa Thánh Thần sẽ giúp chúng ta từ từ nhận biết ra rằng việc tốt chúng ta làm vì danh Chúa chứ không phải làm để cho những người khác chú ý mà khen ngợi chúng ta, Khi chúng biết dành thời giờ với Thiên Chúa, chúng ta sẽ nhận ra rằng chúng ta đang được Chúa yêu thương chúng ta một cách trìu mến, sâu đậm.
   "Lạy Chúa Giêsu, xin cho chúng con một đức tin sống động, một niềm hy vọng vững chắc, lòng bác ái nhiệt thành, và một tình yêu tuyệt hảo cho Chúa. Xin cho chúng con sự nhiệt tình và niềm vui trong những suy nghĩ và những ân sủng của Chúa
 
Reflection 2017 (SG)
Sometimes giving can seem like a burden, and we can get tired of constant appeals from charities and collections. But Paul challenges us — giving (wisely, not carelessly) is an honour, privilege, and a source of joy and blessing. We take part in the works for which the money is collected — we are a needed support. Give generously — and not only money, but time and energy — and you will receive much more in the sense of peace and joy.
            Loving our enemies sounds weird and even impossible, but Jesus was insistent. Anyone can love their friends and those who love them — that’s easy! But when we love our enemies and persecutors — well, that shows that we are extraordinary, even godlike. For that is how God loves — without distinction or conditions. He loves the wicked and the good, the holy and the sinners. God has no enemies, and neither should we. If we are able to love in this fashion, people will know that we are the ‘real thing’ — children of the Most High God.
            There will also be the satisfaction of knowing that we are taking part in the healing of the world. Pray for the most difficult and unlovable — it is a holy work and pleasing to God. After a while, it will even become pleasing to us, for we will be transformed in the process.
Lord, help me to love even the most difficult.
 
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time 2023
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” Matthew 6:16–18
Many today have abandoned the holy practice of fasting. Fasting is a powerful penitential practice that bestows great benefits upon the soul. The act of self-denial from certain food and drink, choosing instead simple nourishment from time to time, such as bread and water, or a reduced amount of food, greatly strengthens the soul and disposes a person to many spiritual blessings. Too often, we live for fleshly satisfactions and fall into the trap of trying to indulge our appetites on a regular basis. But doing so has the negative effect of tempting us to neglect the more important spiritual desires for holiness. By depriving ourselves of sensory delights from time to time, we become more disposed to seek the true and lasting delights that come only from God’s grace. Therefore, this passage above presumes that we do regularly fast and engage in other forms of self-denial. 
Do you fast? Do you engage in other forms of self-denial on a regular basis? Daily prayer, reading the Scriptures, learning about the lives of the saints, and regular participation in the Sacraments all lead us closer to God and make us holy. But fasting and self-denial are also very important, so it is essential that we strive to embrace them as a part of our spiritual growth.
In this passage, Jesus specifically calls us to seek the interior rewards that come from fasting and self-denial. He points out that if we use fasting as a way of gaining praise from others, then we lose the spiritual benefits of our fasting. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving must all be done in a way that they are as hidden as possible so that our acts are truly sincere and not done so as to receive the earthly rewards of the admiration of others.
Additionally, the lesson taught in this Gospel can also be applied to other areas of our lives. For example, if you are suffering from some illness or some form of bodily pain or discomfort, then of course you should seek the necessary medical attention. But these physical ailments also offer us another opportunity for spiritual growth when they are embraced in a silent and interior way. Even our pain or discomfort can be transformed into grace if we choose to embrace it with joy, offer it to God as a sacrifice, and keep it to ourselves as a silent gift given to God.
Reflect, today, upon your practice of fasting, as well as every other opportunity you have each day to make silent and interior sacrifices to God. If you do suffer from some daily cross that is beyond your control, then try to turn it into a spiritual offering to our Lord. And if you are able to freely embrace fasting on a regular basis, then try to prayerfully commit to this practice. Try to do it every week, especially on Friday in honor of the Good Friday sacrifice made by our Lord. Don’t underestimate the value of these hidden sacrifices. Make them a regular part of your spiritual life and God will bestow upon you many spiritual riches from Heaven.
My sacrificial Lord, You denied yourself of many earthly delights, especially when You fasted for forty days in the desert. Help me to take seriously this obligation to fast and to mortify my appetites. And help me to do so in a hidden way. May my life continually imitate Your perfect sacrifice so that I may become more like You every day. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I want to fight the good fight in the daily battle of prayer. Help me to banish greed from my heart so that I may care for the poor around me. Help me to overcome my sinful tendencies so that I may be docile to the inspirations of your Holy Spirit.
Encountering the Word of God 
1. Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting in Secret: In the Gospel, Jesus invites his disciples to look beyond the external fulfillment of religious practices. We shouldn’t give alms, pray, and fast just to be seen by others and praised by them. God sees our heart and he knows when we make sacrifices. He knows when we are listening to him and speaking to him in prayer. As we read about the history of Israel and the message of the prophets, we will see how God is active in human history and guides it to its fullness in Jesus Christ. Just as he loved his people and cared for them, so also God loves us and cares for us. We place our hope in the Lord and not in other human beings. This hope truly comforts us. God is not far off; he is near. And, as the Alleluia verse says, desires to dwell in us: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him.” We are repaid for our good deeds, not with things that will pass away, but with the reward of the children of God – the inheritance of eternal, divine life.
2. From Elijah to Elisha: When the Lord was about to take the prophet Elijah up to heaven, Elijah appointed Elisha as his successor. This appointment took place after the death of King Ahaziah, who had reigned over Israel for two years (853-852 B.C.). Like many of the kings of Judah and Israel, Ahaziah was a wicked king. Instead of consulting the God of Israel through the prophet Elijah, Ahaziah chose to consult Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if he would recover from an accidental fall (2 Kings 1:1-3). When Elijah condemned the king for consulting foreign gods, the king attempted to arrest him, but Elijah defended himself by calling down fire to destroy two detachments of soldiers. Ahaziah did not recover from his fall and, after his death, his brother Jehoram became the king of Israel. Elijah's successor, Elisha, was the prophet of Israel during the reigns of four kings: Jehoram (852-841), Jehu (841-814), Jehoahaz (814-798), Jehoash/Joash (798-782). After Elisha died, God called Amos, a prophet active during the reign of Jeroboam II (786-746) to be his prophet to Israel. The First Readings, both this week and next, prepare us for the next eight weeks (13th-20th week in Ordinary Time), during which we read from eight prophets that lead us from the fall of the kingdom of Israel (722 B.C.) to the time of the Babylonian exile: Amos (750 B.C.), Hosea (780-725 B.C.), Isaiah (740 B.C.), Micah (737-693 B.C.), Jeremiah (626-587 B.C.), Nahum (615-612 B.C.), Habakkuk (612 B.C.) and Ezekiel (622-570 B.C.). Before he departed from this world, Elijah, like Moses and Joshua before him, divided a body of water so that he and Elisha could cross it on dry ground. The mysterious ending to Elijah’s prophetic career led to the tradition that his work was not done. It was promised that one day he would return before the coming of the Lord (Malachi 4:4-6). In the New Testament, the promised return of Elijah is fulfilled first in the figure of John the Baptist, who announces the coming of the Messiah, and again at the transfiguration, before the Messiah goes up to Jerusalem to die for us on the Cross. Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit and was granted his request. Elijah performed 8 miracles, Elisha performed 16: Elisha parted the waters of the Jordan (2:13-14); transformed bad water into good (2:19-22); summons bears to execute a curse (2 Kings 2:23-24); filled the stream-bed with water (3:16-18); supplied oil for a widow (4:1-7); prophesied that a barren woman will have a son (4:15-17); restored a child to life (4:18-37); turned spoiled stew into edible stew (4:38-41); fed 100 men with 20 loaves of bread (4:42-44); cleansed a leper (5:1-27); inflicted leprosy (2 Kings 5:19-27); floated an iron axe head (6:1-7); revealed the secret plans of the Syrian army (2 Kings 6:8-10); granted spiritual vision to his servant (2 Kings 6:15-17); blinded the Aramean army (6:28-23); prophesied the end of a famine (7:1,16); and finally, his bones brought a dead man back to life (13:20-21) (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The First and Second Book of the Kings, 77).
3. Elijah and Elisha; John the Baptist and Jesus: Elijah and Elisha, whose lives are notably different, foreshadow the different lives of John the Baptist and Jesus: “Elijah was a radical reformer who roamed the margins of society, living in caves and camping on mountains throughout Ahab’s reign over the northern kingdom... By contrast, Elisha was a farmer who moved into a house in the city of Samaria and walked among the common folk in the northern kingdom for the half century from Ahaziah to Jehoash.” Elijah devoted his life to combating the militant paganism and persecution of the Lord by Jezebel. He proclaimed God's sovereignty over the pagan gods and confronted the prophets of Baal. Like Elijah, John the Baptist will call the people to repentance and confront a wicked king. Elisha was a healer who cared for ordinary people. He reflects the Lord’s compassion for the poor and the needy (see Duggan, The Consuming Fire, 197-199). Elijah and Elisha both preached and performed miraculous healings. In this way, they foreshadowed Jesus as the Messiah who brings the Kingdom of God in word and deed. During Jesus’ ministry, many people thought of Jesus as a new Elijah (Mark 6:15; 8:28). However, Matthew and Mark were careful to identify John the Baptist as the new Elijah. This implies that Jesus, who John baptizes in the Jordan River, is the New Elisha. In fact, three of Elisha’s miracles anticipate three of Jesus’ miracles: Elisha’s cleansing of Naaman’s leprosy foreshadows Jesus’ cleansing of the ten lepers; Elisha’s feeding a large multitude with just twenty barley loaves and fresh ears of grain foreshadows Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves in the Gospels; and Elisha’s resuscitation of the son of a woman from Sunem anticipates Jesus’ resuscitation of the son of the widow of Nain, which is not far from Sunem (see Hamilton, Handbook on the Historical Books, 446).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the New Moses who brings the law to fulfillment. You are the New Elisha who performs mighty deeds and cares for the poor. Teach me by your word and example to love the Father above all things and my neighbor as myself.
Living the Word of God: How have I been living the three righteous deeds announced by Jesus? What have I given to the poor recently? How is my life of prayer? What good things am I sacrificing in secret?
 
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time 2023
Opening Prayer: I come before you today, Lord, filled with a deep desire to know you better, to give you glory, to receive the grace I need to be your faithful follower and friend. I believe that you are here with me now, eagerly desiring to draw me closer to you, to heal my wounds, to enlighten my mind, to strengthen my spirit. All my hopes for happiness and meaning are in you, Lord. Without you, I can do nothing. Please open my mind to receive your light and my heart to receive your strength.
Encountering Christ:
1. Three Fundamental Actions: Almsgiving, praying, and fasting are three fundamental religious actions. They are in themselves good things to do. Through almsgiving, we help others who are in need. Through prayer, we rebuild bridges between God and the human race. Through fasting, we learn to curb our disordered desires and tendencies. These actions are not unique to Christianity. They are present, in some form or another, in most of the religions that have come and gone throughout human history. Jesus has no problem with the actions themselves. He actually assumes that they will somehow form part of our lives as Christians: “When you give alms… pray… fast,” he says. It’s as if he is saying, “Of course you will give alms, pray, and fast.” But Jesus does challenge us when it comes to the why behind the what. He emphasizes throughout these verses the importance of why we do “righteous deeds.” He wants us to carefully guard against doing these good deeds in order to win the approval and admiration of other people. How well Jesus knows the human heart! We are so easily swayed by what other people will think of us! We are so easily derailed by vanity, by a disordered concern for the approval and admiration of other people. In fact, we are so vulnerable to this fundamental flaw in our human nature that it can undermine even such simple and pure actions as almsgiving, praying and fasting. How much am I influenced by fears about what other people may think of me? How often are my choices affected not only by what is right and good for me and for others, but by a thirst for recognition and approval? Jesus invites us to reflect honestly on the real motives at work in our lives because those motives can either help or hinder our search for meaning and interior peace.
2. God Is Our Father: We all have a tendency toward vanity. Jesus knows this, and while in this passage he warns us to defend ourselves against the dangers posed by that tendency, he also gives us a good offense to correct the tendency itself: purity of intention. He encourages us to live our lives in the sight of God, concerned about what God will think of our choices rather than what other people will think of them. Three times he exhorts us to do what is right and good simply because it is right and good, not trying to attract the attention of other people. And then three times he repeats, “And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” Two things come out clearly in this phrase. First, God is our father. He looks at us with the loving gaze of a good, good, father. He is not watching over us like an Olympic judge, waiting for us to mess up. He is not ignoring us, abandoning us to invent our own meaning and happiness. God really cares. He wants us to make good choices because he knows that good choices lead us to grow and flourish as human beings. This may be hard for us to accept, especially if our human father was far from perfect—which is the case for most of us. As the Catechism puts it: “The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard:63 no one is father as God is Father” (CCC #239). How do I relate to God my Father? How is Jesus inviting me to relate to him?
3. Our Father Is Close: Second, when Jesus points out that our Father in heaven “sees what is hidden” and “will repay us,” he is pointing out that God not only gazes on us with love and goodness but that he is close to us. We are never alone. God is always paying attention to us. This too is often hard for us to accept because God’s presence isn’t like the presence of others. We know it and perceive it through faith. God doesn’t force himself upon us. He reveals these truths about himself and invites us to believe in them. He also gives us the grace we need to believe, and to exercise that faith. But he leaves it up to us to accept that grace or reject it, to exercise our faith or let it atrophy. St. Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth-century foundress and Doctor of the Church, defined Christian meditation as “being alone with the one who we know loves us.” How easy is it for me to believe that God is always with me, loving me, accompanying me? How often do I pause to exercise my faith in God’s presence and interest in my life? The Catechism expresses this aspect of God, which Jesus reveals to us in today’s Gospel, beautifully: “At every time and in every place, God draws close to me… God never ceases to draw man to himself…” (CCC #1, #27). The more our faith in God’s constant, fatherly, loving presence grows, the more interior freedom we will experience as we continue to give alms, pray, and fast, and the more we will feel the joy that comes from childlike hope in a God who sees what is hidden and rewards us.
Conversing with Christ: Dear Lord, I am sorry for giving too much importance to the opinion of other people. I want to have the strength and courage to do what is right and good in all circumstances without being afraid of others’ opinions. I want to live in deep, faith-filled communion with you. I know you love me. I know you care about me and are always with me. Please open my eyes to see your loving gaze always bent upon me. Please increase my faith so that I can find you quickly when I look for you. Please teach me to hope in you and the everlasting rewards you promise more than in the passing satisfactions that so easily distract here in this world.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will do something that is right and good just because it is right and good, without looking for any payback except the knowledge that I am moving forward on the path of spiritual maturity and giving you the delight that comes from that.
 
Suy Niệm Tin mừng Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 thứ tư tuần 11 TN
Hầu như tất cả các tội lỗi được xuất phát từ niềm tự hào, hay sự kêu ngạo mà ra. Cách phô trương cho mình là nhất, là number one, là số một (1) trong bất cứ điều gì chúng ta làm, là chúng ta đang tạo điều kiện để đưa mình lên cao và để rơi vào cái bẫy của tội lỗi, của sự kêu ngạo của ma quỷ. Bài Phúc Âm hôm nay, những gì Chúa dạy rất rõ ràng. Ngài muốn chúng ta phải tự thoát bỏ cái niềm tự hào của chúng ta, biết khiêm tốn và luôn biết đặt người khác lên trước chúng ta.     Khi chúng ta còn nhỏ, động lực thúc đẩy chúng ta siêng năng học hỏi tốt ở trường là để có được điểm cao và có tên trong bảng danh dự, nói cách khác, để được công nhận. Khi chúng ta làm việc chăm chỉ ở trong các công xưởng, văn phòng vì chúng ta mong sẽ được phát huy để có cơ hôi lên lương lên chức cao hơn người.... Hầu hết các hành động của chúng ta trong thế giới vật chất hôm nay là thúc đẩy chúng ta tìm đủ mọi cách để đưa mình trước những người khác. Chúng ta hãy nên tự hỏi chính mình là: những gì chúng ta nhận ra là chúng ta tốt hơn so với những người khác. Đó là một hạnh phúc lâu dài? Hay là một sự đột biến trong thời gian ngắn của niềm tự hào mà rồi sẽ mất dần một cách nhanh chóng ?  Thừa nhận hay được khen thưởng là một động lực mà hầu hết chúng ta đã quen thuộc. Những cách của thế gian dạy chúng ta rằng nếu chúng ta không được thừa nhận (công nhận, khen thưởng, tuyên dương) một cách xứng đáng, chúng ta phải tranh đấu cho cho bằng được bất cứ giá nào. Nhưng Chúa Giêsu lại dạy chúng ta làm điều ngược lại. Ngài nói với chúng ta rằng những cách của thế gian không phải là cách của Thiên Chúa. Nếu chúng ta làm những việc thiện mà không cần được tâng bốc và loan tải trên các chí báo chí, phương tiện truyền thông, Ngài sẽ thưởng chúng ta nhiều ơn.
            Đây không phải là một việc làm dễ dàng cho chúng ta bởi vì một trong những quy tắc trong mối quan hệ nơi công chúng là để cho người khác biết những gì tốt , những gì đẹp mà mình đã làm, và như vậy cả thế giới mới biết chúng ta và sẽ nghĩ tốt về chúng ta. Chúa nói động lực của chúng ta không phải là những gì người khác sẽ nghĩ về chúng ta và khen thưởng, quý trọng. Nhưng đều quan trọng nhất là những gì Chúa sẽ nghĩ về chúng ta. Điều này cũng đủ để thúc đẩy chúng ta. Trên thực tế chúng ta chỉ cần có một người quan tâm và nhìn thấy được tất cả. Và Ngài muốn thấy nơi chúng ta có một tâm hồn quảng đại nhưng khiêm tốn, một tình yêu vị tha và chân thành.
 
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Opening Prayer: I come before you today, Lord, filled with a deep desire to know you better, to give you glory, to receive the grace I need to be your faithful follower and friend. I believe that you are here with me now, eagerly desiring to draw me closer to you, to heal my wounds, to enlighten my mind, to strengthen my spirit. All my hopes for happiness and meaning are in you, Lord. Without you, I can do nothing. Please open my mind to receive your light and my heart to receive your strength.
Encountering Christ:
1. Three Fundamental Actions: Almsgiving, praying, and fasting are three fundamental religious actions. They are in themselves good things to do. Through almsgiving, we help others who are in need. Through prayer, we rebuild bridges between God and the human race. Through fasting, we learn to curb our disordered desires and tendencies. These actions are not unique to Christianity. They are present, in some form or another, in most of the religions that have come and gone throughout human history. Jesus has no problem with the actions themselves. He actually assumes that they will somehow form part of our lives as Christians: “When you give alms… pray… fast,” he says. It’s as if he is saying, “Of course you will give alms, pray, and fast.” But Jesus does challenge us when it comes to the why behind the what. He emphasizes throughout these verses the importance of why we do “righteous deeds.” He wants us to carefully guard against doing these good deeds in order to win the approval and admiration of other people. How well Jesus knows the human heart! We are so easily swayed by what other people will think of us! We are so easily derailed by vanity, by a disordered concern for the approval and admiration of other people. In fact, we are so vulnerable to this fundamental flaw in our human nature that it can undermine even such simple and pure actions as almsgiving, praying and fasting. How much am I influenced by fears about what other people may think of me? How often are my choices affected not only by what is right and good for me and for others, but by a thirst for recognition and approval? Jesus invites us to reflect honestly on the real motives at work in our lives because those motives can either help or hinder our search for meaning and interior peace.
2. God Is Our Father: We all have a tendency toward vanity. Jesus knows this, and while in this passage he warns us to defend ourselves against the dangers posed by that tendency, he also gives us a good offense to correct the tendency itself: purity of intention. He encourages us to live our lives in the sight of God, concerned about what God will think of our choices rather than what other people will think of them. Three times he exhorts us to do what is right and good simply because it is right and good, not trying to attract the attention of other people. And then three times he repeats, “And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” Two things come out clearly in this phrase. First, God is our father. He looks at us with the loving gaze of a good, good, father. He is not watching over us like an Olympic judge, waiting for us to mess up. He is not ignoring us, abandoning us to invent our own meaning and happiness. God really cares. He wants us to make good choices because he knows that good choices lead us to grow and flourish as human beings. This may be hard for us to accept, especially if our human father was far from perfect—which is the case for most of us. As the Catechism puts it: “The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God. He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood, although he is their origin and standard:63 no one is father as God is Father” (CCC #239). How do I relate to God my Father? How is Jesus inviting me to relate to him?
3. Our Father Is Close: Second, when Jesus points out that our Father in heaven “sees what is hidden” and “will repay us,” he is pointing out that God not only gazes on us with love and goodness but that he is close to us. We are never alone. God is always paying attention to us. This too is often hard for us to accept because God’s presence isn’t like the presence of others. We know it and perceive it through faith. God doesn’t force himself upon us. He reveals these truths about himself and invites us to believe in them. He also gives us the grace we need to believe, and to exercise that faith. But he leaves it up to us to accept that grace or reject it, to exercise our faith or let it atrophy. St. Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth-century foundress and Doctor of the Church, defined Christian meditation as “being alone with the one who we know loves us.” How easy is it for me to believe that God is always with me, loving me, accompanying me? How often do I pause to exercise my faith in God’s presence and interest in my life? The Catechism expresses this aspect of God, which Jesus reveals to us in today’s Gospel, beautifully: “At every time and in every place, God draws close to me… God never ceases to draw man to himself…” (CCC #1, #27). The more our faith in God’s constant, fatherly, loving presence grows, the more interior freedom we will experience as we continue to give alms, pray, and fast, and the more we will feel the joy that comes from childlike hope in a God who sees what is hidden and rewards us.
Conversing with Christ: Dear Lord, I am sorry for giving too much importance to the opinion of other people. I want to have the strength and courage to do what is right and good in all circumstances without being afraid of others’ opinions. I want to live in deep, faith-filled communion with you. I know you love me. I know you care about me and are always with me. Please open my eyes to see your loving gaze always bent upon me. Please increase my faith so that I can find you quickly when I look for you. Please teach me to hope in you and the everlasting rewards you promise more than in the passing satisfactions that so easily distract here in this world.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will do something that is right and good just because it is right and good, without looking for any payback except the knowledge that I am moving forward on the path of spiritual maturity and giving you the delight that comes from that.