“Người lớn hơn Giô-na, và lớn
hơn Solomon ", Nếu
con người bình thường
như chúng mà nói lên những lời này trên môi thì sẽ chỉ là lời vênh
vang. Nhưng những lời này được nói ra nơi miệng của
Chúa Giêsu thì cho những người tin vào
Thiên Chúa, thì đó là một lời nhắc nhở về sự khiêm tốn của Thiên Chúa trong việc xuống thế để trở thành một con người
thường như chúng ta. Thiên Chúa thì không thể nào có thể so sánh và do đó không
thể nào so sánh Thiên Chúa với những con người đơn thuần như Solomon. Nhưng
Thiên Chúa đã chọn để trở thành một con người trong Chúa Giêsu và vì thế Chúa Giêsu đi
vào một thế giới của con người với
nhu cầu riêng của con người "chúng tôi muốn được thấy một dấu lạ nơi
ngài" vì những
người pharisêu muốn thử thách để chúng minh Ngài là Thiên Chúa, nhưng Chúa
Giêsu đã chỉ trích những kinh sư
và người Pharisêu, những người yêu cầu một dấu lạ
một cách nặng nề .
Tuy nhiên, chính Chúa Giêsu đã xuất hiện giữa dân
Israel trong một cách mà những
người đã gặp Chúa phải đưa ra nhiều
câu hỏi thắc mắc về những việc Ngài đã làm, "Người này
là ai?" Những câu hỏi này đã thường xuyên được đưa ra mỗi khi Ngài đã làm các phép lạ, nhưng cũng
được thường xuyên đưa ra bởi những lời giáo huấn của Người. Đối với những người
đã mở lòng đón nhận Chúa Giêsu trong đức
tin, thì những phép lạ của Ngài và giáo lý của Ngài đã đủ là những dấu chỉ để dẫn
họ đến ngưỡng cửa của đức tin.
Nhưng những người kinh sư và người
Pharisêu đòi hỏi cho được bằng chứng,
trong khi Chân Lý sự thật của Thiên Chúa kêu gọi sự chấp nhận.
Lạy
Chúa Giêsu, Xin Chúa soi sáng tâm
hồn chúng con để chúng con biết đọc Kinh Thánh, lời Chúa
với con mắt đức tin sâu sắc hơn, để chúng ta có thể khám phá
các phép lạ của Chúa và những lời giáo huấn của Chúa là những
niềm an ủi sâu đậm nhất trong chân lý và sự thật của Chúa./
Reflection Monday 16th
Ordinary Time
“Greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon”, on the lips of any
ordinary human being, these words would be mere boasting, perhaps true, perhaps
false. On the lips of Jesus they are, for those who believe, a reminder of
God’s humility in becoming a human being. God is incomparable and so could not
be compared with mere human beings like Solomon. But God chose to become a
human being in Jesus and so Jesus enters into a human world with its demands —
“show us a sign” — and its struggle to make sense of what is more than
ordinary. Jesus severely criticizes the scribes and Pharisees who ask for a
sign.
Yet Jesus Himself appeared amongst the Israelites in a way
that raised many questions for those who encountered him, “What kind of man is
this?” These questions were frequently raised by his miracles, but just as
frequently raised by his teaching. For those who were open to Jesus, his
miracles and his teachings were signs enough to lead them to the threshold of
faith. The scribes and Pharisees demanded proof, whereas God’s truth calls for
acceptance.
Lord Jesus, enlighten our hearts to read the Scriptures with
deeper faith, so that we may discover in Your miracles and Your teaching the
deepest consolation of Your truth
Monday 16th Ordinary Time 2023
In this passage, Jesus refers to the Queen of Sheba who traveled
about 1,400 miles from Southern Arabia, which was most likely located in either
modern-day Yemen or Ethiopia, to meet King Solomon. The queen had heard much
about Solomon, about his wealth and wisdom, and wanted to find out if all that
she heard was true. So she made the long journey and stayed with him for about
six months, according to tradition. After spending time with him, she was
greatly impressed and bestowed upon him gifts of gold, spices and precious
stones. She said to him, “I did not believe the report until I came and saw
with my own eyes that not even the half had been told me. Your wisdom and
prosperity surpass the report I heard” (1Kings
10:7).
This foreign queen was deeply impressed with Solomon. Her journey,
gifts and words illustrate her deep respect for him and her admiration. Jesus
uses this story to illustrate the simple fact that Jesus Himself is much
greater than Solomon and that He should be treated in a way that far surpasses
the way the queen treated Solomon. But Jesus also makes it clear that, at the
Final Judgment, this queen will rise and condemn the scribes and Pharisees
because they failed to see the wisdom and kingship of Jesus. Instead, they came
to Jesus, seeking signs and proof of Who He was.
In our own lives, the witness of the Queen of Sheba should be a
source of true inspiration. She was someone who was powerful and wealthy
herself, and yet she wanted to learn from Solomon and to benefit from his great
wisdom which was given him by God. She should inspire us to do all we can to
daily turn to our Lord and to seek His wisdom.
Jesus’s wisdom flows to us in many ways. The Gospels are
especially important as a source of the most important lessons for life.
Personal prayer, reading about the lives of the saints, and study of the
teachings of our Church are also essential ways in which we receive the wisdom
given to us by God. As you think about the many ways that are available to you
to grow in the wisdom of God, try to use the Queen of Sheba as an inspiration.
Do you have her same zeal? Are you willing to devote much time and effort to
the pursuit of holy learning? Do you desire to journey to Jesus in the way that
she desired to journey to Solomon?
One of the greatest hindrances to this pursuit of holy wisdom is
sloth, or laziness. It is becoming increasingly easy to engage our minds in
mindless pursuits. Many people can easily spend many hours in front of the
television, computer or mobile devices and waste precious time and energy. Zeal
for God and the pursuit of the many truths of faith must become the cure for
sloth in our lives. We must want to know. And we must do all we can to
increase that holy desire within us.
Reflect, today, upon the long journey made by this queen in
pursuit of the wisdom of Solomon. As you do, examine whether you exhibit the
same zeal that she had and how devoted you are to the pursuit of the wisdom of
God. Where you are lacking, let her witness inspire you. Jesus is infinitely
greater and wiser than Solomon, and we have been given full access to Him
through prayer and holy learning. If you will make that holy journey to our
Lord, with much determination, then unlike the scribes and Pharisees, your day
of judgment will be a glorious one.
My Lord of all Wisdom, You are infinitely greater than the wisest
of kings and more glorious than anything I can imagine. Please fill me with
zeal, dear Lord, so that I will fervently pursue You and daily journey to You.
Please guide my prayer and my study so that Your wisdom and Your very Self will
be bestowed upon me. Jesus, I trust in You.
Monday 16th Ordinary Time 2023
Opening
Prayer: Lord Jesus, increase
my faith in your victorious presence in my life and in the world.
Encountering
Christ:
Sign
Seeking: The scribes and the
Pharisees sought a sign from Jesus. How often are we sign seekers? The sign was
standing before their eyes: the Son of Man, the God-man, in flesh among them.
He manifested his supreme reign not by power but by meekness. He reached out to
the outcast and sinners. He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, forgave
sin, and even calmed nature’s tempestuous storms. The signs were written all
over his preaching of the coming of the kingdom. But the greatest sign was to
be his supreme conquest over death. He sets them up for the possibility of
belief by mentioning Jonah, Nineveh, and the queen of the south.
Invitation
to Conversion: Jesus’s
references to people and events in the past were meant to provoke awareness of
their need to convert. Signs, prophets, and God’s message to repent have been
offered throughout history. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of
the whale until he finally accepted his God-given mission to bring the message
of repentance to Nineveh. Jesus would be three days and three nights in the
belly of the earth. He would bring the gift of expiation from our sins. He
brought true salvation to all who accepted it through the grace of faith.
Nineveh, a foreign city, accepted repentance, at least temporarily, and yet the
very people called to be his own continued to reject him. Likewise, the queen
of the south, the Queen of Sheba, recognized the godly wisdom of Solomon’s
words, yet the scribes and Pharisees, raised in the tradition of worshipping
the one God, did not recognize the coming of the Messiah. Do we recognize what
God has already revealed to us, explained and handed down to us by the Church?
Do we recognize the Savior in our midst, or are we narrow-minded and
shortsighted due to demanding specific signs from the Lord?
A
Judgment to Come—Hope for Eternal Life: Revelation
20:11-12 paints the picture of the Victor and Judge sitting on a large white
throne as the book of life is opened and the dead are judged. Only he who is
conqueror and first victor over sin and death admits all those who follow after
him. The True Judge will recognize the sign of those who call themselves
followers—his own seal placed upon them. They will be marked as true believers,
as children of the heavenly Father. Their garments will be washed clean in the
blood of the Lamb. In prayer, we can contemplate standing before the Triumphant
Lord, Christ our King and Victor. We can watch him open the book of life and
ask that he pour out his blood upon us, marking us with his seal, that we may
enter into the fullness of his kingdom. We place our trust in his gift of
salvation that he offers daily through all the means at our disposal: the
Eucharist, Confession, his daily grace.
Conversing
with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank
you for your gift of salvation and for all the ways you make yourself known and
present to me. Grant me greater faith to see your victorious grace at work in
this world, in my family, and in my life. Help me to open my heart to the gift
of salvation that you offer to me. May my day be offered for those who “miss
the signs” of your presence and action.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will offer acts of
faith for those who do not believe or who are on the verge of rejecting you due
to doubt.
Reflection: Monday 16th Ordinary Time
"To see is to believe." In many
circumstances, similar to the teachers of the law and Pharisees in today's
reading, we have to witness ourselves before we accept, we have to see with our
own eyes before we believe. We always need proof or evidence and we have to
experience things ourselves before we believe. Are we likewise that skeptical
in matters of faith?
Better than seeing what is visible to the human eye
is experiencing it from the heart. Be it a smooth-sailing or bumpy ride,
our faith-journey with our Lord Jesus Christ should be based on pure trust in a
loving God who wants nothing else but to give us salvation and everlasting
life.
Sometimes we are too busy and pre-occupied looking
for miracles that we forget to recognize and appreciate the everyday blessings
we receive from God. Our lives are living testimony of his great power. What
miracles do we need, what kind of proof is still needed in order for us to
recognize God and love him with the same passion as he loves us?
Just like his love for us, our faith should not be
conditional; we need not demand for miracles. Instead we just need to believe
and trust wholeheartedly. As the risen Jesus chided the doubting Apostle Thomas
the week after his resurrection, "you believe because you see me, do you
not? Happy are those who have not seen and believe.
We pray that, like Thomas before the risen Lord, we
can say in faith and with great love, even though we have not seen, "You
are my Lord and my God."
REFLECTION 2017
Have we ever felt trapped with problems
and hardships, with nowhere to go or do to save the situation? And even God
does not seem to heed our prayers? We feel hopeless and lost in such
situations.
That was how the Israelites fleeing
from Egypt felt with Pharoah and his army and charioteers after them. Moses
their leader tries to calm them down with the assurance that the God of Israel
will protect and save them.
So
God lets Israel cross the sea, which dried up for their crossing, and destroys
the pursuing Egyptians when the sea waters returned.
God is the God of the impossible. Just as he kept his word for
his people Israel, God will watch and protect us.
In the Gospel reading Jesus reprimands the
Jews: despite his preaching, good deeds and miracles, they have refused to
believe in him. They will be judged and condemned for their unbelief and lack
of faith.
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