Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần 18 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần 18 Thường Niên

Con người sống trong quá khứ và tương lai, và cả hai có vẻ may mắn hơn nhiều so với hiện tại. Nhiều lần trong cuộc hành trình của họ trong sa mạc, Thiên Chúa đã đến cứu độ và giải cứu dân Israel, Khi họ đói, Ngài đã cho họ manna từ trời để ăn, Nhưng họ quá cứng lòng và không tin vào Thiên Chúa và họ chống lại Thiên Chúa và Môisên. Và nhiều lần ông Môisen đã cầu xin Chúa để ông được chết sớm hơn vì ông không thể chịu nổi sự cứng lòng của đám người Israel này!  Giờ đây, những người Israel này nhớ đến xứ Ai Cập yêu mến, tiện nghi mà quên rằng họ là những người nô lệ, bị lưu đầy và họ đã kêu la  xin Thiên Chúa giải thoát họ.
Nếu chúng ta chỉ có thể cần tin tưởng vào Thiên Chúa hơn và nhận ra Thiên Chúa trong tình hình hiện nay của chúng ta, thì chúng ta sẽ được hạnh phúc. Quá khứ đã biến mất; tương lai chưa đến và không phải là hiện tại, Tất cả chúng ta sống trong hiện tại, vì vậy chúng ta hãy giữ nắm lấy hiện tại và những gì Thiên Chúa ban cho chúng ta.
Sự chăm sóc và yêu thương của Thiên Chúa là điều hiển nhiên trong việc nuôi ăn 5.000 người như bài Tin Mừng nhắc đến, Chúa Giêsu đã thương xót đám đông và dành nhiều thời giờ để giảng dạy và an ủi họ. Khi Ngài hỏi các môn đệ về việc nuôi ăn đám dân này, thì họ đã không thể ngờ được vì họ nghĩ với một tiền quá lớn vẫn không mua đủ thức ăn cho mỗi người, Họ có rất ít bánh nhưng quá nhiều người đến với Chúa. Giống như các môn đệ, chúng ta thường tập trung vào những điều tiêu cực và những gì còn thiếu, Chúa Giêsu đã thách thức các môn đệ phải nhìn sâu vào chính bản thân mình, hãy đặt niềm tin vào Thiên Chúa và lòng từ bi của Ngài là nguồn sức mạnh, và chắc chắn với lòng tin đó cũng đã quá đủ để nuôi 5000 người được ăn nuống no đủ.
Chúng ta hãy luôn tin rằng Thiên Chúa luôn để ý và chăm sóc chúng ta và Ngài đã ban cho chúng ta tất cả những gì theo như sự yêu cầu của chúng ta, và hãy hành động như thể chúng ta là con cái của Thiên Chúa Tin vào sự quan phòng của Thiên Chúa phép lạ sẽ không ngừng xảy ra khi chúng ta biết sẵn lòng mở rộng tâm hồn và tâm trí của chúng ta. Lạy Chúa, Xin giúp cho chúng con biết đặt niềm tin vào Chúa.
 
Monday 18^th Ordinary Time 
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over—twelve wicker baskets full. Matthew 14:19–20
An important aspect of this miracle that is easy to miss is that Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes through His disciples’ instrumentality. He did this by inviting them to assist in the distribution of the loaves and in the gathering of the fragments left over. This reveals that God often uses us as mediators of His superabundant graces given to others. Though God could pour forth His mercy directly, most often He does so through others.
As you ponder this miracle, try to see yourself as one of the disciples who was invited to distribute the bread to the people. If you were there and were hungry and then were given bread, you would be tempted to eat the bread yourself before giving any away. But Jesus gave the bread to His hungry disciples with the instruction to first give it to others.
Sometimes, when God calls us to give His mercy to others, we become selfish. It’s easy to think that we must first take care of ourselves and our own needs. We erroneously believe that we can only offer mercy to others after our needs are met. Imagine, for example, if upon receiving the bread from Jesus the disciples would have decided that they should eat of it first. Then, if there was anything extra, they could give it to others. Had they done this, the superabundance of the multiplication of the loaves would not have happened. In the end, the disciples themselves received a superabundance of food—precisely because they first gave away what they had received.
Spiritually speaking, the same is true with us. When we receive spiritual nourishment from our Lord, our first thought must be to give it away. We must first see all that we receive from God as an opportunity to bestow those blessings upon others. This is the nature of grace. For example, if we are given a sense of peace or joy within our hearts, we must realize that this peace or joy we receive is a gift that must be immediately offered to others. If we are given a spiritual insight into the Scriptures, this is given to us first and foremost to share with others. Every gift we receive from God must be understood as a gift given to us so that we can immediately share it with others. The good news is that when we seek to give away that which we have received, more is given to us and, in the end, we will be far richer.
Reflect, today, upon the action of the disciples receiving this food from our Lord and immediately giving it away. See yourself in this miracle, and see the bread as a symbol of every grace you receive from God. What have you received that God wants you to distribute to others? Are there graces you have received that you selfishly try to hold onto? The nature of grace is that it is given to give it to others. Seek to do this with every spiritual gift you receive, and you will find that the graces multiply to the point that you receive more than you could ever imagine.
Most generous Lord, You pour forth Your grace and mercy in superabundance. As I receive all that You bestow, please fill my heart with generosity so that I will never hesitate to offer Your mercy to others. Please use me as Your instrument, dear Lord, so that, through me, You may abundantly feed others. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 18^th Ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are the provident Father who provides earthly and heavenly food to your children. I ask you to give me and my family our daily bread. I also ask for the supernatural Bread of Life. May I receive it worthily and deepen my communion with your Son.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Hananiah vs. Jeremiah: The First Reading contrasts the false prophecy of Hananiah with the true prophecy of Jeremiah. The false prophet promised that the exiles of Judah would return within two years and that Babylon would be overthrown. Jeremiah, on the other hand, cautions against opposing Babylon. The year was 594 B.C. This was when the puppet-king Zedekiah invited delegates from the surrounding areas (from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon) to Jerusalem to form an alliance against Babylon. In response, “Jeremiah sent letters to the delegates and then confronted the king, not only declaring to him the folly of his ways but also insisting that the Lord was working on the side of the Babylonians. He asserted that, at this time, to oppose the empire was to oppose [the Lord] and, conversely, to serve Babylon was to submit to the Lord (27:1-22)” (Duggan, The Consuming Fire, 298). Jeremiah appeared before Zedekiah wearing a wooden yoke. This symbolized that the people must submit to Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon. According to Jeremiah, the people of Judah should humbly accept the yoke of Babylon, for God has given Judah into the power of Babylon. Hananiah, however, took the wooden yoke from Jeremiah’s shoulders, broke it in front of the people, and encouraged the people to rebel against Babylon.
2. Jeremiah’s Prophecy of 70 Years of Exile: Hananiah’s actions helped Jeremiah foresee the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah. The wooden yoke the people would have received will now be replaced by a yoke of iron and instead of continuing as a vassal of Babylon, the exile to come will last seventy years (Jeremiah 29:4-23). The question naturally arises: Who was the true prophet? Was it Hananiah, who promised an end to the exile and the destruction of the yoke of Babylon? Or was it Jeremiah, who promised a seventy-year exile in Babylon? In the end, the death of Hananiah, foretold by Jeremiah, confirmed Jeremiah’s prophecy. The word of God that he proclaimed was authentic. According to Jeremiah, the Babylonian Exile would be a time of suffering, but also a time of grace and new beginnings. One day, Jeremiah promised, the Lord would restore the people to their land. “The Lord had taken his people into exile precisely so that he could transform them and provide a future that would include restoring them to their land. God's people were now separated into two parts, like two baskets of figs. The good ones were in Babylonian exile, and the rotten ones remained in Jerusalem. The Lord was even now bestowing his blessing on those in Babylon as the source of hope and promise for the future (24:1-10)” (Duggan, The Consuming Fire, 298).
 3. The True End of the Exile: With the coming of Jesus Christ, there is a true end to the exile and a true restoration of Israel. Jesus manifests that he is the long-awaited Messiah. He does this through mighty deeds, authoritative teaching, and the fulfillment of the law and prophets. Today, Jesus manifests his divine power to feed the 5,000 with just five loaves and two fish. Matthew hints that the event of the multiplication of the loaves anticipates the Eucharist by using the same series of verbs here and at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26): taking, blessing, breaking, giving. Jesus also fed the crowds through the hands of the apostles and this points forward to their priestly ministry: “They distribute the bread provided by Jesus in anticipation of the eucharistic liturgy, where the priests of the New Covenant give the Bread of Life as Holy Communion to the Church (1 Cor 10:16; CCC, 1329)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 33).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I need your strength and your grace. I realize how weak I am without you and how strong I am with you and your Spirit. Help me to welcome and bear my cross each day and help those around me to carry their cross.
 
 
Reflection:
People live in the past and the future, and both seem far better than the present. Many times in their journey through the wilderness God came to the rescue of the Israelites. When they were hungry, he gave them manna from heaven. But they grew tired of it and began to weep and complain, driving poor Moses out of his mind. He even asked God to kill him so he wouldn’t have to put up with it anymore! Now the people remembered Egypt fondly, conveniently forgetting that they were slaves and that they had cried bitterly to God for liberation. If only we could trust God more and find God in our present situation and be reasonably happy. The past is gone; the future isn’t here yet. All we have is the present, so let us embrace it.
God’s loving care was evident in the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus had compassion on the crowd and spent much time teaching and consoling them. When he asked his disciples to feed the people, they were at a loss for words. They had so little food and there were so many people. Like the disciples, we often focus on the negative and what is lacking. Jesus challenged them to look deep into themselves. Trust in God and compassion are powerful forces, and sure enough, there was more than enough to feed everyone. Let us always believe that God cares for us and has already granted our request — then act as if it were so. Miracles have not ceased — we need only open our hearts and minds.
Lord, deepen my trust in You.
 
Suy Niệm
Phép lạ hoá bánh và cá ra nhiều để nuôi hơn năm ngàn người, đã được kể lại trong cả bốn sách Phúc Âm (Hôm nay chúng ta nghe Matthêu chương 14: đoạn 13 -21Ngoài ra còn có Mc 6: 35-44; Lc 9: 12-17; và Ga 6: 1-15) ,  đây là một điềm báo trước về lòng quảng đại của Chúa trong việc để lại cho chúng ta Bí tích Thánh Thể,  Mình và Máu Thánh của Chúa Kitô đã trở nên của ăn nuôi sống chúng ta trong hình  bánh và rượu.
            Tất cả bốn Tin Mừng đều cho chúng ta thầy những cử chỉ rất quen thuộc trong việc cử hành Thánh Thể: "Ngài cầm lấy năm cái bánh và hai con cá, ngước mắt lên trời, dâng lời chúc tụng, bẻ ra, và trao cho các môn đệ để phân phát cho mọi người "(Mt 14: 19); " Chúa Giêsu lấy năm cái bánh và hai con cá, và nâng mắt lên trời, ông phát âm là một chúc tụng, bẻ bánh ra và trao cho môn đồ của ông để phân phát cho người dân" (Mc 6:41); "Chúa Giêsu sau đó lấy năm cái bánh và hai con cá, nâng mắt lên trời, phát âm là một phước lành trên chúng; ông đã phá vỡ chúng và đưa chúng cho các môn đệ để phân phát cho đám đông "(Lc 9: 16); và" sau đó Chúa Giêsu đã lấy cái bánh, tạ ơn và phân phối chúng "(Ga 6: 11). Cũng như Chúa chúng ta ăn năm ngàn người vì lòng thương xót họ trong cơn đói của họ, vì họ không ăn trong nhiều ngày, Chúa chúng ta đã hiến mình cho chúng ta trong Bí Tích Thánh Thể là lương thực thiêng liêng và đồ uống cho sự sống đời đời.
      Ngoài ra, Thánh Thể mang lại cho Giáo Hội và các thành viên của nó "sự hiệp nhất và hòa bình họ biểu," hiệp nhất với Chúa Kitô và tất cả những người khác trong đức tin nhận Thánh Thể
 
Reflection:
     The multiplication of loaves and fish to feed about five thousand men, recounted in the four Gospels (today's reading Mt 14: 13 -21; Mk 6: 35 - 44; Lk 9: 12 – 17; and Jn 6: 1 – 15), is a key foreshadowing of the Lord's generosity in leaving us the Eucharist, his body for food in the form of bread and his blood as drink in the form of wine.
     All four Gospel accounts feature the same gestures familiar to us in the Eucharistic celebration: "He took the five loaves and the two fishes, raised his eyes to heaven, pronounced the blessing, broke the loaves, and handed them to the disciples to distribute to the people" (Mt 14: 19); "Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish and, raising his eyes to heaven, he pronounced a blessing, broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples to distribute to the people' (Mk 6:41); "Jesus then took the five loaves and two fish, and raising his eyes to heaven, pronounced a blessing over them; he broke them and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd" (Lk 9: 16); and "Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks and distributed them" (Jn 6: 11).
     Just as our Lord fed the five thousand because he had compassion on them in their hunger, since they not eaten for days, our Lord gave himself to us in the Eucharist as spiritual food and drink for eternal life.
     In addition, the Eucharist brings to the Church and its members "the unity and peace they signify," unity with Christ and all others who in faith receive the Eucharist.