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
“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,
 
REFLECTION TUESDAY 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
In today's gospel, we find Jesus surrounded by a crowd of people in a very concrete and compromising scene. Jesus' closer relatives had arrived from Nazareth and Capernaum. But, seeing so many people around, they chose to wait outside and send for him instead. The crowd tells Jesus: "Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you." He replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" Jesus' answer is by no means a rejection of his mother and relatives. Jesus has only recently just moved away from them to follow the divine call. It also means that, intimately, he has given them up too because he completely belongs to God the Father. Jesus actually lived what he expects from his disciples; he has chosen a spiritual family instead of an earthly one. In other places of his Gospel, Mark mentions Jesus glancing around too. Is Jesus trying to tell us that his only relatives are those who listen to him attentively? Of course not. His relatives are those who not only listen to him but those who listen to him and abide by God’s will. Jesus is saying, in other words, that only those who do his will, who put his words into their hearts and actions, are going to interpret him and know him, correctly.
If we want to understand and know in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God, we must follow him zealously and reap the harvest of doing so. We will never arrive at this if we remain halfhearted Christians. We must put Jesus' words into action. Jesus is exhorting us to enter our hearts in spiritual communion with him by abiding with the Divine Will.