Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai tuần thứ Hai Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai tuần thứ Hai Thường Niên
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu cảnh báo các môn đệ không nên hẹp hòi tâm hồn khi từ chối đón nhận và học hỏi những điều mới. Chúa Giêsu đã dùng một hình ảnh quen thuộc và thực tế với nggười Do thái đó là hình ảnh miếng vải mới dùng đề vá lên chiếc áo cũ, khi miếng vải mới bị thấm nước rồi khi khô lại sẽ làm co rút chỗ vá và chiêc áo cũ sẽ rách to thêm, hay là hình ảnh thực tiễn nhất đó bầu rượu da mới và cũ. Trong thời của Chúa Giêsu, rượu đã được đựng trong các bầu làm bằng da thú vì thời đó chưa có chai… (chai ly lông như hôm nay.)
- Rượu mới đổ vào bầu da vẫn lúc còn lên men làm các chất khí phản ứng và gây ra áp suất cao. bầu da mới rất dễ đàn hồi và đủ để chịu đựng những áp suất cáo của rượu mới, nhưng nếu rượu mới đựng trong bầu da cũ, bầu da cũ đã được dùng và đã mất hết sự đàn hồi, nên khi rượu mới lên mem, bầu da cũ rất dòn và dễ bể và làm đổ hết rượu.
            Tại sao Chúa Giêsu đã có sự so sánh ý nghĩa này? Có phải chúng ta đang từ cũ thay mới? Thời gian phải ăn chay và dự tiệc thoải mái phải đúng nơi và phải đúng lúc. Vì thế phải có một nơi thích hợp riêng cho cái cũ cũng như cái mới. Thử nghĩ, chúng ta sẽ bị thiệt thòi như thế nào nếu chúng ta chỉ có một Kinh Thánh Cựu Ước hay Kinh Thánh một Tân Ước mà thôi. Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta sự khôn ngoan để chúng ta có thể thực hiện việc sử dụng cả hai Kinh Thánh Cựu Ước và Tân Ước một cách hoàn hảo nhất. Chúa không bao giờ muốn chúng ta bảo tồn "cứng ngắc" về quá khứ và chống đối mãnh liệt công việc mới của Chúa Thánh Thần trong cuộc sống của chúng ta. Chúa muốn tâm hồn và trái tim của chúng ta được nên giống như bầu rượu da mới được mở ra và sẵn sàng để nhận được rượu mới của Chúa Thánh Thần.
Chúng ta mong muốn được phát triển trong kiến ​​thức và sự hiểu biết qua lời của Thiên Chúa và những kế hoạch mà Ngài đã sắp đặt sẵn cho cuộc sống của chúng ta ?
Lạy Chúa Giêsu, xin Chúa ban đầy ơn Chúa Thánh Thần xuống cho chúng con, để chúng con lớn lên trong sự hiểu biết về tình yêu và lẽ thật cao cả của Chúa. Xin Chúa giúp chúng con tìm kiếm Chúa một cách tha thiết trong lời cầu nguyện và biết ăn chay hãm mình để chúng con có thể từ bỏ tội lỗi và những tật nết xấu xa, Cũng xin Chúa  làm cho cuộc sống của con trở nên trọn vẹn hơn theo ý Chúa. Xin Chúa cho chúng con luôn tìm thấy niềm vui khi biết yêu thương và phục vụ Chúa trong là Tất cả.
 
Meditation: 
Which comes first, fasting or feasting? The disciples of John the Baptist were upset with Jesus' disciples because they did not fast (Mark 2:18). Fasting was one of the three most important religious duties, along with prayer and almsgiving. Jesus gave a simple explanation. There's a time for fasting and a time for feasting (or celebrating).
To walk as a disciple with Jesus is to experience a whole new joy of relationship akin to the joy of the wedding party in celebrating with the groom and bride their wedding bliss. But there also comes a time when the Lord's disciples must bear the cross of affliction and purification. For the disciple there is both a time for rejoicing in the Lord's presence and celebrating his goodness and a time for seeking the Lord with humility and fasting and for mourning over sin. Do you take joy in the Lord's presence with you and do you express sorrow and contrition for your sins? The closed mind that rejects all of God's Word
Jesus goes on to warn his disciples about the problem of the "closed mind" that refuses to learn new things. Jesus used an image familiar to his audience - new and old wine skins. In Jesus' times, wine was stored in wine skins, not bottles. New wine poured into skins was still fermenting. The gases exerted gave pressure. New wine skins were elastic enough to take the pressure, but old wine skins easily burst because they were hard. What did Jesus mean by this comparison? Are we to reject the old in place of the new? Just as there is a right place and a right time for fasting and for feasting, so there is a right place for the old as well as the new.
Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old (Matthew 13:52). How impoverished we would be if we only had the Old Testament books of Scripture or the New Testament books of Scripture, rather than both. The Lord gives us wisdom so we can make the best use of both the old and the new. He doesn't want us to hold rigidly to the past and to be resistant to the new work of his Holy Spirit in our lives. He wants our minds and hearts to be like new wine skins - open and ready to receive the new wine of the Holy Spirit. Are you eager to grow in the knowledge and understanding of God's word and plan for your life?
Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit, that I may grow in the knowledge of your great love and truth. Help me to seek you earnestly in prayer and fasting that I may turn away from sin and wilfulness and conform my life more fully to your will. May I always find joy in knowing, loving, and serving You who are My All.
 
Monday 2nd Week of Ordinary Time - Scripture: Mark 2:18-22
“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.” Mark 2:19–20
The passage above reveals Jesus’ response to the disciples of John the Baptist and some Pharisees who question Jesus about fasting. They point out that the disciples of John and the Pharisees each follow the Jewish laws on fasting, but Jesus’ disciples do not. Jesus’ answer goes to the heart of the new law on fasting.
Fasting is a wonderful spiritual practice. It helps to strengthen the will against disordered fleshly temptations and helps to bring purity to one’s soul. But it needs to be pointed out that fasting is not an eternal reality. One day, when we are face-to-face with God in Heaven, there will no longer be any need to fast or do any form of penance. But while on earth, we will struggle and fall and lose our way, and one of the best spiritual practices to help us return to Christ is prayer and fasting combined.
Fasting becomes necessary “when the bridegroom is taken away.” In other words, fasting is necessary when we sin and our union with Christ begins to fade. It is then that the personal sacrifice of fasting helps open our hearts once again to our Lord. This is especially true when habits of sin form and become deeply ingrained. Fasting adds much power to our prayer and stretches our souls so as to be able to receive the “new wine” of God’s grace where we need it the most.
Reflect, today, upon your approach to fasting and other penitential practices. Do you fast? Do you make regular sacrifices so as to strengthen your will and help you to turn more fully to Christ? Or has this healthy spiritual practice been somewhat neglected in your life? Renew your commitment to this holy endeavor today and God will work powerfully in your life.
Lord, I open my heart to the new wine of grace that You wish to pour forth upon me. Help me to be properly disposed to this grace and to use every means necessary to become more open to You. Help me, especially, to commit to the wonderful spiritual practice of fasting. May this act of mortification in my life bear abundant fruit for Your Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 2nd Week of Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are awesome in your glory and love your people so much that you willed to be our bridegroom. Help me to understand and delve into so great a mystery.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Why do your Disciples not fast? After a number of successes in the opening chapter of Mark’s Gospel, the second chapter begins a series of five conflicts. The first conflict (Mark 2:1-12) centered on Jesus claiming the divine ability to forgive sins. The second (Mark 2:13-17) involved Jesus reclining at table and eating with tax collectors and sinners. The third conflict, which we read in today’s Gospel, concerns the practice of fasting. In each conflict, Jesus was doing something good but was falsely accused of doing something evil. Jesus was accused of blasphemy, of associating with public sinners, and now, of not obligating his disciples to fast like the pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist. The opposition of the religious authorities to Jesus only increases with each encounter. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day prided themselves on fasting twice a week. They mistakenly thought that such ascetical practices made them righteous before God. They had yet to learn that only with the new wine that Jesus brings – the grace of the New Covenant – will pious practices like fasting, almsgiving, and prayer be meritorious for eternal life.
2. Jesus the Bridegroom: Jesus used each one of the five conflicts to reveal something about his identity. The first conflict gave Jesus the opportunity to reveal that he is the Son of Man, prophesied by Daniel, who possesses the divine power and authority to heal the sick and forgive sins. In the second conflict, Jesus revealed himself as the divine physician who attends to the physically and spiritually sick and calls sinners to follow him and dine with him at table. The third conflict revealed Jesus as the divine bridegroom promised by the prophets like Hosea, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Jesus compares his disciples to groomsmen or “sons of the bridal chamber.” As the bridegroom, Jesus brings the new wine of salvation. The old wineskins, symbols of the Old Covenant, were unable to contain the new wine that Jesus brings. The saving grace that Jesus, our divine Bridegroom and eternal High Priest, merited for us through his passion and death needs the new wineskins of the New Covenant.
3. Priestly Mediation: In the First Reading, the Letter to the Hebrews considers how a priest acts as a mediator between God and humanity. It points out how the high priests – Aaron and his priestly descendants – were appointed priests by God, but that they were beset by weakness and committed many sins. They not only offered sin offerings on behalf of the people but had to offer sin offerings for themselves too. When Aaron and his sons offered a bull in sacrifice once a year on the Day of Atonement it served as a reminder of the original sin of the first high priest, who fashioned a golden calf for the people of Israel to worship. The high priests of the Old Testament were able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, because they themselves were ignorant, erring, weak, and sinful. Sin tragically breaks the relationship with God and humanity. And so, when a priest offered a sacrifice for sins, they were acting as mediators by offering the worship of the people to God and by asking God for mercy to be given to his sinful people. Jesus, like the high priests of the Old Covenant, did not appoint himself to the high priesthood, but was appointed by his Father. Jesus assumed our human nature and brought it to perfection through his obedience and suffering. And through this priestly act he became the source of our eternal salvation.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, eternal high priest and divine bridegroom, intercede before the Father for your bride and pour out the Spirit into her heart so that she may return your love with joy.
 
Monday 2nd Week of Ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord, at times it is difficult for me to understand the books of the Old Testament and things like placing entire peoples under the ban of destruction. I know, though, that you are a God of justice and mercy. I trust in you as you direct the course of human history.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Old Wine of Moses: One of the responsibilities given to King Saul by the prophet Samuel was to utterly destroy the sinful Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:1-3). Centuries before, the Amalekites tried to ambush and kill the people of Israel as they were leaving Egypt (Exodus 17:8-16). As a punishment, the Amalekites dwelling in Canaan were put under the ban of destruction. This was the law given by Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy (20:16-18). Israel was to utterly destroy the Amalekites when they conquered the land of Canaan.
2. Saul’s Disobedience: But Saul disobeyed the Law of Moses. His men kept the best sheep and oxen and Saul spared the life of Agag the king of the Amalekites. When Saul was confronted by Samuel for his disobedience, Saul insisted that he had obeyed and tried to justify his actions saying that his men took the animals and that he was going to offer up the animals in sacrifice to the Lord. As well, even though he spared Agag, Saul insisted that he utterly destroyed the Amalekites. In response, Samuel teaches Saul that obedience to the Lord is better than animal sacrifice. Sin is rebellion and presumption is idolatry. Because of his actions, Saul will lose the kingship. After hearing this, Saul finally acknowledges that he has sinned.
3. The New Wine of Christ: One of the things that Jesus does in his Sermon on the Mount is correct several laws that Moses gave the people in the Book of Deuteronomy. We are probably more familiar with Jesus correcting the Law of Moses regarding divorce (Matthew 5:31-32). In fact, Jesus clarifies that Moses gave the law about divorce due to the people’s hardness of heart (Matthew 19:3-9). The same can be said about the Law of Moses to utterly destroy the enemies of Israel in the land of Canaan. Jesus corrects the Law of Moses and exhorts us to love, not destroy, our enemies and pray for them (Matthew 5:43-48). Moses gave the law of destruction because of the people’s hardness of heart. When Israel came into contact with other nations they almost always fell into sin and idolatry. And so, Moses gave them laws in Deuteronomy to protect them from these influences. In the New Covenant, however, all nations are invited to become members of God’s people. And the New Law is one of love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. While the old wine of the Law of Moses commanded the destruction of Israel’s enemies, the new wine of the Law of Christ the bridegroom is one of love, joy, and salvation for all peoples.
Conversing with Christ: Lord, I sometimes fail to follow your new Law of charity. I know that you offer me the grace necessary to live your law to the full. I ask for your grace today and the virtue of charity. I want all men and women to experience your love and forgiveness.
Resolution: One way to love our enemies is to pray for them. Love is an action in which a person wills the good of another person. Our highest good is the attainment of eternal salvation. We should pray that everyone, including our enemies, attain eternal life. We can accompany our prayer with the pleasing sacrifice of fasting. Who will I be praying and fasting for today?
 
Suy Niệm Thứ Hai Tuần Thứ Hai Thường Niên (Tin Mừng Mark 2:18-22)
Hôm nay cả hai bài đọc đã thách thức chúng ta trả lời hai câu hỏi quan trọng trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, cụ thể là, "Chúng ta có biết được những ý của Thiên Chúa muốn nơi  chúng ta là những gì không?" Và " chúng ta phải làm theo những gì để sống theo như ý muốn của Thiên Chúa?"
Trong Bài Đọc I, vua Saul đã nghĩ rằng ông đã nghe theo tiếng nói của Chúa bằng việc hiến tế những hy lễ toàn thiêu lên Thiên Chúa . Trong  bài Tin Mừng, người Pharisêu, đã ăn chay theo luật Do Thái, Họ nghĩ là họ đã làm như thế là họ đã vâng lời Thiên Chúa. Thậm chí họ còn ăn chay hai lần một tháng.
Vì vậy, để biết hay nhận thức rõ được ý muốn của Thiên Chúa, chúng ta cần phải tự hỏi chính mình: "Chúng ta có mối quan hệ gì với Thiên Chúa ?"  Để biết ý muốn của Thiên Chúa một cách rõ ràng hơn, chúng ta cần phải phân biệt rõ ràng những động tác, hay hành động riêng của chúng ta hay là những ý thúc đẩy bởi ơn Chúa Thánh Thần. Thứ hai là chúng ta cũng cần biết phân biệt những động tác được thúc đẩy bởi Chúa Thánh Thần và những thức đẩy của ma quỷ.
Nếu chúng ta biết luôn cầu nguyện trước mỗi công việc, chúng ta dựa trên sự hướng dẫn của Chúa Thánh Thần và các dấu hiệu của thời gian, và bằng cách này, chúng ta được phát triển trong sự nhận thức mục đích của Thiên Chúa trong đời sống chúng ta một cách rõ rang hơn.
 "Lạy Chúa, xin ban cho chúng con có được một tinh thần sáng suốt trong những việc làm, trong sự phản ứng với những thử thách hàng ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng con."
 
Reflection 2016 SG
Today’s two readings challenge us to address two important questions in our lives, namely, “Do we know what is God's will for us?” and “What does it entail to do the will of God?”
In the first reading, King Saul thought that he had obeyed the voice of the Lord by offering holocausts and sacrifices. In the Gospel, the Pharisees, by fasting according to the rules and regulations of the established religion, deemed that they had obeyed the will of God.  They even fasted twice a month. So, to know or discern the will of God, we need to ask ourselves: “What is my relationship with God?” as this is the basis upon which God reveals His will for us.  Then we enter into the process of waiting and listening to God’s revelation. It may involve the ‘letting go' of the old wine and garment as Jesus used the example of  the new patch and new wine to illustrate the newness of the reality of the Kingdom.
In order to know God’s will better, we need to discriminate the movements which are merely from ourselves or those prompted by some other spirits. Secondly to discriminate those movements which are prompted by the Holy Spirit and those from the other spirits. Accompanied by ‘prayer’ we rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the signs of the time. In this way we grow in discerning God’s purpose in our lives.
 “Lord, grant us the spirit of discernment in our responses to our daily challenges.”