Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 1 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần 1 Thường Niên (Mark 2:1-1 1 )

Trong cuộc sống yếu đuối của con người hầu như ai trong chúng ta cũng chỉ thấy những cái xấu trong mọi tình huống. Chúng ta có thể thấy những tin tức tiêu cực mà chúng ta đọc hàng ngày qua các báo chí, trên TV. Chúng ta cũng thấy những cái xấu trên Internet hay qua các tin đồn, bàn luận trên Facebook hay trên các trang sinh hoạt của các nhóm xã hội. Với cái nhìn vào trong những cái khía cạnh của sự xấu xa, chúng ta có lẽ hay thích chê bai hay phỉ báng người khác, có lẽ chúng ta muốn “hạ người khác càng xuống thấp hơn” càng tốt để chúng ta cảm thấy sung sướng và an toàn hơn.
            Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta đã thấy những người Pharisêu và các thầy thông giáo đã làm điều đó, Họ coi thường niềm tin của nhiều người khác, và chống đối những nỗ lực của họ khi họ mang một người bại liệt đến gần với Chúa Giêsu. Họ đã cố tìm cách bắt bẻ, gài bẫy và gán ép cho Chúa Giêsu vào một cái tội kêu ngạo và muốn loại bỏ Người ra khỏi vòng pháp luật và tôn giáo của họ, Vì họ coi Chúa Giêsu như là một tội phạm hơn là một Thiên Chúa.
            Chúa Giêsu đã biết rõ rằng những cái khó chịu đó đang âm ỉ trong lòng của họ bởi vì cái thói đạo đức giả và cái niềm tự cao, tự đại của họ mà Ngài đã khẳng định quyền hạn và uy quyền của Ngài bằng cách chữa lành cho người bại liệt này trước những con mắt ngạc nhiên của đám đông. Chúa Giêsu đã cho chúng ta biết rằng là thành viên của Giáo Hội có nghĩa là chúng ta không được phép thách thức quyền năng của Thiên Chúa và những điều tốt đẹp mà Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta mỗi ngày. Chúng ta có thể có quyền tự do để chỉ trích những sai lầm mà chúng ta thấy thường xảy ra xung quanh chúng ta và trong cuộc sống hàng ngày của chúng ta, nhưng chúng ta không nên đặt mình trên bệ giá cao và tin rằng mình hơn người khác bởi vì chúng ta đều là tạo vật do Thiên Chúa sáng tạo ra và chúng ta đều gọi nhau là Kitô hữu.
            Chúng ta hãy cố tránh những cạm bẫy của niềm tự hào, hay của sự ngoạo mạn và sự kêu ngạo, thay vào đó chúng ta nên làm những việc phục vụ trong sự khiêm tốn như là người tôi tớ khiêm hạ của Thiên Chúa, Chúng ta hãy xin Chúa giúp chúng ta có lòng can đảm để loại bỏ sự cám dỗ của những sự suy nghĩ tiêu cực và biết nắm lấy niềm vui trong Tin Mừng của Chúa Giêsu.
            "Lạy Chúa Giêsu, qua tình yêu, lòng thương xót và sự tha thứ của Chúa, Chúa đã mang đến cho chúng con ơn chữa lành và phục hồi thân xác cũng như linh hồn của chúng con, Xin tình yêu và quyền năng của Chúa xoa dịu cuộc sống của chúng con trong mọi lĩnh vực, Và xin Chúa biến đổi và ban cho chúng con  sức mạnh của Chúa Thánh Thần để chúng con có thể bước đi một cách tự tin trong chân lý, và trong sự công chính của Chúa.
 
REFLECTION
It seems inherent in our human nature to look for the bad in any situation. We can see that in the negative news stories we read in the papers or watch on TV. We also observe it in the gossip that circulates among social groups. By talking about the bad side of others, we perhaps try to bring down people to make ourselves feel good. The scribes at Capernaum in today's Gospel were doing just that. They belittled the faith of several men and brushed off their effort to bring a paralytic close to Jesus. They attempted to make Jesus look like a law-breaker or religious violator instead of the preacher of Good News, which he was doing.
            Jesus was obviously annoyed by the hypocrisy and sky-high pride of the scribes that He asserted His authority and power by healing the paralytic in front of the astonished eyes of the crowd. Jesus gives notice that being members of His Church does not give us the license to challenge His authority and the many good things God provides every day. We may have the freedom to criticize the many wrongs we see happening around us in our daily lives but we should not place ourselves on pedestals and believe ourselves superior to others because we call ourselves Christians. Let us avoid the pitfalls of pride and instead work to be humble servants of God. Let us ask Jesus to remove the temptation of negative thinking and embrace the joy of His Good News.
            "Lord Jesus, through your merciful love and forgiveness you bring healing and restoration to body, soul, and mind. May your healing power and love touch every area of my life -- my innermost thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and memories? Pardon my offences and transform me in the power of your Holy Spirit that I may walk confidently in your truth and righteousness.
 
Friday of the First Week of Ordinary Time
They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. Mark 2:3–4
This paralytic is a symbol of certain people in our lives who seem to be incapable of turning to our Lord by their own effort. It’s clear that the paralytic wanted healing, but he was unable to come to our Lord by his own effort. Therefore, the friends of this paralytic carried him to Jesus, opened the roof (since there was such a large crowd), and lowered the man down before Jesus.
The paralysis of this man is a symbol of a certain type of sin. It’s a sin for which someone desires forgiveness but is incapable of turning to our Lord by their own effort. For example, a serious addiction is something that can so dominate a person’s life that they cannot overcome this addiction by their own effort. They need the help of others to even be able to turn to our Lord for help. 
We each must see ourselves as the friends of this paralytic. Too often when we see someone who is trapped in a life of sin, we simply judge them and turn away from them. But one of the greatest acts of charity we can offer another is to help provide them with the means they need to overcome their sin. This can be done by our counsel, our unwavering compassion, a listening ear, and by any act of fidelity to that person during their time of need and despair.
How do you treat people who are caught in the cycle of manifest sin? Do you roll your eyes at them and turn away? Or do you firmly determine to be there for them to give them hope and to assist them when they have little or no hope in life to overcome their sin? One of the greatest gifts you can give to another is the gift of hope by being there for them to help them turn fully to our Lord.
Reflect, today, upon a person you know who seems to be not only caught in the cycle of sin but has also lost hope to overcome that sin. Prayerfully surrender yourself over to our Lord and commit yourself to the charitable act of doing anything and everything you can so as to help them fully turn to our divine Lord.
My precious Jesus, fill my heart with charity toward those who need You the most but seem incapable of overcoming the sin in their lives that keep them from You. May my unwavering commitment to them be an act of charity that gives them the hope they need to surrender their life to You. Use me, dear Lord. My life is in Your hands. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Friday of the First Week of Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, allow me to experience again the newness of what you have done through the sending of your Son into the world. Do not let me take the grace received in baptism for granted, or be indifferent to the communion I experience with you in the Eucharist.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The First Conflict: Chapter Two in Mark’s Gospel signals a change in the narrative. The “bad guys,” so to speak, are introduced. Chapter One was breathless in narrating one success after another. Jesus taught, healed, and exorcised demons and the people responded to him with faith in his authority and power. Today, we hear of the first opposition to Jesus and his ministry. Jesus returned to Capernaum, to the house of Simon and Andrew, after having traveled around all of Galilee, having preached in the synagogues, and having driven out demons. Many gathered in and around the house in Capernaum to hear Jesus’ preaching. Four men brought a paralytic to Jesus and had to break through the roof of the house to get to Jesus. On seeing the faith of the four men, Jesus responds first not by healing the physical paralysis but by forgiving the spiritual paralysis caused by sin.
2. The Authority of the Son of Man: Instead of believing in Jesus like the four men, the scribes immediately begin to think that Jesus is blaspheming. They know that only God has the power to forgive sins. And if Jesus claims he can do what God alone can do, then he is implicitly claiming to be God. Mark lets us know not only that Jesus is divine because of his power over sickness and demons, but also because Jesus knows the inner thoughts of those around him. God alone knows the human heart, and Jesus manifests this same knowledge. Jesus then performs the miracle of healing to show that he possesses the divine authority to forgive sins. When Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven,” this is not just lip service or a false claim. If Jesus can forgive physical paralysis, then it is a sign that he can forgive spiritual paralysis and even give this power to forgive sins to his apostles, the successors of the apostles, and the priestly coworkers of these successors.
3. Entering into God’s Rest: The Letter to the Hebrews continues drawing a parallel between the story of the Exodus and our story as Christians. The author notes that the promise of entering into God’s rest remains. The people of the Exodus generation did not enjoy the physical rest offered in the promised land. Even when they entered the land under the leadership of Joshua, they still had to do battle with the pagan peoples who inhabited the land. Only under David, who finished the conquest of Canaan, and Solomon, who built the Temple, did the people experience a partial fulfillment of enjoying divine rest. This period of peace, however, was short-lived. Only through Jesus – who is the New Moses, the New Joshua, the New David, and the New Solomon – are we able to enter into divine rest. We do this through faith: “For we who believed enter into that rest” (Hebrews 4:3). Faith and obediential love go hand in hand. The people of Israel received the Good News of salvation but did not enter into divine rest “because of [their] disobedience.” In these last times, we are encouraged to hear and heed God’s voice and harden not our hearts. Ultimately, Joshua was unable to give the people the promised divine rest, and “a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). We are able, through Jesus, to enjoy that rest, especially on the Lord’s Day, which is a sharing in and an anticipation of the eternal rest in the heavenly Promised Land.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, bring me into the heavenly Promised Land so that I may taste the fruit of the Tree of Life and experience the cleansing power of your gracious mercy. Grant me a share in the divine life and rest you promise.
 
Friday 1st Week in Ordinary Time 2024
 Opening Prayer: Lord, sometimes I struggle to hear your voice in a world full of noise and distraction. Help me today to quiet my heart and encounter you and your Word.
 Encountering the Word of God
 1. Eli’s Unfamiliarity with God: There was a prophecy made by an unnamed prophet that announced the fall of the priestly line and house of Eli and, as a sign of this, declared that Eli’s wicked sons, Hophni and Phineas, would die on the same day (1 Samuel 2:27-36). The First Reading tells us that Eli can barely see and has given the task of watching over the golden lampstand in the sanctuary of Shiloh to the young Samuel. When the Lord first calls Samuel, Eli is at first unable to recognize what is happening. Eli has grown so unfamiliar with the things of God that he thought that Hannah was drunk when she was in fact praying and was slow to understand that Samuel heard the voice of the Lord in the sanctuary.
 2. Your Servant is Listening: Samuel presents himself as a servant before the Lord and invites God to speak to him. God confirms the message of the unnamed prophet that Eli’s priestly line will end and that he will raise up a faithful priest. The initial fulfillment of this oracle is the faithful priest Zadok (1 Kings 1:32-40). And Zadok’s line will continue for close to a thousand years. The ultimate fulfillment of this oracle is Jesus, who is called the faithful and merciful high priest (Hebrews 2:17) who ministers on our behalf forever.
 2. Jesus’ Mission is Sustained by Prayer: We witness the mercy Jesus brings as our high priest in today’s Gospel. He travels throughout Galilee, which was part of the ancient kingdom of Israel, curing the sick, preaching in synagogues, and casting out demons from the possessed. As our faithful high priest, Jesus sustains his ministry of mercy with humble prayer and deep communion with God the Father. Jesus often prayed the psalms and we can imagine the words of today’s Psalm on the lips of Jesus, who delights in accomplishing his Father’s will. Jesus doesn’t rely on his strength alone to carry out his Father’s plan of salvation. He truly entrusts himself and his work to the Father.
 Conversing with Christ: Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will. I patiently wait for you to answer my cry. I trust in you completely. To do your will, O Lord, is my delight. Your Spirit is in my heart to guide me and lead me on the path of justice and love. I praise you today and look forward to praising you for all eternity in the assembly of heaven.
 Resolution: Our readings today remind us of the importance of daily prayer. Samuel dwells in the sanctuary and is able to hear the gentle voice of God calling him to an important mission. Jesus rises early in the morning to pray in solitude away from the noise of the crowds and the bustle of the village. We can ask ourselves: Where is my quiet place where I can hear God’s word? What is the principal mission God has given me? What is God calling me to do today concretely to be an agent of his merciful love?
 
Friday 1st Week in Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Lord, soften my heart and teach me to lose my doubt. I love you; I have faith in you. I want to serve you, but sometimes doubt creeps in. Strengthen my faith and my trust in you. You alone are the source of life and healing. 
Encountering Christ:
Extraordinary: The readings of this first week of Ordinary Time have depicted events that are anything but ordinary. Today’s Gospel is no exception. Jesus had shown that he could heal lepers, free the possessed, and raise the dying. His popularity had exploded. Excitement was at a fever pitch. When the word got out that he was at home, the crowds who followed him unrelentingly gathered there as well. They were all looking for healing, meaning, purpose. We come to Jesus’ home every Sunday. What are we looking for?
Friends Like This: The paralytic has some very devoted and loyal friends. Their faith and devotion moved the heart of Jesus and won for their friend the greatest of all gifts—forgiveness of his sins. Jesus’ message to us is clear: it is good to be physically well, but to avail ourselves of the sacrament of Reconciliation so as to be forgiven our sins is a far greater good. This paralytic, with the help of his friends, went to great lengths to encounter Christ. We have only to prepare our hearts and show up at church at the appointed time. How grateful are we for this experience of divine forgiveness? “Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy…”) Jesus to Sr. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul).
They Just Didn’t Get It: One would think that the scribes, who had spent their lives studying Scripture, would recall the words of the prophets regarding the Messiah and realize that he was in their midst. Instead, they criticized Jesus and demanded to know why he thought he had the right to forgive sins. Jesus’ brilliant response did three things: it established his authority to heal, it established his authority to forgive sins, and it held the door open for the scribes to accept the Messiah. Jesus, our Savior, is a God of second chances. He truly loves each one of us and wants us to enter into a loving relationship with him. Jesus can reach even the most hardened sinners. Jacques Fesch was a murderer in the 1950s who experienced a profound conversion while in prison. He said of this experience: “At the end of my first year in prison, a powerful wave of emotion swept over me, causing deep and brutal suffering. Within the space of a few hours, I came into possession of faith, with absolute certainty. I believed … Grace came to me. A great joy flooded my soul, and above all a deep peace.” Jacques Fesch is being considered for canonization. Truly no one is beyond the reach of Jesus’ saving grace–not the scribes who tried to derail his mission, not a man who found Our Lord while he was on death row–no one.
Conversation with Christ: Oh my Lord. I am so grateful for two things: that you look beyond my prayer to see what I really need; and that you are a God of second chances. Often I pray for something and you do not grant what I ask. Later I see that you were working the whole time for the betterment of my soul. When I mess up, you are always there to redirect, transform, and forgive me. I give you thanks for your great wisdom and your great mercy.