Suy Niệm bài đọc thứ Tư Tuần thứ Sáu Thưòng Niên.

Suy Niệm bài đọc thứ Tư Tuần thứ Sáu Thưòng Niên. (Mk. 8:22-26)
Việc dùng nước miếng trong thời ỳ nào cũng bị cho là việc làm mất vệ sinh và quái lạ. Trong Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã dùng các phương tiện và phong tục trong thời của mình. Việv này không phải là Chúa Giêsu nhất thiết tin vào hiệu quả của những thứ bẩn thỉu này Ngài muốn giành được sự tin tưởng của người mù này và Ngài đã làm điều này cũng giộng như các bác sĩ thời bấy giờ cũng làm như thế.
Ngày nay việc chữa bệnh phụ thuộc vào niềm tin của bệnh nhân cũng như vào sự chẩn đoán của bác sĩ và các loại thuốc được biến chế đễ chữa trị. Chúng ta tin rằng việc Chúa Giêsu đặt tay để chữa lành vẫn có sức mạnh cổ xưa của nó.  Chúng ta hãy nhớ mỗi lầ Chúa hỏi chúng ta”: Con có tin thật lòng không?
Trong Cựu Ước Ông Nô-ê tin vào Thiên Chúa. Sau khi trái đất được giải thoát khỏi trận lụt đại hồng thuỷ, việc đầu tiên mà ông Nô-ê đã làm là dựng lên một bàn thờ để thờ phượng Thiên Chúa.
 Lạy Chúa xin Giải thoát chúng con thoát khỏi những thảm họa thiên nhiên, chiến tranh, bệnh tật, hoả hoàn,chết chóc.  Là  người Kitô hữu xin cho chúng con biết tạ ơn Thiên Chúa.
Lạy Chúa, Chúng con tin. Chúa là Thiên Chúa của chúng con và Chúa của chúng con. Chúng con xin cảm tạ Chúa vì Chúa đã giải cứu chúng con thoát ược khỏi nanh vuốt của kẻ ác.
 
Wednesday after 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time
In the Gospel, the use of spittle seems to us unhygienic and very strange. Jesus was using the methods and customs of his time. It was not that he necessarily believed in the efficacy of these but he had to win the confidence of the man and he did this by doing what they expected a doctor to do.
Today healing depends on the faith of the patient as much as on the diagnosis of the doctor and the drugs prescribed. We believe that Christ’s touch has still its ancient power. We do well to remember how often Christ asked a sick person: ‘Do you believe’?
Noah of the Old Testament believed in God. After the earth was delivered from the flood, the first thing that Noah did was to erect an altar for God.
Deliverance from natural disasters, from war, from death, from illness, from fire, the Christian should immediately give thanks to God.
The writer of Psalm 43, following on his escape from death, says, ‘I shall go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy’.           Lord, I believe. You are my Lord and my God. Thank You, Lord, for delivering me from the clutches of the evil one
 
Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
When Jesus and his disciples arrived at Bethsaida, people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Mark 8:22–23
Bethsaida was one of the towns just north of the Sea of Galilee in which Jesus preached. Later in His public ministry, Jesus condemns the town of Bethsaida for its failure to convert. “Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 11:21).
It may be because of their lack of faith and immoral living that Jesus led the blind man outside of the city before He cured Him. And it appears that the people who brought the blind man to Jesus brought him not because of their deep faith, but because of curiosity. This might also be the reason that, once Jesus cured the man, He sent him to his home saying, “Do not even go into the village.” Thus, Jesus knew that this miracle would not lead to faith in the hearts of those living in Bethsaida. So, Jesus instructed the man not to return there.
God has almighty power and can clearly do whatever He chooses, whenever He chooses. And what He often chooses to do is to exercise His almighty power only in the presence of those who already believe, or at least in the presence of those who have not yet rejected Him. When Jesus encounters people who have heard Him preach but have failed to come to faith, He refuses to perform any miracles in their presence.
What this tells us is that faith must come first; then, God’s Almighty power flows freely. Of course, the grace of the Word of God is always given to everyone. The seed of God’s holy Word is always available to all. But it’s important to distinguish between the sending forth of His holy Word of the Gospel and the sending forth of His transforming almighty power. The only way to receive the latter is to first accept the former. Unless we hear, accept and believe in His Word, we will not receive the grace of His transforming power.
With that said, it must also be understood that God’s “almighty power” cannot be reduced to miracles alone. We all know that physical miracles are not nearly as prevalent today as they were at the time Jesus walked the earth. But His almighty power is still at work today; and in a way that is even greater than when Jesus walked the earth. Today, His power is one that transforms us interiorly by the fullness of grace and the bestowal of the Holy Spirit. That is the true miracle that we must always seek and anticipate when we have heard the Word of God and responded with authentic faith.
Reflect, today, upon your faith and your need for God’s transforming power in your life. Do you see faith alive within you? If so, then you will most certainly encounter the power of God in your life and the transformation given by the Holy Spirit. If you do not see this power of grace and interior transformation at work, then ponder the image of Jesus leading the blind man outside of the city to exercise his power. Seek first to have faith, because if you do, our Lord will be able to remain close to you and will do miracles within your soul.
All-powerful Lord, You choose to send forth Your almighty power upon those who have come to faith in You by receiving the Gospel You have sent forth. Please open my ears to hear so that I will choose to convert and believe and, thus, be disposed to be transformed by Your abundant grace. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Wednesday 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I praise you for all your works. You are the mighty one who can do all things. Help me to see more clearly how you guide the course of history and act in my life to bring me to a good end and safe harbor.
Encountering the Word of God
1. A Gradual Healing of Blindness: The curing of a blind man in Bethsaida concludes the Bread Section in Mark’s Gospel and begins a new section we can call “the way to Jerusalem.” The Bread Section (Mark 6:34-8:26) was about overcoming spiritual deafness and blindness to Jesus’ true identity and divine nature. The new section, which centers on Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem, is about faith in Jesus as the Christ and how to be a faithful disciple of Jesus who follows him on the way. The way to Jerusalem is framed by the healings of two blind men. The first healing in Bethsaida was gradual; the second in Jericho (Mark 10:46-52) will be instantaneous. In this way, the healings and the journey symbolize the spiritual journey of the disciples to believe more deeply in Jesus as the Christ. They will understand who Jesus is more clearly after Jesus’ death and resurrection. The gradual healing at the beginning of the journey helps us realize that when Simon Peter made his confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah, he didn’t fully understand what that meant and entailed. He was going to have to journey with Jesus, learn what type of Messiah Jesus was, and learn what it means to follow the suffering Messiah.
2. A Suffering Christ: Many Judeans and Galileans in Jesus’ day expected a triumphant, military, and political Messiah. They wanted the political restoration of the David’s Kingdom. They didn’t expect a humble and suffering Messiah. The journey to Jerusalem will be a time when Jesus emphasizes that he will go to Jerusalem not to overthrow the Romans and be crowned with gold, but to suffer, die, be crowned with thorns, and rise on the third day. The gradual healing of the blind man in today’s Gospel symbolizes how the disciples of Jesus need to grow in their understanding of how Jesus will fulfill his mission as the Messiah. On the one hand, the path of discipleship is one of redemptive suffering with Christ. On the other, we learn that we can always grow in our faith. Here, on earth, we see darkly in a mirror; in heaven, we will see clearly. Here, on earth, we suffer with Christ; in heaven, we will be crowned with him in glory.
3. A Dove Over the Waters: In the First Reading, we read about the conclusion of the flood in Genesis. In many ways, the story harkens back to the opening chapter of Genesis. Just as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters at the beginning of the world, so now Noah sends out a dove that hovers over the waters. When the earth re-emerges from the waters after the flood, this indicates that the flood is a recreation event. After the ark settles on dry land, the Lord God reestablishes the covenant of creation with Noah. When Noah sacrifices animals and birds on the altar he built to the Lord, the Lord promises to never again destroy all living beings with a flood. The covenant with Noah is a “grant covenant,” meaning that God, the superior party in the covenant, rewards Noah, the inferior party, because of his fidelity. This means that God takes upon himself the unconditional obligation – despite the persistence and proliferation of sin – to maintain the stability of the natural order (Genesis 8:22) without the threat of another flood (Genesis (9:13) The problem of sin and the evil that dwells in our hearts (Genesis 8:22) awaits its final solution in the waters of Baptism, which cleans the heart from sin and renew it with the life and love of the Holy Spirit (see Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, p. 69).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I thank you for sending out the Holy Spirit from your heavenly throne. Your Spirit truly enlightens the eyes of the world to see who you are and what you have done out of love for your brothers and sisters.