Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ 5 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ 5 Thường Niên (Mark 6:53-56 )
Trong thời Chúa Giêsu, người ta tin rằng bệnh tật là do sự trừng phạt vì tội lỗi của mình đã phạm. Trong khi chúng ta biết rằng bệnh tật không phải là sự trừng phạt vì tội lỗi, nhưng bệnh tật có thể xảy ra do một số  hậu quả của tội lỗi. Những thí dụ cụ thể như chứng bệnh ung thư hôm nay càng ngày càng thấy phát hiện nhiều, nhất là các nước tân tiến và kỹ nghệ, Mà nguyên chinh gây ra những bệnh này có thể là vì những nhà máy kỹ nghệ vô đạo đức mà sử dụng các thành phần hoá chất độc hại trong các sản phẩm của họ chỉ vì lợi nhuận?  hay là các chất thải từ kỹ nghệ đã gây độc hại cho môi trường mà chúng ta sinh sống.  Không phải là một số không ít đang phải đối phó với những vấn đề tâm lý vì một số loại bệnh tâm thần đã được gây ra bởi những người thân yêu của chính họ?       Tin Mừng hôm nay nhắc nhở chúng ta biết rằng là chúng ta có thể tìm thấy được sự chữa lành trong Chúa Kitô và được đảm bảo với chúng ta rằng "Tất cả những ai chạm vào Chúa thì sẽ được chữa khỏi bệnh tật."  Nhưng việc được chữa cho được lành bệnh sẽ không xảy ra nếu chúng ta không có đức tin. Và đức tin không phải chỉ là việc tin tưởng không mà thôi , nhưng chúng ta còn phải theo Chúa Kitô. Nếu như chúng ta muốn thoát khỏi cái thế giới đau ốm tâm thần này, thì  chúng ta hãy nên yêu thương nhiều hơn và hãy nên biết tha thứ nhiều hơn. Nếu chúng ta muốn thoát khỏi  được cái thế giới đau bệnh này ,  thì ít nhất các doanh nghiệp trong các nhà máy  kỹ nghệ  đừng nên sử dụng các vật liệu hay hoá chất có tính chất độc hại, và thay vào đó hãy  tìm cách để sản xuất ra các sản phẩm mà không có gì  làm hại cho thế giới. Nếu chúng ta muốn thế gìới này không còn bị những cơn lũ lụt tàn phá như những cơn bão trong năm vừa  qua, Thì chính phủ và người dân chúng ta phải biết bảo vệ các khu rừng và môi trường thiên nhiên.
            Chúng ta hãy mang những bệnh tật, đau ốm  của chúng ta tới với Chúa Kitô và cho phép Ngài  hướng dẫn chúng ta biết tìm đến với sự thay đổi, thống hối và biết ăn năn.
 
Reflection:
There are many illnesses and diseases today that were not present before.  New viruses keep coming out and it is not uncommon to be diagnosed with some kind of viral infection that has not even been named by the medical world. We also hear of many kinds of psychological disorders. During Jesus' time, people believed that sickness was a punishment for one's sin. While we know that sickness is not punishment for sin, it may very well be a consequence of sin. For, is it not that we have cancer today because of the unscrupulous businesses that use toxic ingredients in their products just for profit? Is it not that many have to deal with emotional problems because of some kind of pain inflicted by their own loved ones?
The Gospel reminds us that we can find healing in Christ and assures us that "All who touched him were cured." But healing will not happen without faith. And faith is not just about believing, but also about following Christ. If we wish to rid this world of emotional pains, then we should be more loving and more forgiving. If we wish to rid this world of cancer and other diseases, businesses should never use toxic materials, and instead find ways to create products without harming the world.  If we wish never to suffer from another devastating flood like "Ondoy" then we should all work towards preserving the environment.  
Let us bring our sickness to Christ and allow him to lead us to conversion.  
 
Monday 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2025
Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed. Mark 6:56
It would have been truly awe-inspiring to witness Jesus healing the sick. The people who witnessed this clearly had never seen anything like it before. For those who were sick, or whose loved ones were sick, each healing would have had a powerful effect upon them and upon their whole family.
Today, modern science, with its ability to treat so many illnesses, has lessened the fear and anxiety over getting sick. But in Jesus’ time, serious illness was of far greater concern. For that reason, the desire of so many people to bring their sick to Jesus so that they could be healed was very strong. This desire drove them to Jesus so that “they might touch only the tassel on his cloak” and be healed. And Jesus didn’t disappoint.
Though Jesus’ physical healings were unquestionably an act of charity given to those who were sick and to their families, they obviously weren’t the most important thing Jesus did. And it’s important for us to remind ourselves of that fact. Jesus’ healings were primarily for the purpose of preparing the people to listen to His Word and to ultimately receive the spiritual healing of the forgiveness of their sins.
In your own life, if you were seriously ill and were given the option to receive either a physical healing or to receive the spiritual healing of the forgiveness of your sins, which would you choose? Clearly, the spiritual healing of the forgiveness of your sins is of infinitely greater value. It will affect your soul for all eternity. The truth is that this far greater healing is available to us all, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In that Sacrament, we are invited to “touch the tassel on his cloak,” so to speak, and be spiritually healed. For that reason, we should have a much deeper desire to seek out Jesus in the confessional than the people of Jesus’ day had for physical healing. And yet, too often we ignore the priceless gift of God’s mercy and healing offered so freely to us.
Reflect, today, upon the desire in the hearts of the people in this Gospel story. Think, especially, about those who were seriously ill and about their burning desire to come to Jesus for healing. Compare that desire in their hearts to the desire, or lack of desire, in your heart to run to our Lord for the spiritual healings your soul so desperately needs. Seek to foster a greater desire for this healing, especially as it comes to you through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
My healing Lord, I thank You for the spiritual healing You continually offer me, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I thank You for the forgiveness of my sins on account of You suffering on the Cross. Fill my heart with a greater desire to come to You so as to receive the greatest gift I could ever receive: the forgiveness of my sins. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, Creator of all things, send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. Help me to recognize my need so that I may reach out to you and your Son to be healed. I want to center my life and work totally on you and serve my brothers and sisters as best as I can.
Encountering the Word of God
1. People Immediately Recognized Him: Much of the Gospel of Mark takes place in the villages and towns around the Sea of Galilee. Jesus has just demonstrated his divine power to his disciples by feeding the five thousand (Mark 6:34-44) and by walking on the water as his disciples struggled during the night to go toward Bethsaida. From John’s Gospel we know that the disciples were specifically going to Capernaum (John 6:16), which was about six miles west of Bethsaida. It is curious that Jesus doesn’t bring his disciples to Capernaum, but rather lands them safely at Gennesaret, a village three miles south of Capernaum. By avoiding Capernaum, Jesus was likely avoiding the crowds who wanted to take him by force and make him king (John 6:15). In Gennesaret, the people immediately recognize Jesus and, instead of trying to make him king, bring the sick among them to be healed by him.
2. The Tassel on His Cloak: Earlier, the woman with a hemorrhage was healed by touching Jesus’ garment. It was her faith in Jesus that made her well. Here, Mark speaks about people touching the blue tassels or fringes that Jesus wore on the four corners of his cloak. These tassels were commanded in the Law of Moses and were a reminder to keep God’s commandments and be holy (Numbers 15:37-40; Deuteronomy 22:12). By wearing the tassels, “Jesus is the model of faithfulness to the covenant, who perfectly fulfills the Father’s commands. All who touched [the tassel on Jesus’ garments] were healed – not because of any magical power in the tassel itself, but because of their faith in him who wore it. Here, as often in Mark’s healing narratives (Mark 5:23, 34; 10:52), physical healing is an anticipatory sign of salvation in the full sense, since the same verb, sozo, can be translated ‘heal’ or ‘save’” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 133).
3. The Purpose of Creation: For the next two weeks, the First Reading will be taken from Genesis 1-11. The opening chapter of Genesis does not attempt a scientific explanation of how the universe developed but is a revelation about the truth and purpose of creation. The seven days of creation indicate that the universe is a temple fashioned by God. Just as a temple is a sacred place where God can be worshipped, the entire universe is a place where human beings can enter into communion with God the Creator and worship him. The opening lines of Genesis indicate that the earth that God created was, for a time, formless (tohu) and empty (bohu). The first three days of creation provide the structural form, realms, and order to the world. The second set of three days fill the realms created on the first three days. On the first day, the form or realm of time was created with the separation of light (day) from darkness (night). And on the fourth day, the two realms of day and night were filled with their rulers: the sun to rule the day; the moon and stars to rule the night. On the second day, the realm of space was created. And on the fifth day, the two realms of the sky and sea were filled with their rulers: the birds to rule the sky and the fish and sea creatures to rule the waters. On the third day, the realm of the earth (matter, so to speak) was created. And on the sixth day, the realm of earth was filled with its rulers: animals and, above the all the other animals, human beings.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are all holy, faithful, and merciful. You are the eternal Word through whom God the Father created the world. You have recreated the world through your passion, death, and resurrection. Pour out your Spirit within me to sanctify and bring to perfection what you have recreated.
 
Monday 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, I begin my prayer today recognizing that through prayer you enter into my life. I spend my life scurrying in many ways and I want to be calm before you, but at the same time I long to bring before you all that is “sick” in me so that you can heal me spiritually, psychologically, and in my relationships. Bless me as I pray.
Encountering Christ:
They Immediately Recognized Him: The people in this Gospel had heard about Jesus, and in great expectation they hoped to see him again to ask him for help and healing. When the disciples got off the boat, the way the Twelve deferred to Jesus confirmed to the onlookers that Jesus, the miracle worker, the Messiah, had indeed arrived. This same Jesus is present in our local church, hidden in the tabernacle. How aware are we of his presence? Do we recognize him there? Do we reverently genuflect and make the sign of the cross as a deferential greeting? Even now, reading and praying, are we fully aware of Jesus, before us, beside us, within us? When our hearts are full of expectation, we are more likely to recognize the presence of Our Lord. 
To Touch the Tassel on His Cloak: In the Gospel stories, the most dramatic healings were often accomplished by the smallest, seemingly insignificant actions, such as touching the tassel of Jesus’ cloak. All that was required by the recipient was an act of faith (see also Matthew 9:20). Jesus asks us to have faith in him. “What great faith our Lord Jesus Christ asks of us—and how just that is. Do we not owe him such faith? It looks impossible to us, but Jesus is Master of the impossible” (Blessed Charles de Foucauld). Do we believe that Jesus can work miracles in our life just because we ask him to?
Great Intercessors: The people of the towns scrambled to bring their sick to the marketplace so that Jesus could heal them. Not only did they carry their ill family members or friends to the town center, (which was probably logistically difficult) but they begged out loud, calling on Jesus to work a miracle. In short, they made spectacles of themselves for the love of those whom they brought with them. We aren’t often called to publicly proclaim our faith in the marketplace but, as Christians, we are to be no less zealous in seeking the spiritual, psychological, or physical healing of those who ask for our prayers. Our Lord is pleased when we intercede for others, and even beg for their salvation. “There is only one thing to do during the brief day, or rather, night of this life: Love Jesus with all the strength of your heart and save souls for him, so that he may be loved!” (St. Thérèse of Lisieux).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I desire to recognize you in my life today, to see you before me, beside me, behind me. Help me to be touched and healed by your presence. Infuse me with great zeal for souls so that I may not miss a single opportunity to bring someone closer to you.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will make a conscious effort to look for your presence in my day and, strengthened by you, reach out to someone on your behalf.