Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thừ Hai Tuần 15 TN

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thừ Hai Tuần 15 TN
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu cảnh báo chúng ta rằng Những quyết định theo Chúa Giêsu của chúng ta có thể sẽ mang lại cho chúng ta những xung đột, và có khi phải đối mặt với những cuộc xung đột ngay chính trong gia đình và phần nhiều là nhưng xung đột bên ngoài xã hội. Đôi khi, ngay cả bạn bè thân nhất và những người thân yêu nhất của chúng ta đã không hiểu, và thậm chí có thể từ bỏ và xa lánh cho chúng ta. Dù có sao đi chăng nữa, Chúng ta phải vững tâm theo Chúa Giêsu cho đến tận cùng. Không có con đường nào đi tắt để đến với Chúa Giêsu được. Chúa Giêsu muốn chúng ta cùng chia sẽ sự đau khổ với Ngài ngay bây giờ bằng việc chúng ta phải biết chọn lựa và thực hành một cuộc sống căn bản cho chính chúng ta đó là thực thì những lời Chúa dạy. Không ai có thể thờ ơ và lãng đạm với Chúa. Chúng ta một là theo Chúa, hoặc chống lại Ngài, chúng ta không thể nói theo Chúa mà sống theo sự ham muốn vật chất.
Chúa Giêsu đã chống lại thế giới vì thế mà mọi thế hệ vẫn có những người xung đột chống lại Chúa Giêsu và tiếp tục chống lại những tín điều của Hội Thánh. Những ai không yêu mến Chúa Giêsu, thì rồi cũng ghét Chúa. Chúa Giêsu là một thách đố đối với những người tự cao, hay tự hào và những người yêu thích sự ham muốn xác thịt hay phóng khoáng, theo chủ nghĩa cá nhân. Nếu chúng ta là người có lòng thật sự yêu mến Chúa, Thì chúng ta phải biết ghét bỏ và xa tránh sự ích kỷ của chúng ta, Ví nếu như chúng ta bám víu vào sự ích kỷ của chúng ta, trước sau gì chúng ta cũng trở nên vô tư và đối nghịch với Thiên Chúa lúc nào mà không biết. Thập giá to lớn và nặng nhất của chúng ta là chính cái bản chất tự phụ nơi con người chúng ta và chính chúng ta đã tự phủ nhận chính mình. Yêu mến Chúa Giêsu trên hết mọi sự thì bao gồm cả sự yếm mến chính mình ( chúng ta.) nữa.
 
REFLECTION
our own personal decision to follow Jesus will bring us face-to-face with struggles from within and without, and both will challenge that decision. Sometimes, even our nearest and dearest friends will not understand, and may even reject us. Even then, our determination to follow Jesus must remain intact. There is no middle road to Jesus. Jesus forces us to make some fundamental and basic options in life. No one can be indifferent to Jesus. We are either for him, or against him. Jesus is the rock against which generations of men and women have clashed, and continue to clash. Whoever does not love Jesus, winds up hating him? Jesus is such a challenge to our pride and love of comfort, that we either love him and hate our selfishness, or we cling to our selfishness and wind up becoming indifferent and opposed to him. This is the biggest cross: our own self-denial, loving Jesus above all things, including our very self
 
Monday 15th in Ordinary Time 2026
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household.” Mt 10:34–36
At first glance, this Gospel sounds like a mistake. Did Jesus really say this? He certainly did. Understanding this passage requires a deep and clear awareness of Christ’s mission. He came to bring the true and lasting peace that comes only through adherence to the fullness of truth and cooperation with the fullness of grace. Note that this teaching was not delivered to the crowds but to the Twelve. Jesus often spoke to the crowds in parables, gently nourishing them with truths they could gradually grasp. But to the Twelve, He spoke with increasing clarity and depth. Today’s Gospel is one such instance.
This passage comes from what is sometimes referred to as the Missionary Discourse, in which Jesus prepares His Apostles for the upheaval their mission will bring—first as they go out two by two to the towns of Israel, and later, after the Ascension, when they are sent to the ends of the earth. At first, Jesus’ words seem jarring, even paradoxical, coming from Him who is the Prince of Peace. But when we grasp their meaning, we discover the “tough love” this Gospel both encourages and demands.
We all desire peace, especially within our families and communities, but peace is multifaceted and can have different meanings. On a superficial level, peace simply means the absence of conflict. While such tranquility has its place, Jesus came to offer a far greater and more enduring peace: the peace of shalom.
Shalom, the Hebrew word for “peace,” signifies far more than the absence of strife. It encompasses the fullness of harmony, justice, and blessing that flow from a right relationship with God. It is a peace rooted in truth and communion with Him. Ironically, true peace can provoke division, especially when the Gospel confronts the sins and falsehoods people are unwilling to abandon. The “sword” our Lord brings is not for destruction, but for purification. It cuts away what is false so that the peace of shalom may take root.
The sword Christ promises is the Truth: the living and active Word of God, “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). It cuts through deception, pierces the heart, and forces a choice—a decisive turning toward or away from Him. God directs that sword at each of us, and through us, toward others. Even familial bonds will be tested and purified by the Gospel. Sometimes that purification results in visible division. But often, such division is necessary to bring about a deeper and more lasting unity in God’s truth.
Which do you prefer? The mere absence of conflict at any cost—or a peace so deeply rooted in divine truth that it heals, unites, and strengthens bonds of love after purifying them? Certainly, the former is easier. Avoiding conflict is good when it means refraining from sinning against another—whether through anger, harsh judgment, or rudeness. But when conflict arises from purifying love, conveyed through the power of God’s saving Word, then such conflict becomes an act of charity. It does not seek division for its own sake, but aims at the heart—at conversion and truth—rather than at preserving what is fleeting and passing.
Reflect today on the kind of peace you seek in your own life. Are there areas in which you’ve settled for comfort rather than truth? Have you avoided necessary spiritual conflict for fear of tension, even when it might have led to growth or reconciliation? Pray for the courage to welcome the “sword” of God’s Word—not to cause division, but to purify—so that the peace of shalom may take root more deeply in your heart, your relationships, and your mission.
Prince of True Peace, You did not come to bring superficial peace to the world, but to bring the Sword of Truth—Your Word—that purifies and heals, so that true unity may be found. Pierce my heart with Your Word, O Lord. Cleanse me of all that separates me from You, and make me an instrument of Your purifying truth for those to whom I am sent. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, it is hard to hear your Son’s words today. He speaks about bringing a sword instead of peace, instigating familial strife, and the need to love him more than my own family. Soften the hardness of my heart to receive your Word and understand it so that it may bear abundant fruit.
Encountering the Word of God
1. I Have Come to Bring the Sword: In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is concluding his second major discourse on the mission of his apostles, the royal officers of his Kingdom (Matthew 10). As we read the passage, we can naturally ask: “How is it that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, announces that he comes not to bring peace upon the earth, but the sword, and to set family members against each other?” What Jesus is alluding to is a prophecy of Micah, which states: “For the son belittles his father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and your enemies are members of your household” (Micah 7:6). According to the prophets and first-century Jewish thought, there would be a time of great tribulation that would precede and inaugurate the age of salvation. In brief, Jesus is saying that he has come to inaugurate the time of tribulation and that the age of salvation is dawning. He is sending out his apostles with the Good News of salvation. “The proclamation of the kingdom will cause division not because of the message itself but because of the ways people receive it. Responses will vary from full reception to hostile rejection, and thus will cause discord – even hostility – within families” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of Matthew, 148).
2. Loving God First: After speaking about the fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy about tribulation, Jesus speaks about the hierarchy of our love. We cannot love even our own family members more than the three persons of the Holy Trinity. The worthy disciple of Jesus does not love their father, mother, son, or daughter more than Jesus Christ. The first commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. As the First Letter of John teaches, the two commandments go together: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 John 4:20). Many times, our love for God is expressed in how we treat and care for our brothers and sisters in need. This teaching about loving God more than our family is followed by the need to love God more than our own earthly lives. If we put our earthly temporal lives first – i.e., focusing on the disordered pursuit of possessions, earthly treasure, earthly fame, and pleasure – we will lose out on heavenly eternal life. By contrast, if we live earthly lives of sacrificial and servicial love – i.e., losing our lives for the sake of Christ – we will gain eternal life.
3. Receiving Jesus’s Disciples: Today’s Gospel reading concludes Book Two of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 8-10). It ties welcoming the apostles and disciples of Jesus, who are sent out with the prophetic message of the Gospel of the Kingdom, to welcoming and receiving Jesus himself. Receiving Jesus also means receiving the Father, the one who sends his Son, and the Spirit, the one sent by the Father and the Son. At the end of the Gospel passage, Jesus mentions three rewards or wages – for serving a prophet, for serving a righteous person, and for serving a little one. This covers a whole range of service, from welcoming a prophet, apostle, or missionary to giving a cup of cold water to a disciple of Jesus. God is not outdone in generosity: “Those who take up their crosses by leaving all their possessions behind and enduring persecutions will be repaid a hundred times as much” (Eubank, Wages of Cross-Bearing and Debt of Sin, 88). God mercifully forgives the debt of sin to those who ask and repays righteous deeds far more than they are worth.
 
Suy Niệm Thứ Hai 15th TN
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu cảnh báo các môn đệ rằng họ và những người theo Chúa Kitô sẽ phải đối đầu với những thủ thách, đau buồn và sự chia rẽ nếu họ sống với ý nghĩa của Tin Mừng và theo Chúa Kitô: cha mẹ sẽ không đồng ý với con cái, gia đình vợ chồng concái chia rẽ nhau, cộng đồng cũng chia theo theo từng nhóm và thậm chí các quốc gia sẽ bị chia lẫn nhau.
Chính Chúa Giêsu trong cuộc đời của mình là trung tâm của cuộc tranh cãi. Ông có nhiều tín đồ; nhưng ông cũng đã có nhiều kẻ thù. Tại phiên tòa xét xử và lên án trước Philatô, vì hận thù của Chúa Giêsu, các nhà lãnh đạo của người Do Thái abjured Thiên Chúa của họ, "Chúng tôi không có vua nhưng Caesar." (Jn 19:15 c
Giáo Hội đã có một dòng bất tận của các vị tử đạo, phong thánh, phong chân phước và nhiều không, bắt đầu từ St. Stephen cho đến ngày chúng tôi, những người l can đảm làm chứng cho Chúa Kitô và sứ điệp của ông thậm chí để cho đi chính cuộc sống của họ.
Chúng ta được kêu gọi để làm chứng nhân trung thành với Chúa Kitô. Chúng tôi sẽ và nên hy vọng rằng việc chứng kiến như vậy, nếu thực sự, sẽ kéo theo việc chéo, theo gương Chúa Kitô, Đấng đã hiến thân mình cho chúng ta trên thập tự giá.
 
Reflection:
     In our Advent liturgies we look forward to the coming of the Prince of Peace, who will bring us back to God against whom mankind had sinned. But when the Prince of Peace came, he said that he also brought a "sword." As we follow Jesus in our everyday life, we get an idea of this sword which is ever-present for those who follow Christ. The sword represents conflicts, challenges and even violence. At the presentation of the infant Jesus at the Temple, the holy man Simeon rejoiced at seing the Messiah as promised by the Lord and told Mary his Mother, "See him; he will be for the rise or fall of the multitudes of Israel, He shall stand as a sign of contradiction, while a sword will pierce your own soul." (Lk 3:  34b – 35a)
     In the Gospel reading Jesus warns his disciples that they and those who follow Christ will face challenges and divisions on the meaning and living out of Christ's Good News: fathers will disagree with their sons, mothers with their daughters, families will be divided, groups and even nations will be divided.
     Jesus himself in his lifetime was at the center of controversy. He had many followers; but he also had many enemies. At his trial and condemnation before Pilate, because of hatred of Jesus, the leaders of the Jews abjured their God, "We have no King but Caesar." (Jn 19:15c)
     The Church has had an endless stream of martyrs, canonized, beatified and many not, beginning from St. Stephen until our days, who l courageously witnessed to Christ and his message even to the giving up of their lives.  We are called to be faithful witnesses to Christ. We would and should expect that such witnessing, if real, would entail the cross, in imitation of Christ who gave his life for us on the cross.