Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai tuần
19 Thường Niên- Matthew
17:22-27
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa
Giêsu cho chúng ta biết rằng đối với Chúa là Thiên Chúa thì việc đóng thuế đền
thờ không cần thiết, nhưng không phải vì thế mà Ngài sẽ làm gương xấu cho người
khác, nên Chúa đã bảo Phêrô đóng thuế đàng hoàng hoàng (bằng đồng tiền lấy được
từ trong miệng một con cá mới được câu lên.)
Trong thực tế,
chúng ta cần phải thưc hành những nhiệm vụ của chúng ta một cách chu đáo, để
chúng ta có thể làm gương cho những người khác bắt chước những gì mà họ nên
phải làm, Có bao giờ chúng ta đã cảm thấy khó chịu khi trốn tránh trách nhiệm
hoặc nghĩa vụ của chúng ta? Trong tin Mừng hôm nay, Các môn đệ cũng đã được
Chúa Giêsu cho biết rằng, "Con Người" sẽ bị phản bội, bị chối bỏ và
bị Xét xử v phải chết mọt cách đau đớn và nhục nhã trên Thập Giá. Tuy nhiên,
Chúa Giêsu đã sẵn sàng chấp nhận cái chết với sự phản bội của các môn đệ, cũng
như, chấp nhận những vấn nạn to lớn mà họ có thể phải nhận được trong một số
phận tương tự trong cuộc sống trần thế khổ đau của chúng ta, chúng ta phải luôn
tìm kiếm và Xin Chúa giúp chúng ta có thêm can đảm và sức mạnh để chịu đựng
những thử thách trong đời này.
Giá cứu chuộc
của Chúa Giêsu đã phải trả như là của lễ chuộc tội cho tất cả những tội lỗi
chúng ta và để giải thoát chúng ta, Qua cái chết và sự phục sinh của Người,
Chúa Giêsu đã cho chúng ta sự tự do vô biên, để chúng ta được sống
như con cái của Thiên Chúa. Để giúp chúng ta luôn luôn có thể được sống trong
tự do và được hướng dẫn bằng gương sáng của tình yêu và chân lý.
REFLECTION
Throughout
the Old Testament we see God's love for those who obey him and his punishment
for those who disobey his commands. He has loved and fulfilled his promises to
his chosen people, Israel, beginning with Abraham and Isaac. Led by Moses, God
freed Israel from slavery in Egypt and brought them to their promised
land.
In the Gospel
reading Jesus predicts his passion, death and resurrection. He also shows his
respect for civil authorities by paying tax for himself and Peter, "The
sons, then, are tax-free. But so as not to offend these people... take the coin
[in the fish you catch] and let it pay for you and for me." Christians
have to be law-abiding citizens of their countries: they are citizens of this
world and of God's kingdom.
Monday of the Nineteenth Week
in Ordinary Time
From whom do the kings of the
earth take tolls or census tax? From their subjects or from foreigners?” When
he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the subjects are exempt.
But that we may not offend them, go to the sea, drop in a hook, and take the
first fish that comes up. Open its mouth and you will find a coin worth twice
the temple tax. Give that to them for me and for you.”
Prior to this
minor miracle, Jesus had just told His disciples for the second time about His
coming passion. Again, this was difficult for them to hear. Recall that after
the first prediction of Jesus’ coming passion and death, Jesus took Peter,
James and John up the mountain and was Transfigured before them. The
Transfiguration was meant, in part, to dispel the fear of the disciples and to
give them hope for that which was to come. And now, after Jesus’ second
prediction of His passion, another miracle was performed for Peter, personally,
to help encourage him and give him hope.
Imagine if you
were Peter. Imagine following through with Jesus’ instructions by going to the
sea, dropping in a hook, pulling out a fish and then opening its mouth. Peter
must have been filled with hope and excitement as he pulled this fish in,
wondering if Jesus’ words would come true. And as soon as Peter saw the coin,
just as Jesus said, he must have been in awe. Slowly, the fear and anxiety he
was experiencing at this second prediction of Jesus’ passion and death would
have begun to subside as Peter witnessed yet another incredible sign from his
Lord.
God performs
miracles in our lives every day. The problem is that we often fail to discern
them. Any time His glorious power works within us to strengthen us or fills us
with courage, hope, charity and every other virtue, this is a miracle of
transforming grace. God always knows what we need in life. He knows our
struggles and doubts. At times, He is silent so as to draw us deeper through
intentional prayer and acts of faith. And at times, we suddenly find that we
receive a new clarity in life that is the result of His grace at work.
Jesus knew that Peter needed this
extra grace of this personal miracle so that he could move beyond his fears and
struggles and place all of his trust in Jesus. Jesus was trustworthy. This is
the conclusion Peter would have arrived at. He was trustworthy. Therefore,
everything He said should be believed. What a wonderful conclusion for us all
to arrive at.
Reflect, today,
upon the ways that God has assured you of His divine presence and action in
your life. Though the assuring miracles God has performed in your life may not
be physical in their manifestation, God’s workings can be just as convincing if
we clearly perceive them. What does God want to assure you of in your life?
What struggle or doubt do you struggle with? If you struggle, turn your mind to
the ways that God has been present and active in your life. Ponder His
intervention and the ways He has cared for you and led you. Be grateful and
allow the memory of what God has done to be your strength today and the source
of hope when you need it the most.
My miraculous
Lord, Your action in my life is truly glorious and amazing. You never fail to
provide for me when I am in need. Help me to turn to You whenever I struggle so
as to be filled with new hope in You. You are always faithful, dear Lord. I do
place all my hope in You. Jesus, I trust in You.
Monday 19th Ordinary
Time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord
God, you have made me your child through your Son and your Spirit. You know my
rebellious moments and my docile moments. You know all things. Help me to be a
better child who listens to you, imitates your Son, and is docile to your
Spirit.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Second Foretelling of
His Death and Resurrection: In the Gospel, Jesus foretells his death
and resurrection a second time. The first time he did this, Peter reacted very
strongly and took Jesus aside to rebuke him and say: “God forbid, Lord.” This
second time, no one opposes Jesus, but they become greatly distressed and
overwhelmed with grief. The third time Jesus foretells his death, James and
John affirm that they will drink the chalice of suffering with Jesus. Taken
together, we can discern a movement along the way to Jerusalem from forceful
opposition, to anguished resignation, to shared acceptance. In his first
announcement of his death and resurrection, Jesus said simply that he must
suffer many things from the elders and chief priests, and scribes, and be
killed. The second time, Jesus says that as the Son of Man, he must be
delivered into the hands of men and that they will kill him. The third time, he
says that the chief priests and scribes will condemn the Son of Man to death
and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked, scourged, and crucified. The
third provides the most details about his upcoming suffering and indicates how
exactly he will be killed. Crucifixion was the worst kind of death as it was a
cruel form of torture and slow killing.
2. The Question of the Temple
Tax: The discussion about the Temple tax immediately follows the
second passion prediction. “The juxtaposition is deliberate: Jesus will be
killed, finally, for shutting down the temple temporarily (Mt 21:12-17), and so
the temple finds mention now, but the story will also show Jesus to be an
obedient and loyal Jew” (Huizenga, Behold the Christ, 303). Those
who posed the question to Jesus were somewhat hostile and this is indicated in
Matthew by the questioners calling him “Teacher.” Jesus’ subsequent discussion
with Peter reveals that Jesus is more than a teacher, for he is the Son of God.
Jesus asks Peter: Do the kings of the earth take tolls or census tax “from
others” or “from sons”? While kings take tolls and taxes from their people and
from the nations they rule, no king taxes his own sons and daughters. They are
exempt: “The king in this analogy represents God; Jesus as God’s Son (3:17;
17:9) is the Son of the King. Just as the royal sons in a secular kingdom are
exempt from paying the king’s taxes, so too Jesus, as God’s Son, is free from
paying a tax for God’s house, the temple” (Mitch and Sri, The Gospel of
Matthew, 223). Jesus is the ultimate Son of God; his followers are also
sons of God. Like Jesus, they should be exempt. “But Jesus, careful to avoid
scandal, instructs Simon Peter to pay the tax, which he’ll obtain not from
Jesus’s or the disciples’s funds but through a miracle” (Huizenga, Behold
the Christ, 304).
3. Circumcise your Hearts: The
First Reading, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, employs a powerful image –
the circumcision of the heart. Moses has just recalled the breaking of the
Sinai covenant and the renewal of that covenant. What is Israel to do now after
40 years of desert wandering, and ready to enter the Promised Land? They are to
fear the Lord with humility, follow the Lord’s ways exactly, love and serve
(worship) the Lord with all their heart and soul, and keep the commandments and
statutes of the Lord. Moses looks forward to a day in the future when God will
establish a New Covenant that will be interior rather than exterior. He employs
the image of circumcising the heart. “Circumcision is an outward sign of an
inward act. Removing the foreskin of the flesh symbolizes the need to cut away
the stubbornness of the human heart and consecrate it to the Lord through
obedience (Jeremiah 4:4). To have an uncircumcised heart is to be unresponsive
to God and unfaithful to the demands of his covenant (Jeremiah 9:25-26)” (Ignatius
Catholic Study Bible, 29).
Monday 19th Ordinary
Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord
God, you have made me your child through your Son and your Spirit. You know my
rebellious moments and my docile moments. You know all things. Help me to be a
better child, who listens to you, imitates your Son, and is docile to your
Spirit.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Prophet Ezekiel: The
word of the Lord came to the priest Ezekiel while he was in exile in Babylon,
in the “land of the Chaldeans.” The prophet heard God’s word and his call in
593 B.C., four years after being deported from Jerusalem into exile in Babylon.
While the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord in the Temple of Jerusalem and heard the seraphim
proclaim the holiness and glory of the Lord of Hosts, the prophet Ezekiel saw a
vision of the likeness of the Glory of the Lord in a foreign land, outside the
Temple. The Lord, the God of Israel and all creation is omnipresent: The winged
creatures and coals of fire recall Isaiah’s encounter (Isaiah 6:1-8), and the
fire, storm, and clouds reflect the revelation at Sinai (Exodus 19:1-25;
24:1-8). “But unique to Ezekiel are the images of chariot, wheels, and wings
swirling together and offering a sense of the dynamic freedom and agility of
[the Lord’s] splendor (cf 2 Kgs 2:11)” (Duggan, The Consuming Fire,
311).
2. Ezekiel’s Vision: Ezekiel's
vision is both a sign of hope and a sign of judgment: hope because the Lord
reveals himself to his people in exile; judgment, because the glory of the Lord
is about to depart from the Temple in Jerusalem. “The movement of the Lord’s
glory away from the Temple in Jerusalem and the promise of its returning to the
restored Temple provide the framing of the text. By means of the Exile, the
Lord will transform his people so that he will be able to dwell in their midst
(48:35; cf. 3:12)” (Duggan, The Consuming Fire, 311). Ezekiel sees,
above the firmament, above the angels, and seated on a likeness of God’s
throne, a likeness in human form. Daniel will see one like a son of man come
before God’s throne and receive dominion, glory, and kingship. John will see a
similar vision in the Book of Revelation. Exiled on the island of Patmos, he
will see one like a Son of man (Revelation 1:13). Like Ezekiel, John also sees
four living creatures around God’s throne: one like a lion, one like an ox, one
like a man, and one like an eagle. They sing: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God
Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:6-8). When the living
creatures give glory and honor and thanks to God, the twenty-four elders fall
down in worship, casting aside their crowns and singing: “Worthy are you, our
Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:9-11).
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