Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần 28 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần 28 Thường Niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng, Chúa Giêsu cho chúng ta biết là cuộc sống chúng ta đang sống hôm nay thật sự chỉ là cuộc sống tạm thời. Chúng ta không nên sợ cái chết ở trần thế, mà nên sợ cái chết đời đời. Đó là lý do tại sao chúng ta không nên chỉ chú ý đến cuộc sống trần gian, nhưng chúng ta phải chú ý đến sự sống vĩnh cửu đời đời ngày sau. Vĩnh cửu, đời đời là những chữ mà chúng ta thấy khó để liên kết với con người bởi vì tất cả mọi thứ ở đây không thể kéo dài mãi được. Tất cả mọi sự ỡ đời này đều có sự giới hạn. Vì tất cả mọi thứ, dù có bao bền lâu bao nhiêu, rồi cũng sẽ bị huỷ diệt. Ngay cả thế giới này cũng thế, rồi thì cũng qua đi. Và bất cứ điều gì chúng ta làm, đặc biệt là những điểu ẩn kín vẫn được Thiên Chúa nhìn thấy rất tỏ tường. Tất cả những hành động của chúng ta sẽ được phát hiện khi chúng trình diện mặt Chúa trong ngày sau hết của cuộc đời.

Chúng ta hãy bắt đầu ngay bây giờ, hãy bắt đầu làm việc cho những thứ cần thiết cho thiên đường, chứ không phải là chỉ để mắt của chúng ta hướng về những mối quan tâm trần thế, hữu hình. Hãy nhớ, Thiên Đàng thì tồn tại mãi mãi và có thật!

Reflection:

It is clear that the life we live today is temporary. We are not to fear the earthly death, but rather the eternal death. That is why we should not just pay attention to the earthly life, but rather also to the eternal life. Because eternal life lasts forever. Forever is a word we find hard to relate with because all things here do not last. Warranties are limited and guarantees have a lifespan of its own, no matter the assurances we get, All things, no matter how durable get broken. Even this world is passing away slowly. And whatever we do, especially those hidden, are seen by God. All our actions will be uncovered and exposed at the end of time. Nothing will escape God's sight. Let us then start working then for the things of Heaven, rather than just fix our eyes always and only on tangible earthly concerns. Heaven exists. Forever is real!

Friday 28th Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Lord as I come before you in these quiet moments of prayer, please bring your light into my darkness.

Encountering Christ:

· The Friends of Jesus: The crowd surrounding Jesus kept getting bigger and bigger. St. Luke makes a point of showing this. And yet, Jesus didn’t become intoxicated by this growing popularity. He was not trying to feed his own ego by multiplying followers; he was trying to win true friends. In fact, as he instructed his listeners to care less about what happens to them during their life than what will happen to them once they pass beyond death’s door–entering heaven or hell–he called them my friends. Jesus wants our friendship. Would I characterize my relationship with Jesus as a friendship? Do I interact with him as easily and sincerely as I do with a true friend? Do I recognize his voice as easily as I recognize the voices of my other friends? St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest theologians in the two-thousand-year history of the Church, describes the kind of love given to us by the gift of grace–called “charity” in theological terms–as the love of friendship. Indeed, grace itself is a gift that elevates our limited human nature so that we can relate to God no longer simply as his creatures, but as his friends. It was the discovery of Christ as a true friend, a true companion, that inspired today’s saint, Teresa of Avila, to reform the Carmelite Order and spark a spiritual renewal in the Church that is still reverberating today, five hundred years later. What does friendship with Christ mean for me? What would I like it to mean for me? What would God like it to mean for me?

· The Poison of Hypocrisy: The “leaven” of the Pharisees about which Jesus warned his closest followers is hypocrisy: the radical clash between what we appear to be and what we truly are. The Pharisees cultivated energetically and cunningly the appearance of religious fervor and advanced piety. And yet, underneath that appearance, they were not truly living a vibrant and humble relationship with God. Rather, they were using their status and reputation to feed their own vanity and pride, to increase their social and political influence, with all the worldly benefits such influence included. The same can happen to us. We can begin to fall in love with our own religious or moral appearances, considering ourselves more righteous and enlightened than others to the point where we begin to look down upon them and judge them. This is a spiritual trap anyone can fall into. It is a sure way to weaken one’s friendship with God through the suffocating grip of self-referentiality. Jesus exhorts us to avoid this. The hypocrite hides his own dark side even from himself, forgetting that in the end, when we come face to face with God, nothing will be hidden. It is better to be honest than hypocritical. A person committed to sincerity will live with greater peace in this life and the next. An honest person will grow in friendship with God and others, while a hypocrite will only shrink more and more into deadening isolation so deep that he may even lose sight of his very self.

· Confidence in God: Jesus has revealed that after we die we face judgment. In this passage, he reminds us of this and encourages us to live with this perspective always in mind. We are not living for this earthly life alone. In fact, our journey here is directed towards a glorious destination beyond this earth. How foolish we are when we lose sight of this! How easily manipulated by false fears and false promises alike! Jesus wants to save us from that life of unnecessary anxiety and uncertainty. And he does so by reminding us that God is our Father, that we matter to him as much as a little child matters to its loving, doting parents. The small little sparrows Jesus uses in his comparison owe every moment of their existence to God’s providential sustenance and care. And yet, we are worth more than many sparrows… Even the hairs of your head have all been counted… The challenges and sufferings of life in this fallen world, riddled with injustice and violence, are real. But Jesus doesn’t want us to live in fear of them. He invites us to trust that God can handle them, and that God’s plan for our eternal happiness far surpasses anything we could possibly imagine.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, you gave St. Teresa of Avila a truly life-changing experience of your goodness, presence, and love. I know you have given me many experiences of those things as well. And yet, I need more! I am so easily tangled up in the anxieties of this world! I hear you telling me not to be afraid. I hear you inviting me to trust in you without restraint… Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom; lead Thou me on… I do not ask to see the distant scene, one step enough for me.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pause in the midst of my busy schedule to admire the beauty of your creation and let it remind me of your providential care for me.

Friday 28th Ordinary Time

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: Lord, give me courage to keepnot to shy away from following you even in the face ofwhen I am faced with anytemptation.

11. Lion Food: St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was arrested and then transported to Rome, where death by lions awaited him. During the journey he wrote letters to some of the Christian communities he passed through, most notably the Christian community in Rome. In thea letter, he urges the Romansthem to do him no “untimely charity” of interceding with the emperor to spare him from execution. He writes to them, “I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable goodwill towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God” (Letter to the Romans). When Christ speaks of having no fear of those who kill the body but after that can do no more, he means it quite literally. If we encounter a situation in which we must either be faithful to Christ or cave in to pressure and abandon the path of the Lord, we should never hesitate. Follow Christ. Do not fear those who might “kill” by their criticism or disapproval of our rectitude of conscience. Do not be afraid.

2. Becoming Eucharist: St. Ignatius continues, “I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God” (Letter to the Romans). He is drawing a connection between his own coming martyrdom—wheat ground by the teeth of wild beasts—and the Eucharist—the pure bread of God. These words are not just grisly yet pious analogy; rather, they touch on the most profound meaning of the mystery of the Eucharist and our participation in it. The Eucharist is the most complete worship given to God the Father: It is the Incarnation of God among us, it is Christ’s sacrifice of his body on the Cross, and it is his Resurrection from death to eternal life. Through the EucharistChrist’s incarnation, sacrificial death, and resurrection are not merely examples we are called to imitate in the way an amateur athlete might imitate a professional. The Eucharist is much more profound than that. In receiving the Eucharist, we are united to Christ’s humanity (the Incarnation), his suffering to fulfill the Father’s loving will, his death to sin and his resurrection (our life in grace here and eternal life in the next). In this union we become the “pure bread of God”, as St. Ignatius writes. Wwe become an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord. We need to offer the struggles and challenges of each day in order to remain united with Christ in the Eucharist.

3. More than Birds: In our daily life we take many small things for granted because they seem to have little import in the grand scheme of things. “What were the high and low temperatures a year ago today?” “What does it matter now?” we might as well respond. “Where will the four sparrows I saw in the park two weeks ago get food to eat?” It’s not even a question that occurs to us. We have many other things of immediate importance that require our attention and action. Yet such a question is important enough to occur to God. Christ tells us in Luke 12:24, “They do not sow or reap; they have no storehouses and no barns; yet God feeds them.” He continues, “And how much more are you worth than the birds!” If God would make time to think about something so insignificant among all the goings-on in the world, how much more will he be taking care of our needs!

Conversation with Christ: Lord, when I look at the difficulties and rough spots I know I will be facing today, I worry about the sacrifices I’ll have to make. Maybe I won’t be as patient or generous as I ought. Maybe events won’t turn out as I hope. Help me to have confidence and trust in you like St. Ignatius. Help me realize that you have taken care of every minute detail of all that will occur today.

Resolution: When faced with any worry today I will pray, “Jesus, I trust in you.”

REFLECTION

In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples to be "on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees." Jesus was referring to their hypocrisy. The Pharisees pretend to be God-fearing but all their words and actions are just for show – to make people think they are pious so they will be shown respect. But deep down, they are selfish, manipulating, pretentious, and even violent. Jesus tells his disciples not to fear them even though they could "kill the body." They cannot kill the soul or destroy the Holy Spirit that God has put in the hearts of His disciples.

In the first reading, St. Paul says that Christians are those who hope in the Lord, who wait for his glorious coming. As they have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit, they feel a freedom that others do not have: that of being sons of God, of having experienced God as a Father, which gives them great joy and peace. It also emboldens them to preach the Good News of salvation to others. We are called to experience the joy and freedom of God's children. We are also called to preach the Gospel of Jesus to all men. To preach how Jesus died for our sins and was raised by the Father for our justification is our joy and privilege.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần 28th Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Năm Tuần 28th Thường Niên

Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã quở máng những người Pharisêu và các thầy thông giáo vì những luật lệ họ đã áp đặt trên dâan chúng và những hành động đạo đức giả của họ. Trong khi họ khoe khoang và rao giảng sự công bình và công lý, nhưng chính họ lại thiếu đức bác ái và còn hành động ngược lại với những gì họ rao giảng. Họ xây dựng đài tưởng niệm cho các tiên tri, những người mà tổ tiên của họ đã giết. Họ đã không sống cuộc sống tốt lành: "Khốn cho các người, hỡi những nhà thông luật! Các người đã cất giấu chìa khoá của sự hiểu biết, các người đã không vào, mà những kẻ muốn vào, các người lại ngăn cản.".." (Lc 11: 52)

Ngược lại trong bài đọc thứ nhất trong thư gửi cho các Kitô hữu ở Êphêsô, Thánh Phaolô đã chúc lành ông mang tình yêu, lòng nhân ái với ân sủng của Thiên Chúa đến với "các vị thánh ở Ephêsô," "Trong Đức Ki-tô, Bởi chưng Người đã chọn ta trong Ngài, từ trước tạo thiên lập địa, để ta được nên thánh và vô tì tích trước mặt Người.."(Eph 1: 4) Chúng ta hãy cầu nguyện để cho chúng ta không giống như những người Pharisêu đạo đức giả và các thầy thông luật mà Chúa Giêsu đã nguyền rủa trong bài tin mừng hôm nay, chúng ta hãy xin Chúa cho chúng ta được trở nên một trong những" vị thánh " ở thành Êphêsô mà Thánh Phaolô đã yêu mến, nuôi dưỡng và dậy dỗ.

Reflection

In the Gospel reading Jesus strongly admonishes and even puts curses on the Pharisees and the Jewish teachers of the Law for their hypocrisy. While preaching righteousness and justice, they themselves were lacking in action and even did the opposite of what they preached. They built memorials for the very same prophets whom their ancestors had rejected and even killed. They had not lived good lives and had not taught people well; thus their people had not led good lives because they knew no better: "for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have prevented others from entering." (Lk 11: 53)

In contrast in the first reading from his letter to his beloved Christians in Ephesus, Paul blesses God for his loving-kindness and grace to the "saints in Ephesus," to those "God chose in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in his presence" (Eph 1: 4) We pray that we be not counted with the hypocritical Pharisees and teachers of the Law whom Jesus cursed but be among the "saints" whom Paul loved, taught and nourished.

Thursday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: I join my voice to the words of today’s psalm: Lord, let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. I come into your presence knowing that you are interested in my life, that you care, that you want me to grow in holiness and bear everlasting fruit for your Kingdom. I open my heart to receive whatever word, whatever grace you want to give me. Hallowed be Thy Name, O Lord, in me and through me…

Encountering Christ:

· A Love-Hate Relationship: The history of God’s chosen people, the Jews, and indeed, the history of the entire human family, is marked by the beneficiaries of God’s generosity repeatedly rebelling against God. Jesus invoked this history when he pointed out the violence committed against Abel and Zechariah, two bookends of the Old Testament. He showed that the generation of religious leaders who were rejecting him, and who would crucify him, were linking themselves to all the past rebellions against God, bringing them to a climax, in fact. In short, Jesus called out their sin. He hoped that in so doing, he would stimulate them to reflection and repentance. This rebellious spirit is within each one of us. As children of Adam and Eve, the initiators of mankind’s rebellion against God, we have a strong tendency to want to dictate how things should be in our lives and in the world, regardless of God’s providence or sovereignty. Where do I see this rebellious spirit in my life? Where do I join the crowd who opposes God’s will and God’s plan?

· What Knowledge Is For: Jesus rebuked the scholars of the law for having much knowledge but not living in accordance with that knowledge. Unfortunately, this too is a trap that we easily fall into. We know so much, simply by knowing our catechism and having heard so many explanations of the Gospel. We know that obeying the moral law is the path to a flourishing life; we know that we are each called to help build up Christ’s Kingdom; we know that happiness is not to be found in money, pleasure, power, or popularity. And yet, do we act according to this knowledge? Do we follow the moral law? Do we dedicate ourselves to bringing people closer to Christ and his Kingdom? Do we direct our energy towards living in communion with God, confident that whatever else we may need will be given us as well if we keep his Kingdom first? Yes and no. Like the scholars of the law, we profess faith in the truths God has revealed, and we follow them to a certain extent. But when we take an honest assessment of the authenticity of our Christian discipleship, we find an awful lot of room still to grow.

· The Pharisees Got Defensive: Jesus hoped his “woes” would startle the Pharisees into openness or repentance. Maybe in the end, after his Passion and Resurrection, these words came back to their minds and helped them accept the Gospel. But their immediate reaction was to get defensive: the scribes and Pharisees began to act with hostility toward him. What do I get defensive about? In what circumstances do I get defensive? When we interact with our loved ones, when we have challenging encounters at work, we often find ourselves getting defensive. Anytime a difference of opinion seems to question our intelligence or integrity, our initial reaction is usually to assert our intelligence and integrity, even violently. If we can catch ourselves when we do that, if we can become aware of when we are acting defensively, we will capture a golden opportunity for spiritual growth. Defensiveness exposes insecurities. Insecurities expose areas in need of God’s grace and light. Jesus pointed out in his Sermon on the Mount that the meek and the poor of spirit are blessed. The peacemakers are blessed. Whenever we find ourselves reacting to something violently, it’s an opportunity to pause, ask ourselves where that reaction is coming from, and adjust the reaction to be more Christlike, more in harmony with virtues like humility and patience. The truth is that we all have weak points, blind spots, areas where we need to work hard to grow in wisdom, fortitude, faith, and temperance. When someone triggers emotional defensiveness, we can rest assured that nine times out of ten they have exposed one of those weak points, giving us a golden opportunity to exercise one of those virtues.

Conversing with Christ: I want to welcome your words, Lord. I want to truly hear what you are saying to me. But I fear that I may be more like the Pharisees than I realize. I may be closed to your grace without realizing it. I may be attached to my own opinions and expectations and ideas so furiously that there is little room left for me to learn from you. Help free me from my stubbornness, from my blindness. As painful as it may be, I want to leave my old self behind, every single day, so as to become the new creature you want me to be.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will notice quickly whenever I start feeling defensive and respond by inquiring about the reasons behind someone’s statements instead of just shutting that person down.

Reflection:

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: Lord Jesus Christ, help me to follow your example and set a good example for others. you have invited me to live in your love and bring others to do the same. I ask you for the grace to respond fully today, despite whatever obstacles may arise.

1. History Will Teach Us Something: Throughout the Old Testament, the history of the people of Israel is the drama of God, a profound gesture of his love and protection, as he reveals himself to his chosen people in ever-greater ways. Israel’s response to God’s love, as seen in the Old Testament, that love is pocked and pitted with infidelity, abuse, and ingratitude. At times the people outright reject God and whomever he sends to guide them back to his loving care. These falls from God’s grace are instructive for us today. We see the grandeur of what God did for the people of Israel and marvel at it. We should be aghast at how a people who received so much could respond so little. But more than this, we need to use this history of Israel as a mirror in which to regard our own lives: to recognize the same patterns of failure and lack of fidelity in our own lives and use this self-reflection to inspire us to return to the Lord. If we fail to admit our weaknesses and failures, however, we will be like the Pharisees to whom Christ spoke, who brought the blood of the prophets upon their own heads because of their stubbornness and hardness of heart.

2. History Repeats Itself: In the parable of the vineyard owner who leased out his vineyard (cf. Luke 20:9-16), Christ explains that the owner sent servant after servant to collect from the tenants what was his due, but each was mistreated, beaten or even killed. The situation comes to a head when the owner sends his own son, who is killed.

On one another occasion Christ warns the disciples that if this is the way he is treated, they should expect no less themselves (cf. John 15:20). Do we honestly expect not to have to face some difficulty as disciples of the Lord? Of course not. But what if that difficulty comes from within? This is from where the most serious menaces to our discipleship come. Our pride, our vanity, our love of comfort: these are the battlegrounds and the martyrs’ fields where first and foremost we need to suffer for being a disciple of the Lord. The prophets and martyrs who suffered for their zeal for the Lord did so even up to the cost of their lives. He might not need us to lay our lives on the line in quite the same way, but an interior sacrifice is what Christ does ask of everyone whom he calls.

3. Stoppage Time: One of the key moments in Edith Stein’s conversion happened when from Judaism to Catholicism occurred on a mid-week afternoon. Sshe went into a Catholic Church to see what it was like, and as she sat there in silence, an older woman came in to spend a few moments with Christ in the Eucharist. She had groceries in her hand and was obviously on her way home to prepare dinner. For young Edith, still struggling with belief in God, it was an example of just how grounded in day-to-day reality the Catholic faith is. The woman’s example helped to open Edith’s heart and mind to receive the gift of faith. There is little chance that woman ever knew the importance her example played in helping form this future saint and patronness of Europe, but the woman’s authentic faith was just what Edith needed to see. Our living witness is critical for those around us, whether or not we ever see or hear of the consequence. We can serve as an occasion of grace, or we can be a stumbling block on the path that delays someone from arriving at the place God wants to lead them.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I know that I am an integral part in your plan to save souls. You have the confidence to use me as a channel of your grace for those around me, particularly those closest to me. I offer you my life today. Use me as a channel of grace and a testimony to your love.

Resolution: I will offer to God today the sacrifice necessary to change something in my behavior that might be an obstacle for someone else coming to know Christ better.

Reflection:

In the Gospel, Jesus challenges the motives of the Pharisees and the scribes on showing off their good deeds. This kind of hypocrisy is still very much alive in our generation. We are driven to show off what we have or do because of our need to be appreciated and recognized. Showing off our material wealth and success is often a cover up of our iniquities and incapacity to love. That is why in the first reading, God is encouraging us not to be scandalized of our sins because the sacrifice of Jesus to die on the cross was an act of love that has the power to redeem us, and his resurrection can free us from our sins.

This life transformation took flesh in St. Teresa. She had a lot of sufferings and pains early in her life struggles which ordinary people like us experience. But through prayer and faith in the love of God, she overcame all her "dark nights" and saw the light of Christ. She said, "Prayer is an act of love, and words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts us from thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love." She also said that "it is of great importance, when we begin to practice prayer, not to let ourselves be frightened by our thoughts." If we embrace this kind of attitude in our prayer life, we can remain happy and be at peace in the midst of our daily life struggles. May these words of St. Teresa comfort us, "Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing make you afraid. All things are passing. God alone never changes. Patience gains all things. If you have God, you will want for nothing. God alone suffices."

REFLECTION

In the first reading St. Paul reminds us that we are all sinners, but, because of God's love and mercy and through the redeeming suffering and death of his Son Jesus Christ, God has forgiven us and made us righteous. Every time we approach God for forgiveness through the ministry of the Church in the sacrament of reconciliation, we cannot but be overwhelmed by his forgiving love and mercy which forgive us our offenses and make us righteous before him and the Church.

If God is so forgiving to me, can I do less to those who have wronged me? Pope Francis has said, "If I cannot forgive, I cannot ask for forgiveness. Jesus teaches us to pray like this to the Father: 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."'

In the Gospel reading we hear very strong condemnation of our Lord for the religious leaders of the Jews for their hypocrisy and lack of care and concern for those committed to their care and leadership

Suy Niệm thứ Tư Tuần 28 Thường niên

Suy Niệm thứ Tư Tuần 28 Thường niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta có vẻ ngạc nhiên và tự hỏi: Tại sao Chúa Giêsu lại quá nặng lời với các giáo sĩ, những người biệt phái và các luật sĩ Do Thái. Chữ “khốn” trong tiếng Do thái cũng có thể được dịch là than ôi. Chữ khốn này cũng được dùng để biểu hiện sự thương hại đau buồn cũng như tỏ lộ sự tức giận.

Tại sao Chúa Giêsu lại than thở và khiển trách những người này một cách nghiêm khắc như vậy?

Có lẽ chúng ta ai cũng biết là Chúa Giêsu đã giận giữ với các nhà lãnh đạo Do thái giáo vì họ đã không vâng lời Thiên Chúa mà họ còn lừa dối những người theo họ. Họ sống theo lối trần tục, không tuân theo luật của Chúa dạy mà họ lạị còn dùng Thiên Chúa để hướng dẫn người khác theo đường lối trần tục của họ, chứ không phải cách sống theo như ý Chúa muốn..

Những người Do thái hay các giáo sĩ Do Thái thường dành cả cuộc đời của họ để nghiên cứu Luật Môisen và họ được coi như là những chuyên gia luật của người Do thái. Họ chia mười điều răn của Chúa ban cho Môisen thành hàng ngàn quy tắc và luật lệ khác nhau. Họ đã diễn giải các luật này rất chính xác và cố gắng sống nghiêm khắc và tuân thủ theo các điều luật của họ đưa ra, đến nỗi họ có không còn thời gian để làm bất cứ việc gì khác.

Trong sự nhiệt thành sai lầm của họ, họ bắt buộc dân chúng phải tuân thủ theo như những quy tắc, luật lệ không cần thiết của họ và họ đặt trên vai những người dân chất phát hiền lành những gánh thuế nặng nề, và họ đã coi trọng những điều lệ này còn trên cả những những điều răn của Thiên Chúa, chẳng hạn như kính mến Thiên Chúa và yêu thương đồng loại. Họ đang dẫn mọi người đến thuyết tà giáo hơn là đến với Thiên Chúa.

Hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã dùng ví dụ về thuế phần mười trăm để cho thấy là họ đã bỏ sót 10 điều răn của Thiên Chúa bao xa. Khi Thiên Chúa đã ban lệnh cho đóng một phần mười hoa lợi đầu mùa trên sức lao động của con người như là một sự tỏ bày lòng biết ơn và tôn kính Thiên Chúa vì sự quan tâm của Ngài đối với dân tộc của Ngài (sách luật 14:22; Lê-vi 27:30). Tuy nhiên, những người luật sĩ này sau khi ghi chép đã tìm cách tính cả thuế trên những thứ rau cỏ kể cả rau thơm. Họ để ý kỹ đến những vấn đề nhỏ nhặt không quan trọng, nhưng họ lại bỏ qua những việc quan tâm đến bác ái.

Chúa Giêsu khiển trách họ vì họ không có lòng khoan dung rộng lượng. Họ tràn đầy tự hào về họ và khinh thường những người khác. Họ đặt gánh nặng những thứ không cần thiết lên người khác trong khi đó họ lơ là với những việc làm bác ái, đặc biệt là đối với những người goá phụ yếu thế và những người nghèo khổ.

Vì thế hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã so sánh và ví họ như những nấm mồ vô danh, không một tấm bia. Theo sách Dân số (Ds 19:16), nếu một người tiếp xúc với một xác chết hay thăm một ngôi mộ thì người ất sẽ trở nên ô uế và phải thực hành nghi thức tẩy rửa ô uể trong bảy ngày. Chúa Giêsu hôm nay lật ngược tình thế đối với những người Pharisiêu khi Ngài tuyên bố rằng những ai tiếp xúc với những người thông luật hay pharisiêu và nghe theo sự hướng dẫn tự lập của họ thì những người đó sẽ trở nên ô uế bởi giáo lý sai lầm của họ. Họ lây nhiễm cho người khác những ý tưởng sai lầm về Thiên Chúa và về ý định của Ngài.

Vì những người biệt phái này cũng như những nấm mồ không có bia, nên những người khác không nhận ra sự thối rữa bên trong ngôi mộ và không nhận ra sự nguy hiểm của sự ô nhiễm tâm linh. Những người biệt phái phải coi lời buộc tội của Chúa Giêsu như là một sự sỉ nhục nặng: Họ không chỉ ô uế về mặt thiêng liêng vì họ từ chối lời Thiên Chúa, mà họ còn làm ô nhiễm người khác bằng “men pharisiêu, biệt phái” nguy hiểm của họ (Lu-ca 12: 1).

Hôm nay Chúa Giêsu muốn dạy chúng ta là bản chất căn bản của các điều răn mà Chúa dạy là yêu thương, yêu thương là điều thiện hảo tối cao, Kính mến Thiên Chúa trên hết và yêu thương người xung quanh của chúng ta, vì họ là những người cũng được dựng nên theo hình ảnh giống như Thiên Chúa.

Thiên Chúa là tình yêu (1 Gioan 4: 8) và mọi việc Ngài làm đều bắt nguồn từ tình yêu của Ngài dành cho chúng ta. Tình yêu của Thiên Chúa là tinh yêu thương vô điều kiện và hoàn toàn đem đến sự tốt đẹp đến cho người khác. Tình yêu chân chính vừa bao dung vừa trút bỏ gánh nặng cho người khác. Thánh Phaolô đã nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng “tình yêu thương của Thiên Chúa đã đổ vào lòng chúng ta qua Chúa Thánh Thần đã ban đến cho chúng ta” (Rôma 5: 5).

Nếu chúng ta biết chia sẻ những gánh nặng và giúp đỡ những người xung quanh Thiên Chúa sẽ chúc phúc lành và ban tặng cho mỗi người chúng ta có đủ ân sủng mỗi ngày để chúng ta biết yêu như Ngài đã yêu và trút bỏ gánh nặng của những người khác để họ cũng có thể cảm nghiệm được ân sủng và tình yêu của Chúa Giêsu Kitô.

Lạy Chúa Giêsu, xin Chúa hãy thổi phùng trái tim của chúng con bằng tình yêu của Chúa để chúng con luôn biết theo đuổi tình yêu của chúng con đối với Chúa và tình yêu của chúng con dành cho những xung quanh chúng con mà Chúa đã tạo nên theo hình ảnh của Chúa và có sự giống hệt như chúng con.

Xin Chúa hãy giải thoát trái tim của chúng con thoát được những sự ham muốn ích kỷ nhưng xin Chúa giúp cho lòng chúng con chỉ có chỗ cho lòng tốt, sự thương xót và lòng nhân từ đối với mọi người mà chúng con biết và gặp gỡ trong cuộc sống của chúng con.

Meditation:Wednesday 28th Ordinary Time,

 Why does Jesus single out the religious teachers and lawyers for some rather strong words of rebuke? The word woe can also be translated as alas. It is as much an expression of sorrowful pity as it is of anger. Why did Jesus lament and issue such a stern rebuke? Jesus was angry with the religious leaders because they failed to listen to God's word and they misled the people they were supposed to guide in the ways of God.

God's commandments are rooted in his love and care for us

The scribes devoted their lives to the study of the Law of Moses and regarded themselves as legal experts in it. They divided the ten commandments and precepts into thousands of tiny rules and regulations. They were so exacting in their interpretations and in trying to live them out, that they had little time for anything else. By the time they finished compiling their interpretations it took no less than fifty volumes to contain them! In their misguided zeal, they required unnecessary and burdensome rules which obscured the more important matters of religion, such as love of God and love of neighbor. They were leading people to Pharisaism rather than to God.

Do not lay heavy burdens on others

Jesus used the example of tithing to show how far they had missed the mark. God had commanded a tithe of the first fruits of one's labor as an expression of thanksgiving and honor for his providential care for his people (Deuteronomy 14:22; Leviticus 27:30). The scribes, however, went to extreme lengths to tithe on insignificant things (such as tiny plants) with great mathematical accuracy. They were very attentive to minute matters of little importance, but they neglected to care for the needy and the weak. Jesus admonished them because their hearts were not right. They were filled with pride and contempt for others. They put unnecessary burdens on others while neglecting to show charity, especially to the weak and the poor. They meticulously went through the correct motions of conventional religion while forgetting the realities.

Why does Jesus also compare them with "unmarked graves"? According to Numbers 19:16 contact with a grave made a person ritually unclean for seven days. Jesus turns the table on the Pharisees by declaring that those who come into contact with them and listen to their self-made instruction are likewise defiled by their false doctrine. They infect others with wrong ideas of God and of his intentions. Since the Pharisees are "unmarked", other people do not recognize the decay within and do not realize the danger of spiritual contamination. The Pharisees must have taken Jesus' accusation as a double insult: They are not only spiritually unclean themselves because they reject the word of God, but they also contaminate others with their dangerous "leaven" as well (see Luke 12:1).

Love lifts the burdens of others

What was the point of Jesus' lesson? The essence of God's commandments is love - love of the supreme good - God himself and love of our neighbor who is made in the image and likeness of God. God is love (1 John 4:8) and everything he does flows from his love for us. God's love is unconditional and is wholly directed towards the good of others. True love both embraces and lifts the burdens of others. Paul the Apostle reminds us that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given us" (Romans 5:5). Do you help your neighbors carry their burdens? God gives each of us sufficient grace for each day to love as he loves and to lift the burdens of others that they, too, may experience the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Lord Jesus, inflame my heart with your love that I may always pursue what matters most - love of you, my Lord and my God, and love of my fellow neighbor whom you have made in your own image and likeness. Free my heart from selfish desires that I may only have room for kindness, mercy, and goodness toward every person I know and meet

Suy niệm lời Chúa Thứ Tư 28 thuờng niên (Luke 11:42-46)

Điểm chính của bài học mà Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta hôm nay là cốt lõi của giới răn Thiên Chúa đó là tình yêu thương, yêu thương là giới răn quan trong nhất, và yêu mến Thiên Chúa và thương yêu những người chung quanh là những người được tạo dựng nên theo giống hình ảnh Thiên Chúa. Thiên Chúa là tình yêu (1 Gioan 4:8) và tất cả mọi thứ Ngài dựng nên đuộc phát sinh ra từ tình yêu của Ngài cho chúng ta. Tình yêu Thiên Chúa là Tình yêu vô điều kiện và hoàn toàn hướng tới những lợi ích cho người khác. Tình yêu thương chân thật đều biết chia xẻ và nâng đỡ những gánh nặng của người khác. Thánh Phaolô đã nhắc nhở chúng ta như trong thư gửi tín hữu Rôma rằng "Thiên Chúa đã đổ tình yêu của Ngài vào lòng chúng ta, nhờ Thánh Thần mà Người ban cho chúng ta." (Rô-ma 5:5). Mỗi ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, Thiên Chúa đã ban cho mỗi người chúng ta những hồng ân của Ngài hầu giúp chúng ta có đủ sức mạnh để chúng ta yêu thương nhau như Ngài đã yêu thương chúng ta và giúp chúng ta dỡ bỏ những gánh nặng của người khác để họ cũng có thể trải nghiệm được ân sủng và tình yêu của Chúa Giêsu Kitô.

Reflection Luke 11:42-46

Justice and Peace

Today, in controversy with the Pharisees, Jesus Christ places justice and God’s love, as axes of social coexistence by setting them above personal viewpoints. Peace and Law, Justice and Peace are inseparably connected. When Law is trampled on and injustice comes to power, peace is always threatened. Political criteria should be based on those moral values, not created by us, but recognized and equal for all men. Without them Law can be criminally used with factional purposes. Two factors of justice dilution stand out. First, the “cynicism of ideology”, which obfuscates consciences by justifying any means to achieve factional objectives. Second, the “cynicism of business” (unscrupulous exploitation of natural resources), where the useful also takes the place of the good and power displaces Law. O Lord, Christianity do not lead us far from reason, but illuminates it instead: make that to achieve peace, faith may calm down reason, often distorted by ideological tyranny.

The point of lesson Jesus teach us today is the essence of God's commandments is love; love of the supreme good ; and Love God himself and love of our neighbor who is made in the image and likeness of God. God is love (1 John 4:8) and everything he does flows from his love for us. God's love is unconditional and is wholly directed towards the good of others. True love both embraces and lifts the burdens of others. Saint Paul reminds us in the letter to the Romans that "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given us" (Romans 5:5).

Each day in our lives, God gives each of us sufficient grace in order for us to love as he loves and to lift the burdens of others that they, too, may experience the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Suy Niệm thứ Tư Tuần 28 Thường niên

Công lý và hòa bình Qua Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy trong cuộc tranh cãi với những người Pharisêu, Chúa Giê Su đã đặt nặng vấn đề công lý và tình yêu của Thiên Chúa như là lõi cốt chính của cuộc sống chung trong xã hội trên hơn tất cả bất cứ quan điểm cá nhân nào. Hòa bình và Pháp luật, Công lý và Hoà bình được kết nối không thể tách rời. Khi Luật Pháp bị chà đạp và sự bất công nổi lên nắm quyền, thì hòa bình luôn bị đe dọa.

Những tiêu chí chính trị phải dựa trên những giá trị đạo đức, chứ không phải là do con người chúng ta tạo ra, nhưng chúng phải được công nhận trên sự bình đẳng cho tất cả mọi người. Nếu không có sự bình đẳng thì Luật pháp có thể được áp dụng theo hình thức của những người có quyền theo kiểu cường hào ác bá bởi vì luật pháp được lập ra vì những lợi ích của phe phái hay phe nhóm có quyền.

Hai yếu tố sau đã làm nổi bật vì chúng biến công lý không còn có ý nghĩa mà là công cụ̣ bất chính cho kẻ cầm quyền. Thứ nhất, "chủ nghĩa hoài nghi của hệ tư tưởng", làm cho lương tâm trở nên tồi tệ hơn khi tìm mọi cách để biện minh cho những việc làm bất lương của kẻ cầm quyền bằng bất kỳ phương tiện nào để đạt được những mục tiêu và quyền lợi phe nhóm. Thứ hai, "chủ nghĩa hoài nghi cùa trong việc kinh doanh (khai thác vô nguyên tắc các nguồn tài nguyên thiên nhiên), khi con người lợi dụng những tài nguyên thiên nhiên dùng quyền lực để thay thế Luật pháp.

Lạy Chúa, đạo giáo của Chúa Kitô không làm cho lý trí của chúng con ra mù quáng, nhưng xin Chúa hãy soi sáng cho chúng con biết dùng lý trí để mang lại sự hoà bình và xin đức tin của chúng con có thể lấy lại sự bình tĩnh cho lý trí bởi vì cuộc sống hiện tại luôn có sự bóp méo sự thật và kìm chế tư tưởng của chúng con..

Wednesday 28th Ordinary Time, 2021

Opening Prayer: As I call to mind your presence, Lord, I make my own the words of today’s psalm: Only in God is my soul at rest… He is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all (Psalms 62:2-3). I want to have a faith as strong as that, to find always in you the strength I need to live joyfully, courageously, uprightly. I come to you in prayer today seeking your grace. I lift my heart and mind to you; be everything for me, Lord. Show me your ways.

Encountering Christ:

· Four Woes: In Luke 6, we find four beatitudes and six woes (four of them in today’s passage). Most biblical scholars see a connection here, a certain contrary parallel. Beyond the specific nuances of each woe, the parallel reiterates one of the most overlooked characteristics of Jesus’s doctrine: that we are responsible for our own destiny. Many factors condition the choices we make throughout life—the geographical and sociopolitical environment where we are born and raised, the emotional and spiritual state of our parents, the educational opportunities available to us, and many others. God is fully aware of all these things. And yet, Jesus continually invites us to take responsibility for our lives by choosing freely how we will relate to ourselves, to others, and to God. His Gospel continues to shine like a beacon, illuminating a path of living in which we see ourselves as called into friendship with God and called to build up God’s Kingdom–not our own personal kingdoms–in the world around us. Somehow, God’s invitation reaches each person—where the Church is strong, it resounds clearly and attractively; where the Church is weak or has not yet reached, it may barely resound at all. But God loves us too much not to give each of us multiple opportunities to choose and follow along the path of life, or not. This is why he can exclaim: blessed are you… or woe to you… In the end, we either accept his grace or we don’t, and we have no one to blame but ourselves in either case.

· The Patience of Jesus: This series of deprecations sounds harsh to our modern ears. We picture Jesus accusing the Pharisees, and it’s hard to picture him smiling as he does so. But let us not forget that this passage comes halfway through St. Luke’s Gospel. Jesus had had many interactions with the Pharisees—conversations, meals, meetings in the synagogue. The Pharisees had heard his parables. They had witnessed his miracles and exorcisms. The Lord smiled and reached out to them patiently and gently. But most of them still refused to hear him, refused to welcome his message and his mercy. Jesus loved them too much to give up on them. And so he changed his tone. He tried to shake them up and wake them up. He didn’t lose his temper. He didn’t wish for their condemnation. He was reaching out to them still, urgently and eloquently, trying to break through their self-satisfied hypocrisy so that his redeeming mercy could renew their hearts and minds. Jesus still follows the same patient and persistent method with us. He will not give up on us, and he will keep trying new ways to convince us to repent and believe in the Gospel every day, as we truly need to. The Catechism (27, 30) puts it beautifully: God never ceases to draw man to himself… Although man can forget God or reject him, he never ceases to call every man to seek him, so as to find life and happiness…

· Face to Face: Clearly, Jesus was upset with the Pharisees—the most educated and influential members of the Jewish people, and yet the most resistant to his message of salvation. But Jesus didn't take his dissatisfaction underground. He didn’t excoriate the Pharisees behind their backs. He spoke the truth to them directly, lovingly, and consistently. Resorting to harsh and dramatic language, conflictual language, surely wasn’t comfortable for the Lord. He would have preferred to be able to reason with them calmly. But he tried that and it didn’t work. Here is a lesson for us. When we find ourselves criticizing other people, we should guard against doing so in a destructive way. For a Christian, criticism must always be constructive, ordered towards repentance and growth. This means we can never say something about someone when they are not present that we wouldn’t say about them if they were present. Backbiting, gossiping, and spreading accusatory stories behind people’s backs may give us an intoxicating sense of superiority and control, but it is never constructive. It never builds up trust and brotherhood, whether in family, in the Church, at work, or in society at large. Every human being, even those like the Pharisees, is created in God’s image and likeness and was redeemed by Christ’s precious blood. And so we can never glorify God and promote his Kingdom by disdaining the intrinsic honor and dignity of our fellow human beings, however far they may have fallen from grace.

Conversing with Christ: I am sorry, Lord, for the many times I have behaved like the Pharisees—judging my neighbors instead of respecting them, pontificating at them instead of understanding and accompanying them, wasting energy in search of vain praise for myself instead of investing all my gifts and talents so as to build up your Kingdom. Have mercy on me, Lord, and grant me the grace I need to humble myself and seek only what is truly good for myself and everyone around me.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will make sure that every word I speak in conversation is truthful and constructive, no matter what. And if I unwittingly fall back into useless or destructive criticism, I will immediately ask God for forgiveness and try to make amends.

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Wednesday 28th Ordinary Time,2018

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe that you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love, thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: I want to see my heart as you see it, Lord, make my heart more like yours.

Encountering Christ:

1. Falling into the Same Trap: Do we ever find ourselves rooting for Jesus in this Gospel passage? “Give it to ’em hard, Lord! They deserve it!” We imagine ourselves there in the scene—our arms sternly crossed, our heads shaking in disapproval of those oh-so hypocritical Pharisees. Soon our thoughts turn to someone we know who “should also receive a good verbal lashing!” Even a priest or a bishop might be the subject of our mental reprimand. In this second scene, however, Christ has faded or disappeared altogether, and we are the ones telling it like it is. Yet we now find ourselves right in the shoes of the very Pharisees we so deplore: Our hearts are embittered and dry. Although we are able to condemn with the Lord, we do not love with the Lord. We forget that Christ would lay down his life for these Pharisees he is calling to conversion—even if they were the only ones who needed to be saved. We’ve become like the lawyers who bind up loads of criticism, yet won’t offer a prayer of help. Pointing the finger is easy, but a call to conversion can come only from a heart that loves.

2. The Grumpy Catholics Guild: Is there anyone who can’t find at least one thing wrong in their parish or diocese? As long as the Church is made of human beings there will always be aspects to improve. One thing is to see, pray for, and help resolve these difficulties. Another matter is to dwell on them. That is what the members of the “Grumpy Catholics Guild” (GCG) do. They could be in the most thriving diocese in the country, in the most fervent and engaging parish, yet they have only negative things to say. This Gospel passage is the one exclusive lens through which they view everything. For the Rosary, members of the GCG pray the “Vengeful Mysteries”: Jesus curses the fig tree, Jesus clears the temple, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus separates the sheep from the goats and sends the goats to “you know where”. Might I be an anonymous member—or at least a supporter—of the GCG? Christ used hard words, but they were only fruit of an intense love and longing for the scribes’ and Pharisees’ salvation, not an intense bitterness toward them. If I have any bitterness in my heart, I need to ask Christ for the grace to forgive and to forgive as Christ forgives.

3. Helping Hand: Our Lord was the greatest teacher, the great pedagogue of the fullness of life: the love of the Father. He knew how to bring souls along little by little, at their pace and to the extent they were capable. The way he dealt with the Samaritan woman is exemplary (cf. John 4:5-29). If anyone’s life could have been used by Christ as the occasion for a series of ‘woes to you’, hers could have served well. But that is not how Christ dealt with her. He didn’t heap opprobrium on her; rather, he gently brought her to recognize her own desire for the goodness and love of God. The same can be said of Christ’s treatment of the woman caught in adultery (cf. John 8:3-11). Because of his love, he forgave her and set her back on her feet. The opposite is true of the lawyers at the end of this Gospel passage. They would load restrictions, unwieldy responsibilities and weighty sacrifices upon the people, but would not reach out a helping hand to assist the people in carrying the weight. As Christians we are called to help illuminate the consciences of those around us so that they might have a closer relationship with God. However, if illuminating their consciences is merely our euphemism for “throwing the book at them”, we need to stop and see if Christ’s words don’t apply to us as well: “You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.”

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, at times I look at my heart and see that it is hard and bitter. It is ready to jump self-righteously at the first opportunity self-righteously to condemn someone else, but only so as to assure myself of my own moral superiority. Grant me a heart, meek and humble like yours.

Resolution: If I find myself thinking critically about someone today, I will pray for them and look for two good qualities in them.

Wednesday 28th Ordinary Time (October 17):

Suy niệm lời Chúa Thứ Tư 28 thuờng niên (Luke 11:42-46)

Điểm chính của bài học mà Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta hôm nay là cốt lõi của giới răn Thiên Chúa đó là tình yêu thương, yêu thương là giới răn quan trong nhất, và yêu mến Thiên Chúa và thương yêu những người chung quanh là những người được tạo dựng nên theo giống hình ảnh Thiên Chúa. Thiên Chúa là tình yêu (1 Gioan 4:8) và tất cả mọi thứ Ngài dựng nên đuộc phát sinh ra từ tình yêu của Ngài cho chúng ta. Tình yêu Thiên Chúa là Tình yêu vô điều kiện và hoàn toàn hướng tới những lợi ích cho người khác. Tình yêu thương chân thật đều biết chia xẻ và nâng đỡ những gánh nặng của người khác. Thánh Phaolô đã nhắc nhở chúng ta như trong thư gửi tín hữu Rôma rằng "Thiên Chúa đã đổ tình yêu của Ngài vào lòng chúng ta, nhờ Thánh Thần mà Người ban cho chúng ta." (Rô-ma 5:5).

Mỗi ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, Thiên Chúa đã ban cho mỗi người chúng ta những hồng ân của Ngài hầu giúp chúng ta có đủ sức mạnh để chúng ta yêu thương nhau như Ngài đã yêu thương chúng ta và giúp chúng ta dỡ bỏ những gánh nặng của người khác để họ cũng có thể trải nghiệm được ân sủng và tình yêu của Chúa Giêsu Kitô.

Reflection Luke 11:42-46

The point of lesson Jesus teach us today is the essence of God's commandments is love; love of the supreme good ; and Love God himself and love of our neighbor who is made in the image and likeness of God. God is love (1 John 4:8) and everything he does flows from his love for us. God's love is unconditional and is wholly directed towards the good of others. True love both embraces and lifts the burdens of others. Saint Paul reminds us in the letter to the Romans that "God's love has been poured into our Each day in our lives, God gives each of us sufficient grace in order for us to love as he loves and to lift the burdens of others that they, too, may experience the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

Reflection 2018

Jesus spoke with so much emotion in today's Gospel reading. Woe connotes elements of sadness and anger. Jesus laments that people who should know better behave in such unloving manner. At the same time he is angry exactly for the same reason.

In Sacred Space, the author says that "Jesus is attacking a certain mentality which can all too easily be among us Christians and if we are honest, sometimes in ourselves. It is the scrupulous observance of even the tiniest regulations, not because it is wrong but because they by-pass the love of God which is what really matters."

God's commandment is rooted on love of God and love of neighbor. In essence it is life giving. Often it becomes a measure by which people regard each other. Following it to the letter does not guarantee one's goodness in the eyes of God. Such mindset ignores the fact that salvation comes from God's grace and mercy.

We also have to face the reality that as human beings we are all sinners. Accepting our sinful nature is the first step to conversion. For only when we see our sinful state will we be able to appreciate God's goodness towards us. Then and only then can we be thankful for this grace. Our response to His immense love will be our gratuitousness in the form of our love toward our neighbor.

The question now is, do we accept that we are sinners?

Reflection:

Have you ever found yourself making a judgment on another person and then realizing that you are guilty of the same offense? Probably not often because we so easily see the faults of other people but are very hesitant to admit our own.

When it comes to sinfulness and wrongdoing we tend to be demanding and harsh on others, but kinder and more considerate on ourselves. How readily we assail graft and corruption in government officials? And yet we are not unwilling to evade paying the correct taxes? When others curse or use foul language, they are foul-mouthed and boorish; when the same comes out of our mouths, they are harmless "expressions." The courts would easily condemn a cell-phone thief-snatcher but take ages to convict a plunderer.

In the Gospel reading Jesus condemns the Pharisees and the teachers and leaders of Israel for their self-righteousness and hypocrisy: they focus on externals and minutiae of observance of the Law and forget the Spirit and real purpose of the Law. They stress observance of the Law and forget about the people to be served and protected and helped by the Law.

How much of the Pharisees condemned by Jesus is there in each one of us? How much hypocrisy is there in us? How easily do we judge others? How much do we ourselves focus on externals? How often have we forgotten the spirit behind the Law and that the real purpose of Law is to help and protect real people?

Suy Niệm bài đọc Thứ Ba Tuần thứ 28 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm bài đọc Thứ Ba Tuần thứ 28 Thường Niên

Trong bài đọc thứ Nhất hôm nay, Thánh Phaolô nhắc nhở Giáo Đoàn Rôma rằng họ được cứu bởi vì họ có niềm tin vào Chúa Kitô và Tin Mừng. Thánh Phao lô cũng nói rằng chúng ta biết được Thiên Chúa là do bởi những công trình mà Chúa đã tạo ra trong thế giớ và trong cuộc sống của chúng ta..

Trong bài Tin Mừnh, Chúa Giêsu đã khiển trách những người Pharisêu vì lòng đạo đức giả của họ, họ thờ phượng Thiên Cha bằng môi miệng trong nhiều quy tắc: họ có hàng đống luật lệ như nhỡng toa thuốc vô tận về sự thanh tẩy và sự sạch sẽ của họ với những nghi thức bề ngoài như việc chuẩn bị thức ăn và cách ăn uống. Tuy nhiên, lòng của họ thì "đầy tham lam và ác độc."

Điều quan trọng thực sự chính là những gì chúng ta đang làm bằng tất cả trái tim, lòng nhiệt huyết và cuộc sống của chúng ta.

Lạy Chúa, xin giúp chúng con hiểu biết về Chúa nhiều ơn thêm và có ược tấm lòng quảng ại và từ bi. Xin Chúa giúp chúng con lạy Chúa, đừng bao giờ để con đi tìm lỗi của người khác nhưng giúp chúng biết yêu thương lại. Xin Chúa giúp chúng con biết thông cảm và không xét đoán người khác trong động cơ và hành động của họ. Xin Chúa dạy chúng con biết khiêm tốn và rộng lượng.

REFLECTION

In the first reading Paul reminds the Church in Rome that they are saved by their belief in Christ and the Good News. Paul also says that we know God from his works, the world he had created.

In the Gospel reading Jesus reprimands the Pharisees for their hypocrisy in their many rules: they have endless prescriptions about ritual purity and cleanliness, about preparing food and eating. Yet they are "full of greed and evil." What is truly important is what we are in our hearts and inmost being.

Lord, help me to become more understanding and compassionate. Help me, Lord, not to be a fault-finder but a loving person instead. Help me to be discerning and yet not judgmental of others in their motives and actions. Teach me to be humble and generous.

Reflection Tuesday 28th Ordinary Time 2021

Opening Prayer: You have given me this new day, Lord. You have given it as a fresh chance to know you better, to love you better, to follow you better. I turn to you right now so as to give you praise by listening to your word, and so as to receive the grace I need to battle for your Kingdom joyfully.

Encountering Christ:

· The Essence of Christianity: Jesus and the Pharisees were always getting into scrapes. The Pharisees were the religious leaders in Israel at the time of Christ. They were the ones who knew the divine law best, and who had made a radical decision to follow it even in the minutest details. Their desire to be pure and exemplary was a good desire, but unfortunately, it had led them to a place of spiritual pride, of spiritual self-sufficiency. They believed that entering into a right relationship with God required above all external obedience to certain ritualistic norms (like the washings St. Luke refers to in this passage). By following those norms perfectly, they considered themselves in a perfect relationship with God. This made many of them deaf to Christ’s message because the essence of Christ’s message was not about obedience to norms, but about relationship. For Jesus, the numerous ritualistic ordinances of the Old Testament are all summarized in his two great commandments of loving God and loving neighbor. Love is a relational virtue, not a ritualistic virtue. Certainly rituals–like certain vocal prayers, or like the sacraments–can contribute mightily and objectively to the health of our relationship with God, but without our hearts engaged honestly and affectionately with the real person of Jesus, we will simply miss the spiritual boat.

· A Solid Pharisaical Insight: One thing the Pharisees understood better than most Christians in our day and age was the importance of purification from sin. In fact, throughout the Gospels, and the whole New Testament, really, Jesus is continually calling us to repentance, to a turning away from the lusts and greed and sloth of our fallen human nature in order to welcome his mercy and his transforming grace. Many of the Pharisees’ rituals were directed towards purifications, toward putting themselves in a state in which they would be in harmony with God’s own desires and so be open to receiving God’s saving grace. This is a healthy attitude for all of us. Even though we have been wounded by original sin, we are still capable of turning our lives toward God or away from God. But this turning doesn’t happen primarily through external rituals, as the Pharisees thought, but through our moral choices. This is why Jesus says that giving alms is a path to interior purification. Giving alms is a term used to refer to any sincere act of love towards our neighbors who are in need. Those acts turn our hearts toward God; they put our hearts in harmony with God’s own heart, which is a heart burning with infinite love. When, on the other hand, we willingly turn away from our neighbor in need, we turn our hearts away from God’s heart, closing ourselves off from receiving his light and his grace.

· Obedience and Peace: The liturgical calendar for today remembers St. John XIII, the pope who called the Second Vatican Council. His motto as bishop, and later as pope, was three words in Latin: obediencia et pax, obedience and peace. The path to interior peace is obedience to God’s will. This motto reminds us of Jesus’s own phrase given to us in the Our Father: Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done. Christ’s Kingdom is a Kingdom of peace, joy, and meaning. And making that Kingdom present in our lives and the lives of those around us requires nothing more than living in obedience to the law of the King—to the commandments, the beatitudes, the teaching and example of Christ and his Church. In our secular world, this praise for the virtue of obedience may strike a discordant note. The postmodernism of today’s culture minimizes a humble recognition of objective truth and maximizes an arrogant embrace of subjective autonomy. It encourages us to create our own meaning as if human nature were not something we had received. The invitation to invent our own meaning appeals to our fallen nature, within which there always lurks a desire to be godlike, unlimited by the parameters of creaturehood and finitude. But whether we accept them or not, those parameters are real. We can no more disobey the objective moral order and expect to be morally satisfied than we can disobey the laws of biology and expect to be physically healthy. Let us learn from today’s saint, and give obedience to God’s will its proper place in our lives so that we experience the peace–of conscience, of soul, and of mind–that God wants for us.

Conversing with Christ: Dear Lord, you were the freest, most balanced person who ever walked this earth. I want to share in your freedom, to experience the peace that comes from living fully in your love. But I need your help. I am just like the Pharisees: I want to control everything and have absolute clarity once and for all. Instead, you invite me to live in the dynamism of discipleship, following you day by day and gradually discovering more and more of your goodness and truth. That journey takes trust and faith. Increase my faith and my trust, Lord; free me from the narrow confines of my insecurities and arrogance.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will make a point of reaching out to someone in need, “giving alms” as Jesus admonishes.

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REFLECTION Tuesday 28TH ORDINARY 2018

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe you are present here as I turn to you in prayer. I trust and have confidence in your desire to give me every grace I need to receive today. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your immense generosity toward me. I give you my life and my love in return.

Petition: Lord, you call me not just to a conversion of exterior actions and ways of living, but to a conversion of heart, a conversion of always loving more. Grant me this grace of conversion.

Encountering Christ:

1. Law for the Law’s Sake: The Pharisees placed great emphasis on fulfilling the Mosaic Law down to its last iota. They also had many more customs and regulations to ensure that they were adequately fulfilling the Law—layer upon layer of laws to enforce laws. Their mental checklist of laws fulfilled and regulations completed was impressive and a source of pride and satisfaction that they were living as they were supposed to. But they were missing the point. The Mosaic Law was intended to free them for worship, delivering them from slavery to pagan gods and from slavery to sin. When the Law (and the added customs and regulations) became an end in itself, it was truncated and severed from the One to whom it was meant to lead. Today in the Catholic Church, there are enough laws, customs, and regulations to make even the most rigorous Pharisee proud. The danger is that we can fall into one of two traps. First, we can adhere to them with such vigor that we lose sight of the One they are freeing us to worship. We don’t allow our hearts and minds to be educated and formed by them; we just follow them blindly. We wind up cleaning the outside of the cup and stopping there, without going on to see God’s love and let it purify our hearts.

2. The Second Trap: The second trap we can fall into is at the other extreme: to give ourselves an easy pass by presuming that “if my heart is in the right place, I don’t need to worry about all these rules and such.” With a lax attitude we permit ourselves to ease up on fulfilling these laws which in truth will free us. “I know today is Sunday and I should go to Mass, but it’s vacation! God knows I’m a good person.” Yet it is in the Sunday Mass that we receive the many graces necessary toward our being that “good person”. The commandment to keep the Sabbath holy, as with any of the Ten Commandments and customs of the Church, is there to lead us to God. These free us from our often confused, subjective conclusions about how we should worship God and live our lives.

3. Cleaning the Cup: “Charity covers a multitude of sin” (1 Peter 4:8). This is how St. Peter rephrased the words of Christ, “But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.” The Law of love is the most important of all the commandments of the Lord. In Chapter 12 of the Gospel of Mark, Christ responds to a scribe’s question about the first of all the commandments: “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Love of God and neighbor is both the source and the summit of the Law of the Old Covenant and of the New. Living these two greatest commandments purifies and cleanses our hearts—the inside of the cup. So, when Christ says to give alms, he is telling the Pharisees to love their neighbors. Then their hearts will be clean.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I want my heart always to be focused on you. I need your guidance, for I can’t do it alone. I need you to teach me how to love you, how to worship and serve you. The laws you give me free me and guide me toward you. Help me to see your hand leading me ever closer to you.

Resolution: If there is a rule or custom of the Church that I don’t understand or don’t practice, I will read up on it to better understand how it frees me and guides me in my relationship with Christ.

REFLECTION Tuesday 28TH ORDINARY 2018

In the first reading Paul reminds all that "in Christ Jesus it is irrelevant whether we be circumcised or not: what matters is faith working through love." Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the Church affirmed that all, Jews and Gentiles, were called to salvation through faith in Christ.

In the Gospel reading Jesus reprimands the Pharisees for their hypocrisy in their many rules: they have endless prescriptions about ritual purity and cleanliness, about preparing food and eating. Yet they are "full of greed and evil."

At times we too could be like the Pharisees, quick to judge others while we ignore our own failures and imperfections. I am reminded of a woman who from her kitchen window saw her neighbor's laundry hanging to dry in the yard. The woman was critical that her laundry was not properly cleaned and washed.

One day she was surprised to see the neighbor's laundry looking clean and spotless. She told her husband, "Finally, our neighbor has learned to wash her laundry properly." Her husband said, "You did not notice? Yesterday I found time to clean our kitchen windows."

Lord, help me to become more understanding of others. Help me, Lord, not to be a fault-finder but a loving person instead. Help me to be discerning and yet not judgmental of others in their motives and actions. Teach me to be humble and generous.

Tuesday 28TH ORDINARY

Đối với Thiên Chúa điều nào quan trọng hơn, bàn tay sạch bế ngoài hay cái sạch từ bên trong, trong tâm hồn của chúng ta. Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu quở trách những người Pha-ri-si đã chấp chứa những tư tưởng xấu xa mà làm cho ô uế cả tâm linh, như tham lam, kiêu ngạo, ghen ghét, hờn dận, tự kiêu, và ham muốn vật chất. Chúa Giêsu dạy chúng ta tha thứ là một việc bác ái tự đến từ tấm lòng nhân hậu, thuơng yêu. Có những người trong như có vẻ bề ngoài, phô trương nhưng đó chỉ là những thứ giả hình, mà không phải thật sự. Có những thứ giả hình nhìn bề ngoài chúng ta không thể nhận ra, nhưng nếu nhận xét từ bên trong lòng họ đầy những giả dối . Họ cố chấp và không bao giờ biết tha thứ. Do đó, họ không bao giờ tha thứ cho người khác. Tâm hồn chúng ta vẫn còn nặng thù hận, cố chấp, chưa biết tha thứ là được bắt nguồn từ những thói quen của chúng ta tự cho mình là trung tâm của vũ trụ. Khi chúng ta không thể nghĩ xa hơn chính chúng ta, chúng ta không

Reflection Luke 11:37-41

Which is more important to God? Clean hands or a clean mind and heart? In the Gospel reading today, Jesus chided the Pharisees for harboring evil thoughts that make us unclean spiritually such as greed, pride, bitterness, envy, arrogance, and the like.

Jesus didn’t care much for what people might say or what is politically correct, whether we like it or not. These are not criteria on which Christians should base their decisions. Jesus clearly condemns double morality, which clearly seeks convenience or deception, as He said in Gospel: “you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside yourselves you are full of greed and evil. Fools” (Lk 11:39).

God's word, as usual, questions us about customs and habits of our daily life, when we end up converting trivia into “values”, to disguise our sins of arrogance, selfishness and conceit, while attempting to “globalize” morals with political correction in order to avoid being out of tune or being marginalized.

There is time our hearts are still bitter and heavy, tempt us want to revenge rather than forgive.

- Un-forgiveness is rooted in our habit of thinking self-centered thoughts.

- When we cannot think beyond ourselves we cannot forgive.

When we freely give and give generously to those in need we express love, compassion, kindness, and mercy. And if our heart is full of love and compassion, then there is no room for envy, greed, bitterness, and the like. Let us allow God's love to transform our heart, mind, and actions toward our neighbors and others.

Suy Niệm bài đọc thứ Hai Tuần 28 Thường Niên

 Suy Niệm bài đọc thứ Hai Tuần 28 Thường Niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng chúng ta Chúa Giêsu đã từ chối những đòi hỏi người Do Thái yêu cầu đó là làm các phép lạ hay đưa ra những dấu lạ đương thời cho thấy để họ tin. Nhưng Ngài đã chỉ cho họ biết về những dấu lạ riêng của Ngài qua hình ảnh ôngGiona và những lời cảnh báo của Giona!

Ma quỷ cũng có đòi hỏi những việc như thế, trong khi ngài ăn chay và bị cám dỗ, Chúng đã thử lòng Ngài và xúi ngài ném mình xuống từ đỉnh cao của đền thờ (Lc. 9-11). Chúa Giêsu đã khiêm tốn và hạ mình, Ngài đã không thực hiện những đìều lạ và kỳ diệu để phô trương quyền năng và sức mạnh của Ngài.

Hôm nay, chúng ta đã chứng kiến cảnh đám đông người đã vội vàng xô lấn nhau để tới phiên mình "chữa bệnh" và họ mong muốn rằng sẽ nhìn thấy phép lạ chữa lành của Chúa được xảy ra ngay trước mắt họ!

Phần chúng ta hôm nay, Chúng ta hãy tự hỏi chính mình coi, Sự cải hoá cá nhân của chúng ta có phải là một nhiệm vụ cấp bách đối với chúng ta? Dấu hiệu của Giô-na có ý nghĩa gì đối với chúng ta, và chúng ta phải làm thế nào để đáp ứng với những lời Chúa Giêsu cảnh cáo chúng ta hôm nay.

Lạy Chúa, Chúa đã Chết đi và đi vào trong lòng đất ba Ngày như ông Giôna đã sống trong bụng cá voi ba ngày, Và chính Chúa đã sống lại hiển vinh để cứu rỗi và cho chúng con có được cuộc sống mới trong Chúa. Xin Chúa Hướng Hẫn và Thánh Hoá chúng con, để chúng con được sống đời với Chúa trên nước Thiên Đàng.

Reflection Monday 28 Ordinary Time

When we are very busy, yes, even obsessed with ourselves, we are unable to see goodness in others, (outside ourselves). God is surely present and active in our life, our world. It takes courage to burst out of our own selves to behold his presence and plan in and through others. Yet there are many signs of his presence and love; but if we are not open for him in others, we will suffocate in our own selves. The presence and call of God are very real in our life, history and the world. The Ninevites were outside Israel, yet they listened to Jonah’s preaching, and responded to God’s call to repentance: from the king to the last animal!

Jesus refuses his contemporaries their request for a sign, other than his own person and message he proclaimed, and the person of Jonah and his preaching! The devil too had such a demand in asking Jesus to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple (Lk. 9-11). Jesus refuses to make any show of such feats of power. Today, we witness crowds who rush to “healing” sessions, eager to see miracles of healing happening before their very eyes! Is personal conversion an urgent task for us? What does the ‘sign of Jonah’ mean to me, and how do I respond to Jesus.

Reflection Monday 28th Ordinary Time 2021

Opening Prayer: I come before you today, Lord, distracted and discouraged, but eager to receive the grace I need to live this day in a way that will glorify you. You know my weakness. But I believe in your strength. I believe in your commitment to me, and through this time alone with you, I want to renew and strengthen my commitment to you. Teach me, Lord, and guide me along the right path.

Encountering Christ:

1. Jesus Was Not Seeking Popularity: St. Luke tells us that the crowd following and listening to Jesus was steadily growing: While still more people gathered in the crowd… For most of us, drawing bigger and bigger crowds would boost our self-esteem, but maybe also feed our vanity. We would want to keep those crowds following us, so we would try to please them, to say things that would make them want to come back. Jesus does just the contrary. He doesn’t stroke their self-complacency. He calls them out: This is an evil generation… Why would Jesus speak like that to them? Maybe because what he said was true. The generation he was preaching to, and in a sense every generation of fallen humanity, is evil. We have a strong tendency to be self-centered, self-absorbed, greedy, lustful, insensitive to God’s voice and to the needs of those around us. Only a few members of that growing crowd would faithfully follow Jesus until the end. They were seeking quick fixes for their worldly problems; they weren’t seeking the best way to glorify God and advance Christ’s Kingdom. What am I seeking?

2. Jesus Made Radical Claims: Solomon and Jonah were towering Old Testament figures. And Jesus, when comparing his listeners to those who listened to Solomon and Jonah, affirmed his superiority to both of them: …there is something greater than Solomon here… there is something greater than Jonah here. We call ourselves Christians, followers of Jesus Christ. And yet, does Jesus Christ have the central place in our desires, thoughts, and plans that he ought to have? Jesus is God! Jesus is the Word incarnate! Jesus is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity! That same Jesus comes to us and stays with us every single day in the Gospels, in the Eucharist, in the gifts of his Holy Spirit. How do we respond when he comes? Do we build our lives around his grace and his will? Oh, how he wishes that we would! What wonders he could do in our lives if only we wouldn’t relegate him to the sidelines!

3. The Judgment Is Real: Jesus referred to “the judgment” twice in this passage. He was warning us that all our choices in this life will have everlasting consequences. If we choose to hear and heed his voice, it will bode well for us at the end of our lives. If we don’t, it won’t. How often do we think of the judgment that is to come? In ancient times, when life was short and uncertain, people lived with a keen awareness of the fragility of their lives and the closeness of death, the doorway to our definitive, face-to-face encounter with God. In our days, a secularized culture tends to minimize this long-term perspective. But if we can overcome the secular seductions, we will be much better for it. Living our daily lives against the true horizon of eternal life can only bring us greater wisdom, peace, and joy even now, let alone beyond the grave. In medieval times, Christians used to intentionally reflect on their life decisions relative to their eternal destiny, keeping in mind this classic phrase: Quid hoc ad aeternitatem? What does this mean in the light of eternity? If we were to do the same, we might end up avoiding a lot of misery, both in this life and in the hereafter.

Conversing with Christ: You are greater than Solomon and greater than Jonah. You are the Savior, the Lord, God from God, and Light from Light. And you have loved me so much that you have given me the gift of faith, the light to recognize the truth of your presence and your doctrine. Thank you, Lord, for that gift and for all your gifts. I want to follow you. I want you to be the center, the anchor, and the goal of my life. But I so easily get distracted! I so easily forget about you and fall into living my life as if you were not always reaching out to me and wanting to guide and enlighten me! Forgive me, Lord. Help me to live in harmony with what I truly believe. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in you.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will go to confession, making a clean break with all the selfishness of my past and resolving to live from now on more intentionally in the light of eternity.

Monday 28th Ordinary Time

Opening Prayer: Lord, again I come before you, coming into your presence with a humble heart in need of hearing your voice speak to me words of hope and encouragement. I know you never stop thinking of me and desiring for me to stay close to you. As I pray and reflect on your words today, I want to be open to the grace of a conversion of heart to live in the truth of who I am and how I can come closer to you. Enlighten and strengthen me, Lord, to have the courage to follow what you ask of me.

Encountering Christ:

1. What Are We Looking For?: Why is it that we need tangible signs and ratifications for what we believe? Why are we so stubborn and slow of heart to overlook what has been revealed to us in the person of Jesus? Jonah preached God’s salvation to the Gentiles of Nineveh, and the wisdom of Solomon attracted the Gentile Queen of Sheba. Such conversions of non-Jews were powerful signs to the Jews of that time. Jesus makes it clear that in him is something even more superior. Yet many rejected and refused to accept him as the Messiah. Jesus himself came to establish the kingdom of God, and so fulfill the promise of blessedness to the descendants of Abraham. What more do we seek? What other signs, proof, or confirmation are we looking for? We need to contemplate every day the reality of his claim, to see in him (not just in passing marvels or supernatural phenomena) how this truth gives perspective and meaning to our lives as his faithful friends. Am I content and open to accepting Jesus as my Lord and savior, or do I hesitate and wait for “signs” as proof?

2. Repentance: Through the preaching of Jonah, many hearts were converted. In contrast, the scribes and Pharisees remained obstinate, refusing to repent. They were discontent with the miracles and wonders of Jesus and demanded more signs. They wanted Jesus to submit himself to their criteria. They wanted him to fit into the framework of their idea of the Messiah. There was no openness for possible conversion in them. But Jesus did not submit himself to their request. The only sign he gave them was his resurrection. This is the sign given to all of us. Jesus, who was condemned to death and death on the cross, who rose from the dead through the power of God, will continue to resurrect in many ways the lives of those who believe in him. The sign which converts is not the miracles but the witness of life! Let us ask for the grace to be open to seeing and being converted by the many ways his grace brings life, hope, and joy to our lives.

3. Heart of the Matter: We can easily become critical and doubt the power of Christ in our lives when we are inundated with the chaos and evil unleashed in the world around us. Jesus is greater than Jonah, greater than Solomon. For us Christians, he is the principal key for interpreting the events of our daily life. Do I believe that there is no space, circumstance, or time that Jesus is not lord and cannot bring some good, no matter the challenge? Jesus criticizes the scribes and the Pharisees who managed to deny the evidence, rendering themselves incapable to recognize the call of God in the events. As a Christian in today’s world, do I deserve the same criticism from Jesus? Today, the calls of reality are an invite to a change and conversion of heart. Whatever the political unrest, injustice, violence, cause, etc. what is the call of God in my reality?

Conversing with Christ: Lord, you know how easily I get swept up in the pace of life, how I seek clarity, affirmation, consolations, and assurances through the seductions of worldly comforts, wealth, and popularity. I have so many concerns in temporal realities that I forget to open my eyes to the marvels of your grace that actively shape my life. Open the eyes of my heart to recognize that following only you and your will gives lasting fruitfulness. Help me desire to treasure every word you have revealed to me of yourself in Scripture to discern and follow your will.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will seek you for a moment in adoration to contemplate who you are as my creator and the redeemer of all things, the all-powerful and all-loving God. With gratitude and awe, I will place before you every area of my life, trusting in the power of the Resurrection to order all things for your glory and my eternal place with you in heaven.

Suy Niệm thứ Hai Tuần 28 Thường Niên

Qua Tin mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu kêu gọi chúng ta hãy vững tin vào Chúa vì qua những hồng ân của Chúa Thánh Thần, Ngài đã ban cho chúng ta sự khôn ngoan trong cuộc sống của chúng ta để chúng ta tránh khỏi mọi tội lỗi và chước cám dỗ của ma quỷ. Tất cả chúng ta, ai cũng đều mong muốn và khát vọng sự khôn ngoan của Thiên Chúa trong kế hoạch Tinh khôn của Thiên Chúa. Chúng ta hãy xin Chúa Giê-su, Chúa chúng ta đổi mới tâm hồn của chúng ta và để chúng ta được tăng cơn khát vọng tìm kiếm sự khôn ngoan đích thực nơi Thiên Chúa

Reflection Monday 28th Ordinary Time Luke 11:29-32

Through the Gospel reading today, Jesus is asking us to believe in him because through the gift of his Holy Spirit, He offers us the wisdom for our lives and freedom from sins and evils. We all desire for the thirst of Godly wisdom in God's wise plan. Let us ask Jesus our Lord to renew our mind and to increase our thirst for true wisdom.

Suy niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật 28 Thường Niên. 2021

Suy niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật 28 Thường Niên. 2021

Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta nghe nói rằng Chúa Giêsu đang trên đường hành trình rao giảng Tin Mừng. Ngài đã mời một người thanh niên giàu có dỡ bỏ kho báu của mình và theo Người. Nhưng người thanh niên này đã buồn bã và bỏ đi vì anh ta có rất nhiều của cải, tài sản quý giá mà anh ta không thể bỏ được. Chúa Giêsu tiếp tục cuộc hành trình mà không có anh ta.

Tôi nhớ câu chuyện mà bố mẹ tôi kể khi Cộng Sản Việt Nam nắm quyền cai trị miền Bắc Việt Nam và Việt Nam bị chia cắt thành 2 miền Nam Bắc vào năm 1954. Ông bà và bố mẹ tôi phải bỏ lại tất cả nhà cửa ruộng vườn và những gì họ đã bỏ công sức dành dụm và xây đắp hàng chục năm để ra đi tìm sự tự do. Họ đã phải bắt đầu từ con sộ không với hai bàn tay trắng để xây dựng một cuộc sống mới ở một vùng đất mới tự. Bên cạnh đó, nhiều người ở lại miền Bắc đã bị giết hại hay tù tội trong cuộc đấu tố giai cấp của cộng sản vì không muốn bỏ lại của cải và những gì họ có được.

Đối với tôi, để tìm được một cuộc sống mới và tự do tại đất nước này, tôi cũng đã phải hy sinh rất nhiều thứ. Người thanh niên trong bài Tin mừng hôm nay, chúng ta biết anh ta rất thông minh và anh ta cũng rất giàu có. Tuy nhiên, anh ấy muốn nhiều hơn thế, anh ta muốn có cuộc sống vĩnh cửu; thế nhưng chẳng khác gì những người địa chủ miền bắc trước 1954 anh ta đã không thể đành lòng đánh đổi cuộc sống vĩnh cửu đó với mớ của cải, tiền bạc và gia tài anh hiện đang có. Đó là cái điều mà mà anh đang thiếu và cần phải cỏ có để vào nước Trời.

Tin Mừng Thánh Mathêu viết Chúa Giêsu nói: Ai yêu mến cha mẹ hơn ta, thì không xứng với ta. Ai yêu thích con cái của mình hơn ta, thì không xứng với ta ... (Mt 10,37). Và chúng ta có thể thêm câu nếu ai yêu thích của cải kho báu thế gian hơn ta, cho dù đó là tiền bạc, đất đai trang trại, nhà cửa, con cái hay cháu chắt, thì đều không xứng với ta.

Chúng ta thường biết rằng hầu hết người Công giáo thích xem ti vi một giờ hơn là thích cầu nguyện trong mười phút; Thích bỏ nhiều thời giở để đọc những cuốn tiểu thuyết hay hơn là một cuốn sách nhỏ nói về đức tin; nhiều người ở Mỹ có thể bay qua những các thành phố khác xa lắc xa lơ để xem một trận đấu bóng hơn là đi 1 dặm đường để đến nhà thờ; chúng ta có thể chi 50 đô la trong các quán rượu hoặc nhà hàng sang trọng mà không hề tiếc, nhưng lại tiếc rẻ khi bỏ 10 đô la vào giỏ tiền trong lễ Chủ nhật. Chúng ta không nói về những người xấu ở đây vì những người tốt cũng giống như chúng ta; nhưng có một thứ họ thiếu đó là họ chưa phát triển được mối quan hệ thích hợp giữa Chúa Kitô và túi tiền hay kho báu của họ.

Giống như người thanh niên trong bài Tin Mừng họ muốn có cuộc sống vĩnh cửu nhưng lại không muốn có phải hy sinh, bỏ lại những gì chúng ta đang có, đang hưởng thụ. Và cũng giống như người thanh niên giàu có kia đã phải cúi ầu buồn rầu ra đi. Thật đáng buồn! Cho người thanh niên ra đi với kho báu của mình.

Hôm nay Chúa Giêsu nói với chúng ta rằng chúng ta phải hoàn toàn tách mình ra khỏi những thứ vật chất để vào Nước Trời. Như ông nội của tôi đã nói: "Chúng ta không thể mang theo tài sản của mình khi chúng ta chết, cũng như những thứ trước thế gian của chúng ta." Khi trải qua cuộc đời chông gai theo thời gian, chúng ta thấy mình ngày càng có được nhiều của cải vật chất hơn. nhưng khi cận kề cái chết, chúng ta mới biết ra rằng chúng ta phải cần phải tách mình ra khỏi tất cả những thứ đó, vì chúng ta không thể mang theo chúng. Giai đoạn cuối cùng của cuộc đời thi chúng ta cũng phải buông bỏ.

Sự giàu có của chúng ta hiện tại là trung lập về mặt đạo đức; nó không tốt cũng không xấu, nhưng chính đó những gì chúng ta cần phải làm cho giàu có thì chúng ta mới đưa mình đến gần với thiêb Chúa và nước Trời.

Trong câu chuyện Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta không chê người thanh niên giàu có nhiều của cải. Tuy nhiên, điều mà Chúa Giêsu đang chỉ cho chúng ta thấy là sự giàu có của người thanh niên này đã ngăn cản anh ta hoàn toàn tiếp nhận Tin Mừng và nước Trời. Vì thế thái độ của chúng ta mới là vấn đề quan trọng.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

- Wisdom 7:7-11; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30

In today, Gospel, we heard that Jesus is setting out on a journey. He invites a man to unload his treasure and join him. But the man is sad because he has a lot of possessions which he loves very much. Jesus moves on without him.

I remember the story my dad told me when Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnamese Communists took control of the North VN and Vietnam was divided into 2 parts, North and South in 1954. My grandparents and parents had to leave everything they had, and everything they had saved for their lives: their houses, their farms, and took up a long journey to find their freedom. They built new lives in a new free land with empty hands, but they had freedom. Besides, many people in the North were killed because they did not want to leave their wealth.

For me, in order to find a new life and freedom here in this country, I had to sacrifice many things. For the man in the gospel today it was his wealth and it seems he was very wealthy. And yet, he wanted more. This man wanted eternal life; And he wanted to know from Jesus what he had to do to get it. Jesus loved him for that.

Jesus advised him: You know the commandments and then very obligingly listed a good number of them.

They became for the man a kind of list of achievements! Master, I have kept all these from my earliest days. Jesus recognized this man was serious about his salvation and responded: There is one thing you lack. Now surely, this is an earth-shattering challenge to the man and to all of us. It is the heart of the gospel passage this week “There is one thing you lack! “. What is it, precisely, that this man lacked? It is not a question of having wealth or not having wealth, rather it is our attitude towards it. And for us the lesson is clear. Our relationship with God must be our greatest, our prime relationship, and the one which gives meaning to all our other relationships.

When we come to think of it, our relationship with God is the one thing we take with us into the next life; all else will be left behind. Shouldn't we cultivate it while we can? The invitation and challenge are clear. Jesus is asking each one of us to give priority to God in our lives and to get rid of all that we love more than him, everything which prevents us from saying yes to his wonderful invitation: and then: come follow me. This Gospel message is reassuring but challenging. Sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom is an essential requirement of those who wish to truly follow Christ. The Christian follows a difficult path in life but it is a journey with a destination.

And the destination is nothing other than the Kingdom of Heaven. As we continue with this Mass, let's renew our commitment to seeking the treasure that lasts forever, and let's ask our Lord Jesus to help us.

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Opening Prayer: I believe in you, my Lord. I believe you are here with me right now because you want to be with me, you care about me, you are eager to give me your grace. So often, I forget about your presence, your interest. So often I try to live my life as if everything were under my exclusive control, as if it were entirely up to me to bring myself the fulfillment I yearn for. Today, I come to you just like the man in today’s Gospel: Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life, to live my life to the full, to deepen my friendship with you and make it the true center of my life?

Encountering Christ:

1.Goals versus Means: The man in this parable wanted the right goal—to inherit eternal life, to enter into God’s Kingdom, to live fully in communion with God. He also sought guidance from the right person: Jesus himself, the Son of God, the Lord of history. And yet, this man was unable to accept the answer he received about how to reach his worthy goal. He wasn’t willing to put in place the means that would allow him to achieve the end he sought. How often we find ourselves in the same predicament! How often we set a noble goal but refuse to do what’s necessary to achieve it! The ancient spiritual writers call this flaw imprudence, which in particularly spiritual matters is also known as sloth. Prudence, the charioteer of the virtues, is about choosing the right means to achieve worthy goals. Another name for prudence is wisdom, as today’s first reading makes clear. We would all like to be wise. And we can be wise, if only we humbly tu rn our minds to what is truly good, and courageously reach out our hands towards it.

2.The String That Binds Us: The one thing keeping this man from experiencing the transforming power of Christ’s grace was his inordinate attachment to wealth: … his face fell, and he went away sad, because he had many possessions… He gave up an intimate friendship with Christ because he didn’t want to give up his wealth. Wealth promises so much! With wealth, we can fulfill so many desires—but not the deepest ones. Money can’t buy us wisdom, friendship, communion with God, or virtue. To put wealth–or any merely earthly good, be it popularity, pleasure, power, good looks, smarts, or talent of any sort–ahead of our relationship with God is a form of idolatry. If we enthrone an idol in our hearts, Jesus cannot reign there, and so we cannot experience the peace and joy of his Kingdom. We know this, and yet we still fall into idolatry. The things of this world enchant us. The empty promises of earthly idols blind and entr ap us. How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! St. Teresa of Avila, the sixteenth-century Spanish mystic and Doctor of the Church, used to say that you don’t need a heavy chain to ground an eagle; a simple string will do. What strings are holding me back from following Christ more closely? What inordinate attachment is my equivalent of this man’s “many possessions”? What is the “one thing lacking” in my quest to allow Jesus to reign freely in my heart?

3.A Hundred Times More: What a promise Jesus makes in response to Peter’s query! …there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age... and eternal life in the age to come. In this promise, we can sense Jesus’s eager desire to give us a full, abundant life: I have come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly! (John 10:10). He wants to fill our hearts with the overflowing joy of his very own wisdom! But he can’t, because there is no room there to receive his grace; we are afraid to take out of our hearts the many little idols we have been accumulating. Throughout the history of the Church, spiritual writers have seen this exchange with Peter as a particularly eloquent presentation of religious and consecrated life. Since the dawn of the Church, Jesus has called many me n and women to follow him through embracing the evangelical counsels of poverty, celibacy, and obedience. These consecrated persons and communities have consistently witnessed the reality of spiritual things–the Kingdom of God–amid the seductions of this material world—the kingdoms of man. Under the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, the Nazi Reich, and various communist experiments, entire communities of religious have been gruesomely martyred, because their mere presence exposed the hollow core of all such radical secularist ideologies. Those empires come and go, leaving a wake of human wreckage, while Christ’s Church continues to live and preach the Gospel, leaving a living legacy of sinners who become saints. Whatever idol Jesus may ask us to give up so that we can follow him more closely, we can rest assured that courageously doing so will enable us to receive a hundred times more in this life, and eternal life in the age to come. Because all thi ngs are possible for God.

Conversing with Christ: I want to follow you more closely, Lord. I want to live wisely, prudently, and courageously. You know I do—you have given me that desire. And yet, when I look within me, I find other desires at war with that core desire. I need your grace to do battle! I need your comfort to reassure me! I need your friendship to bolster my faith. You are my light and my salvation, why am I afraid? You are my good shepherd, what could I possibly lack if I follow where you lead?

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will go through my closet (or my desk, or my garage…) and separate out all the things I have accumulated that I really don’t need, to give them to someone who does need them, simplifying my own life and discovering if there are still some strings that keep my heart from soaring.

Suy niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật 28 Thường Niên

Tin Mừng hôm nay Chúa Giêsu muốn gọi tất cả chúng ta cần sống một cuộc sống tốt. Tất cả chúng ta hãy nên tìm ý Chúa và để rồi tìm cách phục vụ Ngài cách tốt nhất với tất cả những khả năng của chúng ta.

Chúng ta có thể hiểu được người thanh niên trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay một cách dễ dàng: Anh ta giữ các giới răn, và muốn có đời sống đời đời, nhưng anh ta không muốn từ bỏ cuộc sống hiện tại của anh ta, anh ta không muốn từ bỏ sự giàu sang quyền quý mà anh ta đang có và đang được hưởng. Vì thế khi Chúa Giêsu nói với anh ta là hãy về và bán tất cả của cải của anh ta và cho người nghèo, thì anh ta đã buồn rầu và bỏ đi, vì anh ta là một người quá giàu có.

Qua cử chỉ của anh thanh niên giàu có kia, Chúa Giêsu đã dạy cho các môn đệ biết là những người giàu có khó có thể mà vào được NướcThiên Chúa. Khi chúng ta suy nghĩ về đoạn Tin Mừng trên, và suy niệm về người thanh niên trẻ được Chúa Giêsu mời gọi theo Chúa, chúng ta cũng được nhắc nhở lại lời của Chúa Giêsu đã hỏi các môn đệ thân của Ngài, "Người ta bảo Con Người (Thầy) là ai?" Hoặc, như trong Tin Mừng Gioan, người hỏi các môn đệ "các ngươi không muốn bỏ về sao?" Jn 6:67?"

Chúng ta sẽ phải trả lời thế nào cho Chúa Giêsu với những câu hỏi trên? Câu trả lời của chúng ta hôm nay có thể phụ thuộc vào nhiều yếu tố: Đó là mối quan hệ cá nhân riêng của chúng ta với Thiên Chúa và sự cam kết cá nhân của chúng ta với Ngài, nhận thức của chúng ta về người khác và sự đáp ứng với những nhu cầu của họ.

Như Chúa Giêsu đã tỏ rõ trong lời mời của Ngài với người thanh niên trẻ tuổi, thì những người theo Chúa Giêsu như chúng ta đòi hỏi phải biết từ bỏ rất nhiều thứ trên thế gian này, những của cải, tiể bạc, và những giá trị vất chất và nhiều nữa.

Chúng ta hãy suy gẫm về bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, để coi xem Chúa Giêsu đã nói gì với chúng ta? Chúa muốn đòi hỏi những gì nơi chúng ta? Và chúng ta phải phản ứng như làm thế nào khi Chúa nhìn chúng ta với đôi mắt yêu thương?

Chúng ta cầu nguyện và xin Chúa sẽ Chúa Thánh Thần của Ngài đến với chúng ta để giúp chúng ta biết nghe tiếng của Ngài và cho phép chúng ta đáp ứng lời mời gọi của Ngài với tấm lòng yêu thương và sự rộng lượng, Sau hết, chúng ta cầu nguyện cho nhau, cho những người đã xin và nhờ chúng ta cầu nguyện cho họ và cho những người đang cần tới lời cầu nguyện của chúng ta nhiều nhất.

Reflection 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B

Today's Gospel reading can be likened to a call that never was. All of us want to lead good lives. All of us want to find God's will and to eventually serve him the best way we can.

We can easily understand the young man in today's Gospel reading: He approaches Jesus and asks what he should do to obtain eternal life. Jesus tells him to observe the commandments. The young man claims he has done so from his youth. Here was a good young man wishing to follow Jesus. Jesus looks at him with love: "For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me." On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful for he was a man of great wealth. Though with good intentions, the young man could not leave his possessions.

Jesus was straightforward and blunt when he speaks of the difficulty for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. When we consider the young man being invited by Jesus, we are reminded of Jesus asking his close disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" Or, as in the Gospel of John, "Will you also go away?"

What answer will we give to Jesus to these questions? Our answers could depend on many things: our personal relationship with God and our personal commitment to him, our awareness of others and our response to their needs. As Jesus clearly showed in his invitation to the young man, the following of Jesus entails giving up so many things this world of ours values much.

Let us reflect on the story of the young man and Jesus in today's Gospel reading. What is our Lord telling us? What is he asking of us? And how do we respond as the Lord looks at us with love? We pray that the Lord will send his Spirit upon us to help us hear him and listen to him and to enable us to respond with generosity and love,Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.