Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Tư Tuần thứ Hai Mùa Thường Niên

 

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Tư Tuần thứ Hai Mùa Thường Niên

Trong đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay, Điều Chúa Giêsu đã dủ lòng thương xót đến người đàn ông bị liệt cánh tay  là cao điểm đáng chú ý nhất trong việc Chúa Giêsu đã chữa lành cho người đàn ông bị liệt trong Tin Mừng thứ Sáu vừa qua (Marco 2, 1-12.)  Cao điểm tột đỉnh tự nhiên của nó được thấy rõ ràng trong ba cách.

Thứ nhất, Thánh Marcô đã đặt nơi chữa người bị liệt cánh tay này là ngay trong đền thờ và trong ngày Sa-bát, và ngay sau khi Chúa Giêsu tuyên bố rằng Chúa là Chúa của ngày Sa-bát. Việc chữa bệnh cho người bị tật này là bằng chứng cụ thể và khẳng định rõ ràng là Đức Giêsu là Chúa các Chúa, Vua của của các Vua trên thế gian này.

            Thứ hai, không giống như  những đoạn Tin Mừng trước đó, là những người Pharisêu đã đặt câu hỏi với Chúa Giêsu và họ đã tỏ vẻ khó chịu và bực tức với Ngài, thế nhưng đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay đã nói sự trái ngược vì Chúa Giêsu lại là người đã đặt câu hỏi nghi vấn cho những người Pharisêu và chính Ngài đã trở nên giận dữ với họ. Trong khi đối diện với những câu hỏi của Chúa Giêsu, người Pharisêu đã không thể trả lời được gì cả. Ở đây, Chúa Giêsu chứng tỏ cái uy quyền của Ngài, uy quyền của vị Chúa của ngày Sa-bát.

            Thứ ba, sau khi Chúa Giêsu đã tỏ ra cho mọi người thấy được cái sức mạnh của lòng thương xót của Thiên Chúa bằng cách khôi phục lại cánh tay tật nguyền của người đàn ông này một cách hoàn hảo , những người Pharisêu đã rút lui để tìm cách tiêu diệt Chúa Giêsu. Đây là cách mà Chúa Giêsu đã dậy cho chúng ta thấy rõ rằng cách sống của Chúa Giêsu là được dẫn đưa đến với cái chết.

            Mâu thuẫn và thử thách sẽ luôn đưa đến với những ai muốn theo Ngài. Tuy nhiên, bất kể đến những vấn đề khó khăn nào chúng ta sẽ phải đối diện khi chúng ta đang cố gắng sống với cuộc sống của người Kitô hữu, Chúa Giêsu sẽ hiện diện nơi chúng ta và làm việc trong chúng ta. Ngài dám đảm bảo với chúng ta rằng Ngài sẽ sẵn sàng đáp trả rộng lượng với niềm tin của chúng ta, Vì nơi Ngài, Ngài đã đến cho những người nghèo khó như một vị Chúa với lòng thương xót của ngày Sa-bát.

      Lạy Chúa, chúng con cảm tạ ơn Chúa đã cho chúng con thấy được con đường Chúa muốn chúng con đi.

 

Reflection SG (2016)

In the Gospel passage, Jesus’ mercy for the man with the withered hand is the climax of the section that began with Jesus' cure of the paralyzed man in Mark 2, 1-12. Its climactic nature becomes evident in three ways. Firstly, the Gospel writer, Mark, places this synagogue cure on the Sabbath, immediately after the statement that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. The cure of the man with the withered hand is concrete proof of Jesus’ claim to Lordship.

  Secondly, unlike the previous passages where it is the Pharisees who question Jesus and become upset with him, now it is Jesus who questions the Pharisees and becomes angry with them. In the face of Jesus’ questioning, the Pharisees had nothing to say. Here, Jesus demonstrates his authority as Lord of the Sabbath.

  Thirdly, after Jesus shows his merciful power by perfectly restoring the man's hand, the Pharisees withdraw to plot how they might destroy Jesus. It shows that Jesus’ way of life is leading to death.

            Today’s Gospel narrative of the healing of the man and the conflicts that Jesus has with the Pharisees demonstrates that it is never easy to be a disciple of the “Son of Man.” Conflicts and challenges will come to those who wish to follow him. Nevertheless, no matter the difficulties we will face while trying to live the Christian life, Jesus will be with us on our behalf. He assures us that he will respond generously to our faith in him because he has come for the needy as a merciful Lord of the Sabbath. Lord, thank You for showing me the way.  

 

Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 2023

Then he said to the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it?” But they remained silent. Looking around at them with anger and grieved at their hardness of heart, Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and his hand was restored. Mark 3:4–5

Sin damages our relationship with God. But hardness of heart is even more damaging because it perpetuates the damage done by sin. And the harder one's heart, the more permanent the damage.

In the passage above, Jesus was angry with the Pharisees. Oftentimes the passion of anger is sinful, resulting from impatience and a lack of charity. But at other times, the passion of anger can be good when it is motivated by love of others and hatred for their sin. In this case, Jesus was grieved by the hardness of heart of the Pharisees, and that grief motivated His holy anger. His “holy” anger did not cause irrational criticism; rather, it drove Jesus to cure this man in the presence of the Pharisees so that they would soften their hearts and believe in Jesus. Sadly, it didn’t work. The very next line of the Gospel says, “The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against him to put him to death” (Mark 3:6).
            Hardness of heart should be greatly avoided. The problem is that those who are hard of heart are usually not open to the fact that they are hard of heart. They are obstinate and stubborn, and oftentimes self-righteous. Therefore, when people suffer from this spiritual ailment, it is difficult for them to change, especially when confronted.

            This Gospel passage offers you an important opportunity to look into your own heart with honesty. Only you and God need to be part of that interior introspection and conversation. Begin by reflecting upon the Pharisees and the poor example they set. From there, try to look at yourself with great honesty. Are you obstinate? Are you hardened in your convictions to the point that you are unwilling to even consider that you may be wrong at times? Are there people in your life with whom you have entered into a conflict that still remains? If any of this rings true, then you may indeed suffer from the spiritual ill of a hardened heart.

            ` Reflect, today, upon your own soul and your relationships with others with as much honesty as possible. Do not hesitate to let your guard down and be open to what God may want to say to you. And if you detect even the slightest tendency toward a hardened and stubborn heart, beg our Lord to enter in to soften it. Change like this is difficult, but the rewards of such a change are incalculable. Do not hesitate and do not wait. Change is worth it in the end.

            My loving Lord, this day I open myself to an examination of my own heart and pray that You will help me to always be open to change when necessary. Help me, especially, to see any hardness I may have within my heart. Help me to overcome any obstinacy, stubbornness and self-righteousness. Give me the gift of humility, dear Lord, so that my heart can become more like Yours. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Wednesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time 2023

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in you. Thank you for the gift of faith, more precious than life itself. I hope in you. May the dark waters of doubt never break through my dike of hope. I love you. I want to let you purify me, so that my love for you may be more ardent and more courageous.

Petition: Lord, help me to bear witness to you even in adverse circumstances.

1. “They Watched Him Closely”: At the beginning of his public ministry, Christ already incurs the bitter opposition of the Pharisees. Having reduced them to silence in a wheat field, Christ bravely enters the synagogue to confront them once again. There the Pharisees are in the first places of honor, and they watch his every move, hoping he will cure against the laws of the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. The Pharisees were right about one thing. They did well to observe Christ closely. If only they had done so with the right spirit: to learn from him and to glorify God for the wonders he did through him. How closely do we watch Christ in our own lives? How readily do we perceive his actions through the circumstances of the day? How often do we glorify God for the great things Christ does and longs to do in us?

2. To Do Good or Evil? Christ obliges the Pharisees. With fearless courage, he calls the man with the withered hand forward, so that no one can mistake what he is about to do. Then he puts his antagonists in a dilemma with two clear questions. First: “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil?” “They are bound to admit that it is lawful to do good, and it is a good thing he proposed to do. They are bound to deny that it is lawful to do evil; and, yet, surely it is an evil thing to leave a man in wretchedness when it is possible to help him.” (William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 68-69) Then Christ asks the second question: “Is it lawful to save life rather than to destroy it?” “Here he is driving the thing home. He is taking steps to save this wretched man’s life; they are thinking out methods of killing Christ. On any reckoning, it is surely a better thing to be thinking about helping a man than it is to be thinking of killing a man. No wonder they had nothing to say!” (Ibid.)

3. Angered by Their Hardness of Heart:  Seldom does the Gospel show Christ angry. Here his anger is provoked by the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and their hardness of heart. They close themselves off from his message of salvation. What happens when someone definitively closes his heart to Christ? The Pharisees, the defenders of the law and Jewish customs, were bitter enemies of the Herodians, who collaborated with King Herod and the Romans. Yet this Gospel relates the chilling fact that these two joined forces to plot to kill Jesus. They are united not by the intrinsic force of goodness, but by the malignant power of evil. Do I at times make small concessions to hypocrisy, envy or even hatred? These could slowly harden my heart toward Christ. Am I willing to be courageous like Christ and endure even bitter opposition for the sake of the Gospel?

Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for your goodness and courage. How small I feel when I compare myself with you in the Gospel. What an infinite distance separates us! Thank you for calling me — with all of my weakness, sins, and limitations — to be your apostle. Help me never to surrender to evil in my heart, but to grow in the goodness of heart to be more like you.

Resolution: I will do a good deed for someone today, even if it is difficult, to bear witness to Christ.

 

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Ba Tuần thứ 2 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Ba Tuần thứ 2 Thường Niên
Cả hai bài đọc hôm nay, nói về cái nhìn theo quan điểm của Thiên Chúa. Quan điểm của chúng ta thường chỉ nhìn theo lối thiển cận và thường bị ô nhiễm bởi các thứ tội lỗi. Kết quả là, chúng ta không nhìn thấy được những gì ngoài tầm nhìn của chúng ta. Vì vậy, chúng ta đã bỏ lỡ cơ hội để thấy được cái cảnh mà Thiên Chúa đã tạo dựng và ban sự sống cho con người. Hầu hết chúng ta không chịu để ý, không nhìn vào trái tim của những người khác, chúng ta đánh giá họ qua vẻ bề ngoài của họ, mà quên đi là những vẻ bề ngoài này có thể là những thớ giả tạo và lừa dối.
Sau khi sáng tạo vũ trụ, thế giới trong sáu ngày, Thiên Chúa nghỉ ngơi vào ngày thứ bảy và thánh hiến đó là ngày Sa-bát. Ý Nghĩa thực sự đằng sau ngày Sa-bát là tiếp tục làm những điều tốt đệp mà Thiên Chúa đã làm cho người khác.
Qua bài Tin Mừng, Chúa Giêsu mời gọi chúng ta trở về với tinh thần và tất cả ý nghĩa thực sự của ngày Sa-bát đó là thực hành nhũng điều Chúa dạy chứ không phải là bận rộn hay mắc kẹt với những việc làm cá nhân hay vật chất bên ngoài. Điều răn lớn nhất mà Chúa Giêsu đã ban cho chúng ta là thương yêu nhau. Thầy ban cho cạc con một điều răn mới là các con hãy yêu thương nhau. Như Thầy đã yêu thương các con như thế nào, các con cũng nên yêu thương nhau như vậy. (Gioan 13:34). Chúa dạy chúng ta một điều răn mới rất là đơn giản, cụ thể là luật của tình yêu thương. Chúng ta nên nhớ là luôn luôn tuân theo húa dáy trong tâm hồn hơn là luật pháp của con người thế gian.
Lạy Chúa Giêsu, xin giúp chúng con biết được rằng cuộc sống của chúng con có thể luôn được chi phối bởi tình yêu thương thật sự.
 
2nd Week in Ordinary Time: Tuesday 21st January 2020; Mk. 2:23-28
“For the Lord does not see as mortals see.”
Today’s readings both speak of looking at each other from the Lord’s perspective. Our perspective is minimal and often tainted by all kinds of sin. As a consequence, we do not see beyond what we see. Therefore we miss the life-giving and life-creating perspective of God. Most of the time, without looking into the hearts of the others, we judge them by their outward appearances, forgetting that these outward appearances can be deceptive.
After having created the world in six days, the Lord rested on the seventh day and consecrated it as the Sabbath. The true spirit behind the Sabbath was to continue doing that which is good for others. In the Gospel, Jesus invites us to return to the true inner spirit behind all of our spiritual practices and not get stuck with outward practices.
The greatest of commandments that Jesus has given us is of love. “I give you a new commandment that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34). He teaches us a very simple law, namely “the law of love.” We should always follow the spirit rather than the letter of the law.
Lord Jesus, we pray that our lives may be governed by love always.
 
Tuesday 2nd Week in Ordinary Time: 2023
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?” Mark 2:23–24
The Pharisees were greatly concerned about many things that were distortions of the law of God. The Third Commandment calls us to “Keep holy the Sabbath Day.” Furthermore, we read in Exodus 20:8–10 that we are not to do any work on the Sabbath but are to use that day for rest. From this Commandment, the Pharisees developed extensive commentary on what was permitted and what was forbidden to do on the Sabbath. They determined that picking the heads of grain was one of the forbidden actions.
In many countries today, the Sabbath rest has all but disappeared. Sadly, Sunday is rarely set aside any longer for a day of worship and rest with family and friends. For that reason, this hypercritical condemnation of the disciples by the Pharisees is hard to relate to. The deeper spiritual issue seems to be the hyper “nitpicky” approach taken by the Pharisees. They were not so much concerned about honoring God on the Sabbath as they were interested in being judgmental and condemning. And though it may be rare today to find people overly scrupulous and nitpicky about the Sabbath rest, it’s often easy to find ourselves becoming nitpicky about many other things in life.     
            Consider your family and those who are closest to you. Are there things they do and habits they have formed that leave you constantly criticizing them? Sometimes we criticize others for actions that are clearly contrary to the laws of God. At different times, we criticize others on account of some exaggeration of fact on our part. Though it is important to speak charitably against violations of the external law of God, we must be very careful not to set ourselves up as the judge and jury of others, especially when our criticism is based on a distortion of the truth or an exaggeration of something minor. In other words, we must be careful not to become nitpicky ourselves.
            Reflect, today, upon any tendency you have in your relationships with those closest to you toward being excessive and distorted in your criticism. Do you find yourself obsessing over the apparent minor faults of others on a regular basis? Try to step back from criticism today and renew, instead, your practice of mercy toward all. If you do, you may actually discover that your judgments of others do not fully reflect the truth of God’s law.
My merciful Judge, give me a heart of compassion and mercy toward all. Remove from my heart all judgmentalness and criticalness. I leave all judgment to You, dear Lord, and seek only to be an instrument of Your love and mercy. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Tuesday 2nd Week in Ordinary Time: 2023
Introductory Prayer: Lord, the most important moment of my day has arrived. I am alone with you for a heart-to-heart talk. Who am I that you should want to spend this time with me; that you should want to pour yourself out to me? What a joy, what an honor, what a glory to be the follower of a king like you!
Petition: Lord, help me to pray for and serve those who persecute me and  to win them over to the Gospel through love, just like you did.
1. “Unlawful on the Sabbath”: How dire was mankind’s need for a Savior! The Jews were God’s chosen people; they had received God’s own revelation in the Old Testament. The Pharisees were the religious leaders of the Jewish people. Yet they buried God’s law so deeply beneath layers of man-made precepts that hungry men were not allowed to pick grain to eat on the Sabbath. The law had become an end in itself and had taken precedence over persons in need. How could mankind ever be led safely along the true path to salvation without becoming hopelessly entangled in the thickets of false rituals and arbitrary precepts? The Son of God, the Eternal Word of the Father, humbled himself to become the Son of Man to bring us the fullness of truth. But Christ did much more than bring us the fullness of God’s revelation. He gave us the strength, through his own life of grace within us, to live out that truth in our lives. Am I sufficiently tapped into that source of grace in my life?
2. Seeking to Win over Enemies: If we were in Christ’s place, what would have been our reaction to the Pharisees? Perhaps we would have yielded to their imposing presence. Maybe we would have summoned up our courage and dismissed their intransigence without even deigning to reply. Christ reveals both his fearlessness and his goodness of heart by seeking to win them over. He quotes the Scriptures that they believe in and cites 1 Samuel 21:1-6. David and his men, fleeing from Saul, eat the holy bread of the Presence: twelve loaves placed each morning on the table in the sanctuary, as homage to the Lord from the twelve tribes of Israel. When they were withdrawn to make room for fresh ones, these loaves were reserved for the Levitical priests. Christ seeks to reveal to the Pharisees, in a way they can accept, that they have gone astray from true religion, in which love of God and neighbor takes precedence over following rules. Christ sums up the nature of true religion and points out the Pharisees’ error in one sublime sentence: “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.”  Do I perceive the burden Christ has given me as light? That is what he intends and promises. If I do not, why not?
3. Lord of the Sabbath: Christ does not stop with revealing the nature and purpose of true religion. He makes a bold proclamation, one which must have stunned the Pharisees, and perhaps even widened the eyes of his own disciples: “The Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” Christ declares in no uncertain terms that his authority is equal to that of God himself, who instituted the Sabbath at the dawn of man’s creation. Christ wants from the Pharisees nothing less than an act of faith in his own divine person. His heart longs to save them. Christ yearns to bring to salvation everyone he encounters, including his enemies. Does my own zeal for souls bring me to reflect something of Christ’s courage and love when I am faced with opposition? Do I desire and seek what is good for everyone regardless of their attitude towards me?
Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for becoming a man to save us in our dire need for you. Thank you for loving even your enemies and seeking to win them over to your new life. Help me to love more like you did. Help me to realize the value of a single soul.
Resolution: I will pray and make sacrifices for someone who is persecuting me or the Church. Forgetting about myself, I will look for ways to bring them to experience the love of Christ.

Suy Niệm Thứ Hai Tuần Thứ Hai Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Thứ Hai Tuần Thứ Hai Thường Niên (Tin Mừng Mark 2:18-22)

Hôm nay cả hai bài đọc đã thách thức chúng ta trả lời hai câu hỏi quan trọng trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, cụ thể là, "Chúng ta có biết được những ý của Thiên Chúa muốn nơi  chúng ta là những gì không?" Và " chúng ta phải làm theo những gì để sống theo như ý muốn của Thiên Chúa?"

Trong Bài Đọc I, vua Saul đã nghĩ rằng ông đã nghe theo tiếng nói của Chúa bằng việc hiến tế những hy lễ toàn thiêu lên Thiên Chúa . Trong  bài Tin Mừng, người Pharisêu, đã ăn chay theo luật Do Thái, Họ nghĩ là họ đã làm như thế là họ đã vâng lời Thên Chúa. Thậm chí họ còn ăn chay hai lần một tháng.

Vì vậy, để biết hay nhận thức rõ được ý muốn của Thiên Chúa, chúng ta cần phải tự hỏi chính mình: "Chúng ta có mối quan hệ gì với Thiên Chúa ?"  Để biết ý muốn của Thiên Chúa một cách rõ ràng hơn, chúng ta cần phải phân biệt rõ ràng những động tác, hay hành động riêng của chúng ta hay là những ý thúc đẩy bởi ơn Chúa Thánh Thần. Thứ hai là chúng ta cũng cần biết phân biệt những động tác được thúc đẩy bởi Chúa Thánh Thần và những thức đẩy của ma quỷ.

Nếu chúng ta biết luôn cầu nguyện trước mỗi công việc, chúng ta dựa trên sự hướng dẫn của Chúa Thánh Thần và các dấu hiệu của thời gian, và bằng cách này, chúng ta được phát triển trong sự nhận thức mục đích của Thiên Chúa trong đời sống chúng ta một cách rõ rang hơn.

 "Lạy Chúa, xin ban cho chúng con có được một tinh thần sáng suốt trong những việc làm, trong sự phản ứng với những thử thách hàng ngày trong cuộc sống của chúng con."

 

Reflection 2016 SG

Today’s two readings challenge us to address two important questions in our lives, namely, “Do we know what is God's will for us?” and “What does it entail to do the will of God?”

In the first reading, King Saul thought that he had obeyed the voice of the Lord by offering holocausts and sacrifices. In the Gospel, the Pharisees, by fasting according to the rules and regulations of the established religion, deemed that they had obeyed the will of God.  They even fasted twice a month.

So, to know or discern the will of God, we need to ask ourselves: “What is my relationship with God?” as this is the basis upon which God reveals His will for us.  Then we enter into the process of waiting and listening to God’s revelation. It may involve the ‘letting go' of the old wine and garment as Jesus used the example of  the new patch and new wine to illustrate the newness of the reality of the Kingdom.

In order to know God’s will better, we need to discriminate the movements which are merely from ourselves or those prompted by some other spirits. Secondly to discriminate those movements which are prompted by the Holy Spirit and those from the other spirits.

Accompanied by ‘prayer’ we rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the signs of the time. In this way we grow in discerning God’s purpose in our lives.

             “Lord, grant us the spirit of discernment in our responses to our daily challenges.” 

 

Reflection Monday 2^nd week of Ordinary Time 2023

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.” Mark 2:19–20

    The passage above reveals Jesus’ response to the disciples of John the Baptist and some Pharisees who question Jesus about fasting. They point out that the disciples of John and the Pharisees each follow the Jewish laws on fasting, but Jesus’ disciples do not. Jesus’ answer goes to the heart of the new law on fasting.

    Fasting is a wonderful spiritual practice. It helps to strengthen the will against disordered fleshly temptations and helps to bring purity to one’s soul. But it needs to be pointed out that fasting is not an eternal reality. One day, when we are face-to-face with God in Heaven, there will no longer be any need to fast or do any form of penance. But while on earth, we will struggle and fall and lose our way, and one of the best spiritual practices to help us return to Christ is prayer and fasting combined.

    Fasting becomes necessary “when the bridegroom is taken away.” In other words, fasting is necessary when we sin and our union with Christ begins to fade. It is then that the personal sacrifice of fasting helps open our hearts once again to our Lord. This is especially true when habits of sin form and become deeply ingrained. Fasting adds much power to our prayer and stretches our souls so as to be able to receive the “new wine” of God’s grace where we need it the most.

    Reflect, today, upon your approach to fasting and other penitential practices. Do you fast? Do you make regular sacrifices so as to strengthen your will and help you to turn more fully to Christ? Or has this healthy spiritual practice been somewhat neglected in your life? Renew your commitment to this holy endeavor today and God will work powerfully in your life.

    Lord, I open my heart to the new wine of grace that You wish to pour forth upon me. Help me to be properly disposed to this grace and to use every means necessary to become more open to You. Help me, especially, to commit to the wonderful spiritual practice of fasting. May this act of mortification in my life bear abundant fruit for Your Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Reflection Monday 2^nd week of Ordinary Time 2023

Introductory Prayer: Jesus, what a joy and what a gift to have this time to be alone with you! I want to know you more deeply. I want to hope in you more firmly. I want to love you with greater constancy in my daily life. Only you can give me these gifts. Only you can make me a bold and joyful apostle of your Kingdom.

Petition: Lord, help me to experience the new joy that comes from carrying the cross alongside you.

1. The Joy of the Bridegroom: The Old Testament prophets, especially Hosea and Isaiah, describe the relationship between Israel and Yahweh as a marriage covenant. Israel is the bride, often an unfaithful one, and Yahweh is the bridegroom. When Christ refers to himself as the bridegroom, he is appropriating a title that had been reserved to God alone. Clearly, Jesus is much more than an ordinary rabbi. What experience do we most associate with a bridegroom and the wedding feast? Joy! “Although it is true that the cross is never absent from an authentically Christian life, it is equally true that the God who meets us on that cross is the same God who created the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the mountains, laughter, sunlight, and every earthly delight” (John Bartunek, LC, The Better Part, p. 365). Christ came to bring us joy, a joy that would last into eternity.

2. Should Christians Fast? Christ says that when the bridegroom is taken away, then his disciples will fast. This is his first reference in the Gospel of Mark to his coming passion. Fasting is a way of sharing in Christ’s sufferings. Fasting, sacrifices, and acts of self-denial are also means to detach ourselves from earthly goods in order to cling more firmly to Christ himself. They make us aware of how much we need God. But these ways of sharing Christ’s cross should not make us glum followers. “Some Christians give the impression that following Christ is a somber affair, or that the Christian life consists above all of dour sacrifices and boring obligations. Joyless, dreary, dull. No wonder their friends want to stay as far away from Christianity as possible!... If our friendship with Christ does not fill us with contagious enthusiasm, we’re probably being a half-hearted friend” (John Bartunek, LC, The Better Part, p. 365).

3. “Behold, I Make All Things New”:  The movie The Passion of the Christ puts this phrase from Revelation on Christ’s lips when he meets his mother Mary as he carries the cross to Calvary. Christ’s “narrow gate” of the cross leads to a radically new way of life. It brings an abundance of joy, a new vigor, interior peace. The new wine of the life of grace that Christ pours out on his followers must change not only their way of life but even their internal attitudes and consciousness.  As St. Teresa of Avila once put it,  “A sad saint is a bad saint.” What obstacles in my life do I need to overcome to follow Christ with greater joy and to radiate that joy to others?

Conversation with Christ: Thank you, Lord, for the new life you came to bring — your own divine life of grace inside me and each of your followers who is faithful to you. Help me to share that joy with others. I long to be a true apostle of your joy.

Resolution: Today I will forget about myself and seek only to help make those around me joyful.

 

Reflection Monday 2^nd week of Ordinary Time 20221

Opening Prayer: Lord, open my heart to understand this passage of your word. Since I know you are present here, I can count on you to inspire me. Let me be open to your word; change me and mold me according to your will.

Encountering Christ:

1.      They Cannot Fast While the Bridegroom Is with Them: This is one of those passages where Jesus talks in short parables, which can almost seem like riddles. From the rest of the Gospels, we can glean what some of the images mean. Here Jesus is deflecting the criticism that his disciples should fast by referring to himself in a sort of veiled, humble way. Jesus is the bridegroom; in John’s Gospel, John the Baptist calls himself the friend of the bridegroom. The reason his disciples didn’t fast was because being with the Master of the Universe gave them a reason to celebrate and rejoice. They were privileged members of the wedding party! When we are with Jesus, our spirit should be full of rejoicing too.

2.      The Bridegroom Will Be Taken Away: Jesus was certainly speaking about his Passion, and in these words we find a key to why the Church encourages fasting. When we fast, we acknowledge that our bridegroom suffered and died, and we unite ourselves to his suffering as an act of devotion. Also, Jesus isn’t with us as he was in the holy time of his living on earth, and we are not with him in the way he wants us to be at the eternal wedding banquet, so we can fast as reparation to prepare for that perfect fulfillment. Fasting “ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepares us for the liturgical feasts and helps us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart (CCC 2043).

3.      The Cloth and the Wineskins: The Gospel gives us two other images to complete this teaching. Jesus is stressing that he is the fulfillment of the old law, the bridegroom, the King who “makes all things new” (Revelation 21:5). To sew an unshrunken cloth on an old coat or pour new wine in an old wineskin is to insist on our own limited understanding of truth, and it can result in spiritual ruin. However, to accept Our Lord’s teaching in its totality, to recognize his omnipotence, is to be included in the wedding party and invited to the eternal banquet.

Conversing with Christ: Lord, you are calling me to let you take the lead in my spiritual life. Help me to take a step back today and look at what I have been trying to do for you and for myself in my life. Let your word penetrate my heart and be the decisive factor. Let everything I do be more a response to you than my own initiative. Help me to respond in the right way to what you have initiated in my life, celebrating and rejoicing that you are present and active there.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will examine my conscience regarding my spiritual life and ask myself if I am truly corresponding to your will in my life.