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indonesian catholic online evangelization

Jul 22

23

Teach us to pray

Posted by Romo Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno OP on July 23, 2022
Posted in renungan  | Tagged With: , ,

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 24, 2022

Luke 11:1-13

Luke tells us that the prayer ‘Our Father’ comes from Jesus’ mouth because His disciples are requesting Him to teach them to pray. Why do they ask this kind of request? As Jewish people, prayer has to their daily routine. Good Jewish man and woman would recite ‘Shema’ prayer at least twice day. During Sabbath, they would gather in the local synagogues to pray and read the Torah. For those living in Jerusalem, praying, and offering sacrifice in the Temple are their daily pious habit. Then, why are they still asking Jesus how to pray?

The first reason is that they observe that their Teacher is a prayerful person. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus prays often and has a prayer habit. After whole-day teaching and healing, He would go to a secluded place and pray.  The disciples may be curious on what Jesus’ prayer is. The second reason is that Jesus’ disciples hear that John the Baptist teaches his followers to pray. If John instructs his disciples on prayer, why not Jesus? Afterall, Jesus is greater than John the Baptist. Jesus gladly grants the desire of His disciples, and He teaches them on what to prayer [the Our Father] and how to pray [to relate God as our loving Father].

For many of us, prayer is something taken for granted. We pray everyday, and in different moments in our lives. On the top of that, we have also personal devotions like rosary, divine mercy chaplet, visiting the adoration chapel, and many others. Surely, we go to the Church every Sunday to pray and worship God. Prayer is just instinctive and natural to us.

However, if prayer and relation to God is natural to us, why do we need to ask the Lord to teach us to pray? Though prayer and reaching out to God is part of our nature, we still do not have a clue how to approach God properly. In prayers, we ask God almost everything. We request for good health, successful careers, protection from dangers, even for the right spouse. But, do we ever ask the Lord that we will be able to pray well and pleasing to God. Before we ask for anything else, our first prayer is to ask the Lord to teach us to pray according to His will.

The reason why we get disappointed, angry and even give up in praying to God is that we pray the wrong way. We may believe prayer is just another instant way to get we want, or prayer is a means to bribe God. Perhaps, we see God as a game master, and we see prayers as coupons. The many the coupons, the better the prize. Sometimes, we forget to pray to the true God, but simply to our personal idea and reflections of god.

Jesus invites His disciples to understand prayer in the right way. It is a relationship with a loving and wise Father. He knows what we need and what we want, and these things He will give according to His wisdom. God desires us to approach Him in prayer because He seeks loving and intimate union with us. He is ready to bestow the greatest gift for those who seek, the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is the gift of holiness and the gift of friendship with God.

Do we ask the Lord to teach us to pray? Do we desire what God desires? Do we knock for the gift of the Holy Spirit?

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Jul 22

16

Don’t be Distracted!

Posted by Romo Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno OP on July 16, 2022
Posted in renungan  | Tagged With: , ,

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
July 17, 2022
Luke 10:38-42

Martha and Mary of Bethany are often related to two modes of existence in the Church. Martha is the symbol of activity or apostolic life, while Mary is the embodiment of the contemplative life. This tradition has very old root. It goes back to the third century AD, to theologian called Origen (see Fragments of the Gospel of Luke, 171). St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century affirmed this tradition and added the reason: “While both activities are essential to Christian living, the latter is greater than the former. For in heaven the active life terminates, while the contemplative life reaches its perfection. (Moralia, 2,6).” St. Thomas Aquinas in the middle age even gave nine reasons why contemplative life is better than active one! (see ST.II.II. q.182 a.1).

While respecting the long Catholic traditions, the text gives us a hint why Mary chose the better part. Jesus said to Martha, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. [Luk 10:41-42, NRSV]” Martha was not doing something wrong for Jesus, and she was serving Jesus. In fact, she is performing her duty as a good host to Jesus. However, by doing so many things, Martha got distracted. Her attention was pull away from the very person she should give most. This is precisely the danger of actively life. It distracts us from Jesus.

Meanwhile Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to Jesus. The phrase ‘sitting at the feet of someone’ is a biblical technical term for ‘being a disciple of someone’. Like for example, Paul introduced himself as a student of Gamaliel, “At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God… [Act 22:3].” Mary chose the better part because she dedicated herself as the true and faithful disciple. She gave her attention, her mind and heart, to Jesus and His words. One of the greatest joy of a teacher is to know the student is listening attentively and able to understand the lessens well.

From Martha and Mary, we learn a deeper meaning of discipleship. Living in this world, we are unavoidably living active lives. We are living in the world where the relation between people and technologies become more and more seamless. Modern people are more concerned with the WIFI connection rather than mental health. With the pandemic, we discover new mode of life, like ‘WFH’. This even blurs the distinction between work zone and personal and family space. We also face the new mode of worship, ‘the online mass’. This surely hazes the distinction between the sacred and the mundane. Though the faithful start coming back to the parishes, many bring along this ‘online mass’ mentality, and even more distracted during the celebration of the Eucharist.

Certainly, we have so much homework to do. Aside from disciplining our minds and heart during the prayer time and Mass, we also instill a new culture in our lives. We can fill our day with short yet meaningful prayers: at the beginning of the day, before meals, before go to work, before and after our work, when we arrive home, when we bless our children, before we go to sleep. Pray the angelus also. Let the Lord fill in our minds and heart with His presence through the day, and let make our day holy.

Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

Jul 22

15

MENYADARI KEBAIKAN TUHAN

Posted by admin on July 15, 2022
Posted in renungan 

Jumat, 15 Juli 2022



Matius 12: 1-8

Orang Farisi menentang tindakan murid-murid Kristus yang memetik bulir gandum, memakannya dan dilakukan pada hari Sabat. Mereka seakan-akan paham makna dari aturan hari Sabat, sehingga mereka berhak untuk menentang mereka. Pada waktu itu, pada hari Sabat, Yesus berjalan di ladang gandum. Karena lapar, murid-murid-Nya memetik bulir gandum dan memakannya. “Melihat itu, berkatalah orang-orang Farisi kepada-Nya: “Lihatlah, murid-murid-Mu berbuat sesuatu yang tidak diperbolehkan pada hari Sabat.”(Mat 12:1-2). Dengan demikian, orang-orang Farisi merasa lebih dari orang lain dan menganggap mereka paling sempurna.

Akan tetapi tanggapan Yesus berbeda. Dia menyatakan bahwa yang utama adalah sikap baik seseorang yang didasarkan pada belas kasih yang datang dari Allah, dan bukan pada kemegahan diri sendiri.
“Jika memang kamu mengerti maksud firman ini: Yang Kukehendaki ialah belas kasihan dan bukan persembahan, tentu kamu tidak menghukum orang yang tidak bersalah. Karena Anak Manusia adalah Tuhan atas hari Sabat.”(Mat 12:7-8). Karena belas kasih Allah, Dia telah mengutus Yesus Kristus ke dunia untuk mengampuni manusia yang berdosa, sehingga martabat manusia yang sudah hancur akibat dosa dipulihkan kembali.

Dengan demikian harapan Yesus pada murid-Nya adalah supaya mereka menjadi pribadi yang mampu menyadari kebaikan dan kasih Tuhan yang sungguh nyata, sehingga dengan kesadaran tersebut mereka bisa bersikap sama seperti sikap Tuhan terhadap mereka yang berbelas kasih. “Tetapi aku, kepada kasih setia-Mu aku percaya, hatiku bersorak-sorak karena penyelamatan-Mu. Aku mau menyanyi untuk TUHAN, karena Ia telah berbuat baik kepadaku.”(Mzm 13:6).

Didik, CM 

Jul 22

14

ALLAH PENOLONG

Posted by admin on July 14, 2022
Posted in renungan 

Kamis, 14 Juli 2022



Matius 11:28-30

Tuhan Yesus mengundang kepada setiap orang untuk datang kepada-Nya. Dia tahu apa yang dialami setiap orang dan Dia tahu bahwa banyak beban yang harus dipikul di dalam hidup mereka. Oleh karena itu, Dia mengajak setiap orang berani membawa dan menyerahkan pergulatan hidup mereka kepada-Nya, agar mereka dikuatkan dan menerima damai-Nya. “Marilah kepada-Ku, semua yang letih lesu dan berbeban berat, Aku akan memberi kelegaan kepadamu.”(Mat 11:28).

Bagaimana bisa menerima damai dan harapan dari Tuhan? Sebelum ke sana, setiap orang diundang untuk menyiapkan hatinya, yaitu hati yang tidak keras, hati yang rindu akan belas kasih Tuhan. Jika mereka berani melepaskan ketegaran hatinya, maka ia akan bisa merasakan hembusan daya kuasa Allah mengalirkan kedamaian. “Pikullah kuk yang Kupasang dan belajarlah pada-Ku, karena Aku lemah lembut dan rendah hati dan jiwamu akan mendapat ketenangan.”(Mat 11:29).

Dengan demikian, setiap orang memiliki kesempatan yang sama untuk bisa mengalami damai dan kasih dari Kristus. Sekarang yang ditunggu adalah jawaban masing-masing orang kepada Tuhan; Apakah benar-benar percaya? “Siapa memperhatikan firman akan mendapat kebaikan, dan berbahagialah orang yang percaya kepada TUHAN.”(Amsal 16:20).

Untuk bisa percaya kepada Tuhan maka tidak ada jalan lain, selain berbuka hatinya dan dengan sadar bahwa dirinya sebagai manusia yang terbatas dan mengakui bahwa semua hal bisa mereka tanggung, selain karena pertolongan Allah. “Jiwa kita menanti-nantikan TUHAN. Dialah penolong kita dan perisai kita! Ya, karena Dia hati kita bersukacita, sebab kepada nama-Nya yang kudus kita percaya. Kasih setia-Mu, ya TUHAN, kiranya menyertai kami, seperti kami berharap kepada-Mu”(Mzm 33:20-22).

Didik, CM 

Jul 22

13

JALAN YANG SEMPIT

Posted by admin on July 13, 2022
Posted in renungan 

Rabu, 13 Juli 2022



Matius 11:25-27

Yesus menyatakan pesan kepada para murid-Nya kepada siapa Tuhan berkenan. Jika seseorang ingin dekat dengan-Nya dan menerima berkat-berkat-Nya, maka ia perlu memperhatikan ini, yaitu bahwa Allah berkenan kepada mereka yang menyadari diri mereka sebagai orang kecil; orang yang membutuhkan belas kasih dari Allah. “Pada waktu itu berkatalah Yesus: “Aku bersyukur kepada-Mu, Bapa, Tuhan langit dan bumi, karena semuanya itu Engkau sembunyikan bagi orang bijak dan orang pandai, tetapi Engkau nyatakan kepada orang kecil.  Ya Bapa, itulah yang berkenan kepada-Mu.”(Mat 11:25-26).

Dengan demikian jalan untuk sampai kepada Allah adalah jalan yang sempit dan kecil, dimana tidak banyak orang yang melewatinya,  sebab mereka terlebih dahulu dituntut untuk menyangkal diri dari segala bentuk kesombongan dan menyadari siapa dirinya sebagai orang yang bergantung pada Allah serta siap mengandalkan-Nya, dan hidup benar dihadapan Allah dan manusia. “Masuklah melalui pintu yang sesak itu, karena lebarlah pintu dan luaslah jalan yang menuju kepada kebinasaan, dan banyak orang yang masuk melaluinya;  karena sesaklah pintu dan sempitlah jalan yang menuju kepada kehidupan, dan sedikit orang yang mendapatinya.”(Mat 7:13-14).

Oleh karena itu, setiap orang yang percaya kepada Yesus adalah mereka yang rela melepaskan ikatan-ikatan, yang menghambatnya untuk bisa berkomunikasi dengan Allah Bapanya, yang telah turun ke bumi dalam diri Yesus Kristus dan di dalam persatuan dengan Roh Kudus. “Semua telah diserahkan kepada-Ku oleh Bapa-Ku dan tidak seorang pun mengenal Anak selain Bapa, dan tidak seorang pun mengenal Bapa selain Anak dan orang yang kepadanya Anak itu berkenan menyatakannya.”(Mat 11:27). Oleh karena itu, setiap orang yang percaya kepada Kristus telah bertemu dan bersatu dengan Allah Bapa dan mereka akan menerima damai dan keselamatan-Nya.

Didik, CM 

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