Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần thứ 7 Phục
Sinh
Những lời cầu nguyện của Chúa Giêsu với Thiên Chúa Cha trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay cho chúng thấy được là: Chúa Giêsu đã cầu nguyện cho tất cả những ai đã, đang và sẽ theo Ngài. Trong đêm trước khi Ngài bị bắt, chịu
khổ hình và phải
chết, Chúa Giêsu đã cầu nguyện, Ngài không hề hối tiếc
những việc Ngài đã làm vì vâng phục theo như Thánh Ý Chúa Cha. Ngài biết là
Ngài đã thực
hiện những công việc mà Thiên Chúa Cha đã giao phó cho Ngài để làm, và để làm cho mọi người trong thế giới
này được nhận biết ra được
Thiên Chúa Cha .
Trong khi Thánh Phaolô đang chuẩn
bị rời khỏi thành Êphêsô để được sai đến thành Jerusalem, nơi mà ông biết là ông sẽ phải kết thúc việc rao giảng công
khai của ông. Ông ấp ủ không hối tiếc về cuộc sống này. Ông đã sử dụng
của tất cả những cơ hội mà
Thiên Chúa đã trao cho ông để ông làm sáng danh Chúa Giêsu ở giữa những người dân ngoại. Ông đã hoàn thành tất cả những nhiệm vụ mà Chúa đã trao phó cho ông.
Qua hai bài đọc, chúng ta thấy có sự khác biệt giữa Chúa Giêsu và thánh Phaolô. Có lẽ như là sự khác biệt giữa các thánh và con người của chúng ta. Chúng ta đã bỏ lỡ những cơ hội Chúa ban cho chúng bằng cách luôn luôn tìm
sống với và trong tương lai. "Ngày mai, tôi sẽ nhất định sẽ làm một cái gì đó cho cuộcc sống tâm
linh của tôi." "Ngày mai tôi sẽ
hòa giải với những người đã làm tổn thương tôi." "Ngày
mai tôi sẽ bắt đầu dành nhiều thời giờ hơn cho gia đình tôi…"
Khi chúng ta già đi, hầu hết chúng ta mới khám phá, nhớ lại và tiếc hối những cơ hội mà chúng ta đã đánh mất.
Một niềm an ủi cho chúng ta là có Chúa Giêsu đã sẵn sàng thông cảm và tha thứ cho sự mệt mỏi của các tông đồ của Ngài, "Tâm thần tuy sẵn sàng, nhưng xác thịt thì yếu
nhược". (Mt 26:41) ." Nhưng việc này sẽ là dịp may lớn
cho chúng ta, nếu chúng ta biết
từ bỏ tất cả mọi thứ vật chất để hướng vào sự hiện diện của một Thiên Chúa luôn rất yêu thương và hiểu biết.
REFLECTION
Today's Gospel begins with the prayer Jesus says to his Father for all those who would be his followers. Jesus prays this prayer on the night before he is to die. He has no regrets. He knows he has done the work his Father gave him to do: to make his Father known among the people of his day.
Today's Gospel begins with the prayer Jesus says to his Father for all those who would be his followers. Jesus prays this prayer on the night before he is to die. He has no regrets. He knows he has done the work his Father gave him to do: to make his Father known among the people of his day.
Paul in the first reading also looks
back over his life. He is about to set off from Ephesus for Jerusalem, where he
knows will be the beginning of the end for him. He harbors no regrets about
this life. He has made use of all the opportunities God had given to him to
make the name of Jesus known among the Gentiles. He has fulfilled the mission
given him by the Lord.
The difference between Jesus and
Paul is perhaps the difference between the saints and the rest of us. We miss
the opportunities the Lord gives us by always living in the future.
"Tomorrow I will get down to doing something about my spiritual
life." "Tomorrow I will reconcile with those who have hurt me."
"Tomorrow I will start giving more time to my family."
As we get older, most of us discover
and recall lost opportunities. The one consolation we have is that it was the
Lord Jesus who said, excusing the weariness of his apostles, "The spirit
is willing, the flesh is weak." But will it not be unfortunate if we will
have to go empty-handed into the presence of so loving and understanding a
Lord?
Tuesday 7th of Easter: Scripture: John 17:1-11
Introductory
Prayer: Lord, I believe in you and all that you have revealed for our
salvation. I hope in you because of your overflowing mercy. Every single act of
yours on this earth demonstrated your love for us. Your ascent into heaven
before the eyes of the Apostles inspires my hope of one day joining you there.
I love you and wish you to be the center of my life.
Petition: Lord, help me to grow
in my love for the Father and souls.
1. A Legacy of
Prayer: The supreme hour of Jesus has come. As he anticipates his agony
of self-giving love to the extreme, Christ has no thought for himself. His
heart turns to its only love, the one for whose glory he has carried out every
act of his earthly existence: his Father. But at the same time, that invincible
love for his Father embraces all those whom the Father has entrusted to him.
Christ leaves his followers a legacy that will remain their greatest source of
confidence throughout the ages: his priestly prayer. In this, Christ teaches us
how to pray. Christ prays first that his Father may be glorified by glorifying
the Son. What is the supreme glory with which the life of the only Son of God
will culminate? The answer is in his bloody immolation upon the cross.
2. The Cross is True
Glory: “The word ‘glory’ refers to the splendor, honor, and power which
belong to God” (The Navarre Bible: St. John, pg. 202). How can
Christ’s humiliating death on the cross and his abandonment by his closest
followers give honor to God and reveal his splendor and power? How can the
cross be Christ’s supreme glory? First, it reveals a love without limits, a
love that does not say, “I will go this far and no farther.” Christ’s words,
“Father, forgive them,” bear witness to a love that is stronger than sin. The
Resurrection, which follows the cross, testifies to a love that is stronger
than death itself. Second, the cross is the fulfillment of Christ’s mission.
His obedience to the Father, even to death, redeems all of mankind. Have I
embraced the cross in my own life as the one way to follow Christ? Embracing
the cross is the only sure path to love Christ and glorify the Father.
3. Jesus Continues
to Trust in Me: Throughout this Gospel passage, Christ’s words ring with
unshakeable confidence. Even though he will die, abandoned by his disciples, in
agony and humiliating failure, Christ continues to trust. He trusts both in his
Father and in those very disciples who will soon desert him. Our Lord’s trust
in us as his followers must inspire within us similar unwavering confidence in
our mission to save souls, to bring others to Christ, and to transform society
itself. By ourselves, we can achieve nothing. But we have the assurance of
Christ’s prayers and the promise of his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will speak
in the hearts of all those who Christ calls to bring closer to him. Let us
often pray to our great advocate: “Holy Spirit, inspire in me what I should
think, what I should say, and what I should leave unsaid, so that I may achieve
the good of all my brothers and sisters, fulfill my mission, and make Christ’s
kingdom triumph.”
Conversation with
Christ: Thank you, Lord, for loving me to the extreme of dying in
unspeakable agony upon the cross. Thank you for your gift of the Holy Spirit so
that I can follow your path of self-giving love.
Resolution: I will speak with the
Holy Spirit throughout the day and offer to the Father, and for souls, each
cross Christ sends me.
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