Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Lễ Các Linh Hồn Ngày 2 tháng 11
Chắc chắn ai trong chúng ta cũng có một người thân trong gia đình đã được Chúa “cất” đi. Và lúc đó là một trong những lúc đau đớn và khó khăn nhất của chúng ta. Tuy nhiên, vào ngay ngày hôm đó, người thân yêu của chúng ta đã được tỉnh thức ở phía bên kia của sự chết. Họ tỉnh dậy trong ngày vui mừng hoan hỉ. Người thân yêu của chúng ta đã vui mừng trong sự hân hoan vui sướng, mà tiên tri Isaiah đã hát lên trong bài đọc I: Thiên Chúa đã dỡ bỏ tất cả những tấm màn sô, hay nhữngn khăn tang trong khắp các nước, tất cả các dân tộc; Ngài đã hủy diệt sự chết và lau đi những giọt nước mắt. Ngài là Thiên Chúa, Đấng mà tình yêu tìm cách để cứu chúng ta.Cuộc sống của những người mà chúng ta yêu thương đã không kết thúc và mạng sống đó đã không mất đi trong sự chết của họ nhưng họ đã được thay đổi trong sự sống của Thiên Chúa. Chúng ta đã không thực sự mất đi những người chúng ta yêu thương vì họ đã đến với sự chết, nhưng chúng ta đã đặt họ trong sự yêu thương, trong lòng thương xót của Chúa, nơi đó, họ sẽ nghỉ ngơi trong niềm vui cho đến khi chúng ta cũng sẽ chết đi ngay trong thế giới này được đánh thức trong niềm vui cùng với họ. Đối với chúng ta cũng thế, cuộc sống này sẽ không bao giờ kết thúc, nhưng đó chỉ là một sự thay đổi.
Khi chúng ta suy niệm về bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta hãy tự hỏi: Đã có bao giờ chúng ta đã cảm thấy chán nản, buồn bã và cô đơn chúng ta đã mất đi một người thân? Hay chúng ta đã tìm thấy sự an ủi, sự bình thản hơn trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay? Qua bài Tin Mừng này, Xn Chúa giúp chúng ta biết yêu thương và tin tưởng nơi Chúa Giêsu là Chúa của chúng ta nhiều hơn.
REFLECTION
The day a loved one dies is among the most difficult and painful times we will ever experience. On that day, however, the loved one awakens on the other side of death. He awakens to a day of exultant joy. The loved one celebrates the joy of which Isaiah sings in the first reading: God has lifted all mourning veils from all peoples; he has destroyed death and wiped away all tears. He is the God whose love seeks to save us.
Life has not ended for those whom we have loved and have lost to death; their lives have changed. We have not really lost these people we love to death. We have placed them in the loving, merciful hands of God where they will rest in joy until we too die to death in this world only to awaken to the same joy that sustains them. For us too, life will not end, it will be changed.
After reflecting on today's Gospel, let us ask ourselves: have we ever lost a loved one that made us feel depressed, sad and lonely, but found comfort in today's Gospel? Did the Gospel help us love and trust Jesus' more?
Opening Prayer:
Dear Lord, today on All Souls’ Day, I want to offer myself in prayer for all the souls still in Purgatory, especially the souls of my deceased family and friends. Allow me to grow in the faith that recognizes that your love accompanies me throughout my journey—in this life and the next.
Encountering Christ:
1. “I Will Not Reject Anyone Who Comes to Me”: The Church’s teaching on hell can seem like a contradiction to its belief in a loving God. “How could God send a soul away to eternal torment?” “Doesn’t God want everyone to be saved?” In essence, a soul that dies “in mortal sin without repenting” freely chooses to reject God (Catechism #1033). Regarding the “unforgivable” sin against the Holy Spirit, St. John Paul II writes that it is “the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, Jesus will not reject anyone who comes to him, but he or she must come. Jesus will not force a soul to follow him in this life or the next. We must freely choose, and the time for choosing Jesus is in this life (see Catechism #1021). God’s radical respect for our freedom is both sobering and awe inspiring.
2. The Freedom to Love: On All Souls’ Day the church invites us to pray for those souls who have died and are in purgatory. They died in God’s grace and are assured salvation, but must first go through a period of purification (see Catechism #1030). This doctrine also strikes people as somewhat vindictive on the part of God, as if a soul needed a bit more punishing before entering heaven. The reality is much simpler. Imagine a young man who broke up with one girlfriend to date another. If, in his conversations with the new girlfriend, he kept referring to the previous one, saying things like “She used to dress like this,” or “She used to talk like that,” it would seem that his attachment to the previous girlfriend hinders his freedom to commit fully to the new one. Having chosen to leave sin and selfishness behind, souls in purgatory have accepted God’s mercy and have chosen to enter into a “new” relationship with God. However, there are residual effects from their previous sins that need purification if they are going to love fully. The souls in purgatory want to have their love purified to be able to love God more perfectly.
3. Intercede for One Another: We pray for the souls in purgatory and for each other. The question may arise as to why that is necessary. “Doesn’t God know what they need?” “Doesn’t he already want what’s best for them?” “What do our prayers add?” The answer is that in the church “all the faithful form one body, [therefore] the good of each is communicated to the others” (Catechism #947). This doctrine may be difficult for our individualistic society to grasp, but what happens to my brother or sister for good or for bad affects me, and vice versa. Therefore, my prayers, sacrifices, and acts of service increase charity in the entire body, which benefits all. This encourages a harmonious interdependence in which we rely upon and support one another, both in this life and the next.
Conversing with Christ: Dear Jesus, you know that I love you, but you also know that my love needs purification of selfishness and fear. Help me to love you with an ever more perfect love that “drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). Help me to let go of that which keeps me from loving you and my neighbor more fully. May your purifying love form my heart to be more like yours. Finally, I pray for all the souls in purgatory so that they may more quickly enter into your heavenly kingdom to be with you forever.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will offer up two or three prayers and one small sacrifice for the souls in purgatory.
Encountering Christ:
1. “I Will Not Reject Anyone Who Comes to Me”: The Church’s teaching on hell can seem like a contradiction to its belief in a loving God. “How could God send a soul away to eternal torment?” “Doesn’t God want everyone to be saved?” In essence, a soul that dies “in mortal sin without repenting” freely chooses to reject God (Catechism #1033). Regarding the “unforgivable” sin against the Holy Spirit, St. John Paul II writes that it is “the refusal to accept the salvation which God offers to man through the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, Jesus will not reject anyone who comes to him, but he or she must come. Jesus will not force a soul to follow him in this life or the next. We must freely choose, and the time for choosing Jesus is in this life (see Catechism #1021). God’s radical respect for our freedom is both sobering and awe inspiring.
2. The Freedom to Love: On All Souls’ Day the church invites us to pray for those souls who have died and are in purgatory. They died in God’s grace and are assured salvation, but must first go through a period of purification (see Catechism #1030). This doctrine also strikes people as somewhat vindictive on the part of God, as if a soul needed a bit more punishing before entering heaven. The reality is much simpler. Imagine a young man who broke up with one girlfriend to date another. If, in his conversations with the new girlfriend, he kept referring to the previous one, saying things like “She used to dress like this,” or “She used to talk like that,” it would seem that his attachment to the previous girlfriend hinders his freedom to commit fully to the new one. Having chosen to leave sin and selfishness behind, souls in purgatory have accepted God’s mercy and have chosen to enter into a “new” relationship with God. However, there are residual effects from their previous sins that need purification if they are going to love fully. The souls in purgatory want to have their love purified to be able to love God more perfectly.
3. Intercede for One Another: We pray for the souls in purgatory and for each other. The question may arise as to why that is necessary. “Doesn’t God know what they need?” “Doesn’t he already want what’s best for them?” “What do our prayers add?” The answer is that in the church “all the faithful form one body, [therefore] the good of each is communicated to the others” (Catechism #947). This doctrine may be difficult for our individualistic society to grasp, but what happens to my brother or sister for good or for bad affects me, and vice versa. Therefore, my prayers, sacrifices, and acts of service increase charity in the entire body, which benefits all. This encourages a harmonious interdependence in which we rely upon and support one another, both in this life and the next.
Conversing with Christ: Dear Jesus, you know that I love you, but you also know that my love needs purification of selfishness and fear. Help me to love you with an ever more perfect love that “drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). Help me to let go of that which keeps me from loving you and my neighbor more fully. May your purifying love form my heart to be more like yours. Finally, I pray for all the souls in purgatory so that they may more quickly enter into your heavenly kingdom to be with you forever.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will offer up two or three prayers and one small sacrifice for the souls in purgatory.
No comments:
Post a Comment