Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần Thánh

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần Thánh

Đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay đã cho chúng ta thấy hai nhân cách nổi bật và mỗi nhân cách có những đặc tính trái ngược nhau. Giuđa cố tình phản bội Thầy của mình, trong khi đó Phêrô, trong một những khoảnh khắc yếu đuối, sợ sệt đã chối Thầy mình bằng những lời thề.

Hành động của Giuđa có vẻ lạnh lùng và có tính toán. Còn Phêrô, tuy không cố tình chối Chúa những vì bản tính của ông hay bốc đồng, có thể là trong sự yếu hèn và nhút nhát. Chúa Giêsu hiểu rất rõ ông Phêrô và biết lòng trung thành một mực của ông cũng như những thiếu xót và yếu đuối của ông. Ông Phêrô có một thói quen trực tính là hay nói tất cả những ông ta suy nghĩ từ sự mộc mặc và chất phát trong tâm hồn của ông, ông không hề suy nghĩ hay tính toàn sự hơn thua. Sự Phản bội của Giuđa, tuy nhiên, được nhìn thấy một cách tồi bại nhất khi Chúa Giêsu biểu lộ tình cảm đặc biệt với ông ta ngay trong bữa tiệc ly.

Trong bài Tin Mừng Thánh Gioan cho chúng ta thấy rằng Satan đã nhập vào con người Giuđa khi anh

ta từ bỏ Chúa Giêsu để theo đuổi con đường tham lam và bạo ác của mình. Satan xoay chiều và có thể biến sự yêu thương thành thù hận. Nó có thể biến sự thánh thiện thành niềm tự cao, ngạo mạn, biến sự hiền diệu, có kỷ luật thành con người tàn ác, gian manh, biến tình cảm vào sự tự mãn. Chúng ta cần phải đề cao, cảnh giác tâm hồn của chúng ta vì sợ rằng Satan sẽ đem chúng ta ra khỏi tình yêu của Thiên Chúa v àcon đường mà Thiên Chúa đã chọn cho chúng ta.

Chúa Thánh Thần sẽ ban cho chúng ta những ân sủng, sức mạnh và hướng dẫn chúng ta trong thời gian

thử thách. Nếu chúng ta môn đệ của Chúa, chúng ta phải bước đi trong ánh sáng của chân lý, sự thật trong tình yêu của Ngài. Nếu chúng ta quay lưng lại Ngài, chúng ta sẽ vấp ngã và rơi vào con đường tội lỗi và bóng tối. Chúng ta đã sẵn sàng để đi theo Chúa Giêsu trên đường đến thập giá?

REFLECTION Gospel Reading: John 13:21-38

The Gospel passage highlights two personalities, each with contrasting traits. - Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse. - Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice.

Jesus knew both the strength of Peter's loyalty and the weakness of his resolution. He had a habit of speaking with his heart without thinking through the implications of what he was saying.

- The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper. John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, and affection into complacency.

We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us. The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing. If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness. Are we ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?

Opening Prayer: 

Lord, help me to pray well so that if I face difficulties today, I will deal with them as a true follower of yours.

Encountering Christ:

1. Jesus Was Troubled: Peter had never seen Jesus in such a state. Usually, Jesus was totally in control of himself, the master of the situation, but tonight it was obvious that he had a lot on his mind. He was troubled. Peter loved Jesus. Jesus was his best friend. Jesus had made him the leader of the Apostles. Usually, it was Peter who relied on the strength of Jesus, but tonight, he wondered, “Does Jesus need to lean on me?”

2. Peter the Brave: When Jesus told them that one of them would betray him, Peter was probably shocked. He immediately asked John to find out who it was. Peter did not intend to let anyone betray Jesus! Later, he would promise to die rather than let anything separate them. He really meant it. He thought he was capable of dying for Jesus and he would even bring a sword with him when they went to the Garden of Gethsemane later that night. But Peter was wrong. He overestimated his own courage and let Jesus down. Jesus would forgive him but Peter would first need to muster within himself the courage to seek forgiveness.

3. Peter’s Example: Peter denied Christ three times, as Jesus had predicted, even though he had pledged to die for Christ. His betrayal was known by Christ, by John, and eventually by all of the disciples he was supposed to lead. He was probably personally devastated, mortified, and very contrite. His was a passion of negative emotions. When we find ourselves in a dark place, where do we turn? Peter turned to Christ. After Christ’s Resurrection, Peter literally leaped out of a boat to greet Jesus on the shore. He was that eager for reconciliation. Are we? When sinfulness weighs us down, Jesus waits for us in the sacrament of reconciliation. He wants to forgive us and give us the means to restore ourselves (penance).

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, sometimes I look around at others and feel pretty satisfied with myself. I take my spiritual life seriously when so few do. I pray daily and most of the people around me don’t pray at all. I overestimate my capacity for virtue. Help me to realize that my goal is not to be better than others, or even to be perfectly virtuous. My goal is to please you in all that I do and love you with my whole heart.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will put more effort and focus into my prayers so that I can be a little closer to you.

REFLECTION

In the first reading the prophet Isaiah speaks of God's servant who will bring God's salvation as "light of the nations."

In the Gospel reading we see Judas leave the supper room to finalize his betrayal of Jesus. We also hear Peter profess his complete devotion to Jesus, even unto death; we hear Jesus predict Peter's betrayal of him before simple housemaids, "To give your life for me! Truly, I tell you, the cock will not crow before you have denied me three times."

After his betrayal of Jesus, Judas, "filled with remorse," realized his sin, "I have sinned by betraying an innocent man to death" and in despair hanged himself. (Mt 27: 3 - 5) After his betrayal of Jesus, Peter remembered the words of Jesus and "went away weeping bitterly." (Mt 26:75)

What do we do after we sin against the loving God?

Tuesday, March 30, 2021-The Glory of God in All Things

Tuesday of Holy Week

“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once.” John 13:31–32

Jesus speaks this line about Himself being glorified immediately after Judas leaves the supper to go forth to betray Him. Jesus had just finished washing the feet of His disciples, and soon He would finish the Last Supper, go to the Garden of Gethsemane, be arrested, beaten and crucified. And this was to all take place through the betrayal of one of the Twelve. Yet rather than speak of these pending events in a fearful or anxious way, Jesus points to the glory He will receive through them.

Everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Even our sin can end in God’s glory when we repent and receive God’s forgiveness. It will not be our sin that glorifies God but His mercy poured forth from the Cross upon us that gives Him glory.

The same is true with the events of Holy Week. When looked at from a purely human perspective, what Jesus endured was tragic and horrific. One of His closest companions betrayed Him. The religious leaders of the time betrayed Him. The civil authorities betrayed Him. And all of the disciples except John fled in fear as Jesus was betrayed. But Jesus did not look at any of this through human eyes alone. He saw it all from the eternal perspective and clearly taught that all of these seemingly tragic events would end in His glory.

When we commit ourselves to the following of Christ, we can be assured that we will also share in His Cross. We will experience the sins of others, encounter mistreatment, and have to endure various sufferings. The question for us all as we have these encounters in life is whether we will endure them in anger and despair or with the hopeful confidence of our Lord. Again, everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Nothing in life has the power to steal away that glory when we keep our eyes upon the will of God and His power to use all for His glory.

Reflect, today, upon your call in life to see everything from the divine perspective. If you are upset, angry, despairing or confused at times, know that God wants to bring clarity and grace to every situation. He wants to show you how you can share in His divine mission of transforming every evil into God’s glory. Seek out the ways that your life must give glory to God in everything, especially those things that seem incapable of being used for good. The more an experience in life seems incapable of being used for God’s glory, the more that experience is capable of giving true glory to God.

My glorious Lord, You brought forth good from all things. Even the grave evil of Your betrayal was transformed into a manifestation of Your glory. I offer to You, dear Lord, all that I endure in life and pray that You will be glorified in all things, and that my life will continually become a manifestation of the glory due Your holy name. Jesus, I trust in You.