May 03, Feast, St. Philip and James

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Ngày 3/5 Lể Thánh Philiphê và Giacôbê Tông Đồ

Tin mừng hôm nay cho chúng ta câu trả lời chi câu hỏi của thánh Philiphê: “ làm thế nào để cho chúng ta đến với Chúa Cha?”.

Để trả lời câu hỏi này, Chúa Giêsu Kitô đã đáp trả với một góc nhìn đôi: Bất cứ ai đã thấy Chúa Giêsu, là thấy Chúa Cha (khía cạnh cá nhân), và ai thấy việc Ngài đang thực hiện là thấy được những việc mà Đức Chúa Cha làm (khía cạnh liên tác).

Trong các công trình Chúa Cha đang làm là công việc Chúa Giêsu đang thực hiện và ngược lại. Bài tin mừng này tiếp tục chuyển tiếp và mở rộng cho chúng ta theo hai chiều hướng bao gồm các yếu tố về con người: đó là việc làm, hành động và việc cầu nguyện.

- Việc làm, Hành động: bất cứ ai tin vào Chúa Giêsu sẽ làm các công việc mà Ngài làm.

- Cầu nguyện: bất cứ ai trong chúng ta xin điều gì vì danh Chúa Giêsu Kitô, Ngài sẽ ban cho chúng ta điều chúng ta xin đó. Nhưng, việc đầu tiên phải được nhấn mạnh đến đức tin ("ai tin ta"); thứ hai, nhấn mạnh về đời sống thiêng liêng của làm("những việc ta làm").

Các tông đồ có thể không hiểu được hoàn toàn sự quan hệ hiệp nhất giữa Chúa Cha và Chúa Giêsu, họ đã không nhận ra Chúa Giêsu là Thiên Chúa và là con người trong cùng một bản thể. Nhưng Ngài không giới hạn chính mình để chứng minh sự bình đẳng của Ngài với Đức Chúa Cha, Ngài cũng nhắc nhở cho họ biết rằng họ được chọn để tiếp tục thực hiện công việc Cứu chuộc của Ngài: Ngài trao cho họ sức mạnh để làm phép lạ, Ngài hứa với họ rằng Ngài sẽ ở bên họ mãi mãi trong mọi ngày, và tất cả mọi thứ gì họ kêu xin vì danh Ngài, Ngài sẽ ban cho.

Chúng ta là những môn đệ của Chúa Kitô Hôm nay, Chúa cũng hứa sẽ ở lại với chúng ta luôn mãi và ban cho chúng ta tất cả những ơn gì mà chúng ta biết chạy đến kêu cầu danh ngài. Nếu chúng ta có lòng tin và sự hiệp nhất trong Chúa Kitô như các thánh Tông đồ.

REFLECTION May 3, – STS. PHILIP AND JAMES, Apostles

In the Gospel reading today, we hear Philip asking Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father and that is enough." Jesus reminds Philip, his apostle-companions and all of us, that "whoever sees me, sees the Father." Indeed, the Gospel Good News is about the Triune God loving us and sending the Son in order that he may reveal the Father and his love for us.

In our younger years, we were taught in catechism class a song which reflected today's reading: "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; his banner over me is love." Though we did not fully understand the song, we loved to sing it. For adults, what does the song say? What does it mean for Jesus to be "the way, the truth and the life"? He is the Way to the Father: we know the Father through him; he is truth as God is all Truth; he is life as God himself is Life.

The song ends, "his banner over me is love": Jesus revealed to us the love of the Father for us.

STS. PHILIP AND JAMES, Apostles

Opening Prayer:

Jesus, you are the way, the truth, and the life. Whenever I am lost, help me come back to your way. Whenever I am confused, help me find your truth. When I am confronted with death, help me remember that you are my everlasting life.

Encountering Christ:

The Way: Jesus is the Way. Just before this Gospel passage, Jesus was speaking to his disciples about where he will go after his death. Thomas asked Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). Jesus answered in an unexpected way. He did not give them directions on where to look for him, as they might have supposed. He answered them not with a “where” but with a “who.” The answer is himself. He is the way to heaven. He is the door where we, his sheep, can come in and be saved (cf. John 10:9). Christ restored our relationship with our heavenly Father. Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father in order to help them believe all he had told them. Jesus again replied that he himself is the answer. He is the image of the invisible God (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4). Jesus Christ restored our relationship with the Father, restoring the imago Dei—the image of God that was first given to Adam ( Genesis 1:27). The only way that we fallen humans can come to the Father is through Jesus, the Way. We can have faith that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, will lead us back to the Father when we have wandered away (cf. John 10:14).

The Truth: Jesus is the truth. He told his disciples, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). Knowledge of the truth given to us in Scripture is essential to discipleship. If we are misled by lies, we will stray from the Way, and we will be in bondage to sin. Sin warps our frail minds and bodies and captivates us with its empty promises. St. Paul taught that learning about Christ and being obedient to him leads to freedom from sin: “But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted” (Romans 6:17). When we remain close to Jesus our Lord, we are truly free: “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The Life: Jesus is the life. He is our salvation. John began his Gospel praising Christ, the life: “All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:2-4). Nothing came to be without Christ. He is the font of life, the source of existence for all things. Christ, in his goodness, shares his life with us, and through him we receive eternal life: “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:11). The Catechism teaches that “Christ enables us to live in him all that he himself lived, and he lives it in us” (CCC 521). In the parable of the vine and the branches, Jesus says that he is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:1-17). We receive life from the vine by remaining attached to the vine. We must remain in Christ to receive his life-giving love. We remain in Christ and receive life when we partake of his h oly presence in the Eucharist. Jesus is the “bread of God...which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33).

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, I give you thanks for giving yourself to me in such a beautiful way. You are my way to the Father and my heavenly home. You are the truth that sets me free from sin and teaches me all that is right and good. You are the life that flows through my veins. You share your life with me by feeding me from your own precious body. You died for me so you could do all this for me. I am full of gratitude and wonder at your self-giving love.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray with Psalm 25: “Make me know your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation” (Psalms 25:4-5).

May 03, Feast, St. Philip and James, apostles

REFLECTION May 3

Our faith comes to us from the apostles who with their own senses witnessed what the Lord Jesus said and did. They pass on to us their witness. It's the apostles' preaching and their witness to Christ risen that is the foundation of our faith. If they lied we are without hope.

Can we trust anyone fully? Philip's question and Jesus' response will provide us with a key that will open the door to confidence for us. Philip wants one more "sign" of God's power that will authenticate Jesus truly as worthy of belief. Jesus says simply in reply, "Believe in me or believe because of the works I do." Trust may be a lost art today, but we can believe in and trust God. Jesus' works manifest God working in him. God was present in the works Jesus did, he has been and continues to be present in the works of the Church.