Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh

Trong bài đọc thứ Nhất, chúng ta thấy, ông Appôlô là người có học thức và có được cách ăn nói hùng hồn. Hai điều kiệm rất quan trọng cho người đàn ông trong thế giới thời cổ đại. Ông đã được Chúa Thánh thần nung đốt trong niềm tin vào Chúa Giêsu và rao giảng to dân ngoại về Chúa Giêsu Kitô. Mặc dầu thế, sự hiểu biết về Tin Mừng và phép rửa của Chúa Kitô của ông chưa được đầy đủ, và ông đã nhờ sự chỉ bảo của bà Priscilla và ông Aquila để ông có thể hiểu biết vể Chúa hơn. Tài hùng biện hay sự thong minh của một người không nhất thiết là đã hiểu biết tất cả về chan lý và sự thật.

Chúng ta không bao giờ có thể nghĩ rằng chúng ta có tất cả những câu trả lời cho mọi thứ, và chúng ta nên cởi mở vả sẵn sang, khiêm thốn để hõi hỏi nơi những người khác. Điều này cũng sẽ giúp rất nhiều cho chúng ta để chúng ta có thể thừa nhận những sai lầm và sửa sai những ý kiến của chúng ta. Không một ai có thể hiểu biết mọi thứ và có tất cả những câu trả lời cho những thắc mắc của con người.

Trong bữa ăn tối sau cùng, Chúa Giêsu nói với các môn đệ rằng ngày sẽ đến Chúa Giêsu sẽ phải trở về với Chúa Cha, Ngày đó Ngài sẽ ban Chúa Thánh Linh xuông trên những ngưòi theo và Tin vào Ngài. Họ có thể cầu xin Thiên Chúa bất cứ điều gì họ cần một cách trực tiếp trong danh Ngài . Ngài đã kêu gọi họ nên trưởng thành trong tâm linh hơn là phụ thuộc vào người khác như trẻ con hoặc thụ động.

Tất cả chúng ta đã được Chúa Giêsu ban trao cho mỗi người quyền thiêng liêng như Ngài đã ban cho các môn đệ. Nhưng đây không phải là một việc cho không, biếu không, chúng ta phải thực hiện những điều cam kết với Chúa như các môn đệ để trở thành nhựng môn đệ thực sự của Chúa. Chúa Giêsu sẽ rất vui mừng nếu chúng ta tiếp tục công việc mà Ngài đã bắt đầu. Lạy Chúa, xin ban cho chúng con những hồng ân và ơn Chúa Thánh Thần của Ngài để hướng Dẫn chúng con tiếp tục sống và thực thi ý Chúa.

Saturday Sixth Week of Easter

Apollos was educated and eloquent, both of which were very important in the ancient world. He was on fire for his new-found faith in Jesus. But his understanding was incomplete, and it was up to Priscilla and Aquila to set him straight. Eloquence or brilliance are not the same as truth. We should never think we have all the answers, and we should be open to correction from others. It would also help immensely if we could admit when we are wrong and revise our opinions. No one has all the answers.

At the last supper, Jesus told his disciples that the day was coming when they would no longer ask him for anything. At first, it sounded as if he was cutting them off, but that was not the case. He was speaking of their empowerment. Since Jesus was returning to the Father, he was empowering his followers with the Spirit. They would be able to ask God directly in Jesus’ name for whatever they needed. He was calling them to spiritual maturity rather than childish dependence or passivity.

We are offered the same spiritual empowerment that he gave his disciples. But this is not a free pass — we have to make the commitment to be real disciples. Jesus would be delighted if we continued the work that he began and do even greater things than he.

Lord, grant me the gift of Your Spirit.

Opening Prayer:

Lord, thank you for this moment to reflect on your words and what they mean in my life. Please speak to me clearly, not in figures of speech, so that I may obediently follow your will today.

Encountering Christ:

· Wouldn’t It Be Nice?: At first glance, Jesus appears to be saying that God the Father will grant anything we ask of him. What a great deal for us! In our human brokenness, we might then be tempted to think of the name of Jesus as a magical charm. However, we know from experience that our prayers sometimes go unanswered. What we are asking for seems good—the conversion of a friend, an adult child’s return to the faith, healing for a gravely ill person, peace in our community—and if nothing happens, we are tempted to believe that our prayers make no difference. On the other hand, we know that Jesus always speaks the truth,

· that he loves us abundantly, so we must come to the conclusion that there is a much deeper meaning to his promise, “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.”

· In the Name of Jesus: We pray in the name of Jesus when we acknowledge our intrinsic brokenness and utter unworthiness for any reward from God, when we “have faith like a child” (Luke 17:18), and when we realize that without Christ we are nothing. Jesus gave us the blueprint for all prayer when he taught the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples. In every prayer, we are to start by honoring God as Our Lord and Father; we are to bless his name. We are to ask that his kingdom comes to us here on earth, and that we follow his will, just as in the kingdom of heaven. We then are to ask him to give us what we need for the day. We are to ask for protection from evil and temptation, and the grace to forgive those who have hurt us. When we pray as he taught us, we pray in his name.

· Love and Faith: Jesus says the Father loves us, and the Father also loves that we believe in Jesus. When we pray to the Father from a place of faith and humility, we more clearly see our spiritual reality. We can accept that our requests may actually

· not be for our good or the good of those for whom we pray, that our timing is not God’s timing, that what’s unbearable to us may in fact be part of God’s plan, and that God can use our brokenness and sorrow and pain to bring about his good even when we cannot see it. When Job was utterly broken, his possessions stolen or destroyed, and his children dead, he blessed the name of the Lord. This humble and upright man of the Old Testament never knew the Messiah, yet he was a shining example of what it means to pray in his name, acknowledging that all we have comes from God, and that our faith in his sovereign goodness cannot be swayed by circumstance. Like Job, we cry out in suffering: “We bring nothing at birth; we take nothing with us at death. The Lord alone gives and takes. Praise the name of the Lord!” In spite of everything, Job did not sin or accuse God of doing wrong (Job 1:21-22). We must beg God to allow us to “rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). This attitude is beyond our human ability. To pray in his name is to beg for the grace to praise God and trust God with childlike dependence. We will then be able to pray as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Ultimately, this is how we pray in his name.

Conversing with Christ: Oh Lord, help my unbelief. Unite me to you and your divine will. Help me to place my complete trust in you, and to praise you in all circumstances.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will make an act of faith, surrendering my most difficult concern to you. I will meditate upon the verse: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

REFLECTION  Saturday Sixth Week of Easter

In the First reading, We know about Apollos, He was educated and eloquent. In the ancient world, these two elements were very important for a young person like him. With the gift from the Holy Spirit, He was on fire for his new-found faith in Jesus. But his understanding about Christ and His Church was totally incomplete, and it was up to Priscilla and Aquila to help and make him understand. Eloquence or brilliance is not the same as truth. We should never think we have all the answers, and we should be open to correction from others. It would also help immensely if we could humbly admit when we are wrong and revise our opinions. No one has all the answers.  

At the last supper, Jesus told his disciples that the day was coming when they would no longer ask him for anything. At first, it sounded as if he was cutting them off, but that was not the case. He was speaking of their empowerment. Since Jesus was returning to the Father, he was empowering his disciples and his followers with the Spirit. They would be able to ask God directly in His name for whatever they needed. He was calling them to spiritual maturity rather than childish dependence or passivity. We are offered the same spiritual empowerment that he gave his disciples. But we are not getting this pass for free, we have to make the commitment to be His real disciples.

` Jesus would be delighted if we continued the work that he began and help other grow more strength in their faith. Lord, grant me the gift of Your Spirit.