Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật thứ 24 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật thứ 24 Thường Niên

Giống như thánh Phêrô, chúng ta đã tuyên xưng quá dễ dàng và thú nhận rằng Chúa Giêsu là Đấng Kitô. Nhưng điều đó vẫn không đủ. Chúng ta không thể biến đức tin của chúng ta thành một công thức trống rỗng. Mỗi Chúa Nhật chúng ta cùng tuyên xưng đức tin của chúng ta với toàn thể cộng đồng Kitô giáo trên toàn thế giới. những Ý nghĩa nàycó hàm chứa gỉ đặc biệt trong chúng ta? Chúng ta có tin rằng Chúa Giêsu là Đấng Kitô, qua cuộc khổ nạn và cái chết của Ngài? Đây là những gì mà Chúa Giêsu đã đòi hỏi các môn đệ của Ngài, như Ngài đặt ra câu hỏi vể bản sắc riêng của mình, trên đường đếnJerusalem, nơi Ngài sẽ bị phản bội, bị bỏ rơi, bị tra tấn và bị đóng đinh trên thập giá vàchết trên thập giá nhục nhằn.

Sự từ chối Thập Giá Chúa Kitô không phải chỉ là một sự hiểu lầm tất cả về mầu nhiệmChúa Kitô mà còn là một sự từ chối tất cả những kết quả về đời sống Kitô hữu của chúng ta. Hôm nay chúng ta đã nghe và đang nghe những câu chuyện về những ngườiKitô hữu đang bị tra tấn, tù đày và bị giết một cách dã man vì đức tin của họ trong Chúa Kitô, ở nhiều nơi trên thế giới, đặc biệt là ở Trung Đông hiện nay. Đức tin của họ nơi Chúa Kitô được viết lên bằng máu của họ. Để Rao giảng về Chúa Giêsu là Đấng Thiên Sai là Chúa Kitô và đồng thời nếu như từ chối chấp nhận thập giá chúa Kitô, từ chối đau khổ là chấp nhận sự cám dỗ của Satan. (v 32-33). Hôm nay chúng ta được hỏi: "Chúa Giêsu có ý nghĩa gì đối với chúng ta" Câu trả lời của chúng ta không phải là những câu trả lời qua môi, bằng miệng lưỡi, nhưng chính là hành động, việc làm của chúng qua cách sống của chúng ta và cách đối xử với người chung quanh.

Lạy Chúa, xin cho thập giá của Chúa luôn đặt trước mặt chúng con trong hành trình của chúng con đang hướng tới Chúa.

24th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

With Peter we too readily confess that Jesus is the Christ. But that is not enough. We must not make it an empty formula of faith. Sunday after Sunday we make our profession of faith with the entire Christian community, throughout the world. What significance does this hold for us? Do we believe Jesus is the Christ in and through his passion and death? This is what Jesus asks his disciples, as he poses this question of his identity, on the road to Jerusalem, where he will be betrayed, abandoned, tortured and crucified to death.

A rejection of the Cross of Christ is not only a total misunderstanding of the mystery of Christ but also a denial of its consequences for our Christian life. Today we hear stories of Christians being tortured for their faith in Christ, in many parts of the world, particularly in the Middle East. Their faith in Christ is written in their blood. To proclaim Jesus as the Messiah/Christ and at the same time to refuse to accept the cross/suffering is tantamount to a satanic temptation. (v 32-33) Today we are asked: “What does Jesus mean for us?” Our answer is not to be in words but in the way we live! Lord may Your Cross always be before me as I journey towards You

Opening Prayer:

 Jesus, I give you thanks for your words and your example. Help me to be aware of the lure of focusing on merely human things. Help me, in my weakness, to keep my eyes on you and embrace my cross.

Encountering Christ:

· Peter’s Declaration: Our first pope was not perfect, but his love for Christ and his faith was strong. He was divinely inspired with the knowledge that his teacher was not just a great rabbi or an ancient prophet returning to Israel, but was in fact the Son of God and the long-awaited Messiah. In Matthew’s Gospel, when Jesus asked the question, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God!” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:16-17). We can only imagine the thrill all of the apostles must have felt when they heard this truth confirmed: They were companions and followers of the long-awaited Messiah himself!

· Good News/Bad News: Immediately after the stunning confirmation that the Messiah was indeed present among them, Jesus spoke plainly about the pain and difficulty that awaited him and his followers. In the many long years, through the many generations who lived before the birth of Christ, the Jews waited and prayed for the Messiah. They sought a restoration of the earthly golden years of Israel, beginning with King David and ending with division after the reign of Solomon. Certainly, the Jews of Jesus’s day, suffering under Roman rule, held out hope that the Messiah would deliver them from their oppressors and restore Israel to its former glory. Instead, Jesus somberly revealed that he would not be overthrowing the Romans or restoring Israel to its glory days. Rather, he would be rejected, persecuted, condemned, and killed, and after three days would then rise from the dead. Peter was distraught at this news and reacted, as many of us would, by arguing with Jesus. When we experience a looming cross, we do well to listen to the advice Jesus gave Peter: We are to set our minds on divine things.

· Take Up Your Cross: The apostles must have felt, at this moment, exactly the way St. Teresa of Avila did when she famously said, “If this is how God treats his friends, it is no wonder he has so few of them!” Jesus’s words confused the disciples. Their Messiah and Redeemer to be put to death like a common criminal? To rise from the dead after three days in the tomb? And if they wanted to be his followers, they, too, would be expected to carry a cross, an instrument of torture, and to be willing to be put to death for believing in him? This was not what they wanted to hear. Frankly, it is not what we want to hear. How often do we pray, “Lord, I have followed you and tried to be a good disciple, so why do pain and suffering still come my way?” It is Satan who whispers to us, “You don’t deserve this trial. If God really loved you, he would not permit you to suffer.” It is often through pain and suffering that we truly learn to rely on Christ. If we don’t “take up our cross,” our crosses don’t disappear. No one can avoid the cross. We must choose to embrace our cross and allow God to work in our lives, or try to ignore it and fruitlessly protest what we see as an injustice.

onversing with Christ: Lord, how I would love to enjoy the wonders of your love and avoid the pain of your cross! Like Peter, I prefer to follow my own plans and don’t want to hear difficult truths. Satan can easily insinuate himself into my thoughts and weaken my focus. Strengthen me and give me the courage and faith to take up my cross and follow you. Help me to remember that without the sadness of Good Friday there is no joyous Easter. May I offer up any suffering, large or small, for the salvation of my loved ones. May my suffering be a means to draw me closer to you.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will meditate on Mark 8:34-35 from today’s Gospel reading, asking for your help to embrace my cross: “He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the Gospel, will save it.’”