Suy Niệm Thứ Tư Ngày 22 tháng 12, năm 2021 Matthêu 1:1-17

Suy Niệm Thứ Tư Ngày 22 tháng 12, năm 2021 Matthêu 1:1-17

Qua đoạn trong Phúc Âm hôm nay, Thánh Matthêu cho chúng ta thấy nguồn gốc của xác thịt con người của Chúa Giêsu, để chứng minh rằng chúa Giêsu cũng là con người phàm xác thịt như chúng ta, cũng có cha, có mẹ, có ông bà tổ tiên. Phúc âm cũng cho chúng ta biết tầm quan trọng của nguồn gốc của con người, của gia đình. Cũng như Chúa Giêsu, cũng có một gia đình, có cha là Giuse và mẹ là Maria, môt gia đình luôn yêu thương và biết hy sinh cho nhau. Chúa Giêsu yêu thương quý trọng cha mẹ mình và là một tấm gương tốt sáng cho tất cả chúng ta biết rằng chúng ta cũng phải tôn trọng và vâng lời cha mẹ.

Qua phép rửa, tất cả chúng ta đã thuộc về gia đình của Thiên Chúa, Chúng ta đều là con cái Thiên Chúa, Thiên Chúa là Cha chúng ta ở trên trời, và có nhiều chỗ ở cho dành riêng cho chúng ta ở trên đó và Chúa Giêsu đã đi trước để chuẩn bị một nơi cho mỗi người chúng ta.

Giống như người con hoang đàng đã một lần sa ngã, lầm lỡ sống trong tội lỗi và đã xa lìa Thiên Chúa, chúng ta chỉ cần đến với Cha chúng ta ở trên trời với lòng ăn năn, sám hối, Ngài luôn luôn sẵn sàng chờ đợi và đón mừng khi chúng ta trở về với vòng tay rộng mở của ngài. Chúa đang mong chờ chúng ta trong bí tích Hòa giải, chúng ta đã sãn sàng đến và làm hòa với Chúa chưa? Nhất là trong những ngày mà chúng ta đang chuẩn bị đón mừng Chúa trong Giáng Sinh, làm người.

Meditation:

Facing death, Jacob called his sons together and blessed them.

For our reflections on the mystery of Christ, the blessing given to Judah, selected for today’s first reading, is the most significant as it includes Judah’s descendants, David and Jesus: “The sceptre shall not pass from Judah until he comes to whom it belongs.” That first of all refers to King David, but only as a symbol of the Messiah. The angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary reveals the true meaning of this blessing: “the Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the house of Jacob and his reign will have no end.” (Lk 1:32-33). Matthew’s Gospel was designed in many ways to demonstrate that Jesus was truly the Messiah, since all the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled in him. Thus Matthew begins with a genealogy, demonstrating that Jesus was a descendant of Abraham, through Jacob, Judah and David.

The Alleluia verse proclaims that God’s divine wisdom guides creation with power and love. The first reading and the Gospel, each in its own way, demonstrate that God guides human history to its fulfilment in Jesus with the same wisdom, power and love.

Dec. 22,2021

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, draw me into this moment of prayer, this place of encounter with you, together with your Mother and my mother, Mary. I believe you have something to say to me today; I trust that even if I feel you are silent, you are with me. Help me to receive your word in this moment of prayer and to welcome you, soon, into my heart on the day of your birth. Mother Mary, draw me into the wonder and praise that flow from your heart in your Magnificat.

Encountering Christ:

1. Praise Goes up First (cf. Judges 20:18): Praise spontaneously flowed from Mary’s heart as she encountered her cousin and was called “Mother of the Lord” for the first time. Her words were true at the moment she prayed them, and they are still true, on this day as Mother Church is united around the world praising God for the gift of his Son. Today we make her words our own. Our souls proclaim the greatness of the Lord.

2. He Lifts up the Lowly: Our Lady knew well how God lifted up the lowly throughout the history of her people, and now she was experiencing it personally in a way beyond her imagining. She wholeheartedly acknowledged her lowliness and must have marveled that God asked her to participate so intimately in his plan of salvation for the whole world. Perhaps resting her hands on her slowly growing baby bump, she would also contemplate how he had come to make himself lowly—an infant, totally helpless and in need of love, so as to bring us the Father’s love and let us love him, too.

3. He Remembers His Promise: Mary reminds us that God did not forget his people as they continued throughout the Old Testament to seek his face. And he doesn’t forget us as we beseech him for graces and blessings! In the words of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, “Often, his plan is hidden under the opaque terrain of human vicissitudes, in which the ‘proud,’ the ‘mighty’ and the ‘rich’ triumph. However, in the end, his secret strength is destined to manifest who God's real favorites are: the ‘faithful’ to his Word, ‘the humble,’ ‘the hungry,’ ‘his servant Israel,’ namely, the community of the People of God that, as Mary, is constituted by those who are ‘poor,’ pure, and simple of heart” (February 16, 2006).

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, you have come into this world as an infant to make yourself lowly so that I can approach your mangerside without fear of judgment or rejection. I wish to praise you for your goodness and mercy! Grant me your grace, these last days of Advent. Grant me the grace to be unafraid to present my lowliness before you. I will not hide my lowliness, for I know that you love faithful and humble souls. And oh Jesus, you have come for love of me. I want to stay at the mangerside for love of you, too.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will strive to pray the Magnificat in my examen prayer at the end of, or at some moment during, the day.