Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần thứ Năm Mùa Chay.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần thứ Năm Mùa Chay.

Theo truyền thống của người Do Thái Giáo từ mấy ngàn năm qua cho đến ngày nay, hàng năm Do Thái Giáo có tục lệ là thanh tẩy con người (bản thân của họ) trước ngày lễ Vượt Qua (Passover Feast). Trong những ngày này, nhiều người Do Thái, sẽ đến Giê-ru-sa-lem, hoặc tụ họp với nhau như một gia đình để cùng nhau ăn uống và cử hành ngày Lễ Vượt qua (Passover) lễ tưởng nhớ những ngày mà ông bà tổ tiên của họ được Thiên Chúa cứu ra khỏi sự nô lệ tàn ác trong xứ Ai Cập.

Chúng ta là những Kitô hữu Công giáo, chúng ta cũng trải qua một cuộc hành trình suốt 40 ngày trong mùa Chay để ăn chay, sám hối và thanh luyện tâm hồn để mừng đón ngày Lễ Vượt Qua ngày mà Chúa Giêsu Kitô đã chịu chết để làm vật hy sinh dâng lên Chúa Cha như con chiên mà ngưòi Do thái đã giết trong ngày Vượt Qua trên đất Aicập, Nhờ máu con chiên đã đỗ ra được bôi trên ngưỡng cửa mà cứu họ sống, thì hôm nay máu của Chúa Kitô cũng đã đổ ra để cứu cho chúng ta được sống. Vì tội lỗi của con ngưới chúng ta đã phân cách chúng ta ra khỏi tình yêu của Thiên Chúa, và Hôm nay, Giáo hội đã dùng thời gian 40 ngày Mùa Chay này mỗi năm để nhắc nhở chúng ta phải ăn chay, và sám hối những lỗi lầm của mình trước mặt Thiên Chúa và anh chị của chúng ta và để giúp chúng ta biết tìm đường trở lại với Tình yêu của Chúa qua bí tích hòa giải.

Để ăn năn hối cải những tội lỗi của chúng ta, chúng ta nên tự xét mình và kiểm tra những việc làm, những hành động của chúng ta và dốc lòng thống hối, ăn năn đền tôi bằng những việc bác ái và siêng năng cầu nguyện nhiều hơn. Để được đến gần và để đoàn tụ với Thiên Chúa trong tình yêu của Ngài, chúng ta cần phải thực hiện việc thanh tẩy hồn xác của chúng ta, để chúng ta được xứng đáng đón nhận lòng nhân hậu, và thương xót của Thiên Chúa và được sống trong tình yêu chân thật của Ngài.

Thật vậy, như những người Do Thái tìm kiếm và rình bắt Chúa Giêsu trong đền thờ, còn chúng ta, chúng ta đang chờ đón sự vinh hiển của Chúa Phục Sinh. Chúng ta hãy chuẩn bị để tiếp đón Chúa vinh quang trong ngày Phục Sinh của Ngài bằng cách thanh tẩy chính chúng ta và hoà giải với Ngài qua bí tích Giải tội..

Lạy Chúa Giêsu, chúng con là những môn đệ của Chúa, xin giúp cho chúng con có thể luôn luôn biết can đảm và sẵn sàng hy sinh để tuân thủ với sự mong muốn của Chúa, để sẵn sàng chịu đau khổ và chết cho Chúa vì đức tin, và để chúng con cũng có thể được chia sẻ sự chiến thắng và vinh quang của Chúa trên Nước Trời.

Suy Niệm Thứ 7 Tuần thứ 5 Mùa Chay

Thật là buồn để thấy được sự tính toán phức tạp của người Pharisêu. Chúa Giêsu đã chữa lành bao nhiêu người bệnh tật. Chúa Giêsu đã biến cải bao nhiêu người trở lại theo Chúa. Chúa Giêsu cũng đã làm cho kẻ đã chết được sống lại. Thế nhưng những người Pharisêu đang lo lắng, và tìm cách ngăn cản và sát hại Chúa Giêsu.Việc này thật là rất khó khăn cho họ. Vì cuộc sống của Ngài, lời nói của Ngài, và phép lạ của Ngài đều rất thuyết phục. Tất nhiên, những người Pharisêu có thể được thuyết phục, nếu họ chỉ tin rằng Chúa Giêsu là Đấng Thiên sai, họ sẽ không cần phải làm việc khó nhọc để tìm cách ngăn chặn những người khác tin vào Chúa.

Họ có vẻ lo lắng với việc ngăn chặn người La Mã đến và phá hủy Thành Jerusalem hơn với việc nhận ra Chúa Giêsu thực sự là Đấng Cứu Thế. Sự lo lắng của họ không phải là vô căn cứ vì bốn mươi năm sau, một Đấng Thiên sai giả đã bắt đầu một cuộc chiến chống lại quận đội La Mã, và Jerusalem đã bị phá hủy, và người Do Thái đã bị phải lưu đày. Những người Pharisiêu đã đoán đúng về những hậu quả của một Đấng Thiên Sai giả mạo, nhưng họ dường như đã mất hy vọng thực sự ở nơi Đấng Thiên sai thật sự.

Họ đã sống trong hoài nghi, trong khi người Kitô hữu cần phải được có lòng tin. Họ đã mất hy vọng, trong khi Người Kitô hữu sống bằng hy vọng. Họ yêu chính bản thân của họ và chức vụ của họ và hoàn cảch sồng của họ, trong khi đó người Kitô hữu phải yêu mến Thiên Chúa trên hết mọi sự và yêu thương người khác như chính mình. Những lời của Cai-pha, "thà một người chết thay cho dân, còn hơn là toàn dân bị tiêu diệt.” (Jn 11:51). đã nói lên với ý định quá thấp kém: Việc làm phản bội một người vô tội vì lời nói và hành động của Chúa Giêsu có thể được xem như không được thuận lợi cho họ vĩ họ sợ những người La Mã bắt bớ. Và Cai-phe đã trở thành một cộng tác viên chp giặc..

Tuy nhiên, những lời của Caipha cũng được thánh Gioan nói với chúng ta đó là một lời tiên tri. Cai-phe là thầy cả thượng phẩm, và Thiên Chúa đã sử dụng ông ta cho mục đích riêng của Thiên Chúa. “Thà để một người vô tội chết phải chết thay cho chúng ta. Thật là một sự tốt lành vì Chúa đã hy sinh cho tình yêu, chỉ vì tội lỗi của loài người chúng ta, mà Chúa Giêsu đã phải chịu khổ hình, và chịu chết để cứu chúng ta được sống đời đời. Và thật là một sự tốt lành, không phải là vì chúng ta là những kẻ hèn và chúng ta sung sướng khi nhìn thấy người khác chết vì tội lỗi của chúng ta, nhưng bởi vì nếu chúng ta chết vì tội lỗi của chúng ta, chúng ta sẽ không được sống lại, nhưng khi Chúa Giêsu đã chết cho tội lỗi của cả thế giới, người vô tội sẽ đền thay cho những người tội lỗi, Ngài có quyền phó mạng sống của Ngài mình xuống và cho nó được sống lại một lần nữa. Đó là việc tốt lành hơn cho chúng ta là vì một người vô tội phải chết thay cho toàn thế giới, nhưng chỉ khi nào mà con người vô tội có thể, bởi cái chết của mình, tiêu diệt sự chết.

Reflection

It is so sad to see the convoluted logic of the Pharisees. Jesus is healing people. Jesus is converting sinners back to following God. Jesus is raising dead people back to life. The Pharisees are worried how they can put a stop to all of it. It will be very difficult. His life, his words, and his miracles are all very convincing. Of course, the Pharisees could have just been convinced. If they had just believed that Jesus was the Messiah, they would not have had to work so hard to prevent others from believing.

They seem more worried with preventing the Romans from coming and destroying Jerusalem than with whether Jesus was actually the Messiah. Their worries are not unfounded. Forty years later, a false Messiah would start a war with the Romans, and Jerusalem would be destroyed, and the Jews forced to leave. The Pharisees were right about the consequences of a false Messiah, but they seem to have lost real hope in the coming of the actual Messiah.

They had become cynical, whereas a Christian needs to be trusting. They had lost hope, whereas a Christian lives by hope. They loved themselves and their positions and their situation, whereas a Christian must love God above all things and their neighbors as themselves. The words of Caiaphas, “it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people” are said with the lowest intention: to betray an innocent man because his words and actions might not be looked upon favorably by the persecuting Romans. Caiaphas has turned into a collaborator.

However, the words of Caiaphas are also, St. John tells us, a prophecy. Caiaphas was the high priest, and God would use him for God’s own purposes. It is better for us that an innocent man should die in our place. It is better, for us, that Jesus gave up his life to save ours. It is better, not because we should be such cowards that we gladly see someone else die for our sins, but because if we died for our own sins, we would not have risen again, but when Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, the innocent for the guilty, he had the power to lay his life down and take it up again. It is better for us that an innocent man should die instead of the whole world, but only if that innocent man can, by his death, destroy death.

Reflection on Saturday 5th week of Lents 2022

Opening Prayer: Jesus, be with me today as I read and meditate on your words in Scripture. I dedicate this time to the members of my family who do not believe in you and ask you for graces for their conversion.

Encountering Christ:

Jesus Divides: The presence of Jesus among the Jews divided them. Many of them who had come to Mary and witnessed Lazarus rising from the dead began to believe. Others didn’t. They sought out the Pharisees, hoping most likely to put a halt to Jesus’ miracles and preaching. This same kind of division occurs today, in our society and in our families. When believers in Jesus share their enthusiasm with adult children, for example, the result is sometimes fractious contention. Why? We can ask ourselves if our approach was overzealous or insensitive (too much too soon), if we felt threatened by their disbelief (How could they abandon what we’ve worked so hard to teach them?), or if there was any arrogance or self-righteousness on our part. Any of these elements in our manner are likely to cause division instead of faith-sharing. The best way to share the faith is to live the Gospel truths and use words when necessary.

The Sanhedrin: Jesus’ ministry had grown from grassroots, person-to-person, into a political problem for the Jews governed by Rome. He had become so popular that the Pharisees and Sadducees convened the Sanhedrin, which had civil, religious, and criminal jurisdiction. Ironically, Caiaphas, the high priest, prophesied that Jesus would die for the sake of the nation. And they planned to kill him. Did any of these political leaders question this seemingly rash decision to kill Jesus? Only Nicodemus—and he slipped out at night to interview Jesus privately. As disciples of Christ, we are called to be courageous in standing for the truth—in the public square, at our jobs, and in our families. “God's love calls us to move beyond fear. We ask God for the courage to abandon ourselves unreservedly so that we might be molded by God's grace, even as we cannot see where that path may lead us” (St. Ignatius Loyola).

Will He Not Come?: Political and religious tensions peaked just as the Passover was beginning in Jerusalem. Many Jews went early to perform the required cleansing rituals, and we can imagine them speculating, even gossiping about whether the controversy would keep Jesus away. The Pharisees had given orders to turn Jesus over to the authorities, but the people were fascinated by Christ. Word about Lazarus had spread. Into this cauldron of sentiment, Jesus not only came to the feast but rode in on a donkey and was received as a king. The crowds sang, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” In his omniscience, Jesus knew exactly what was at risk and entered Jerusalem to begin his Passion anyway. Love for each one of us was his sole motivation.

Conversing with Christ: It sometimes feels like I am surrounded by unbelievers like the Pharisees who object to my “religion.” Jesus, you show me how to respond as I consider the tensions and objections raised against your preaching and miracles. I am to be humble and loving, calm and truthful. I know I can count on the Holy Spirit in those moments for inspiration. Thank you for the personal relationship we share. May I be an effective witness to your love.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray “Come Holy Spirit” whenever I feel tension or sadness.

Reflection on Saturday 5th week of Lents 2021

Opening Prayer: Lord, bless me and enlighten me as I read this Gospel. I want to come to know you better, and love you more today than I did yesterday.

Encountering Christ:

Silence: Today’s Gospel does not have any spoken words by Jesus. The only action shared by John is that Jesus decided not to appear in public anymore and left for another region. Some began to ask themselves, “Will he not come to the feast?” At times in our life, Jesus seems to disappear and all we hear are the grumblings of other voices that tell us, “Jesus is not relevant. Jesus does not care anymore. Jesus has other things to think about.” When we read the Scriptures, we know that this is not true. “He is still about his Father’s business.” Faith is not merely the feeling that God is present. It is an assurance that God is with us at all times in all circumstances.

Threat to Power: Why was the Sanhedrin worried? They thought that Jesus had become a threat. They worried that people would follow Jesus and incite the Romans to take away their nation. They wanted to retain their power over the Jews. How ironic! Jesus never threatens their power. His operating principle is love. When we follow Jesus, we lose only what’s not good for us and, in the end, we find our true selves.

God Uses Everything: Our Lord put prophetic words in the mouth of Caiphas, the high priest, who said, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” No one in the room saw the real truth in those words. In fact, they began to plan to kill Jesus. But with the benefit of hindsight, we can marvel at this and appreciate how God can communicate to us in the most unexpected ways. As believers, we look for God in every situation.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, strengthen my faith. You are continually sharing yourself with me. Sometimes I can feel your closeness and sometimes I cannot. Build my faith so that I can trust in your presence in all circumstances of my life. Your love for me does not increase or decrease. You always love me.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will say this prayer throughout the day: “Jesus, I thank you for being present right now.”

Saturday, March 27, 2021

The Effects of Jesus’ Ministry

Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent

So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” John 11:47–48

Jesus’ public ministry had two primary effects upon the people. For many, they were coming to believe in Him and were hanging on His every word. They sought Him out and began to understand that He was the promised Messiah. This was the response of faith. But the reaction of the chief priests and the Pharisees was far more worldly. In the passage above, we see a group of religious leaders who are completely consumed with worldly concerns to the point that these concerns drown out all matters of faith. As the Sanhedrin convened and discussed what they should do, Caiaphas, the high priest that year, spoke up and gave advice that perfectly depicts this worldly vision. He said, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” Caiaphas and many other religious leaders at the time appeared to be far more concerned with their worldly status and power than they were with matters of true faith and eternal salvation. If they were men who deeply loved God and sought only His holy will, then they would have rejoiced that Jesus’ ministry was so fruitful in the lives of the people. They would have offered thanks to God, day and night, for the privilege of seeing the prophecies of old about the Messiah come to fruition before their own eyes. They should have had joy and gratitude, and they should have allowed those spiritual blessings to grow within them and give them the courage they needed to go forth and die with our Lord if necessary. But instead, they chose their comfortable lives and worldly status above the truth, and they decided that Jesus needed to die.

    One beautiful truth to reflect upon within this context is that God uses all things for His glory and for the salvation of those who believe. With this meeting of the Sanhedrin, these men began to plot the death of Jesus. Eventually they used deceit, manipulation, intimidation and fear to accomplish their goal. But even though from a worldly perspective these misguided religious leaders “won,” from a divine perspective, God used their evil to bring about the greatest good the world had ever known. Through their malice, Jesus’ passion and death gave way to the new life of the Resurrection.

    Reflect, today, upon the fact that God is able to use all things for our good. Be it in the midst of corruption, persecution, discord, sin, illness or any other evil in life, when we turn to God in faith and surrender, He is able to transform all things and bring forth an abundance of good fruit through them if we only let Him and trust in faith. Prayerfully surrender over to God, today, any of the above concerns that have affected you, and allow yourself to believe the simple truth that nothing can keep you from the glorious fulfillment of the will of God. All things can help toward the salvation of your soul and end in God’s eternal glory.

    My glorious Lord, You were loved by many but also hated by some. Those with power and authority could not see beyond their worldly ambitions, so they began to plot against You. Give me the grace, dear Lord, to see every act of evil inflicted upon me as an opportunity for You to bring forth good. You are glorious, dear Lord. May You be glorified in all things. Jesus, I trust in You.

Reflection (SG)

We have seen in other reflections at other times that Jesus received great inspiration from the prophet Isaiah. In the synagogue in Nazareth, he read a passage from Isaiah and immediately applied it to himself (Lk 4). In answer to John the Baptist’s question he replied in the words of Isaiah. One of the great ideas of Isaiah was that of universalism: sooner or later the whole world would hear the word of God and all mankind would come to Jerusalem, that is, would be converted to God: God’s servant would “bring forth justice to the nations”.

In different ways, the Apostles accepted this universalism: Jesus sent them on mission “to the ends of the earth”. The passage which we read from St John today has the High Priest Caiaphas announce that it was better for one man to die for the sake of the people, that is, for Israel. John immediately adds the universal dimension: “not for this nation only, but to gather into one all the scattered children of God”. Jesus died for all of us.

Lord Jesus, bring forth the justice of God our Father and gather all humanity into one flock under your guidance as our Good Shepherd, that we may all live in joy and in peace as children of the one Father in Heaven.

Meditation: They took counsel how to put him to death

Do you allow fear or opposition to hold you back from doing God's will? Jesus set his face like flint toward Jerusalem, knowing full well what awaited him there (Luke 9:51; Isaiah 50:7). It was Jewish belief that when the high priest asked for God's counsel for the nation, God spoke through him. What dramatic irony that Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus must die for the nation. The prophet Ezekiel announced that God would establish one people, one land, one prince, and one sanctuary forever. Luke adds to Caiphas's prophecy that Jesus would gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. Jesus came to lay down his life for the many, but not in a foolish reckless manner so as to throw it away before his work was done. He retired until the time had come when nothing would stop his coming to Jerusalem to fulfill his Father's mission. St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD) wrote:

"The passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the hope of glory and a lesson in patience... He loved us so much that, sinless himself, he suffered for us sinners the punishment we deserved for our sins. How then can he fail to give us the reward we deserve for our righteousness, for he is the source of righteousness? How can he, whose promises are true, fail to reward the saints when he bore the punishment of sinners, though without sin himself? Brethren, let us then fearlessly acknowledge, and even openly proclaim, that Christ was crucified for us; let us confess it, not in fear but in joy, not in shame but in glory."

The way to glory and victory for us is through the cross of Jesus Christ. Are you ready to take up your cross and follow Christ in his way of victory?

"Lord Jesus, may we your disciples be ever ready to lay down our lives in conformity to your will, to willingly suffer and die for you, that we may also share in your victory and glory."

Comment: Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the scattered children of God

Today, while on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus is aware he is persecuted, harassed, sentenced, because the greatest and newest his revelation has been; the announcement of the Kingdom of God; the greatest and wider has been too the division and the opposition He has found amongst his audience (cf. Jn 11:45-46). The negative words by Caiaphas, «It is better to have one man die for the people than to let the whole nation be destroyed» (Jn 11:50), will be positively assumed by Jesus in the redemption performed for us. Jesus, God's only begotten Son, dies in the Cross for the love of all of us! He dies to make true the Father's plan, that is, «to gather the scattered children of God» (Jn 11:52). And this is the wonder and the creativity of our God! Caiaphas, with his sentence («It is better to have one man die...») and out of his hate, does nothing else but to try to eliminate an idealist; God Father, instead, by sending his Son out of his love for us, does something wonderful: to transform that malevoulous sentence into a work of redemptive love, because to God Father, each man is worth all the blood shed by Jesus Christ! One week from today, we shall sing —in solemn vigil— the Easter Proclamation. With this wonderful prayer, the Church praises the original sin. And it does not do it because the Church ignores its gravity, but because God —in his infinite goodness— has done some deeds as a response to man's sin. That is, in the face of the “original disgust”, He has replied with the Incarnation, with his personal immolation and institution of the Eucharist. This is why, next Saturday, our liturgy will sing: «O, admirable condescendence of your goodness! O, immeasurable predilection which you have loved us with! O, lucky guilt, that has deserved us so great a Redeemer!».

If only our sentences, words and actions could be no more a deterrent for the evangelization, since we, too, have been requested by Christ to gather the scattered children of God: «Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit» (Mt 28:19).

Reflection:

The message of Yahweh to the Israelites is the same as what he is saying to us now. The Father gathers not only the Israelites but the whole of mankind. During this Lenten season, the Lord reminds us again of his great love for us. He speaks of his desire to do everything to unify us to him in Christ Jesus.

It is written in John 3:17- "God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world; instead, through him the world is to be saved." After reading the Lord's declaration, what are we to say to him? We are indeed his people and he, our God.

As his people, how do we respond to this? Are we ready to go through 'metanoia' (complete change of mind and heart) directed to be the true children of God?

Lent is the time to reflect on this - to cleanse ourselves of whatever is not of the Lord. It is not only to repent of our sins now but to resolve to love God more by avoiding sin and praying for the grace we need in order to live as true followers and children of God.

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