Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 5 Mùa Chay

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 5 Mùa Chay - John 8, 31-42

Hôm nay, Chúa Kitô mời gọi chúng ta đón nhận Lời Chúa để Lời Chúa làm chủ tâm hồn của chúng ta. Ngài cũng nói rằng tất cả mọi thứ trên đời này sẽ qua đi nhưng Lời Ngài sẽ chẳng bao giờ qua đi, nhưng sẽ tồn tại vĩnh cửu. Vì Lời Chúa chính là Thiên Chúa.

    Qua lịch sử của loài người chúng ta thấy. Con người đã phát minh và đưa ra rất nhiều chân lý, và triết lý khác nhau qua những triều đại và những đế quốc có lúc rất là thịnh vượng, nhưng rồi cũng đã bị diệt vong, như đế quốc La Mã hay Mông Cổ với Thành Cát Tư Hãn... Thế giới của chúng ta luôn luôn thay đổi và phát triển liên tục. Để nhận biết chân lý sự thật, chúng ta cần phải nhận thức, Chúng ta cần có một cái mỏ neo tinh thần để có thể chịu đựng được những sự thử thách của thời gian.

    Lời của Chúa "hướng dẫn chúng ta, bác bỏ mọi sự dối trá, khuyên nhủ và sửa chữa những lỗi lầm, biết nhẫn nại và chú tâm dạy dỗ người khác". (2 Tm 4:2). Tuy nhiên, không nên chỉ biết nghe không mà thôi, chúng ta cần đưa Lời Chúa vào thực tại bằng việc thực hiện Lời Chúa ngay trong cuộc sống hằng ngày của chúng ta để chúng ta có thể phát triển và thu thập được các loại hoa trái của sự hy vọng, trong đức tin và đức ái.

REFLECTION Gospel Reading: John 8:31-42

Today, Jesus Christ invites us to make his Word our home. He also says that everything passes away but the Word of God remains because it is eternal. And Word is God Himself. Human history raised up many truths and philosophies. Dynasties and empires rose and fell. The world is constantly changing and evolving. To know the truth, we need discernment. We need a spiritual anchor that can withstand the test of time. The word of God "instructs, refutes falsehood, corrects errors, gives encouragement." (2 Tm 4:2) It also goes beyond the limits of time. But it should not only be listened to but put into practice as well so that we can gather fruits of faith, hope and charity.

Reflection on Wednesday 5th week of Lents 2022

Opening Prayer: Lord, thank you for these moments to be with you by pondering your words in the Scriptures. Bless me as I look for meaning and trust that you have a special message for me today.

Encountering Christ:

The Catholic Meaning of Freedom: Jesus frequently preached that the truth will set us free. In our generation, some reject Jesus because they have a distorted view of truth and freedom. Truth, they say, belongs to the person who believes it and can vary from individual to individual. Freedom, the modern mind believes, is the ability to choose whatever we deem as good, or good for us, from among a limitless array of options. According to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, “We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.” Catholics embrace Jesus’ words and believe God is the fullness of truth. As Bishop Robert Barron says, freedom is “not so much liberty of choice, but rather the disciplining of desire so as to make the achievement of the good first possible and then effortless.” We are disciples of Christ and fight moral relativism by praying and being able to use Scripture in dialogue with others. “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (1 Timothy 3:16).

    My Word Has No Room among You: These descendants of Abraham were trying to kill Jesus because they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) accept his word. What drove the word of God from their minds and hearts? Sin. Perhaps the Pharisees suffered from arrogance, intellectualism, and intolerance. In their self-righteousness, they shut their hearts and proclaimed themselves judges and executioners of Jesus. Sin can also keep us from hearing God’s will in our lives, even if we are trying to follow him as a disciple. May we stay close to the sacrament of Reconciliation to keep our souls free from even the smallest blinding or deafening sin.

    Clinging to a False Paradigm: The Pharisees clung to the fact that they were Abraham’s descendants as if they had all the power of redemption they needed. By their insistence, they pushed away from the only redemption that could truly save them: Jesus Christ, who stood before them. We can fall into a similar trap by forcing Our Lord into a box of our making or subjugating him to our earthly passions. Every time we consider “we know better,” we are falling into a false paradigm. This denial of truth can sap our joy and leave us with the earthly remnants we cling to, rather than the heavenly joy for which we were made. Again, may we stay close to the sacrament of Reconciliation, which will help us to embrace truth and live joyfully.

    Conversation with Christ: Lord, reading these lines of Scripture with hindsight, it is easy to judge the Pharisees for their hard-heartedness and presume I am different. Help me, Lord, to keep my soul pure through your sacramental grace so that I can embrace true freedom and reject all relativistic paradigms in my life.

    Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will do a thorough examination of my conscience and make a plan to attend the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Reflection on Wednesday 5th week of Lents 2021

Opening Prayer: Lord, teach me how to love you more as I reflect on your words today. I want to live in your freedom and truth.

Encountering Christ:

1. Formation Moment: Christ was speaking with those Jews who believed he was the Messiah. He was teaching them that his word is truth and has the power to set them free from sin. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Christ reaches through time and space to us, his modern disciples, with the same message. He invites us to read the word, meditate on it, memorize it, internalize it. “Then, you will be free.” What an outstanding promise he makes to us! Christ has taken the initiative to share with us the true meaning of life and to reconcile us with God the Father.

2. Blocked by Pride: As Christ was inviting them into a closer encounter with himself, the Jews were getting annoyed. “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved,” they said. They had obviously forgotten certain parts of their history—Egypt and Babylon, for example. They were stuck in their pride and wedded to their own perspective. When Christ enters into our life he completely changes the way we view the world and the way we view ourselves. He invites us to see the world from his perspective, and understand what behaviors will truly bring about freedom.

3. Freedom?: The Jews looked at freedom as freedom from outside forces, like occupation by the Romans. Christ was offering them internal freedom, the freedom from sin. It is freedom from sin that leads us to our full potential. “Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude” (CCC 1731).

    Conversing with Christ: While I so often focus on life’s externals, I know that you desire to touch my interior life. You want to transform my soul and the attitudes of my life. I want to love my Father the way you do. Help me also to love you more, Jesus.

    Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will offer a spiritual communion

REFLECTION

In the first reading we see complete faith in God shown by the three youths thrown into the fires and saved by their God. They would rather face death than go against God's law.

    In the Gospel reading we see Jesus arguing with the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. The Jewish leaders have refused to accept Christ and his message, despite the many signs and miracles he had performed; his teaching had undermined their teaching and authority with the people. They claimed that their Father was Abraham. In reply Jesus said that, if they were children of Abraham, they would see the truth and accept him.

    We pray that we may have the faith and the courage of the three youths. We also pray not to be proud, stubborn and blind like the Jewish leaders.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 The Truth Will Set You Free

Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “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

    These words have the potential to make a transforming difference in our lives. Note that Jesus spoke these words “to those Jews who believed in him.” That is, those who had accepted His word and were, therefore, His true disciples. We who also believe in Jesus should consider these words carefully. The heart of this teaching is twofold: you must come to “know the truth” so that the truth you come to know “will set you free.”    

This teaching of Jesus is exceptionally helpful on both a psychological and spiritual level. First of all, on a purely psychological level, one of the greatest helps to good mental health is the truth. Most often when one struggles with various forms of depression, it’s because they are seeing aspects of their life with confusion. “Why did this person do this to me?” Or “How will I ever get through this?” Or “My life is a mess and there is no way out.” These and other similar thoughts will inevitably lead to depression for one simple reason: they are based on erroneous thinking.

    One of the best forms of psychological counselling is what could be called “truth therapy.” Every despairing question that we have and every depressing conclusion that we have come to in life must be reexamined in the light of the mind of God. What does God think? What is in the mind of God in this regard? Those truths that are waiting to be discovered are the truth that “will set you free.” Depression is more easily overcome when we look at our life in the way that God looks at our life. This produces hope, and hope brings freedom to the chains of depression and confusion.

    On a spiritual level, these principles apply all the more. The truth about sin, forgiveness, salvation and Heaven must be known deeply and embraced fully. When we deny the truth of sin or forgiveness, then we live within a lie and we remain bound by that lie. True spiritual freedom that leads to salvation and eternity in Heaven is obtained only when we wholeheartedly embrace the holy and perfect spiritual truth given to us by God. We must clearly know our sin, repent of it, seek the forgiveness of God, amend our lives and live the new life of grace to which we are called.

    Reflect, today, upon this powerfully transforming teaching of Jesus: “know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” What psychological and spiritual truths do you need to more deeply know? What confusion or blindness remains? Seek the remedy of the Truth as it is in the mind of God and know that freedom awaits.

    God of all Truth, Your Word is liberating, transforming and fills us with hope. May I turn my mind to You and to Your holy Word so that I may know the Truth as You speak it and allow that transforming Truth to set me free. Jesus, I trust in You.