Suy Niệm Thứ Năm Tuần Thánh

 Suy Niệm Thứ Năm Tuần Thánh (John 13:1-15, Xuất Hành  12:1-8,11-14 )

Trong dữ kiện của lễ Vượt Qua, Thiên Chúa đã chỉ dạy và hướng dẫn dân Israel là loại thú nào thì  được chọn, và phải làm như thế nào, phải nấu nướng và phải ăn thịt đó ra sao. Còn dân riêng của Chúa thì phải ăn mặc thứ gì và ra sao, và những gì mà mỗi hộ gia đình cần nên phải làm đ1ung như lời chỉ dậy để mọi ngưòi trong gia đình được cứu thoát khỏi những bệnh dịch và chết chóc.

- Trong bữa Tiệc Ly, Chúa Giêsu đã hạ mình khiêm tốn làm con người thấp hèn để rửa chân cho các môn đệ của Ngài.

   Từ hai dữ kiện trên, chúng ta có thể thấy rằng Chúa đã không đem đến cho chúng ta những sự ngạc nhiên. Vì mọi việc Chúa làm hay muốn làm, Chúa đã đều lên kế hoạch và tính toán trước sự hơn thiệt. Chúa nói với chúng ta và cho chúng ta thấy rõ những gì mà Thiên Chúa sẽ thực hiện và cách mà Ngài sẽ thực hiện như thế nào. Còn phần việc của chúng ta, Chúng ta chỉ cần phải làm là chú ý, và nghĩ đến Chúa luôn.

    Chúng ta hãy cầu xin Thiên Chúa  ban cho chúng ta những ân sủng của ngài là luôn biết chú trọng tới những lòng tốt của Thiên Chúa qua sự rộng lượng và xót thương của Ngài vì Ngài không biết từ chối bất cứ những điều gì khi chúng ta cầu xin,  Nhất là những lúc chúng ta nói "xin vâng" với Ngài, và biết khiêm tốn khi chúng ta biết phục vụ anh chị em của chúng ta. Chúng ta hãy cầu xin Chúa tiếp tục kiên nhẫn với chúng ta bởi vì chúng ta luôn luôn bị phân tâm, bị cám dỗ và làm theo ý muốn của chúng ta hơn thay vì làm việc theo thánh ý Chúa.

 

REFLECTION
The Lord prepares us for every invitation he offers to us, just like the Passover and the Last supper. During the Passover account, God gave instructions to the Israelites on what kind of animal to choose, how to prepare it, how to eat it, what to wear, and what they should do so that their household would be saved from the plague. During the Last Supper, Jesus himself was the one who washed the disciples' feet and explained why he did so. From the two accounts, we can see that the Lord does not take us by surprise. He tells us and shows us how things are to be done. All we have to do is pay close attention to him.

            Let us ask the Lord God to grant us the grace to be attentive to His prodding, to be generous and not to hold back anything when we give our "yes" to Him, and to be humble as we serve our brothers and sisters. Let us ask Him to continue to be patient with us since we always get distracted and tempted to do our own will.

 

Holy Thursday

Opening Prayer: Lord, quiet my heart. As I pause and take some time to read your word and sit in your presence, open my ears to anything you may want to say to me. Often I rush into prayer with my own agenda, my own lists, and requests. You are the Messiah, the one who brings good tidings to the poor, proclaims liberty to captives, and heals the blind and oppressed. May I see my own poverty, my own captivity to bad habits and sin, my own blindness and oppression. I know you want everything that is good for me. Open my heart, my ears, and my eyes to you.

Encountering Christ:

A Humble Stage: Jesus was born in a stable far from the place his parents called home. No one expected to find the King of Kings, the long-awaited Messiah, laying in an animals’ feeding trough. He chose extremely humble circumstances to become incarnate. Similarly, when he declared that he was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy–in essence, publicly declaring himself the Messiah–he did not choose a grand venue. He did not go to the Temple in Jerusalem. Rather, he chose the simple, small, local synagogue in his parent’s hometown. He is the greatest King who ever lived, yet he began his public life in the most humble of circumstances.

God’s Perfect Plan: When Jesus stood up, the scroll he was given to read had been chosen for him by Providence before time began. In those lines of Scripture, the prophet Isaiah was heralding the beginning of the Galilean ministry by predictions made long ago that Jesus would proclaim liberty to captives and heal the blind, bring good tidings to the poor, and heal those oppressed by pain, leprosy, sin, and blindness. At the exact moment, God ordained, his Son was to reveal his identity to those with “ears to hear” (Mark 4:9). We can draw great consolation by meditating on God’s Divine Providence as revealed through this passage. In the words of St. Edith Stein, “Things were in God’s plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that–from God’s point of view–there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God’s divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God’s all-seeing eyes.” 

Fulfilled in Your Hearing: Can you imagine this moment? Here was Jesus, a young man whose father and mother were well known to the attendees in this small synagogue. The story of their hasty marriage was doubtless the cause of gossip years ago. Some may have been remembering the prophecy about the virgin birth. Possibly many recalled the time when Jesus went missing in the temple as a youth. Word may have spread about his recent baptism in the River Jordan. His father, Joseph, they knew, was a descendant of David. Realization may have been dawning on some present that the Messiah was in their midst. Then Jesus spoke these words: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” Here in these familiar surroundings, on this ordinary day of worship, these people were among the first witnesses to the earth-shattering news that the Messiah they had awaited had finally arrived. 

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, your timing is always perfect. Even when I do not understand why things are happening in my life, I know that your will is always for my greatest good. I give thanks to you for coming to the world as a man, not to condemn us, but to save us. Father, open my heart in awe and thanksgiving for the gift of the Messiah and Savior. 

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray a decade of the Rosary, meditating on the joyful mystery, The Finding of Jesus in the Temple. 

 

Holy Thursday

This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:24)

Today we celebrate Holy Thursday, the day when Jesus instituted the Eucharist and told us, “Do this in memory of me.” Since that day, Mass has been celebrated hundreds of millions of times in every corner of the world—all in obedience to Jesus’ command.

            There is an intimate relationship between what happened on Holy Thursday and what happened on Good Friday—and that relationship applies to us today. On the cross, Jesus gave up his life for our sins and reconciled us with his Father. But his death on the cross doesn’t mean that we go to heaven automatically. We need to cooperate with the grace that he poured out on the cross. And this is where the Eucharist comes in.

The Jesus who died on the cross is the same Jesus who is now present on the altar at Mass. The One who paid for our sins on the cross is the same One who freely pours out the blessings and grace of our redemption on the altar. The One who said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” on the cross now offers himself to us—body and blood, soul and divinity—in the form of bread and wine.

            On the cross, Jesus offered a perfect sacrifice that never needs to be repeated. On the altar, that once-for-all sacrifice is made present to us again so that we can marvel at our redemption. On the cross, he took away our sins. On the altar, he offers us continued strength to overcome the pull of sin and enter into his presence more fully. In effect, the work of the cross continues on the altar. That’s how committed Jesus is to bringing us fully into his kingdom!

            So when you go to Mass today, be sure to lift up your heart to the Lord. Look intently at the consecrated Host, and see Jesus there before you. See him pouring out his mercy. See him pouring out his love. He is there, at every Mass, always working to draw us closer to himself.

“Jesus, I am in awe of your redemption. Open my eyes, Lord, to see you on the altar today and every day. Lord, I give you my heart.”

 

Meditation:

Does your love waver when you encounter bitter disappointments and injury from others? As Jesus' hour of humiliation draws near he reveals to his disciples the supreme humility which shaped the love he had for them. He stoops to perform a menial task reserved for servants – the washing of smelly, dirty feet. In stooping to serve his disciples Jesus knew he would be betrayed by one of them and that the rest would abandon him through disloyalty. Such knowledge could have easily led to bitterness or hatred. Jesus met the injury of betrayal and disloyalty with the greatest humility and supreme love. Jesus loved his disciples to the very end, even when they failed him and forsook him. The Lord loves each of us unconditionally. His love has power to set us free to serve others with Christ-like compassion and humility. Does the love of Christ rule in your heart, thoughts, intentions and actions?

Saint Augustine in his sermon for this day, wrote: “He had the power of laying down his life; we by contrast cannot choose the length of our lives, and we die even if it is against our will. He, by dying, destroyed death in himself; we are freed from death only in his death. His body did not see corruption; our body will see corruption and only then be clothed through him in incorruption at the end of the world. He needed no help from us in saving us; without him we can do nothing. He gave himself to us as the vine to the branches; apart from him we cannot have life. Finally, even if brothers die for brothers, yet no martyr by shedding his blood brings forgiveness for the sins of his brothers, as Christ brought forgiveness to us. In this he gave us, not an example to imitate but a reason for rejoicing. Inasmuch, then, as they shed their blood for their brothers, the martyrs provided “the same kind of meal” as they had received at the Lord’s table.   Let us then love one another as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us.”

"Lord Jesus, your love conquers all and never fails. Help me to love others freely, with heart-felt compassion , kindness and goodness. Where there is injury, may I sow peace rather than strife."