Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần Thánh

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng  Thứ Ba Tuần Thánh

Đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay đã cho chúng ta thấy hai nhân cách nổi bật và mỗi nhân cách có những đặc tính trái ngược nhau. 

4-  Giuđa cố tình phản bội Thầy của mình,  trong khi đó Phêrô, trong một những khoảnh khắc yếu đuối, sợ sệt đã chối Thầy mình là Chúa Giêsu bằng những lời thề nguyền.

 - Hành động của Giuđa có vẻ lạnh lùng và có tính toán. Còn Phêrô, tuy không cố tình chối Chúa những vì bản tính yếu đuối nhút nhát, có thể là trong sự yếu hèn và  sợ sệt. Chúa Giêsu hiểu rất rõ ông Phêrô và biết lòng trung thành một mực của ông cũng như những thiếu xót và yếu đuối của ông. Ông Phêrô có một thói quen trực tính là hay nói tất cả những gì ông ta suy nghĩ từ sự mộc mặc và chất phát trong tâm hồn của ông, ông không hề suy nghĩ hay tính toàn sự hơn thua..

- Sự Phản bội của Giuđa, tuy nhiên, được nhìn thấy một cách tồi bại nhất khi Chúa Giêsu biểu lộ tình cảm đặc biệt với ông ta ngay trong bữa tiệc ly.

Trong bài Tin Mừng Thánh Gioan cho chúng ta thấy rằng Satan đã nhập vào con người Giuđa khi anh ta từ bỏ Chúa Giêsu để theo đuổi con đường tham lam và bạo ác của mình. Satan xoay chiều và có thể biến sự yêu thương thành thù hận. Nó có thể biến sự thánh thiện thành niềm tự cao,ngạo mạn, biền sự  hiền diệu,  có kỷ luật thành con người tàn ác, gian manh, biến tình cảm vào sự tự mãn. Chúng ta cần phải đề cao, cảnh giác tâm hồn của chúng ta vì sợ rằng Satan sẽ đem chúng ta ra khỏi tình yêu của Thiên Chúa và con đường mà Thiên Chúa đã chọn cho chúng ta. Chúa Thánh Thần sẽ ban cho chúng ta những ân sủng, sức mạnh và hướng dẫn chúng ta trong thời gian thử thách. Nếu chúng ta  môn đệ của Chúa, chúng ta phải bước đi trong ánh sáng của chân lý, sự thật và trong  tình yêu của Ngài. Nếu chúng ta quay lưng lại Ngài,  chúng ta sẽ vấp ngã và rơi vào con đường  tội lỗi và bóng tối.  Chúng ta đã sẵn sàng để đi theo Chúa Giêsu trên đường đến thập giá?

 

REFLECTION Gospel Reading: John 13:21-38

The Gospel passage highlights two personalities, each with contrasting traits.  - Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse. - Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice.

Jesus knew both the strength of Peter's loyalty and the weakness of his resolution. He had a habit of speaking with his heart without thinking through the implications of what he was saying.

- The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper.         John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, and affection into complacency.

We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us. The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing.  If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness.

            Are we ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?

 

Tuesday of Holy week:

Opening Prayer: Lord, I want to know you and follow you wherever you lead me. I thank you for your word that provides direction, and for your invitation to pray with the rest of your Church. Let your Holy Spirit help me better understand your word and more intimately meet you in this time of prayer.

Encountering Christ:

The Great Chasm: With penetrating clarity, Christ taught the stubborn Pharisees that remaining “of this world,” refusing to believe in the Christ or the Father who sent him, carries a death sentence. This delineation of two worlds, infinitely separated upon one’s death, was further clarified by Jesus in the parable of the doomed rich man, who should have been kinder to the beggar, Lazarus: “Between us and you a great chasm is established” (Luke 16:26). The only way to have life is to believe in Jesus. Lord, may we have the grace to believe always in your name, trusting your word: “...as many as received him–to those who believe in his name–he gave to them authority to become children of God” (John 1:12). 

The Act of Faith: What would it take for these Pharisees whom Jesus encountered, whose fate was not yet sealed on the wrong side of the chasm, to find eternal life? Jesus plainly articulated the first step: an act of faith. Those who looked upon him when he was raised up on a cross would need to accept that this, indeed, was the Christ, the only one who could claim to be the great “I AM” from the Torah story of the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). Those of us with the benefit of sacred Scripture, sacred tradition, and the teaching authority of the church, must not be misled; we, too, must look to the cross and proclaim Christ, as “salvation is found in no one else.” (Acts 4:12)

Giving, Not Taking: How ironic that the Pharisees jumped to the strange conclusion that Jesus might be taking his own life. Only one thing might have surprised them more—if Jesus was contemplating giving his own life. Indeed, the King of Kings would ultimately give over his life. Following in his footsteps are others who history tells us literally laid down their lives, such as well-known martyrs St. Stephen, St. Maximillian Kolbe, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein). Today, our priests and consecrated souls are counter-cultural people who themselves generously give over their own lives for the sake of the Church. Let us pray for more laborers in the vineyard. 

Conversing with Christ: I thank you, Lord, for your invitation to enter into prayer. You have the words of everlasting life, and you continually remind me of your willingness to meet me, whether it is in my sorrow, my doubts, my insecurity, or even in my joy. I look at you on the cross today and I recall the horrific day when my sins placed you on that hill at Golgotha. I also recall your words to the good thief, who looked to you with faith in your Kingship: “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary for friends or relatives who do not know Christ, and for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

 

Tuesday, 16th April 2019

Is. 49:1-6; Ps. 71(70):1-2,3-4,5-6,15,17; Jn. 13:21-33,36-38 (Ps Wk II)

Today we are with Jesus, in his last moments with his disciples, the men he had carefully chosen as his friends, to journey with him, learn from him.

He is troubled! This is His last meal before his death, but his friends aren’t aware of the impending moments when this peaceful scene of the last supper would disappear and the worst tragedy of the betrayal, crucifixion and death, would scatter all of them from each other! But even at this moment Jesus hints at what is going to happen to two of his friends: one who would betray him and the other who would deny him, entirely! This is a poignant moment for Jesus; as He is the only one aware of the circumstances. The disciples are not aware of their own weakness. For they are high enjoying the Passover festivities at the supper. We who are in Holy Week are but going through the rituals of prayer and fasting… how aware are we of another’s loneliness and agony? We forget the Incarnation is taking place right now, when Christ is betrayed and crucified daily. Let us be in touch with them during this time.

Lord, touch my heart and make me human as You were!

 

REFLECTION 2017

     We would be foolish to think we could be faithful to Christ on our own. We know our weaknesses and failures; we find that, while the spirit may be willing, our flesh is weak. While we may have good intentions, we often succumb to temptation and fall into sin. But we know that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can be faithful to Christ.

      In the Gospel reading we see Judas leave the supper room to finalize his betrayal of Jesus. We also hear Peter profess his complete devotion to Jesus, even unto death; we hear Jesus predict Peter's betrayal of him before simple housemaids.

      After his betrayal of Jesus, Judas realized his sin, "I have sinned by betraying an innocent man to death" and hanged himself. (Mt 27: 4 -5) After his betrayal of Jesus, Peter remembered the words of Jesus and "went away weeping bitterly." (Mt 26:75)

      What do we do after we sin against the loving God?

 

Suy Niêm

Chúa Giêsu đang bối rồi đau buồn trong cảnh chia ly sắp tới. Tôi đã làm gì để Chúa phải chịu những khổ đau bối rố? Tôi nhận được miếng bánh nhỏ từ nơi Chúa và tôi chạy trốn vào giữa bóng đêm tối. Và đây, là bóng đêm. Bóng đêm này không phải là bóng đêm của sự hiệp nhất. Đó là bóng đêm tối của tội lỗi, của sự tách biệt có cố tình từ sự sống của Chúa Kitô. Hình ảnh của buổi chiều truyền tải bí mật và sự hiện hữu của sự yêu dấu an bài vượt quá sự hiểu biết. Đêm khác mô tả các điều kiện của tội lỗi, trốn khỏi sự hiện diện, đang chạy trốn khỏi sự hiện diện, với những chế độ nô lệ của sự không vâng lời, nó là đêm rằng đó hoàn toàn là tiêu cực mà đến từ tách lìa khỏi Chúa. Lạy Chúa, lòng thương xót của bạn cho tôi luôn tuân thủ trong đêm may mắn của công đoàn của Thiên Chúa mà các vấn đề ra thành ánh sáng vĩnh viễn.

 

Reflection:

Jesus is troubled in spirit. How have I caused the Lord trouble? I receive my morsel and then flee into the shadows. And behold, it is night. It is not the night of union. It is the night of sin, of deliberate separation from the life of Christ. The figure of night conveys the secret and presence of resting in the Beloved beyond knowing. The other night describes the condition of sin, of hiding from the presence, of fleeing from the presence, of embracing the slavery of disobedience; it is the night that that is pure negativity that comes from separation from God. Lord, in your mercy let me always abide in the blessed night of divine union those issues forth into perpetual light.

 

Meditation:

 Jesus' disciples were put to the test as Jesus prepared to make the final and ultimate sacrifice of his own life for their sake and for all the world. What was different between Peter and Judas? Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse. Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice. Jesus knew both the strength of Peter's loyalty and the weakness of his resolution. He had a habit of speaking with his heart without thinking through the implications of what he was saying. The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper. John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, and affection into complacency. We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us. The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing. If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness. Are you ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?

            "Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart which no unworthy thought can drag downwards; an unconquered heart which no tribulation can wear out; an upright heart which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside.  Bestow upon me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace you; through Jesus Christ, our Lord."  (Prayer of Thomas Aquinas)