Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ Tư Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ Tư Phục Sinh

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy hình ảnh của Chúa Giêsu qua người chăn chiên lành và đã miêu tả mối quan hệ mật thiết giữa chiên cừu và người chăn vì cả hai đều có kiến thức và sự hiểu biết lẫn nhau. Tuy nhiên, bài Tin Mừng hôm nay Thánh Gioan muốn truyền đạt nhiều hơn nữa. Vì Chúa Giêsu không phải chỉ là một mục tử tốt lành mà Ngài cũng là cánh cổng. Ngài không phải chỉ hướng dẫn những con chiên của Ngài đến với ơn cứu rỗi, Nhưng Chúa Giêsu cũng còn là đường đưa chúng ta đến với ơn cứu rỗi và sự cứu rỗi chính là Ngài. Những kẻ trộm cắp đến để ăn trộm, ăn cắp, giết người để hủy diệt. Nhưng Chúa Giêsu đến để ban cho con người chúng ta cuộc sống. Chúng ta thường xuyên nhận được cuộc sống khi chúng ta phát triển trong tự do.

Qua bài đọc trong sách Công vụ Tông Đồ mô tả cách mà Thiên Chúa đã truyền cảm hứng cho thánh Phêrô để loan báo cho những người trong Giáo Hội tại Jerusalem một sự tự do nhất định cho các tín hữu mới.  Những người không Do Thái có thể trở thành tín hữu và môn đệ của Chúa Kitô mà không bị những hạn chế của lề luật như chế độ ăn uống của người Do Thái. Đây không phải là một thông điệp dễ dàng để loan báo cho những nhà lãnh đạo, kể cả thánh Phêrô để chấp nhận. Tuy nhiên, thánh Phêrô đã cho chúng ta thấy rõ ra rằng là nếu Thiên Chúa muốn chúc lành và ban tặng cho những ai đã theo sự đổi mới của Chúa Kitô có cùng một Chúa Thánh Linh mà Thiên Chúa đã ban cho các các Tông Đồ của Ngài, và lđã giúp cho thánh Phêrô (và những người kế vị các thánh Tông đồ) biết cách để có thể sống theo như cách của Thiên Chúa.

    Lạy Chúa, Chúa là mục tử và là sự cứu rỗi tôi. Trường hợp trong cuộc sống mà chúng con đã được Chúa mời gọi chúng con lớn lên trong sự tự do?

Monay 4th Week of Easter

The image of the Good Shepherd portrays an intimate relationship between the sheep and their shepherd. There is a mutual knowledge and familiarity. Yet the gospel writer wants to convey even more. Jesus is not only the shepherd; He is also the gate. He not only leads the sheep to salvation, Jesus the way to salvation and salvation itself. The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus comes to give life and to give life to us in abundance.

We often receive life when we grow in freedom. The reading from Acts describes how God has inspired Peter to proclaim to the Church leaders in Jerusalem a certain freedom for new believers. People who are not Jewish can become believers and followers of Christ without taking on the restrictions of Jewish dietary laws. This was not an easy message for the leaders, including Peter, to accept. Ultimately, however, Peter points out that if God wants to bless and gift these new followers of Christ with the same Spirit God has given to the leaders themselves, how can Peter (or anyone else) stand in God’s way? Lord, You are my shepherd and salvation. Where in my life are You inviting me to grow in freedom?

Monday 4th Week of Easter

Opening Prayer: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You set a table before me in front of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days.

Encountering Christ:

1. The Sheepfold: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.” One definition of a sheepfold is a three-foot stone wall opening up to the sky. It is said a sheep can jump as high as three feet, and anyone trying to get in would have no trouble stepping over that low wall. This type of sheepfold assumes a shepherd who is ever alert and attentive. The Catholic Church is like this type of sheepfold. The sheep have the freedom to jump the wall if they choose, and anyone from the outside can easily enter. We, too, have that freedom. “God willed that man should be left in the hand of his own counsel, so that he might of his own accord seek his creator and freely attain his full and blessed perfection by cleaving to him” (CCC 1743). “The Church proposes. She imposes nothing” (St. John Paul II).

2. Thieves and Robbers: The Catechism states, “The grace of Christ is not in the slightest way a rival of our freedom when this freedom accords with the sense of the true and good that God has put in the human heart” (1742). Humans are much more intelligent than sheep, but we are wise to look to them for their example of trust. It is said that as long as the sheep are full and feel protected, they are happy to stay in place. Our faith teaches that the “thieves and robbers” that tempt us are the flesh, the world, and the devil. If we believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Good Shepherd, who provides fully for us and protects us from harm, why do we find ourselves mistaking the voices of vice as something good and worth following?

3. The Shepherd’s Voice: “But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.” With over thirty-thousand Protestant Christian denominations in the world, there are various understandings of who Jesus is. For Catholics, we can trust who Jesus is through Scripture, Tradition, and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. These three pillars of the Church, like the Good Shepherd, the gatekeeper, and the gate, are Jesus Christ, who promised he would not leave us orphaned (John 14:18). When we doubt, fear, and find ourselves lost through sin, we can trust Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is always alert and attentive and will draw us back to the sheepfold of the Church. We can trust Jesus through his Churc h to provide and protect us as he says, “Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

Conversing with Christ: Lord, I believe you are the Good Shepherd. I believe you will provide and protect me. I am sorry for all the times I have left your fold to go my own way. True freedom lies in you, God. Thank you for the gift of the Church, where I can always come home and seek reconciliation through the sacraments.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will learn what the Catechism teaches about the pillars of the Church: Scripture, Apostolic Tradition, and the Magisterium by reading and reflecting on CCC 74-141.

Monday 4th Week of Easter

The Holy Spirit fell upon them. (Acts 11:15)

Imagine that you are a neurosurgeon in training, and one day when all of the seasoned doctors are absent, an emergency case arrives. You have to make a choice: operate and risk the consequences or wait and risk even more difficult complications.

In today’s passage, Peter isn’t performing brain surgery, but he does have to make a snap decision that will have lasting ramifications for the Church. Risking the consequences, he went against accepted Jewish practice and decided to include non-Jewish people in the Christian faith. Now he has to defend his actions. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that Gentiles (which most of us are) weren’t always part of the picture. But it’s true! Centuries of prejudice and distrust had built up toward the Gentiles. They were the “unclean,” sinful peoples who had never received the Torah—not to mention, they had invaded, oppressed, and exploited the Jewish people for centuries. It took a dramatic work of the Holy Spirit to convince Peter to change the accepted approach.

For many of us, the thorny issue of Jewish-Gentile relationships is a foreign concept. Still, other prejudices can shape the way we treat people who are different from us. Maybe it’s the way that a person talks or dresses. Maybe social or racial differences affect us. Perhaps a group of people has a different approach to worship—even within the Church. There is no lack of division among God’s people!

Have you ever noticed that when you think about these people, you feel a little nudge to reach out and maybe even befriend them? It may be faint, and it may pass, but it’s there. That’s the Holy Spirit moving in your heart! He’s helping you look past your personal biases to see these other people as brothers and sisters.

If you are finding it hard to accept someone who is different from you, try inviting the Holy Spirit to help you soften your heart. It’s okay if you don’t “feel” a change right away. Just keep asking the Spirit for his help, and you’ll see changes over time. You’ll find yourself becoming more patient and forgiving. The issues that once bothered you will slowly lose their sting. Stay close to the Spirit, and he will make a difference!

“Holy Spirit, come soften my heart. Bring unity among all your people.”

1994

Opening Prayer: Lord, help me to be convinced to listen to you instead of the “thieves” who often claim they want to help me, because I know that only you want the best for me.

Encountering Christ:

1. Thieves and Robbers: Jesus warned us that there will be people who try to take shortcuts, lie, cheat, and lead us astray. These voices of the culture and the world can be very convincing because, after all, we’re only sheep. But we are protected from these thieves and robbers as long as we follow the Shepherd. His “gate” is the church, where we live out the Ten Commandments, receive the sacraments, and encounter others on the road to heaven. We are safe “out in the world,” and are free to come and go as long as we stay rooted in the truths and teachings of the Church.

2. We Are Led: Our Shepherd wants to lead us safely through this life. Whether we recognize it or not, he’s out front, paving our way, clearing obstacles, and setting us up for ultimate success—a life with him in eternity. All that he requires of us is that we hear his voice, listen to him, and obey. “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in company with scoffers. Rather, the law of the Lord is his joy; and on his law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:1-2).

3. Abundant Life: Jesus died on the cross to open for us the gate of heaven. We will enjoy eternal bliss with him one day if we’re faithful. In the meantime, however, Jesus also promises us abundant goodness each day of our life. As his followers, we are able to rejoice in an experience of him in prayer, perceive his presence in the beauty of nature, serve him in our family and neighbors, unite ourselves to him in our sufferings, and so much more. What graces he showers on those who believe!

Conversing with Christ: Lord, thank you for pointing out my weaknesses and littleness as a sheep. And thank you even more for being my Shepherd. You have provided me with every grace I need to sojourn through this life on my way to heaven. Open my eyes even wider to see you more clearly and appreciate the abundant goodness you send my way each day.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will remind myself to stop once or twice to seek your tangible presence in my day and thank you.