Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần Thánh

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng   Thứ Tư Tuần Thánh

Tại sao Giu-đa đã phản bội Thầy của mình?

Sự phản bội của Giuđa được thúc dục bởi lòng tham lam, vì sự cay đắng và thất vọng với Chúa Giêsu, hay có thể là vì sự hận thù, vì vỡ mộng?  cũng có thể ông Giuđa đã nghĩ rằng Chúa Giêsu đã xúc tiến công việc của Ngài quá chậm và không quyết liệt trong việc thiết lập vương quốc của Ngài. Cũng có thể ông Giuđa không có ý định là muốn cho Thầy của mình chết vì ông ta nghĩ rằng thầy của mình là đấng có quyền phép, có thể tự cứu lấy chính mình khỏi tay quân dữ. Và cũng có lẽ ông Giuđa đã mưu mẹo ép buộc Chúa Giêsu phải ra tay hành động để giải cứu dân Do Thái khỏi ách đô hộ của người La Mã thời bấy giờ...  Tuy nhiên thảm kịch của Giuđa là sự từ chối, không chấp nhận Chúa Giêsu như là Thiên Chúa của sự yêu thương, khiêm tốn, Vị tha.      

            Chúa Giêsu đã biết trước được những gì sẽ xảy ra với Ngài. Như trong bữa tiệc (Tiệc Ly) ăn mừng lễ Vượt Qua với mười hai tông đồ  Chúa Giêsu đã đặt họ dưới sự giám sát và nghi ngại “một trong số các con sẽ phản thầy” để dạy cho họ chính họ kiểm tra một cách đúng đắn, vì sợ rằng họ có tư tưởng cao ngạo và nghĩ rằng họ có sức mạnh hơn chính bản thân mà Thiên Chúa đã ban cho họ. Chúng ta cũng phải xem xét chính bản thân của chúng ta  trong sự sáng của chân lý và ân điển của Thiên Chúa và cầu xin Ngài  củng cố chúng ta trong đức tin, trong niềm hy vọng và tình yêu trong Ngài để chúng ta không thể làm cho Chúa của chúng ta phải thất vọng vì sự yếu kém, sợ sệt trong cơn ám dỗ mà chúng ta phải chối bỏ Thiên Chúa. Chúng ta hãy thành tâm cầu khấn với sự tin tưởng vào lời Chúa Giêsu đã dạy để cho chúng ta can đãm vững tin mỗi khi chúng ta gặp phải những ơn cám dỗ. như lời kinh chúng ta đọc mỗi ngày “ Xin chớ để chúng con sa chước cám dỗ, nhưng cứu chúng con cho khỏi sự dữ (Mathêu 6:13)?

 

Meditation:

Why did Judas betray his Master? Was his treachery motivated by greed, bitter disappointment with Jesus, or hatred because of disillusionment? It may be that Judas never intended for his Master to die. Maybe he thought Jesus was proceeding too slowly and not acting aggressively enough in setting up his messianic kingdom. Perhaps Judas wanted to force Jesus' hand by compelling him to act. Nonetheless, his tragedy was his refusal to accept Jesus as he was.

Jesus knew beforehand what would befall him. As Jesus ate the Passover meal with his twelve apostles he put them under trial and suspicion (one of you will betray me) to teach them to examine themselves rightly, lest they be high minded and think themselves more strong than they were. We, also must examine ourselves in the light of God's truth and grace and ask him to strengthen us in faith, hope, and love that we may not fail him or forsake him when we are tempted. Do you pray with confidence in the words Jesus gave us to pray: Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13)?

 

Wednesday on holy week

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 SG 2017
During this Holy Week, we meet up with Jesus, the Messianic King, depicted as the Suffering Servant of God, in the different passages from Isaiah. Today, He is presented to us as the One with the disciple’s tongue, the One with the disciple’s ear, and the One with the disciple's heart. As the One with the disciple’s tongue, He knows how to reply to the 'wearied' to sustain them, because it is God Who provides Him with the words — He lives so closely with God. As the One with the disciple’s ear, He is awakened by God each morning ‘to listen like a disciple’ — His listening is unimpeded because He is obedient.  As the One with the disciple’s heart, He sets His face ‘like flint’ to willingly do God’s Will — even if it meant shameful, physical abuse.

Nowhere in the Isaiah passage do we hear the Suffering Servant of God lamenting in His bitterness because of all the abuse He has to go through. He rests His case with God. He knows Who His Vindicator is.  He knows He will be vindicated.

During this Lent, we are once again ‘invited’ by God to wholehearted, costly obedience in our everyday life as the disciples of Jesus Christ. Do we have what it takes — to speak with a disciple’s tongue; to listen with a disciple’s ear; and to undergo suffering with a disciple’s heart?

Lord, grant me Your words to encourage others; grant me ears willing to listen to whatever You want to say to me; and grant me a heart strong enough to do Your Will, at all times.

 

REFLECTION
Have you ever thought of putting yourself in the shoes of one of the apostles seated around Christ at this Passover supper? How would you react to his prophecy of betrayal? Would you also reply – Is it I Lord?

            Every Sunday we eat and drink with Christ at the table of the Holy Eucharist. Yet like Judas, we also betray Christ. The priceless gift of Christ for us is his Body and Blood. It is the sign of his unconditional love, forgiveness and life. Our Amen during communion is our assent that our body may also become the instruments of love for the other. We betray Christ when we do not forgive, when we are unjust, when money becomes the sole reason of our existence. Before receiving his body and blood, let us first ask ourselves before Christ – Is it I Lord?

 

Meditation: Isaiah 50:4-9- Wednesday of Holy Week

I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard. (Isaiah 50:6)

Reading this one verse during Holy Week, we can be struck by how much it reminds us of Jesus’ passion. But imagine what Jesus must have felt when he heard these words. He must have realized at some point that they referred not only to the ancient prophet but to him. Do you think it struck him with terror? Or perhaps because he was the Son of God, it didn’t bother him at all.

            The truth probably lies somewhere in between these two extremes. Being human, Jesus naturally experienced great distress about what was waiting for him. But then in his divinity, he could echo the Hebrew Scriptures with complete confidence: “The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced” (Isaiah 50:7). So while he certainly felt great apprehension over the ordeal that lay ahead of him, he also found strength knowing that his Father was with him and would never abandon him.

            There’s a parallel here to our lives. We can’t see into the future, but we do know that we all have our own share of hardships to deal with. It could be major, like the death of a loved one, or relatively minor, like being stuck in a traffic jam for three hours. The magnitude of the challenge is not as important as how we deal with it. We can either fret about it or try our best to place it in the Father’s hands, as Jesus did.

            Know that in surrendering your hardships to God, you can expect to do more than just endure them. You will find new confidence, knowing that Easter Sunday will come for you just as it did for Jesus. You know the end of the story! You will find strength in the knowledge that “all things work for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28). Jesus didn’t come to add to your burdens. He came to carry them with you. He came to make them light. Remember: he walked the road to Calvary precisely so that he could walk with you today!

“Lord, I believe in you. I trust that you will keep me in perfect peace as I meditate on all that you have done for me.”