Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Lễ kính Thánh nữ Maria Mađalêna- 7/22

 Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Lễ kính Thánh nữ Maria Mađalêna

Hôm nay chúng ta mừng lễ Thánh nữ Maria Mađalêna, một người phụ nữ không những chỉ là một đệ tử trung thành và thân tín Chúa Kitô mà còn là một người thật sự yêu kính Chúa Giêsu. Đáng tiếc thay là trong thời chúng ta đang sống hôm nay, nhiều người trong chúng ta có lẽ lo ngại hay có sự nghi ngờ về ba Maria Mađalêna. Nhiều người trong chúng ta cảm thấy khó chịu trong sự thân mật mà cô đã dành cho Chúa Giêsu. Trong bài đọc Tin Mừng hôm nay, Thánh Gioan mô tả những cuộc gặp gỡ của bà với Chúa Giêsu có vẻ như thân thiện hơn nhiều so với sự thân mật bình thường. Vì thế nó không giúp ích cho Maria Mađalên khi bà đã bị người khác nhầm lẫn và miêu tả bà ở trong phim trường Hollywood như là một người tình bất hợp pháp của Chúa Giêsu hay là một cô gái đã từng làm nghề mại dâm (mà cô thực sự là không phải thế..vì có rất nhiều Maria trong những bài Tin Mừng.)

Trong suốt các bài Tin Mừng, Bà Maria Mađalêna đã phải tranh đấu với những khó khăn và sự sỉ nhục, đau thương. Bà cũng bị quỷ ám và cũng bị mọi người thân cận bỏ rơi trước khi Chúa Giêsu trừ quỷ và chữa khỏi bà. Và bà cũng chính mắt chứng kiến cái cái Chết cực hình của người bạn thân thương nhất của bà là Chúa Giêsu đã chết trên thập tự giá. Tóm lại, trong thời gian của bà và cho đến ngày nay, chúng ta đã không chịu để cho Maria Mađalêna có được nhiều thời gian nghỉ ngơi. Ngoại trừ Đức Giêsu, Đấng đã làm.

Chúa Giêsu là người bạn thật chân tình của bà trong tất cả các bạn. Ngài không những chỉ chữa cho bà được khỏi bệnh, nhưng cũng giảng dạy riêng cho bà về Nước Trời nữa mặc dù những người khác phàn nàn và khiếu nại, Để đáp lại, bà Maria Mađalên đã hiến dâng cho Chúa tất cả, Bà đã đầu hàng tầt cả những gì mà bà có và hàng ao ước để lắng nghe và sống trưởng thành với đức tin của mình trong Chúa Giê-su. Vì thế tứ đó đến nay, không ai có thể ngạc nhiên là bà đã trở thành một trong những môn đệ trung thành nhất c, tốt nhất của Chúa.

Bà Maria Mađalên là một mô hình của đức tin và tình bạn hữu của Chúa cho chúng ta. Đối mặt với những sự phản kháng và tâm lý tiêu cực mà chúng ta thường gặp mỗi ngày trong cuộc sống hôm nay, chúng ta thực sự có thể sử dụng những ví dụ và cuộc sống của bà Maria Mađalêna và áp dụng trong mối quan hệ cá nhân của chúng ta với Chúa.

REFLECTION

Today we remember St. Mary Magdalene, a woman who not only was a loyal and faithful disciple of Christ but also a person who truly loved Jesus.It is unfortunate that in our present day, many of us are apprehensive or suspicious of Mary Magdalene. Many of us find discomfort in the intimacy she had with Jesus. In today's gospel reading, St. John's description of the meeting of Mary and Jesus may seem more than friendly than it is joyful. It doesn't help that Mary Magdalene has been mistakenly portrayed in Hollywood as an illegitimate lover of Jesus or as an ex-prostitute (which she really wasn't).Mary Magdalene throughout the Gospels contended with difficulties and traumas. She was possessed of demons and likely an outcast before Jesus cured her. And she watched her friend Jesus die on the cross. In short, during her time and up to the present, we haven't been giving Mary Magdalene much of a break. Except Jesus who did.Jesus was her one true friend throughout it all. He not only cured her, but also taught to her, and stuck with her despite the complaints of others. In response, Mary gave her all to listen to and grow her faith with Jesus hence it comes as no surprise she became one of His most faithful disciples and best of friend.Mary Magdalene is a model of faith and friendship. In the face of antagonism and negative sentiment, which we often experience today, we could really use her example in our own personal relationship with the Lord "Lord, may I never fail to recognize your voice nor lose sight of your presence in your saving word."

St. Mary Magdalene 2022

Opening Prayer: Jesus, I believe you are with me now as I turn to you in prayer. I want to focus on you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. I trust in your love for me and your desire to give me everything I need to follow you. Help me hear you call my name in this time together. I want to know what you ask of me so that I can live as your light in the world. Thank you for your love and for the gift of faith. Jesus, I trust in you.

Encountering Christ:

1. It Was Still Dark: Mary loved Jesus. He had delivered her from seven demons, and she was one of the women who accompanied Jesus and his disciples, providing for Jesus and the Twelve out of their resources (Luke 8:1-3). She was one of the women with St. John and the Blessed Mother at the foot of the cross, accompanying Jesus in his agony (John 19:24-25). When Jesus died and was taken down from the cross, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watched where he was laid” (Mark 15:47). The next morning, when the Sabbath ended (Mark 16:1), Mary went to the tomb so early that it was still dark. She couldn’t wait to care for her Lord’s body, to anoint it with spices (Mark 16:1). She sought him in the darkness, knowing that light was coming. The Lord had transformed Mary’s life, and she continued to seek and serve him even after his death. Mary’s love for Jesus was steadfast, persevering through the most difficult circumstances because her heart was full of gratitude.

2. Mary!: Jesus taught that he is the Good Shepherd, that he calls his sheep by name, and that they recognize his voice and follow him (John 10:3,14). Here Mary recognized Jesus when he called her by name. She was frantic in her angst at not finding the Lord’s body in the tomb. She ran to Peter and John and told them that Jesus was missing. The angels at the tomb did not console her. And she didn’t recognize Jesus himself, thinking he was a gardener. She was caught up in her sorrow. But when Jesus called her name, she recognized him instantly. Like Mary, we can easily get caught up in difficult circumstances and fail to recognize the Lord. In these situations, it is important to keep our focus on looking for Jesus. When we persevere, we will be happy to hear him call our name.

3. Apostle to the Apostles: Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the risen Lord, and she “went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and then reported what he told her.” Describing Mary Magdalene’s role, St. Thomas Aquinas called her the “Apostle to the Apostles,” and in 2016, the Congregation for Divine Worship, “by the express wish of Pope Francis,” elevated her memorial celebration to the level of a feast, of the same significance as the other Apostles. In the General Audience on May 17, 2017, Pope Francis directed our attention to Mary: “Mary would like to embrace her Lord, but he is already oriented towards the heavenly Father, whereas she is sent to carry the news to the brethren. And so that woman, who, before encountering Jesus, had been at the mercy of evil (Luke 8:2), now becomes the Apostle of the new and greatest hope. May her intercession help us in times of woe and abandonment to listen to the Risen Jesus who calls us by name and, with a heart full of joy, to go forth and proclaim: “I have seen the Lord!” (v. 18).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for calling me by name. As I spend this time with you, help me see your presence in those dark and difficult challenges of my life. Open my heart and mind to being sent by you to those who need to encounter you. St. Paul wrote, “The love of Christ impels us…” (1Corinthians 5:14), and St. Mary Magdalene models that desire and urgency to share her experience. Help me continue to seek you as Mary Magdalene did so I can share your love with enthusiasm and joy.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will look for an opportunity to share a story of God’s action in my life with at least one person.

July 22, 2021-Saint Mary Magdalene

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant me a heart that seeks to encounter you, and in finding you, desires to share you with others.

Encountering Christ:

1. The Long Wait: How eager Mary Magdalene must have been early Sunday morning to go in search of her rabboni, if only to see him one last time and finish the preparations of his burial. Imagine her long wait. How does your own heart long to encounter the Lord? At the first possible moment, when Sabbath finally was officially over, she set out in search of him. To her dismay, her hope was not immediately satisfied. He was nowhere to be found. But Jesus did not disappoint. He saw her longing heart and answered the prayer expressed in her desires. Do we trust that Jesus also answers the deepest longings of our hearts, when they are centered on what is essential—to encounter our living God?

2. Stop Clinging to Me: Unsurprisingly, Mary clung to Jesus as soon as she realized who stood before her. Yet Jesus had other plans. Perhaps her faith was to be further purified, making her already-converted heart even more beautiful. Jesus helped her to realize how she would relate to her God now: “I am going to my Father and to your Father.” She would no longer cling to Jesus in the human way she desired before. She would discover her identity as a daughter, called by the Son, to be a beloved child of a heavenly Father. While she might not understand this immediately, her love for Jesus was bolstered in trust as she came to a deeper awareness of his plan. In our life, are we willing to wait patiently for understanding, and to trust that Jesus has a greater plan for us, beyond what we immediately grasp and cling to?

3. “I Have Seen the Lord”: With Mary’s new identity came a new mission: “Go to my brothers and tell them…” With what promptness she took on this mission! She was sent and did not hold back. She went to the leaders of the pack. Without doubt, she was the Apostle to the Apostles, as tradition states. Neither the Apostles’ status, nor their opinions, deterred her from sharing the good news. And me? Does my heart leap to share the good news wherever and whenever the Spirit prompts me?

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to know more fully my identity as a beloved child of a heavenly Father. From this identity, grant me the courage to witness your victory over sin and death.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will reflect on how I can be an apostle to those around me, as Mary Magdalene was.

Reflection

Today, we celebrate with joy Saint Mary Magdalene. With joy and benefit for our faith!, because her trail could very well be ours. Magdalene came from afar (cf. Luke 7: 36-50) and she did go very far... Indeed, at the dawn of That morning, Jesus Christ discovered her the most important fact of our faith: that she was also God’s daughter.

In Mary of Magdala’s itinerary, we discover some important aspects of our faith. In the first place, we admire her courage. Though a gift from God, faith requires courage from the believer. Generally, we tend towards what we can see, what can be seized with our hand. God being essentially invisible, faith “represents the risky enterprise of accepting what plainly cannot be seen as the truly real and fundamental. It involves a leap out of the tangible world” (Benedict XVI). Mary, by seeing the risen Christ can also "see" the Father, the Lord. On the other hand, the "leap to faith" «is reached through what the Bible calls conversion or repentance: only he who changes receives it "(Benedict XVI). Was not this Mary’s first step? Should not this also be a reiterated step in our lives?

In the conversion of Magdalene, there was much love: she did not spare any perfumes for her Love. Love!: here is another "vehicle" of faith, because we neither hear, nor see or believe whom we do not love. In John’s Gospel it clearly appears «believing is to listen and, at the same time, to see (...)». In that dawn, María Magdalena takes risks for her Love, she listens to her Love (to hear Him saying "Mary" is enough for her to recognize Him) and she meets the Father. «On the morning of Easter (...), María Magdalena, is asked to contemplate Him as He ascends to the Father, and finally to her full confession "I have seen the Lord" (Jn 20:18)» (Pope Francis).