Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần thứ 25 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần thứ 25 Thường Niên

Qua bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thử hỏi, nếu Chúa Giêsu cũng hỏi chúng cùng một câu hỏi “còn các con, các bảo Thầy là ai?”, có lẽ chúng ta sẽ trả lời: “Thầy là Đức Chúa Trời, là Đức Chúa Con, là Ngôi Lời nhập thể làm người, là Đấng Tạo Hóa và Đấng Cứu Thế của chúng con, là Con một của Chúa Cha, là Chúa Đức Kitô, và là Thiên Chúa thật cũng là người thật ”. Không giống như các tông đồ trong thời của Chúa, bổn phận chính của chúng ta bây giờ là phải rao truyền tất cả những điều ấy tới tất cả mọi người để họ cùng nhận biết Chúa. Các tông đồ đã không chắc chắn Chúa Giêsu là ai. Họ biết được Ngài là ai, là Đấng nào sau khi chứng kiến ​​cái chết và sự phục sinh của Người. Tất cả các tông đồ, trừ Thánh Gioan đã chết một cái chết vì đạo như Chúa Giêsu.

Bây giờ chúng ta thực sự đã biết Chúa Giêsu là ai. Cuộc sống, cái chết và sự sống lại của Ngài đã chứng minh cho chúng ta. Chúng ta được chúc phúc vì Thiên Chúa đã ban cho chúng ta những ân sủng để chúng ta biết điều này. Chúng ta cẩn phải nhận ra tầm quan trọng về những kiến ​​thức này cho chúng ta; sự sống đời đời của chúng ta đều phụ thuộc vào những kiến thức đấy.

Chúng ta phải biết rằng "từ nguyên thuỷ (khởi đầu) đã có Ngôi Lời, Ngôi Lời ở trong Thiên Chúa, và Ngôi Lời là Thiên Chúa;. Ngài đã ở cùng Thiên Chúa. Và qua Ngài mà tất cả mọi sự đã được thực hiện và Mọi sự đã nhờ Ngài mà thành sự và không Ngài thì không gì đã thành sự." (Ga 1: 1-3)

Dự định ban đầu của Thiên Chúa là ban sự sống đời đời cho con người chúng ta , nhưng vì sự bất tuân và niềm tự hào của con người, của tổ phụ con người cúng ta là Adong và Eva mà cúng ta đã đánh mất cái quyền lợi đấy. Vì vậy, để cứu rỗi cho chúng ta, Ngôi Lời đã trở nên Con Người phàm tục như chúng ta và Ngài đã sống giữa chúng ta, để chuộc lại cho chúng ta sự sống đời đời mà đã bị mất.

Chúng ta biết rằng Chúa Kitô đã chịu đau khổ và chịu chết trên thập giá cho chúng ta để chúng ta đạt được ơn cứu chuộc này. Chúng ta phải rao truyền tất cả những gì mà chúng ta đã biết được cho tất cả mọi người để họ sẽ không bị từ chối cuộc sống vĩnh cửu mà Đức Chúa Giêsu Kitô đã cứu chuộc cho chúng ta.

Reflection:

Today's Catholics, if asked the same question by Jesus, would probably answer: "God, God the Son, Our Creator, Our Lord and Savior, Our Redeemer, the Word Made Flesh, the Only Begotten Son of the Father, the son of Mary, the Christ, true God and true Man" - for all these, he truly is. Unlike the apostles of his time, our strict instruction now is to tell this to everyone.

The apostles were not sure who Jesus was. They learned who he was only much later, after witnessing his death and resurrection, and they proclaimed who Jesus was to all the nations so that they would be saved, even at the cost of their own lives. All the apostles, except St. John, died a martyr's death. Now we know who Jesus really is. His life, death and resurrection proved this to us. We are blessed because God gave us the grace to know this. We must realize how important this knowledge is to us; our eternal life depends on it. We know that " in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; he was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him nothing came to be." (Jn 1:1-3) God originally intended eternal life to our first parents, but because of disobedience and pride, they lost it. So for our salvation, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, in order to redeem for us the eternal life which was lost. We know that he suffered and died on the cross for us in order to achieve this redemption. We must tell what we know to everyone so that they would not reject this eternal life redeemed for us by Jesus Christ.

Friday 25th Ordinary Time 2022

Opening Prayer: As I come to my time of prayer today, Lord, bless me and strengthen me for the moments ahead when I will need your grace.

Encountering Christ:

1. Speaking Up: When Jesus asked, “Who do the crowds say that I am,” the disciples showed by their answers that the crowds saw something special in Jesus, but that their vision was limited. They weren’t able to see beyond what they were comfortable with or what they understood. They were unable to see Jesus’ absolute uniqueness. In contrast, Peter recognized Jesus as “The Christ of God.” He spoke out in faith. We can sometimes find it difficult to follow Peter’s example and speak up when others challenge our faith. Nevertheless, each of us is called to “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 Peter 3:15).

2. Suffering Is to Be Expected: Jesus never gave the disciples room to imagine their lives would include power or prestige. He repeatedly reminded them that his life would include rejection and suffering and he taught them to expect the same. He said, “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first” (John 15:18) and “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The Catechism acknowledges that this is challenging: “Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it” (CCC 164). But St. Paul encourages us: “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:2).

3. Man of the Cross: In his homily for the canonization of St. Padre Pio, St. John Paul II said, “The life and mission of Padre Pio prove that difficulties and sorrows, if accepted out of love, are transformed into a privileged way of holiness, which opens onto the horizons of a greater good, known only to the Lord” (Sunday, June 16, 2002). Later, in the same homily, he stated, “Is it not, precisely, the ‘glory of the cross’ that shines above all in Padre Pio? …In God's plan, the cross constitutes the true instrument of salvation for the whole of humanity and the way offered by the Lord to those who wish to follow him” and then quotes St. Padre Pio, “In order to succeed in reaching our ultimate end we must follow the divine Head, who does not wish to lead the chosen soul on any way other than the one he followed; by that, I say, of abnegation and the cross" (Epistolario II, p. 155). We draw comfort from these words as we carry our daily crosses, knowing that Our Lord has planned to draw a “greater good” from our suffering.

Conversing with Christ:

My Lord, my God, my Savior, my Refuge, I want to embrace all it is that you allow into my life as your instrument of salvation. I want to remember your cross as a sign of your love. Lord, help me grow in my trust in you and remember the words of the prayer of St. Padre Pio: “O Lord, we ask for a boundless confidence and trust in your Divine Mercy, and the courage to accept the crosses and sufferings which bring immense goodness to our souls and that of your Church…”

Resolution: 

ord, today, by your grace, when I make the sign of the cross, I will do so reverently and thoughtfully, giving thanks for your sacrifice on the cross and asking for the grace to embrace the crosses and suffering of my own life with deeper faith and trust.

Friday 25th Ordinary Time 2021

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I am grateful for this opportunity to come before you in prayer. You know that I believe in you; that is why I am coming to you. However, you also know how much my faith needs to grow. I ask you for that grace to grow in my knowledge of you, to think more like you, and to trust you each day more. I also ask you to bless those souls entrusted to my prayer.

Encountering Christ:

· “Who Do the Crowds Say That I Am?”: Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.” Jesus’s first question was safe; it is a question about the beliefs of others. “Well, they believe this and that…” said the disciples, possibly even slightly scoffing at some of the theories out there. Similarly, today’s society is completely at ease conversing about religion at this level. “Well, the Buddhists believe this… and the Muslims believe that.” University professors who teach courses on religion or philosophy often take a similar approach—they survey the landscape of the various religions or philosophies, make a few interesting comments, and then leave it to the student to choose which they like best. The underlying message conveyed is that we cannot know the truth about God and man. That aversion is likely rooted not only in a belief that man cannot know the truth but also in a fear of commitment. A religion reduced to a theory can make no demands.

· “Who Do You Say That I Am?”: Our Lord cuts to the chase by eliminating the casual theorizing: “But who do you say that I am?” Even adult cradle Catholics who believed as little children at some point must face the question directly, “Who is Jesus for me?” Otherwise, he or she runs the risk of reducing Jesus to a theory, a religion, or a tradition—ultimately void of meaning. However, if someone is willing to open up to Jesus with sincere and persistent prayer and study, he or she, like Peter, will recognize in Jesus “the Messiah of God.” Essential to such a search is the realization that it is not principally finding the truth as much as it is encountering a person. Mature faith is born from meeting Jesus Christ.

· “The Messiah of God”: Once we recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the very Son of God, neutrality is no longer an option. We must either bend the knee or reject him. To bend the knee means to adore and to obey him. Our worship of Jesus brings us grace and gradually forms our hearts and minds to be more like his (Galatians 4:19). His words and his example become the criteria by which we act. “What would Jesus do?” should not be a cliché. It is also in living with Jesus and like Jesus that others will discover him through us. St. Paul writes, “yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus Christ, I thank you for the foundational gift of faith, which has led me to recognize you as the Messiah and the Son of God. Help me to continue to conform my heart and mind to yours through prayer and the sacraments. May my words and actions be a reflection of you, so that through me, others may come to know your goodness. Aware of my weakness, I place my confidence in your grace and fidelity.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will attentively review the specific virtues I am trying to live in imitation of you.

REFLECTION

In the first reading we are told that everything happens in God's time.Whenever we are down, worried or troubled, we cannot hear enough about how bad things are. When we finally get out of the woods, we always agree that God's time is always perfect and only then do we understand why what happened happened. Jesus did tell us that whatever we ask in his name we will receive but he did not say when or how. The truth is that Jesus is the Messiah: so he knows what is best for us. He desires nothing more than for us to have good lives and achieve success. Our troubles and problems arise from our selfishness and sinfulness.

In Christian life, faith is key. If we have faith, we continue to pray and trust in God's timing. We take trials with open arms and worry less because we are confident that in his time and in his way we will receive the blessings we asked for.