Friday, November 25, 2022

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần thứ 34 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần thứ 34 Thường Niên
Trong tuần cuối cùng của năm phụng vụ của Giáo Hội, các bài đọc thứ Nhất của mỗi ngày cho chúng ta thấy  những cái nhìn về ngày tận thế. Rất tiếc chúng ta không sống trong một thế giới mà chúng ta có thể có được những kinh nghiệm như Thánh Gioan đã được thị kiến và đã viết ra trong Sách Khải Huyền.  Chúng ta không biết rõ về những chi tiết lịch sử của thời đại và những dữ kiện đã xảy ra trong thời Thánh Gioan., có nghĩa là phần lớn những gì ông kinh nghiệm, ông đã truyền lại chúng ta. Tuy nhiên, nếu chúng ta có đủ kiên nhẫn để đọc để tìm hiểu thêm về ý nghĩa của cuốn sách, thì chúng ta có thể khám phá ra khá nhiều những hiểu biết và được an ủi qua những công việc của ông.
            Đoạn cuối của Bài đọc hôm nay, khi nói đến trời mới và đất mới sau đó nói đến một thành thánh Jerusalem mới. Bất chấp sự khinh hải của các đoạn văn trước đó, Thánh Gioan chắc chắn trải qua một số Chân Lý đã an ủi làm cho ông rất hy vọng.
            Trời, tất nhiên, hoàn toàn khác biệt với những kinh nghiệm trần thế của chúng ta, nhưng Thánh Gioan đã liên kết một trời mới cùng với đất mới một lời nhắc nhở rằng có một sự liên tục giữa trời và đất. Cơ thể chúng ta chết, nhưng chúng ta đang sống trong một mối quan hệ mới với Thiên Chúa, Người mà cho chúng ta có được sự sống đời đời hạnh phúc vĩnh cửu. Niềm hy vọng này một cách chắc chắn đức tin của chúng ta mặc khải cho chúng ta cho chúng ta. có nghĩa là chúng ta có thể có đủ sức mạnh Chúa ban như bài Thánh Vịnh chúng ta nghe .Lạy Chúa, Phúc thay kẻ lấy Ngài làm sức mạnh, ấp ủ trong lòng giấc mộng hành hương, mưa đầu mùa đổ phúc lộc chứa chan.
 
Reflection (SG)
            In this last week of the Church’s liturgical year, the first readings each day deals with visions of the end of the world. We do not live in a world where we have any experience of the visions which the writer of the Revelation has described for us. Not knowing the historical details of the writer’s times and background, means that much of what he says passes us by. Yet if we have the patience to read and to look for meaning we can discover quite many consoling insights in his work.
            The last paragraph of today’s passage, speaks of new heavens and a new earth and then of a new Jerusalem. In spite of the terror of the previous paragraphs, the author obviously experienced some great consoling truth which gave him hope.
            Heaven, of course, is totally different from our earthly experiences, but the author’s linking together of a new heaven and a new earth is a reminder that there is some continuity between heaven and earth. Our bodies die, but we live in a new relationship with God which gives us eternal life and everlasting happiness. This hope and certainty which our faith reveals to us means that we can go from strength to strength as the Psalmist says.
Lord, by Your grace may we grow spiritually from strength to strength.
 
Friday 34th Ordinary Time 2022
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, increase my faith, trust, and love. Grant me true courage in the face of trials.
Encountering Christ:
1.      The Fig Tree: Figs are valuable for their sustenance in a land like Israel, where summers require that people carefully nourish themselves and hydrate to protect themselves from the heat. Jesus compared the coming of the Kingdom to the maturing of a fig tree. He seemed to suggest that, far from being a time of fear, the end-times will arrive at a time of blossoming and fullness. In the Bible, the fig tree appeared in the garden of Eden, covering up the shame of Adam and Eve. In the midst of their sinfulness they found protection. The fig tree symbolizes prosperity, well-being, and security throughout sacred Scriptures. But these qualities are temporary until the true protection offered by the Son of God comes. 
2.      Heaven and Earth Will Pass Away: Jesus reminds us of the temporality and fleetingness of this life as he promises a new Heaven and a new earth. The Church teaches in the Catechism that “at the end of time, the Kingdom of God will come in its fullness. After the universal judgment, the righteous will reign forever with Christ, glorified in body and soul. The universe itself will be renewed (CCC 1042). “Sacred Scripture calls this mysterious renewal, which will transform humanity and the world, ‘new heavens and a new earth.’ It will be the definitive realization of God’s plan to bring under a single head ‘all things in [Christ], things in Heaven and things on earth’” (CCC 1043).
3.      My Words Will Not Pass Away: Jesus offers us eternal food in his words. He is the eternal Word made flesh. In him and through him, we enter into the heavenly Jerusalem. He is the gateway to the new universe, the new heavens, and earth where God will dwell fully. Revelation 21:4 promises us that in the heavenly Jerusalem, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me be steadfast in living my faith and hope. I want to anticipate the coming of the new heavens and earth, not with fear but with joyful hope. Grant that I may live fully in the present to make your Kingdom come here on earth as I await our final homeland. 
Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will reflect on how I live with a vision of the world to come. How does this affect my decisions and attitudes in my daily life?
Friday 34th Ordinary Time 2022
Opening Prayer: Lord God, sometimes confusion is the dominant characteristic of my prayer. I don’t feel like I’m praying, I don’t know what I should say, and I don’t understand your words. In these moments, please be with me. Pray in me, and then I know I will be praying.
Encountering Christ:
·         Inscrutable: Luke 21, the content of this week’s Gospel readings, can be difficult to understand. In the passage just before this Jesus said “Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days,” and “Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles,” and “the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” What does Jesus want to tell us in these last days of the liturgical year? He invites us to discernment, to watchfulness. We ask ourselves, “What has the Holy Spirit been saying to me in 2021?” May we deepen our prayer and recognize God at work in these last days of the liturgical year.
·         Proximate: “The Kingdom of God is near.” The proximity of the Kingdom of God is one of Jesus’ most important messages to us. Our God is not far away, but very near to us, even in our very hearts. This is the logic of the Incarnation, of a God who wants to be near to his creation, and so enters it as a little baby. Luke 17:20-21 is instructive: “Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, ‘The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, “Look, here it is,” or, “There it is.” For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.’” Are we able to recognize the Kingdom of God when we see it? Does God seem far away, or have we let him come very, very close?
·         Eternal: The Word of God is living and eternal. With a word, God fashioned the heavens and the earth. Indeed, the only-begotten Son of God is the living Word, which took flesh and dwelt among us. We know, too, that the sacred Scriptures are the living word of God. There we read of salvation history and God’s long and loving relationship with mankind—all that a loving God dreams of for his children. Scripture is an invaluable aid to discernment. There we find the right context, the appropriate lens for reading the events of our life.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the King of the world, who came to earth to establish your loving reign. I want to be a part of this empire of harmony, this domain of justice and truth. Please establish yourself over my life; I give you full permission, for you are the most tender of monarchs!
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take some time to journal about the graces, challenges, and blessings of the past year.

No comments:

Post a Comment