Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Sáng 24/12.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ  Bẩy Sáng 24/12.. (Lk. 1:67-79 )
           Trong chúng ta, đôi khi có nhiều điều lo sợ khi nghĩ đến việc Thiên Chúa đến thăm viếng chúng ta, Vì chúng ta tin rằng việc có thể xẩy ra chỉ là sự dồng nghĩa với cơn thịnh nộ, với sự phán xét và trừng phạt. Nhưng Dacaria đã đúng: Việc  viếng thăm của Thiên Chúa đã chứng minh lòng trung tín Thiên Chúa vì Ngài đã luôn giữ đúng với lời hứa của Ngài. Đó cũng là một dấu chỉ của tình yêu trung thành và lòng thương xót của Thiên Chúa, và Ngài đến để mang lại sự giải thoát, sự tự do, và đem ánh sáng của Ngài từ trời cao xuống để hướng dẫn chúng ta. Không có gì phải sợ hãi, trừ khi, chúng ta đã phản bội và chống lại những điều giáo huấn của Thiên Chúa đẵ thay thế công lý và tình thương bằng những sự lạm dụng quyền lực, tham những  và bất công. Việc đến viếng tham chúng ta của Thiên Chúa là những ân huệ và là những hồng ân bao la của Thiên Chúa ban tặng cho chúng ta, nhưng chúng ta phải biết mở rộng cánh của tâm hồn và lòng trí của chúng ta để lãnh nhận những hồng ân này.
         Có lẽ chúng ta vẫn còn sống trong những mối lo sợ này,  hay có thể, chúng ta đã trở thành những người xa lạ đối với những cảm giác của niềm vui và lòng biết ơn. Chúa Giêsu thực sự là ánh sáng ban mai từ trời cao và là sự hiện diện của lòng Thiên Chúa hay thương xót.  Mỗi ngày chúng ta có thể đón nhận Chúa Giêsu vào trong lòng của chúng ta và như thánh Gioan Tẩy Giả đã chuẩn bị cho những người khác để họ nhận được những hồng ân của Thiên Chúa. Chúng ta cũng nên chuẩn bị tâm hồn của chúng ta để đón Chúa Hài đồng đến viếng thăm chúng ta trong đêm nay và Ngài sẽ trở lại để đón chúng ta về với Ngài trong một cuộc sống mới. 
            Lạy Chúa, cởi mở lòng chúng con, để chúng con biết đón nhận những hồng ân và món quà tinh thần của Chúa ban cho chúng con hôm nay.
 
Saturday Dec 24^th - 4th Week of Advent (Morning)
            Many feared the visitation of God, believing that it could only mean wrath, judgment, and punishment. But Zechariah had it right: the visitation of God proved that God kept His promises. It was also a sign of God’s faithful love and tender mercy, and brought deliverance, freedom, and a guiding light from above. There was nothing to fear — unless, of course, you were opposed to all those things and dedicated instead to power and injustice. These were God's gifts — but have we opened our minds and hearts to receive them?  
            Perhaps we still live in fear or are strangers to a sense of joy and gratitude. Jesus is truly the dawning light from on high and the presence of God's tender mercy. Each day we can receive Jesus into our hearts and like John the Baptist prepare others to receive the gift of God. The visitation of God is truly new life.
Lord, open my heart to receive the gift of Your spirit.
 
Saturday Dec 24^th - 4th Week of Advent (Morning)
Transformation by the Holy Spirit
December 24, Advent Weekday
Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free…” Luke 1:67–68
Our story of the birth of Saint John the Baptist concludes today with the song of praise spoken by Zechariah after his tongue had been loosened on account of his transformation in faith. He had moved from doubting what the Archangel Gabriel had spoken to him to believing and following the command of the Archangel to name his firstborn son “John.” As we saw in yesterday’s reflection, Zechariah is a model and example for those who have lacked faith, have suffered the consequences of their lack of faith, and have changed as a result.
Today, we see an even fuller illustration of what happens when we change. No matter how deeply we have doubted in the past, no matter how far we have turned from God, when we turn back to Him with all our heart, we can hope to experience the same thing experienced by Zechariah. First, we see that Zechariah is “filled with the Holy Spirit.” And as a result of this gift of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah “prophesied.” These two revelations are very significant.
As we prepare for the celebration of the Birth of Christ tomorrow on Christmas Day, we are also called to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” so that we also can act as a prophetic messenger of the Lord. Though Christmas is all about the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, Christ Jesus our Lord, the Holy Spirit (the Third Person of the Holy Trinity) plays just as much of a significant role in the glorious event, both at that time and also today. Recall that it was by the Holy Spirit Who overshadowed Mother Mary that she conceived the Christ Child. In today’s Gospel, it was the Holy Spirit Who enabled Zechariah to proclaim the greatness of God’s act of sending John the Baptist ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for Him. Today, it must be the Holy Spirit Who fills our lives so as to enable us to proclaim the Christmas Truth.
In our day and age, Christmas has become very secular in many parts of the world. Few people take time on Christmas to truly pray and worship God for all that He has done. Few people continually proclaim that glorious message of the Incarnation to family and friends during this most solemn celebration. How about you? Are you able to be a true “prophet” of the Most High God this Christmas? Has the Holy Spirit overshadowed you and filled you with the grace needed to point others to this glorious reason for our celebration?
Reflect, today, upon the role of the Holy Spirit in your life this day. Invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, inspire you, and strengthen you, and to give to you the wisdom you need to be a mouthpiece of the glorious gift of the birth of the Savior of the World this Christmas. No other gift could be more important to give to others than this message of truth and love.
Holy Spirit, I give You my life and invite You to come to me, to overshadow me and to fill me with Your divine presence. As You fill me, give me the wisdom I need to speak of Your greatness and to be an instrument through which others are drawn into the glorious celebration of the birth of the Savior of the World. Come, Holy Spirit, fill me, consume me and use me for Your glory.  Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Saturday Dec 24
Introductory Prayer: I believe in your loving presence with me, Lord, and I tremble as I consider the immense love you have for me. I do not deserve your grace, and yet I cannot live without it. You have called me to rise above my sin and misery and to live in your love as one of your children. I genuinely want to show you my love.
Petition: Lord, help me seek and find you through silence.
1. Silence for Reflection: Zechariah had been in silence (a silence imposed by God) for over nine months. Perhaps at the beginning, he had felt frustrated at not being able to communicate normally with others. As time goes on, that frustration turns into resignation and reluctant acceptance. Through perseverance and prayer, suddenly he begins to love the trial God had imposed on him, embracing it wholeheartedly and willingly. When we see someone who is suffering, be it in a hospital, a nursing home or even on the street or at work, we need to bring them this message of hope. Suffering has a meaning, a redemptive value, if we unite our sufferings to those of Christ.
2. Silence for Union with Our Lord:  We see that Zechariah’s 9-month “retreat” has provided him the opportunity for closer contact with God. Through prayer, he has been brought to a deeper and experiential knowledge of God, which has converted him into an apostle in his desire to share this experience with others. As his wife’s period of waiting results in her giving birth to a prophet, so Zechariah’s “incubation” period also turns him into a prophet: He foretells that salvation for his people is near at hand. We will have words of wisdom and encouragement for others when we have discovered how to be alone with God in the secret depths of our hearts. Silence is a vehicle for achieving this intimacy.
3. Silence for Praise: At some moment during his tribulation, Zechariah would recall the angel’s words, “you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place” (Luke 1:20). Hope would invade his heart. The day is coming when he would be able to speak again! He has nine months to prepare his speech. The first words he utters as his tongue is loosened are not a curse against God for having made him suffer, but a hymn of praise for his mercy on sinful humanity. He has experienced this mercy in his flesh. We are meant to communicate truth through speech; the greatest truth is what God has done for us and wishes to do for every single person. When our speech results from what we have first meditated on profoundly, our words will bear fruit. Does my speech normally edify others? Do my words ordinarily come from the good I have experienced in God’s company? Am I aware of how much we can build up others through good conversations?
Conversation with Christ: Lord, your birth comes tonight. I want to have a proper place prepared for you. Please help me to make it warm and comfortable for you. Make up for what is lacking in my poor efforts to please you. O King of Glory, may my every thought, word, and deed of this day be a fitting homage for your coming.
 
Suy Niệm bài Đọc Thánh Lễ sáng Ngày 24/12
Trong bài giảng cho các tu sĩ Dòng Tên vào ngày lễ kính Thánh Saint Inhaxiô, Đức Thánh Cha Phanxicô đã nhắc nhở chúng ta rằng "Điều mà chúng ta phài nhớ là không phải chúng ta xây dựng được Vương quốc của Thiên Chúa, nhưng chúng ta phải luôn luôn biết là nhờ ân sủng của Thiên Chúa làm việc trong chúng ta." Có rất nhiều tài liệu trong Kinh Thánh mà Đức Giáo Hoàng đã làm căn bản để khẳng định như thế, mà trong bài đọc thứ nhất  trong Thánh Lễ hôm nay là một ví dụ tốt.”
            Sau khi đã chiến thắng tất cả các quân thù của mình, Vua David đã muốn có ý tưởng hiến dâng vương miện của Mình cho Thên Chúa bằng việc xây dựng một ngôi nhà cho Chúa. Tuy nhiên qua bài đọc chúng ta biết rằng, trên thực tế, Chính Thiên Chúa là Đấng đã ban cho David chiến thắng, giải hoà và đem hòa bình đến với những kẻ thù của mình. Có vẻ hình như  Chúa đã nhờ tiên tri Nathan để nhắc nhở nhà Vua về sự thật này: " Chính Ta đã cất nhắc ngươi, từ một kẻ lùa chiên ngoài đồng cỏ, lên làm người lãnh đạo dân Ta là Israel.  Ngươi đi đâu, Ta cũng đã ở đó với ngươi; mọi thù địch ngươi, Ta đã diệt trừ cho khuất mắt ngươi. Ta sẽ làm cho tên tuổi ngươi lẫy lừng, như tên tuổi những bậc vĩ nhân trên mặt đất. ^‘’.." Như thế, chúng thấy, Thiên Chúa đã khiển trách vua David bằng cách đưa nhà vua trở lại với thực tế.’
            Thánh Phaolô trong thơ gởi cho giáo đoàn Roma cũng đã nhắc nhở chúng ta là: "Quả thế, mọi lời xưa đã chép trong Kinh Thánh, đều được chép để dạy dỗ chúng ta. Những lời ấy làm cho chúng ta nên kiên nhẫn, và an ủi chúng ta, để nhờ đó chúng ta vững lòng trông cậy." (Rm 15: 4). Qua câu chuyện của vua David trong bài đọc hôm nay có thế giúp chúng ta để áp dụng cho đời sống tinh thần của chúng ta: những lời của Thiên Chúa, đã và đang nói với chúng ta trong Thánh lễ, trong Bí tích Thánh Thể, Chúa đã liên tục đưa chúng ta trở lại với thực tại, về với sự hiện diện của Thiên Chúa trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, cũng như chúng ta cùng đồng hành với Ngài, Đấng Emmanuel.
            Lạy Cha, trong mùa Chúa Giáng Sinh này, Xin Cha cho chúng con biết ơn và đánh giá cao về mầu nhiệm Chúa Giêsu nhập thể, là  "Thiên Chúa ở cùng chúng con".
 
Reflection
In his homily to the Jesuits on the feast of Saint Ignatius, Pope Francis reminded us that “it is not for us to build the Kingdom of God, but it is always the grace of God working within us.” There is much biblical material to ground the Pope's assertion, and the first reading for today’s Mass is a good example.
            After all his victories, David wanted to crown his exploits by building a house for the Lord. The writer carefully notes, however, that, in reality, it was the Lord who had given David his victories and peace from his enemies. David, it seems, needed the Lord to remind him of this truth: “It was I who took you…I have been with you wherever you went…” Thus, the Lord reprimanded David by bringing him back to reality.
            Paul teaches us: “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom 15:4). We may, then, apply this story about David to our own spiritual lives: the word of God, spoken to us at each Eucharist, continually brings us back to the reality of God’s presence in our lives, accompanying us as Emmanuel.
            Father, at Christmas, deepen our appreciation of the mystery of Jesus, “God with us”.