Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Ngày 3 Tháng Giêng - Lễ Kính tên Cực Trọng Đúc Chúa Giêsu.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Ngày 3 Tháng Giêng - Lễ Kính tên Cực Trọng Đúc Chúa Giêsu.
Qua đoạn Phúc Âm hôm nay, Thánh Gioan đã mang đến cho chúng ta môt suy nghĩ về con người của Chúa Giêsu trong cuộc sống của chúng ta. Chúa Giêsu là "Con Chiên" là vật hiến tế Thiên Chúa Cha cho chúng ta để cứu chúng ta khỏi tội lỗi và sự Ngài đã ban phép Rửa của Ngài cho chung ta chúng ta với ơn Chúa Thánh Thần. Ngài đến để mang chúng ta về cùng Chúa Cha, Và chúng ta, là những người con đã được chọn là con của Thiên Chúa. Thiên Chúa đã yêu thương chúng ta rất nhiều, nhiều đến nỗi Ngài đã ban cho chúng ta chính con của Ngài là Chúa Giêsu đến thế gian này để Cứu chúng ta và đưa chúng ta lên ngang hàng với Chúa. Ngài cũng còn ban Chúa Thánh Thần xuống để hướng dẫn chúng ta và ban ơn lành cho cuộc sống của chúng ta. Những nến tảng cụ thể nào là kinh nghiệm của riêng chúng ta "những người được chọn!" Nhưng chúng ta có thực sự để tâm đến tầm quan trọng này? Chúng ta có chấp nhận Chúa Giêsu là Đấng Cứu Độ của chúng ta và cho phép Chúa Thánh Thần hướng dẫn chúng ta? Chúng ta biết rằng nếu chúng ta chấp nhận điều này, thì nó sẽ biến đổi cuộc sống của chúng ta hoàn toàn và biến chúng ta thành người tôi tớ và là con chiên như chính Chúa Giêsu. Chúng ta đã sẵn sàngchưa, để chấp nhận và đón nhận sự thay đổi trong cuộc sống của chúng ta?
 
January 3:  John 1:29-34 
This very beautiful passage brings us to reflect on who Jesus is in our life. Jesus is our "Lamb" who saves us from sinfulness and who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. - He comes to bring us back to the Father for we, too, are chosen daughters and sons of God. God loves us so much that he gave us Jesus to be our Savior... and his Spirit to guide us in our life. - What concrete way of experiencing our being "chosen ones!"
But do we really give importance to this? - Do we accept Jesus as our Savior and allow his Spirit to guide us? We know that if we accept this, it will turn our lives totally and lead us to become servants and lambs like Jesus himself. Are we ready to accept and embrace this change in our life?  Now we can ask the Lord to pour his Holy Spirit upon us to deepen our faith, hope, and love for God and for the plan he has for our life.
 
Jan 3, 2023
January 3, when before Epiphany
John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” John 1:32–34
It’s interesting to note that in the Gospel of John, Saint John the Baptist never baptized Jesus, as is depicted in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. Instead, in the Gospel of John, John the Baptist simply witnessed the descent of the Holy Spirit from a distance, and then spoke the quoted line above. The next day, the Baptist pointed to Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” and two of his own disciples left the Baptist to follow Jesus.
Why is there this apparent discrepancy between the Gospel of John and the three Synoptic Gospels? Though it’s hard to answer that for certain, one thing that is made uniquely clear in the Gospel of John is that the Baptist was given a unique spiritual knowledge by the Father that Jesus was the “Lamb of God.” In this Gospel, the revelation of Who Jesus was did not take place in a way that everyone present heard and saw. Rather, John’s Gospel focuses upon the interior realization that John the Baptist received from the One Who sent him. And the One Who sent him was the Father in Heaven.
One spiritual truth worth pondering from the account of the Gospel of John read today is that the conviction and certainty given to the Baptist about Jesus’ identity was so certain that he knew Who Jesus was beyond any shadow of a doubt. This personal revelation given to the Baptist changed his life. From that moment on, all he did was point people to Jesus.
As you ponder this spiritual revelation about Jesus that the Baptist received from the Father in Heaven, consider for yourself what would be more convincing. Would it be more convincing to hear an audible voice from Heaven declare Who Jesus was? Or to receive this same knowledge through an interior and spiritual communication from the Father? If you believe that the former, the external and audible voice, would be more convincing, then you might want to pause and think again. The truth is that God’s clearest and most certain form of communication to us is one that is internal. And even if there were an audible voice spoken from Heaven, as depicted in the Synoptic Gospels, that Voice would have to also be interiorly confirmed by faith in the hearts of the hearers so as to convince them on the deepest level.
Reflect, today, upon the spiritual truth that God the Father wants to speak to you in the depths of your own soul so as to draw you into a certainty about Himself and all that He has spoken as true. Do you hear God speak? Have you allowed yourself to be convinced by His Voice? Listen to Him today and allow all that He speaks to you to become the source and goal of all that you say and do in life.
Father in Heaven, You have revealed to me Who You are and Your plan for my life in many ways. And though You are always speaking to me, I acknowledge that I do not always listen. Please open my soul to You more fully so that I may come to faith and be certain of Your love and Your perfect will in my life. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Jan 3, 2023
Opening Prayer: Lord, you entrusted John the Baptist with a big job in your plan of salvation. Open my ears to hear his eyewitness testimony with a fresh perspective and let it penetrate my soul like never before.
Encountering Christ:
1.      It’s You!: When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him, there was nothing in the Lord’s bearing that hinted at his divinity. Jesus’s ministry was still nascent. He hadn’t even assembled disciples yet. How did John the Baptist know to proclaim Jesus the “Lamb of God” and “the Son of God”? The Gospel passage tells us that the Spirit prepared John for this moment. “I did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me…” The Lord walks into my life 100 times a day “disguised” as a friend, neighbor, or colleague. I will best recognize him and love him as he deserves to be loved when I’ve tapped into the Spirit beforehand. Prepare me, Lord, to encounter you often during this busy day as I spend these quiet moments praying.
2.      My Reason for Living: Modern psychologists would call John a self-actualized man. He knew his mission and purpose and applied his talents and skills to accomplish it. His life coach probably would have discovered that John had excellent moral intuition, a strong sense of realism, and a fearlessness of the unknown, as do self-actualized men today. But, because John drew his purpose from pleasing God and doing God’s will, John also became a saint. I want to imitate John and seek my fulfillment by recognizing that my primary purpose is to know, love, and serve God unwaveringly. I want to live Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”
3.      God Knows Before We Do: The Lord told John the Baptist how to recognize him before he came to the river for his baptism. In the same way, the Spirit sometimes prepares us during prayer for future blessings or trials. Twenty years ago, I arrived home from my first-weekend retreat to the news that my mother had cancer. She died shortly thereafter. I continue to thank the Lord for the blessing of having gotten to know him so intimately just before this trial entered our lives.
Conversing with Christ: Lord, the best moments of my day are when you make your presence known to me in one of a thousand ways. Thank you for meeting me in my little reality. I praise you with a heart full of gratitude.
Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will actively look for you, listen to what you ask me to do through the messengers I meet, and act promptly, whether I’m asked to do something small and invisible or something that costs me.
 

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Suy Niệm Phúc âm Lễ Kính tên Cực Trọng Đúc Chúa Giêsu.
John 1:29-34 (Jan 3, 2018)
Trong Phúc âm hôm nay cho chúng ta thấy, thánh Gioan Tẩy giả đã nhận biết được Chúa Giêsu là con Thiên Chúa khi vừa mới nhìn thấy Chúa. Có gì đăc biệt mà Gioan đã nhận ra Chúa Giêsu?. Có lẽ câu trả lời nằm trong bài đọc thứ Nhất hôm nay. Nếu chúng đạt niềm hy vọng vào Thiên Chúa, thì Ngài sẽ cho chúng ta làm con cái của Ngài. Nếu chúng ta để Chúa đến và ở lại trong chúng ta, thì chúng ta sẽ được thanh tẩy thanh sạch gống như thiên Chúa và chúng ta sẽ có thể vượt qua mọi tội lỗi và xa tránh được những điều gian ác. Bài đọc thứ nhất cũng nhắc nhở chúng hãy nên phản ánh và kiểm tra những động lực và hành động của chúng ta trong cuộc sống hàng ngày của chúng ta. Chúng ta cần phải có những gì để thúc đẩy chúng ta sống cho Thiên Chúa, cho người khác và cho chính chúng ta khộng?