Nhiều
người trong chúng ta cảm thấy rất là khó
khăn để ăn năn, sám hối và thay đổi cuộc sống của chúng ta thật sự trong mùa chay này. Chúng ta cũng
chẳng khác gì hơn
những
người Biệt Phái Do thái, những người đang tìm kiếm các
dấu lạ hơn là chấp nhận những gì họ mà đã thấy trong suốt cuộc hành trình của Chúa Jêsus. Có lẽ, nếu chúng ta thấy
Chúa Giêsu Kitô xuất hiện trước mặt chúng ta,
kêu gọi chúng ta ăn năn sám hối thì lúc đó chúng ta mới chịu chấp nhận và thay đổi cuộc sống của chúng ta? hay
nếu chúng ta nhìn thấy một cây thánh giá xuất hiện lơ lưởng giữa bầu trời, hoặc một cái gì đó
phải làm cho chúng ta run lên, sợ hãi thì mới chịu trở lại với Chúa Giêsu? Trong trường hợp này, chúng ta
đúng là những người của một "thế hệ gian ác", vì chúng
ta chỉ có tin vào Chúa Kitô khi chúng ta nhận thấy được một
dấu lạ nào đó mà thôi. Nếu
chúng ta tin, thì chúng ta phải nên giống như những người trong thành Ninivê, những người biết nhìn nhận tội lỗi của mình, biết ăn năn sám hối khi được ông Giô-na rao giảng cho họ. Chúa Kitô đã đến để giúp chúng ta nhận ra chính mình và biết ăn năn.
Trong
một Tin Mừng khác, Chúa Giêsu đã nói,
"Ví như Giôna đã ở trong bụng thuồng
luồng ba ngày ba đêm thế nào, thì Con Người cũng sẽ ở trong lòng đất ba ngày ba
đêm thể ấy..
Chúa Kitô đã ám chỉ đến mình, với thời gian Ngài ở trong mộ đất. cũng như Giôna ra khỏi bụng của cá voi (thuồng luồng), Chúa Kitô cũng ra khỏi
mộ. Đây là biểu hiệu lạ mà Chúa Giêsu đã ban cho chúng ta thấy và vẫn còn tiếp tục là dấu chỉ cho chúng tôi hôm nay. Trong thời gian chúng ta tìm thấy chính mình trong
mộ, hãy tin rằng Chúa Kitô, Đấng
đã đi vào cái chết và trở lại trong cuộc sống mới, Ngài sẽ không để chúng ta lại trong ngôi mộ của chúng ta và Ngài sẽ mang và giải thoát chúng ta ra khỏi ngôi mộ đó để đưa chúng ta trở lại, để cùng trải nghiệm trong cuộc sống mới với Ngài, cho dù ngôi mộ này là một thử thách, khó khăn to lớn, một lỗi phạm nghiêm trọng, một tội các hay bất kỳ một cái chết, Chúng ta có thể trải nghiệm sự phục sinh của Chúa
Kitô. Ngài luôn sẵn sàng để biểu lộ
vinh quang của Ngài bằng cách thực hiện dấu chỉ này trong cuộc sống của Chúng ta.
Lạy Chúa Cha trên trời, trong Mùa Chay này, Xin Chúa ban cho chúng ta một tinh
thần khiêm tốn và thống hối để chúng con có thể bước theo Chúa Giêsu một cách tự tin trong con đường của sự
thánh thiện đích thực.
Reflection WEDNESDAY,
1st Week of Lent
Many of us find it difficult to
believe that we need to repent of our sins and change our lives; we are like
the Pharisees who were looking for more signs than what they had already seen
throughout Jesus' ministry. Probably, if we see Jesus Christ appear in front of
us, calling us to repent then that's the only time we will convert; or if we
see a cross appear in the sky, or something to that sort, we will tremble with
fear and turn to Jesus. In that case, we are a "wicked generation"
for we will only believe in Christ if we see a sign. You may say, "but I
do believe in Jesus Christ." If we do believe, then we should be like the
people of Nineveh who repented then Jonah preached to them. Christ comes to
help us with a sign.
In
another Gospel, Jesus said. Christ is alluding to himself, to the period he
would spend in the tomb. Just as Jonah came out of the belly of the whale,
Christ also came out of the tomb. This is the sign that Jesus had given us and
continues to be the sign for us today. In times when you find yourself in a
tomb, believe that Christ, who already entered into death and came out of it
with a new life, will not leave you in your tomb and will bring you out of it
to experience his new life. Whether this tomb is a heavy trial, a serious sin,
a vice or any sort of death, you can experience Christ's resurrection. He is
always ready to manifest his glory by performing this sign in your life.
Wednesday
of the First Week of Lent
While still more people
gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil
generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of
Jonah.” Luke 11:29
The crowd seemed to be a mixed
bunch. First, there were those who wholeheartedly believed in Jesus. The
Twelve, for example, left everything behind to follow Him. His mother and
various other holy women believed in Him and were His faithful followers. But within
the growing crowd, it appeared that there were many who questioned Jesus and
wanted some form of proof of Who He was. Thus, they wanted a sign from Heaven.
A sign from Heaven would have
been some externally manifest proof of Who Jesus was. Granted, Jesus had
already performed numerous miracles. But it seems that this was not enough.
They wanted more—and that desire is a clear indication of a stubbornness of
heart and a lack of faith. So Jesus could not and would not give them the sign
they wanted.
Instead, Jesus says that the
only sign they will receive is the sign of Jonah. Recall that the sign of Jonah
was not very appealing. He was thrown over the side of a boat and swallowed by
a whale, where he remained for three days before being spit up on the shores of
Nineveh.
Jesus’ sign would be similar.
He would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders and civil authorities, be
killed and be placed in a tomb. And then, three days later, He would rise. But
His Resurrection was not one in which He came forth with rays of light
for all to see; rather, His post-Resurrection appearances were to
those who already manifested faith and already believed.
The lesson for us is that God
will not convince us of the matters of faith through powerful and
Hollywood-like public manifestations of God’s greatness. Instead, the “sign” we
are offered is an invitation to die with Christ so that we can personally begin
to experience the new life of the Resurrection. This gift of faith is interior,
not publicly exterior. Our death to sin is something we personally and
interiorly do, and the new life we receive can only be seen by others by the
witness of our lives that are changed.
Reflect, today, upon the true
sign God has given you. If you are one who seems to be waiting for some
manifest sign from our Lord, wait no longer. Look at the crucifix, see Jesus’
suffering and death, and choose to follow Him in a death to all sin and
selfishness. Die with Him, enter the tomb with Him and allow Him to bring you
forth interiorly renewed this Lent, so that you can be transformed by this one
and only sign from Heaven.
My crucified Lord, I gaze upon
the crucifix and see in Your death the greatest act of love ever known. Give me
the grace I need to follow You to the tomb so that Your death will triumph over
my sins. Free me, dear Lord, during the Lenten journey so that I will be able
to fully share in Your new life of the Resurrection. Jesus, I trust in You.
WEDNESDAY, 1st Week of Lent 2023
Opening Prayer: My Lord, you have visited your children and spoken to us
through words and deeds. Send down upon me your Spirit, so that I can recognize
your signs and set out on a path of conversion during this Lent season.
Encountering Christ:
1. Three Signs: In today’s Gospel, Jesus deals with
three signs: the sign of Jonah, the sign of Solomon, and the sign of his own
life and death. Jonah had been sent to the city of Nineveh to preach to an
unlawful people. God had chosen Jonah to be his prophet and had thus made him
into a sign to communicate his message. Against all odds, Jonah’s efforts bore
fruit as the people examined their conscience and started to repent. They saw
the sign and heeded its message. What would Jonah’s proclamation trigger in our
own conscience if we met him today? Lent is a time in which God sends us signs
that can help us to examine our thoughts, words, deeds, and omissions. Lent is
a time of conversion.
2. The Sign of Solomon: What kind of a sign was
Solomon? Why did other rulers, such as the Queen of the South, come to see him?
Solomon was a sign of wisdom, not only during his time but throughout history,
as tradition keeps referring to him as the wisest among kings. Wisdom is the
noblest gift of the Holy Spirit and enables a person to see the world as God
sees it and to be docile to divine inspiration. Solomon was a sign of wisdom
for generations, and the Spirit wants to work through signs in our life too.
This Lent, let us pray for greater attentiveness to the Spirit in prayer.
3. Jesus Is the Final Sign: Jesus explains that he
does not intend to replace the ancient signs of Jonah or Solomon. In fact, he
has come to fulfill the old signs and show the completion of their truth. Thus,
Jesus reiterates the need for us to examine our conscience and to repent, and,
like Solomon, he irradiates the wisdom of someone who sees the world through
the eyes of God. A “wicked generation” which would not heed the former signs
will not heed the sign that is Jesus himself—so he foretells. This means that
the only way to approach the sign of Jesus, his loving sacrifice and glorious
Resurrection, is by cultivating the attitude that the old signs were meant to
prepare in God’s people: an awareness of our need for redemption, a willingness
to convert, a sincere intention to follow God’s lead. If these are our
attitudes, then Jesus’s words and deeds will fall on fertile ground in our
hearts. Then we will see his sign and believe.
Conversing with Christ: My Lord Jesus Christ, as I make the Sign of the Cross or
contemplate your Crucifixion, I remind myself of what moved you to make this
sacrifice. After a time of helping humanity to recognize its state and after
sowing the desire for redemption in us, you climbed Mount Calvary to gain the
salvation we needed. I thank you, and I praise you for redeeming me.
Resolution:
Lord, today, by your grace, I will examine my conscience seeking God’s
forgiveness and committing to conversion. This could be an occasion to prepare
a good confession during this Lenten season.
WEDNESDAY, 1st Week of Lent
In
the first reading Yahweh castigates his people Israel for their sins and
transgressions against him.
In the Gospel reading, in similar fashion, Jesus castigates the
people for their hardness of heart and unwillingness to see and to listen to
his message. He reminds them that the Queen of the South traveled far to listen
to Solomon and yet "here (today) there is greater than Solomon"; the
people of Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes at the preaching of Jonah and
yet "here (today) there is greater than Jonah."
As we begin the season of Lent let us take seriously the message
of repentance for our sins: "0 my God, I am heartily sorry for having
offended thee and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and
the pains of hell; but most of all because I have offended thee, my God, who
are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of
thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen."
No comments:
Post a Comment