Friday, April 28, 2023

25/4- Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Lễ Thánh Marcô Thánh sử

25/4- Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Lễ Thánh Marcô Thánh sử
"Được sai đi  được xức dầu với Chúa Thánh Thần." Chúa Thánh Thần đồng hành với chúng ta trong sứ mệnh truyền giáo và rao giảng tin mừng của Nước Trời.
      Là người Công Giáo xác thực là người Kitô Hữu thực sự và là người chứng nhân cho những phép lạ. Phép lạ vĩ đại nhất là sự khắc phục của chúng ta với Chúa Thánh Thần để chống lại những sự ham muốn quá mức, kiêu ngạo, tự cao, tự tôn với những khuynh hướng sai lầm của chúng tôi và tội lỗi của chúng ta trong bản tính hay sa ngã. Cũng vì thế mà Thánh Gioan Tẩy Giả đã từng nói rằng: "Ngài (Chúa Giêsu) phải tăng và tôi phải giảm xuống". Thánh Phaolô nói: "Tôi đang sống, ngưng không phải là tôi sống mà chính Đức Kitô dang sống trong tôi."
      Với sự trợ giúp của Chúa Thánh Thần, chúng ta có thể phát triển trong sự hoàn hảo của tình yêu và chính đó là sự cần thiết để vượt qua tất cả những khuynh hướng tội lỗi của chúng ta và ngược lại với những tác động hủy diệt của nó bằng cách truyền năng lượng tái sức sáng tạo của Thiên Chúa vào quá trình này. Chúa Thánh Thần hoạt động trong tâm hồn (lương tâm) của chúng ta để giúp chúng ta biết sám hối và hòa mình với Thiên Chúa. Chúa Thánh Thần giúp chúng ta với những ân sũng trong cuộc sống, trong Phép Rửa của chúng ta và "món quà tinh thần" ban cho chúng ta trong sự Chứng nhận của chúng ta để giúp chúng ta sau đây của chúng tôi Kitô trong sứ vụ loan báo trong ngôn ngữ mới của tình yêu.
 
Reflection Gospel Reading: Mk 16:15 - 20
"To be sent is to be anointed with the Holy Spirit."  The Holy Spirit goes with us in our mission to evangelize and proclaim the good news of God's Kingdom. 
      A true and authentic believer is a witness to miracles.  The greatest miracle is our overcoming with the Holy Spirit against our inordinate desires, pride, wrong egotistic tendencies & sinfulness-our fallen nature.  No wonder St. John the Baptizer once said that "He must increase and I must decrease".  St. Paul said:  "It is no longer I who lives but Christ who lives in me."
      With the help of the Holy Spirit we can develop in perfection the love that is necessary to overcome all our sinful tendencies and reverse its destructive effects by infusing the re-creative power of God into the process.  The Holy Spirit acts on our conscience to help us repent and reconcile ourselves to God.  The Holy Spirit enables us with the gift of life during our Baptism and the "spiritual gifts" bestowed on us in our Confirmation to help us with our following Christ in mission in proclaiming the new language of love.
 
April 25: Saint Mark
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:15–16
Saint Mark, whom we honor today, certainly fulfilled this mission that was given to the Apostles. Though Mark was not one of the Twelve and might not have even known Jesus while He walked the earth, he certainly fulfilled the mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the whole world by writing his Gospel account.
Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the Gospels, but it is packed with detail. It recounts the life of Jesus vividly and in an almost breathless way. His Gospel presents the central messages of fulfillment found in Christ, the nearness of His Kingdom and the need to repent and believe.
Though not much is known about Mark, our first reading from the Letter of Saint Peter written to the Christian communities in Asia Minor reveals that Mark was a follower of Peter who refers to Mark with affection as his “son.” It is also likely that Mark was a co-worker of Saint Paul (Philemon 1:24).
As we honor this great evangelist, the most notable testament to His work of evangelizing is the Gospel attributed to him. Though he most certainly made a difference in the lives of those with whom he worked, preached to in person and witnessed to by his charity, it’s amazing to ponder the ongoing effect that his Gospel has had upon the world. As you think about his life, try to imagine him sitting and writing out the Gospel account we now have. As he did so, he could never have imagined that the words he wrote would be read by countless millions until the end of the age. For him, he was fulfilling but one small service to the people of his time. He was motivated by a desire to make Jesus known to them, and the best way he knew how to do this was to write down Jesus’ story.
As Mark wrote his Gospel, we can be certain that he did so not only out of his own desire to share the life of Christ with others, but primarily because he was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Mark’s gift of the writing of the Gospel was a response to grace. God gave him this mission, and he listened and obeyed. As a result, his short telling of the life of Christ has become part of the most widely read story in all of human history. And not only that, it is also among the most transformative stories ever written.
Though God will not call you to write a Gospel account, He is calling you to a particular mission. What is that mission? Sometimes we can easily think that what we do is insignificant. But if what we do in life is done through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then we can be certain that God will use our small effort in great ways. Like Saint Mark, we might never see how God uses us until we enter the glories of Heaven. But make no mistake, if you, like Saint Mark, listen to the will of God and act in obedience to Him, then the little you offer will have eternal and transformative consequences for the good of others.
Reflect, today, upon this simple and humble servant of God. Consider Mark’s limited knowledge about the extent that his contribution would end up making for the entire world. As you reflect upon him writing his Gospel account, ponder your own calling from God to do your small part. Know that you, too, can become an instrument of the gift of salvation for many. The key is to seek out the will of God for your life and commit yourself to the fulfillment of that will with passion and drive. Do not be deterred by any apparent lack of immediate results. Stay faithful to your mission and, from Heaven, you will eternally rejoice as you see the unexpected ways that God used you.
Glorious Lord Jesus, You gave Your followers the great mission to preach Your Gospel to the ends of the world. I thank You for the ways that Saint Mark responded to Your inspiration and was used in such a powerful way. Please use me, dear Lord, as an instrument of Your grace so that I can share in the mission You have given to the Church. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
April 25: Saint Mark the Evangelist—Feast 2023
Introductory Prayer: Lord, thank you for taking the time to be with me. There are things in life, Lord, that attract me, but you attract me more. I hope in you because you are always faithful to your promises, and I love you. Maybe I don’t fully understand what it means to love, and maybe I don’t love the way I should, but I do love you.
Petition: Lord, help me to focus on what I can do to tell others of your love.
1. Christ: When Christ blesses, it happens. When he takes yeast and kneads it with three measures of flour, it leavens the dough all through. When He blesses the bread, it multiplies. When He blesses the Eucharist, he is there for us. Christ blesses his apostles. He also wants to bless me and my work. These are not just events of the past, for God’s word is a living word. He also wants to bless me and my work. How can I draw down Christ’s blessing upon me, my family, the people I love, and the work I do? All I have to do is ask Him to bless me and believe He can and wants to. He will take care of the rest.
2. Apostles: Imagine the apostles talking after the Ascension. Andrew might say  to Peter, “Peter, Christ told us to preach to all nations.” “You are right, Andrew, we need to go to the next town,” Peter would agree. “No,” Andrew would urge, “we have to go to Athens and Rome.” Peter might object, “Athens and Rome! But we don’t know anyone there.” In an attempt to persuade him, Andrew would add, “Peter, Jesus wanted us to begin here in Jerusalem because this is the largest Jewish city. However, he has shown that he has also called the Gentiles to the Church. We must go to their capitals, their cities of greatest influence, so they too might hear the message Jesus entrusted to us.” Despite their fears, they obeyed Christ and proclaimed the good news in new places.
3. Us: Now it is our turn. As it always has been, being an apostle today is difficult. As we get older, it gets harder. Nevertheless, it is our turn. We live at a crossroads of history. I know Christ is blessing me. He is sending me. I feel fear, but I know he is asking me to imitate the fidelity of the first apostles. He is only waiting for me to begin preaching so that he can bless all that I undertake in his name.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, thank you for coming. Thank you for giving the apostles the strength to resist and persevere. Now it is my turn. Grant me the graces I need to proclaim the good news.
Resolution: I live life but once. So today, I will analyze how I use my time and resolve to eliminate one of the bad habits that leads me to waste time.
 

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