Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai Tuần thứ 3 Sau Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai Tuần thứ 3 Sau Phục Sinh

Khi chúng ta tuyên xưng tin vào Chúa Giêsu, chúng ta cũng phải tự hỏi mình những câu hỏi này: Lạy Chúa Giêsu, Chúa muốn con làm những điều gì? Và Con sẽ phải làm gì cho Chúa Giêsu?

Đức tin không có việc làm tốt thì Đức tin ấy trống rỗng, bởi vì chúng ta chỉ tuyên xương đức tin của chúng ta trên môi trên miệng mà thôi. Một lô danh mục và những gì chúng ta mong muốn được thực hiện vẫn còn đó nếu chúng ta không nhận ra và thực hiệc để làm những việc ấy. Bản chất của niềm tin là lời cam kết. Khi Chúa Giêsu rao giảng về "Bánh hằng Sống", Ngài đã nói về Thiên Chúa Emmanuel, Thiên Chúa ở cùng chúng ta trong con người của Chúa Giêsu, chính Ngài. Ngay cả khi Chúa Giêsu đã lên trời, Sự hiện diện thần bí của Ngài ở trong Giáo Hội và sự hiệp thông mà chúng ta tin và cử hành trong Thánh Thể.

Đức Tin là sự dấn thân vào trong sứ mạng của Chúa Giêsu Kitô và hội nhập với Chúa qua sự hiệp thông với Giáo Hội, là thân thể của các tín hữu. Sự sống đời đời chỉ có thể được thực hiện như cơ thể của Chúa Kitô. Đó là lý do tại sao Thiên Chúa nói trong sự kiện Biến: "Đây là Con yêu dấu của ta, hãy nghe lời Người." Nghe để tin và tin là theo Chúa Giêsu trong sứ vụ của mình.

Reflection Monday 3rd Week of Easter

When we profess to believe in Jesus, we must also ask ourselves these questions: What does Jesus want me to do? What am I doing for Jesus? What will I do for Jesus?

Faith without good works is empty because profession of belief becomes lip service only. Wish lists remain wishes until they are acted upon and realized. The essence of belief is commitment. When Jesus preached about the "Bread of Life", he was talking about God Emmanuel, God with us in the person of Jesus, himself. Even if Jesus had already ascended to heaven, his mystical presence is in the Church and the communion we believe and celebrate in the Eucharist. To believe is to commit ourselves to the mission of Jesus Christ and integration through communion with the Church, the body of believers. Eternal life can only be realized as the body of Christ. That is why God said in the Transfiguration event: "This is my beloved Son, listen to him." To listen is to believe and to believe is to follow Jesus in his mission.

Monday 3rd Week of Easter 2023

“Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” John 6:25–27

What do you work for in life? That which ultimately perishes? Or that which is eternal? This is an important question to sincerely answer. Too often we spend most of our lives putting most of our time and energy into those things that have little value for eternity.

The day before the above quoted conversation, Jesus had multiplied the loaves and fishes and fed five thousand households. The people were so impressed that the next day, when they were hungry again, they came looking for Jesus and found Him on the other side of the lake. Jesus, of course, immediately understands the situation. He realizes that the crowd of people who found Him were more interested in another meal than they were in the spiritual food that is eternal. So Jesus gently uses the opportunity to give them this short lesson about what is most important. The “food that endures for eternal life” is ultimately faith in Jesus.

Imagine if you were one of those people who witnessed, first hand, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. What sort of an impact would that have had on you? Would it have drawn you into a deep faith in Jesus, the Son of God? Or would you have been more impressed with the free and miraculous food? What’s interesting is that Jesus feeds the five thousand when they are not expecting it and not desiring it. But when they do come expecting it and desiring it the next day, He refuses. Jesus refuses another miracle because He wants the people to look deeper to the eternal reality.

In our own lives, living primarily for the deeper and eternal reality is often hard to do. It’s easy to keep our eyes on the superficial and less important aspects of life. How do I make more money? Or buy a new car? Or have a fancier meal? How can I better entertain myself? What new piece of clothing should I buy? And the list goes on. Of course none of these things are evil, but they are all passing and will not have an effect upon our eternal soul. And, in fact, if we give too much attention to the superficial and least important aspects of life, they will have the effect of distracting us from that which is most important.

Reflect, today, upon this challenge from Jesus. Do not work for that which perishes; work for that which is eternal. Look at your priorities in life. Where is your focus? What concerns you the most every day? Hopefully your greatest concern is to grow deeper in faith in the Son of God. Hopefully it is to live the charity that is eternal. If you honestly look at your life and the goals you have and see yourself overly concerned with the things of this world, then allow these words of our Lord to speak to you directly so that you are storing up riches for eternal life.

My most glorious Lord, You are the Food that is eternal. You are the Food for everlasting life. Give me the wisdom I need, dear Lord, to turn my eyes from the passing and least important things of this world and to turn, instead, to that which is eternal. May I keep my eyes upon You and be nourished by my faith in You. Jesus, I trust in You.

Monday 3rd Week of Easter 2023

Opening Prayer: Lord, all praise and honor we rightly offer you! We genuinely look for you, but we sometimes find ourselves searching and hungry for bread that perishes. Forgive us, Lord! Please, show us that you are the living bread we desire.

Encountering Christ:

1. Hunger of the Heart: Jesus used food as a “hook” to capture the crowd's attention when he multiplied the loaves and fish. While we do not multiply bread or fish to feed people, we can imitate Jesus by using everyday events to invite people to discover and grow in a relationship with God. Each day we have opportunities to cast a “ hook” into the stream of people’s lives to share the love of Jesus with them. Our words, as well as our actions, can lift their minds, at least momentarily, to “things that are above,” bringing them into contact with their greatest good, Our Lord (Colossians 3:2).

2. Temporal versus Eternal: Many people sought Jesus for physical food or healing. Jesus challenged them, saying, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” We, too, can become earthbound, distracted by our temporal world of work and home, and unaware of the connectedness of the temporal and eternal realms when, in fact, everything we possess, any talent we have received, belongs to the Lord, and should rightly be used to reach out to share Jesus with others, either directly or indirectly. We are invited today, in this Gospel, to sit with these thoughts and ask ourselves, “How am I living each day with an eye on eternity, and sharing my perspective with those I’m called to reach?”

3. The Work of God: “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” A quick peek into a thesaurus reveals words that may intensify what Jesus means when he says “believe”—words like faith, trust, confidence, certainty, acceptance, reliance, conviction, and hope. Do these words reflect the depth of our belief and commitment to Jesus? We don’t earn faith–it’s a gift from God–but we do need to open our hearts, empty them of superfluous concerns, pray for faith, and be ready to receive the answer to our prayer.

Conversing with Christ: Jesus, I do believe; help my unbelief! Abba, grow my heart’s longing for you today as I pray over the ways I hunger for you, the ways I keep my gaze fixed on eternity, and the ways I “do the work of God.” Thank you, Lord, for this time of prayer. Increase my belief in the one you sent so that I might become a fisher of men.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I ask you to give me opportunities to build the kingdom by my words and actions and become an instrument in the evangelization of others.

Monday, April 19, 2021

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to me as I turn my heart to you. I need your resurrected power and life. Just as you opened the Scriptures to the disciples on the way to Emmaus, open the Gospel to me and reveal your heart. Make my heart burn while you speak to me.

Encountering Christ:

· Looking for Jesus: The Gospel does something unique and strange here. There is a detailed accounting of how the people seeking Jesus tracked him down. The Gospel explains that the disciples and Jesus didn’t leave together. It also points out that Jesus was not where some had expected to find them. They were obviously intent on looking for Jesus after seeing his miraculous feeding of the crowds. We also seek Jesus. Do we search for him with the same ardor and dedication as these townsfolk did? He is definitely worth searching for, and he applauds you for desiring him. Yet, he doesn’t always make it easy to find him.

· Playing Hard to Get: This miracle worker was amazing, and the hungry Galileans wanted more. Once they finally found him, they tried to engage him with a question about when he arrived. Jesus didn’t answer their question because it wasn’t their real question. Jesus is good at answering the real questions behind our questions. They were really asking, “Why couldn’t we find you? Why are you making it hard to find you so we can get satisfied again? Why won’t you make this easy on us?” Jesus told them why they pursued him, but they didn’t want to find the meaning behind the sign. They wanted more bread. Jesus allowed them to struggle to find him so as to purify their intentions and ask themselves, “Why am I really following this Jesus?” He wanted them to seek the one the signs pointed to—to love and listen to him because of the truth he proclaimed and the Father he revealed, not for the way he satisfied their hunger. Why do you follow Jesus?

· The Real Work: Having been so challenged by Jesus, their hearts were now open. When Jesus told them what not to work for, they asked him what they should be working for. They trusted him. They asked him to answer the question he posed to them. “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” He told them, and he tells us, that we are called to pursue Jesus himself, not the miracles he provides. All the signs and miracles are nothing more than a way to open our hearts to believe in the divinity of Jesus. The real work isn’t about doing, but believing. And out of that faith, amazing actions flow!

Conversing with Christ: Lord, purify my heart and help me to seek you for all the right reasons—for your truth, your love, yourself. I reject any purely utilitarian love for you. Rather, I love you because you are the truth, you are the way, you are the life. I believe in you—help my unbelief! Amen.

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will seek you actively for all the right reasons. I will set some reminders (e.g., post-it notes, the sight of a religious image, an alarm on my phone) that will draw my heart back to you, and then I will renew my faith in you.

3rd Week of Easter: Monday, Acts. 6:8-15; John. 6:22-29

In today’s Gospel Jesus is not deceived by the crowd’s seeming interest in his sea crossings. He knows that his unexpected arrival has stirred up the pleasing prospect of another free meal in beautiful surroundings. The repetition “Amen, Amen”: or “Truly, Truly” tells us that Jesus is going to say something very important; certainly something more important than the promise of a meal, free or otherwise.

Jesus tells the people quite bluntly that they have failed to break through to the real meaning of his action of feeding them. They have stopped at the obvious, tangible level of food just as, on other occasions, they have merely seen in him one who might possibly bring them power of a political or military kind.

With Moses the people of Israel reached the very border of their new home and nation. In the journey across the desert they were fed by Manna, the wonderful bread from heaven. By the sign of providing the crowd with food on the mountain above Lake Galilee Jesus is promising an even more wonderful food. This food is the sum of his teaching, wonderful actions, suffering, death and resurrection. It will sustain them on their journey to a new and greater Holy Land. Envisaged too is the gift of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ, an equally powerful food for the journey. This great sign is for us too. Heavenly Father, open our eyes to the meaning of the signs that really matter.

Mon 3rd Week of Easter (11th April 2016)

The people have just witnessed an extraordinary event: they had been fed; five thousand of them. They were clearly overcome with amazement. Never had such a thing been heard of! So they immediately rushed to find Jesus again; because they wanted more of this food they had been fed with, and only Jesus can give it to them! But Jesus, knowing why they sought him so anxiously, diverted their attention to the SIGN that was present in that miracle of the multiplication of the bread!

We too can be taken up with signs and wonders we hear about: statues weeping, or other strange/unusual occurrences! Are we just as impressed with the greatest miracle the Lord has left for us on our altars. Daily we receive the most extraordinary FOOD we could ever have! This SIGN of all signs that the Lord has given us so gratuitously, without our ever even dreaming of it as ours, as often as we want it for the rest of our lives! Let us be thankful for this great miracle happening daily, everywhere the Eucharist is celebrated on this earth! We do not need to rush around looking for signs and wonders! Our God is great! He waits for us to come to an understanding of the Sign he has left us

Lord, I believe! Help my unbelief!

Reflection: «The work God wants is this: that you believe in the One whom God has sent»

Today, we contemplate the result of the multiplication of the breads, result that astounded that entire crowd. Next day they descend from the mountain to reach the lakeshore, and remain there looking at Capernaum. They stay there because there is no boat. In fact, there had been only one: the boat the previous afternoon had gone without Jesus.

The question is: Where is Jesus? The disciples have sailed without Jesus, and Jesus is certainly not there. Where is He, then? Luckily enough, the crowd can get into some other boats that have come, and leave for Capernaum, to look for Jesus. And, sure enough, when they arrive to the other side of the lake, they find him.

They are surprised to find him there, and they ask him: «Master, when did you come here?» (Jn 6:25). That people do not know that Jesus, miraculously, have walked on the waters, and Jesus does not answer directly to the questions they make him, either. What awareness and what endeavor bring them to truly find Jesus? The Lord tells us: «Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which gives eternal life.

The Son of Man will give it to you, for he is the one the Father has marked» (Jn 6:27). Behind all this, sign of divine generosity, the multiplication of the breads continues being present. People insist and keep asking: «What shall we do? What are the works that God wants us to do? » (Jn 6:28). Jesus clearly replies: «The work God wants is this: that you believe in the One whom God has sent» (Jn 6:29).

Jesus does not ask us to multiply our good deeds, but to have faith in the One whom God Father has sent. Because with faith, man carries out the work of God. This is why He has established the same faith as a work. The Virgin Mary provides us with best model of unconditional love manifested in faith works.