Suy Niệm Tin Mừng John 16:29-33 Thứ Hai sau Tuần 7 Phục SInh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng John 16:29-33 Thứ Hai sau Tuần 7 Phục Sinh

Trong mùa Phục Sinh này, chỉ có một chân lý rõ ràng và bền vững nhất đó là việc Chúa Kitô đã chinh phục thế giới, mặc cho tất cả các những vấn đề của thế giới, và sự hoảng loạn của con người. Chúng ta lo ngại khi chúng ta cảm thấy triệu chứng lão hóa, già nua, hoặc khi chúng ta ngã bệnh, vì những hạn chế sức khoẻ của chúng ta. Trong tất cả các "thánh giá" của cuộc sống nơi chúng ta, Chúa Kitô đã đến khuyến khích với chúng ta là: "Hãy can đảm!" Chúa Kitô biết rõ những khó khăn, gian khổ của chúng ta, nhưng Ngài mời gọi chúng ta phải dũng cảm để chiến đấu với những cám dỗ hàng ngày trong cuộc sống. Chúa Kitô hiện diện nơi chúng ta, Ngài không bao giờ bỏ rơi chúng ta. Thời điểm của Chúa thật hoàn hảo. Sẽ có những lúc khi chúng ta đã sẵn sàng, và những khó khăn, gian khổ chắc chắn sẽ đến, đến không phải để tiêu diệt chúng ta, nhưng đến để thanh tẩy chúng ta và cho chúng ta thấy vinh quang của Thiên Chúa.
Chúa Thánh Thần sẽ ban cho chúng ta sự  an bình mà thế gian không thể cho. Và chúng ta sẽ được nếm qua cái hương vị của thiên đàng với Thiên Chúa và với lòng tin tưởng là Đức Kitô thực sự là Con Thiên Chúa. Khi chúng ta cảm thấy lo âu khắc nghiệt hoặc lo lắng do các vấn đề riêng tư, cá nhân của chúng ta, chúng ta hãy tự hỏi: Lạy Chúa, con chắc chắn Chúa đã đem đến cho con những khó khăn này với một lý do. Xin cho con có lòng can đảm, để con có thể yên tâm rằng có những nguyên nhân đằng sau tất cả những sự việc này. Nhưng, con tin chắc rằng Chúa đã thực sự chinh phục được thế giới và xin Chúa sẽ chinh phục những khó khăn đang đến với chúng con!
 
Monday 7^th of Easter 2023
“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” John 16:33
What did Jesus tell His disciples that produced the “peace” of which He spoke? He is especially referring to His entire Last Supper Discourse from which we have been reading. The words spoken throughout this discourse are meant to give the disciples, and us, “courage” and the ability to conquer the trouble imposed upon us by the world.
Throughout Jesus’ discourse, He especially points to the unity He has with His Father and the fact that if we stay united with Jesus, we will also be united to the Father. He spoke of Himself being the vine and us the branches who must remain firmly attached to Jesus. He spoke of this being possible only by the coming power of the Holy Spirit Whom He will send. And He spoke of the hatred that the world has for all who remain firmly grounded in the Truth. Therefore, if you are one who seeks to remain deeply rooted in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and separated from the deceptions of the secular and un-Christian world, then Jesus is clearly speaking to you.
In this passage above, Jesus identifies one gift that will help us on this journey. This particular gift is the gift of His peace. Peace is the ability to remain calm and focused in the midst of any and every “trouble” we encounter. The trouble that Christians will especially face are the various persecutions of the world when we live in accord with the Truth. And though there are many moral truths presented clearly by our faith that the world attacks, there are also other forms of troubles we will encounter within the world today.
One of the most manifest troubles inflicted upon many by the world comes in the form of constant visual, auditory and mental stimulation. Our world is a noisy world. Modern electronics, the mass media, commercials, radio, Internet, social media and so many other parts of our daily life have the subtle effect of distracting us, stimulating us and stealing away the peace of Christ.
Consider, for example, the idea of entering into the silence of a retreat for a day, or two, or longer. How would you handle turning off your smartphone, tablet, computer, television and radio for an extended period of time? Would you go through a form of withdrawal? Many today would indeed find this difficult. And the reason for this is that the “peace” of which Jesus speaks is slowly dwindling in the lives of many. Instead of God’s peace, we are filled with constant noise, commotion and activity. This is the “world” attacking us and stealing the peace God wants to bestow.
Reflect, today, upon the exceptionally important truth—that Jesus wants you to know His peace in your heart. And He wants that peace to sustain you. Reflect upon the interior battle that may take place within you between the world and the peace of Christ. Who is winning that battle for your soul? Is there more of the world or more of the peace of Christ reigning within you? Seek out the peace that only Jesus gives, and, as you discover His peace, you will also discover the source of that peace: Jesus Himself.
Lord of all peace, You have called us out of the world so that Your peace will abide within us, sustaining us, giving us courage, wisdom and strength. I open my life to You, dear Lord, and pray that the many distractions and commotions imposed upon me by the world will begin to cease. May I always hear Your gentle voice and follow You to the place of silent repose found only in You. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 7^th of Easter 2023
Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, our understanding is sometimes so muddled, and when life assails us, we can be confused. I turn to you now because you know my deep needs, and I ask that you fill me with your courage and peace.
Encountering Christ:
1. “Now You Are Talking Plainly”: Being a disciple must have been challenging. Jesus was unlike anyone the people had ever met. He turned their world and their thinking upside down and inside out. His message was extraordinary, but his listeners were often confused by what he said and did. Some even left him because his teaching was “too much.” How well do we listen when we feel like we need more than anything to hear Jesus talk plainly? Our Lord will sometimes speak while we reflect on Scripture, sometimes when we’re in prayer, and other times through the ordinary circumstances of our lives. St. Therese of Lisieux says, “I know and have experienced that ‘the Kingdom of God is within us,’ that our Master does not need books or a teacher to instruct a soul. The Teacher of teachers instructs without the sound of words, and though I have never heard him speak, yet I know he is within me, always guiding and inspiring me; and just when I need them, lights, hitherto unseen, break in upon me. As a rule, it is not during prayer that this happens, but in the midst of my daily duties.” 
2. “You Will Leave Me Alone”: Jesus prophesied that his disciples would abandon him, and they did. We also abandon Jesus from time to time. One minute we are invigorated by deep spiritual consolations and the next, we feel depleted and too quickly leave Jesus alone. And when we feel alone, we stumble and fall. In those moments, Jesus shows us what to do. “I am not alone,” Jesus said, “because the Father is with me.” We are to remember that we are always children of God. We can flee from God, but he never abandons us. Our loving Lord is patient with us and calls us to repent and return to his presence. “The Lord does not delay his promise, as some regard ‘delay,’ but he is patient with you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). 
3. Take Courage: “In the world you will have trouble.” Jesus knows that all of us face seemingly insurmountable circumstances at times during our life. His recommendation? Take courage. As Christians, we draw courage from the sure knowledge that Jesus conquered “the world”—sin and death. We fix our eyes on eternity and live in the present moment with Jesus–whether suffering or joyful–and his peace pervades our soul. 
Conversing with Christ: My Lord, talk plainly to me. Help me to see when my actions please you and when they don’t. Please send me your peace and consolation of your presence, and strengthen me to persevere when I run into trouble.
Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will spend a few minutes praising God the Father and reflecting on my eternal destiny, heaven.
 
Monday 7^th of Easter 2022
Opening Prayer: My Jesus, guide me in the deepest recesses of my heart to encounter you in this time of prayer. Give me the courage to examine my heart and to discover the truth about where I look for strength and security. I want to share your certainty of the Father’s love and rest in it and find the strength to build my life on you alone.
Encountering Christ:
0.      We Believe That You Came from God: Listening to Jesus’ words as he described his relationship with the Father, the disciples were moved to a great act of faith. “We believe that you came from God,” they proclaimed. There was no longer room for doubt. Yet Jesus knew their hearts better even than they did themselves. He rightly foresaw that within only a few hours they would flee in fear, leaving him utterly alone. Their spontaneous act of faith was built on the powerful emotions they felt as they heard him speak, words that produced profound sentiments of joy, loyalty, and allegiance in their hearts. Yet, only too soon, they were forced to come face to face with the frailty of their own human strength. Their faith flourished when powered by emotion but collapsed in the face of adversity.
1.      I Am Not Alone: Jesus’ own faith in the Father was built on much more than convincing words and delightful feelings. His certainty of the Father’s love and his guiding presence was unshakeable. He knew that in the hour of trial, he would be abandoned by his beloved Apostles, but he found the strength to continue forward to his Passion with the certainty of the Father’s presence. His desire is that each one of us might also come to know the Father’s love in this way. He wants us to find the source of our strength not in ourselves or in any other human source, but in the Father’s unfailing love.
2.      Take Courage: Jesus knew he was sending his Apostles forth as sheep among wolves. The trial they would endure on this night of his Passion was only the beginning of a road marked by contradiction. Thus, he desired to share his own source of strength with them. Just as even in the darkest hours of his Passion, he was never alone because his Father was always with him, so too would his disciples never be alone, even in the throes of persecution, for he had promised to be with them. This promise holds true for us as well. He does not promise to free us from suffering, but to be our strength when we encounter it. Where do we automatically look for security in moments such as these? 
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, so often I look to you to give me guarantees of a life marked by success, prosperity, and unadulterated happiness. I subtly expect you to be an earthly Messiah, much as the Jews of your time did. Yet you invite me to put my trust not in earthly guarantees but in your Kingdom that is not of this world. Teach me the ways of your Kingdom and help me to discover unfailing strength and joy in the certainty of your constant presence. 
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will entrust a difficult situation, in my own life or in a loved one’s, to you, asking not that you take it away, but that you allow me to encounter your presence in the midst of this suffering.
 
Comment Monday 7^th of Easter
Courage! I have overcome the world
Today, we may have the feeling that the world of faith in Christ is weakening. Many are symptoms against the fortitude and courage we would like to receive from a life integrally based on the Gospel. Consumerism, capitalism, sensualism and materialism values are very much in fashion and against any representation that may be in tune with the evangelical demands. Nevertheless, this combination of values and life ways do not provide either our own personal plenitude or our peace; in fact, it rather brings an intimate feeling of discomfort and uneasiness. Could not it be because of this circumstance that, today, we see lots of people in public sulking, lost in though and worrying about a rather obscure future, most probably because they have pledged it against the cost of a car, a flat or some holidays they simply cannot afford?  Jesus' words inspire confidence: «Courage! I have overcome the world» (Jn 16:33), that is, through his Passion, Death and Resurrection, He has attained the eternal life, life with nothing to stop it, a limitless life because it has overcome all limits and all difficulties.
We, soldiers of Christ, can overcome these difficulties too, as He did, in spite of the fact we may have to go throughout our life through many deaths and resurrections, never wanted but certainly assumed by the very Paschal Mystery of Christ. For “deaths” indeed are, losing a friend, parting with a beloved person, the failure of a project or the limitations our own human weakness impose upon us…
But «in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us» (Rm 8:37). Let us be witnesses to God's love, because He has, with us, «done great things» (Lk 1:49) and has given us his help to overcome all difficulties, even death, because Christ is sending us the Holy Spirit.