Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 4 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 4 Phục Sinh
Trong đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay  Thánh Gioan cho chúng ta thấy những điểm chính của nhũng bài giảng mà Chúa Giêsu muốn dạy chúng ta trước Ngài bắt đầu bước vào cuộc hành trình với sự thương khó, cái chết và sự  phục sinh của Chúa Giêsu. Trong đó bao gồm phần tóm lược các nhiệm vụ của Ngài và những lời mời gọi đến đức tin. Thứ nhất, ơn gọi đến vói đức tin không phải chỉ là những gì trong thể chất con người của Thiên Chúa được đóng ấn đi kèm trong con người của Chúa Giêsu. Nhưng nó được toả lan ra bên ngoài, vì mục tiêu của họ là Chúa Cha, Đấng đã mạc khải chính mình Ngài trong Chúa Giêsu.  Thứ hai, chính Chúa Giêsu đã thực hiện sứ mệnh của Ngài và Ngài luôn luôn nhận thức rằng ông đại diện cho Cha của Ngài, và do đó, để chiêm ngưỡng Chúa Giêsu trong đức tin là để nhận ra Ngài là người đã tiết lộ cho chúng ta về Chúa Cha. Thứ ba, để tin vào Chúa Giêsu là để được giải thoát  ra khỏi bóng tối, thật vậy, vì nếu như chúng ta không Tin vào Thiên Chúa và chúng ta tự  từ bỏ chính mình và vì tội lỗi sẽ làm chúng ta xa lánh Thiên Chúa. Thứ Tư là khi chúng ta từ chối Chúa Giêsu và Giáo huấn của Ngài, chúng ta sẽ bị lên án chính chúng ta và trở nên xa lạ với Thiên Chúa. Chúa Giêsu chỉ cứu rỗi những người  biết ăn năn và hối cải.
            Qua những sách giáo lý dạy cho thấy rằng Chúa Giêsu đã vâng lời Chúa Cha và hoàn thành nhiệm vụ mà Chúa Cha đã sai khiến. Nếu trong quá khứ, những lời của Thiên Chúa, đã được truyền đạt tới dân Israel bởi ông Môisen,  và ông Môisen là phương tiện mà Chúa bày tỏ chính Ngài cho dân riêng của Ngài, Thì hôm nay Thiên Chúa đã sai con một của Ngài xuống thế với chúng ta trong ngôi Hai nhập thể để nói giáo huấn con người chúng ta.  Tất cả những ai đã chấp nhận Thiên Chúa và đến để được chia sẻ trong sự sống với Chúa Giêsu trong Thiên Chúa Cha. Nếu như đấy chính là Chúa Giêsu, và tất cả những gì Ngài đã làm, thì những điều đấy sẽ được tỏ ra cho  chúng ta thấy ai là Thiên Chúa, và những gì Thiên Chúa đã làm vì Chúa Giêsu đã nói bằng Lời Nói và bằng những hành động để cho chúng ta thấy được Chúa Cha. Để biết Chúa Giêsu là để biết được Chúa Cha ở ngay trong tâm hồn của mỗi con người chúng ta.. lạy Chúa Cha, Xin cho chúng con nhận biết Chúa Giêsu để chúng con có thể cũng nhận biết được Chúa là Thiên Chúa của chúng con.

 Wednesday 4^th week of Easter 2023
Opening Prayer: Good Father, you so loved the world that you gave your only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. Father, thank you for your Son. Thank you for Jesus. 
Encountering Christ:
 
1.      The Holy Spirit: To cry has many meanings. It means to lament and weep in tears, to call out loudly, to strongly plead, to beg. Jesus was doing all of these. The hour was soon coming when he would be turned over to the authorities to be tortured and crucified, and he knew it. Forces had been aligning against him and increasing in hostility. One of the dangers came from his own friend. From the beginning of John’s Gospel, this moment was prophesied: “He came to what was his own but his own people did not accept him” (John 1:11). Jesus knew many would not accept him and yet begging, pleading, weeping for souls, he cried out, “I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.” How often do we contemplate the awesome reality of how far God goes to draw us to him? This reality can console us when our efforts to catechize our children and evangelize others appear futile. We do not give up. We cannot usually cry out as Jesus did, but we can cry out to Our Father in Jesus’ name and ask for courage and perseverance. “As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son in our hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God” (Galatians 4:6).
2.      The Word: Jesus had healed the sick. He had fed the hungry. He had brought the dead back to life. He had preached the Good News: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). We meditate on these truths in Scripture frequently. We have the Bible, the traditions of the Church, and the writings of saints over more than 2,000 years to strengthen our belief. Through living by the Word, we do not condemn ourselves but hope for the promise of eternal life. This hope is a source of joy for faithful Christians. Padre Pio advises us to “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.”
3.      Our Father: Jesus tells us, “…I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me.” In the USCCB document The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, the bishops stated, “The mission of the Lord’s entire life on earth was to glorify the Father by bringing us salvation.” The bishops explained that the Son of God was the Father’s gift, and how we receive this gift determines our path to salvation. “To begin to comprehend the tremendous gift offered by Christ through his Incarnation, death, and Resurrection, that gift which is made present to us in the Eucharist, we must first realize how truly profound is our alienation from the source of all life as a result of sin.” The more we recognize sin for what it is, the more grateful we are for our redemption, accomplished by Ch rist. The Father’s gift of his Son is both the path to salvation fueled by the Eucharist and the remedy for every obstacle that prevents our progress through the sacrament of Reconciliation. 
Conversing with Christ: Lord, I so often become discouraged, believing Satan’s lies that it is up to me to ascend in holiness. I know that the only way is always and only you. I want to receive you as our Father’s gift. I cannot earn your love. I already have it. My response should always be gratitude to the Father and eagerness to take advantage of the sacraments. 
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will make a plan to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation this week, to remove the obstacles that keep me from seeing your light on my path to salvation. 
 
Wednesday 4^th week of Easter 2021
Opening Prayer: Lord, thank you for this opportunity to grow in my understanding of your word. Bless me as I ponder these lines of Scripture and try to grow closer to you.
Encountering Christ:
1. Knowing the Father: Jesus “cried out” to teach us that we have a Father who loves us in heaven. Jesus told us over and over throughout the Scriptures how much the Father loves us, but the brokenness of the world and within ourselves can make that truth hard to accept. Perhaps we have a bad image of what a father is because of something we have suffered personally. Perhaps the negativity that the world projects about fathers has confused us. Perhaps we are convinced by the devil’s lies that the Father doesn’t really love us or have our best interest at heart. The words of Jesus are trustworthy. Our Father in heaven loves us without limit. If we could just live as if we believed in that one truth, we would be transformed and our salvation would be assured.
2. Loving, Not Condemning: Jesus came not to condemn us, but he tells us that condemnation will be ours if we ignore the words the Father gave him to speak. We find all of the Lord’s truths–well-articulated, concise, and as relevant today as they have ever been–in the teachings of the Church, summarized in the Catechism. Are we students of the Catechism? How well do we know our faith? Living by these words will save us from condemnation. 
3. Living without a Father?: People worry about many things, from the very mundane to matters of life and death. When we worry, are we behaving like we have a Father in heaven who loves us more than we can imagine? If we are in his hands, what could threaten us? We need to embrace this truth, if we haven’t already because Our Lord is asking us to help others know the Father by our words and actions. 
Conversing with Christ: Lord, I say the “Our Father” so often that it has become rote. Send your Spirit to enlighten me so that my faith in the Father grows stronger. I want to love the Father as you do. 
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will say the “Our Father” slowly with meaning, before the tabernacle if possible.
 
Reflection 2016
In the scriptures, light is equated with God's truth and life.  Just as light exposes what is hidden in the darkness, so does God's word enable those with faith, to perceive the truths of God's kingdom.  Light also allows living things to grow, just as God's word breathes life to those who receive it with faith.
            In today's Gospel, John tells us that Jesus came to bring light into the world, not to judge mankind.  It is clear however, that to reject Jesus, is tantamount to rejecting God, and bringing judgment upon oneself.  Jesus was sent to bring life and freedom to those who accept Him.  
            Whoever encounters Jesus and follows Him, walks in God's life-giving light.
"Come, Lord Jesus Christ. Be with us now. Come and renew us. Come, oh, Prince of Peace. Dwell in our hearts. Come, be our way, our truth, and life. Conquer the night. Come, be our light, Emmanuel." ("Come Be Our Light," Manoling Francisco, S.J.)