Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Lễ
kính Thánh nữ Maria Mađalêna
Hôm nay chúng ta mừng
lễ Thánh nữ Maria Mađalêna, một người phụ nữ không những chỉ là một đệ tử trung
thành và thân tín Chúa Kitô mà còn là một người thật sự yêu kính Chúa Giêsu.
Đáng tiếc thay là trong thời chúng ta đang sống hôm nay, nhiều người trong chúng
ta có lẽ lo ngại hay có sự nghi ngờ về ba Maria Mađalêna. Nhiều người trong
chúng ta cảm thấy khó chịu trong sự thân mật mà cô đã dành cho Chúa Giêsu.
Trong bài đọc Tin Mừng hôm nay, Thánh Gioan mô tả những cuộc gặp gỡ của bà với
Chúa Giêsu có vẻ như thân thiện hơn nhiều so với sự thân mật bình thường. Vì
thế nó không giúp ích cho Maria Mađalên khi bà đã bị người khác nhầm lẫn và
miêu tả bà ở trong phim trường Hollywood như là một người tình bất hợp pháp của
Chúa Giêsu hay là một cô gái đã từng làm nghề mại dâm (mà cô thực sự là không
phải thế..vì có rất nhiều Maria trong những bài Tin Mừng.)
Trong suốt các bài Tin
Mừng, Bà Maria Mađalêna đã phải tranh đấu với những khó khăn và sự sỉ nhục, đau
thương. Bà cũng bị quỷ ám và cũng bị mọi người thân cận bỏ rơi trước khi Chúa
Giêsu trừ quỷ và chữa khỏi bà. Và bà cũng chính mắt chứng kiến cái cái Chết cực
hình của người bạn thân thương nhất của bà là Chúa Giêsu đã chết trên thập tự
giá. Tóm lại, trong thời gian của bà và cho đến ngày nay, chúng ta đã không chịu
để cho Maria Mađalêna có được nhiều thời gian nghỉ ngơi. Ngoại trừ Đức Giêsu,
Đấng đã làm.
Chúa Giêsu là người
bạn thật chân tình của bà trong tất cả các bạn. Ngài không những chỉ chữa cho
bà được khỏi bệnh, nhưng cũng giảng dạy riêng cho bà về Nước Trời nữa mặc dù
những người khác phàn nàn và khiếu nại, Để đáp lại, bà Maria Mađalên đã hiến
dâng cho Chúa tất cả, Bà đã đầu hàng tầt cả những gì mà bà có và hàng ao ước để
lắng nghe và sống trưởng thành với đức tin của mình trong Chúa Giê-su. Vì thế
tứ đó đến nay, không ai có thể ngạc nhiên là bà đã trở thành một trong những
môn đệ trung thành nhất c, tốt nhất của Chúa.
Bà Maria Mađalên là
một mô hình của đức tin và tình bạn hữu của Chúa cho chúng ta. Đối mặt với
những sự phản kháng và tâm lý tiêu cực mà chúng ta thường gặp mỗi ngày trong
cuộc sống hôm nay, chúng ta thực sự có thể sử dụng những ví dụ và cuộc sống của
bà Maria Mađalêna và áp dụng trong mối quan hệ cá nhân của chúng ta với Chúa.
REFLECTION
Today we remember St.
Mary Magdalene, a woman who not only was a loyal and faithful disciple of
Christ but also a person who truly loved Jesus.It is unfortunate that in our
present day, many of us are apprehensive or suspicious of Mary Magdalene. Many
of us find discomfort in the intimacy she had with Jesus. In today's gospel
reading, St. John's description of the meeting of Mary and Jesus may seem more
than friendly than it is joyful. It doesn't help that Mary Magdalene has been
mistakenly portrayed in Hollywood as an illegitimate lover of Jesus or as an
ex-prostitute (which she really wasn't).Mary Magdalene throughout the Gospels
contended with difficulties and traumas. She was possessed of demons and likely
an outcast before Jesus cured her. And she watched her friend Jesus die on the
cross. In short, during her time and up to the present, we haven't been giving
Mary Magdalene much of a break. Except Jesus who did.Jesus was her one true
friend throughout it all. He not only cured her, but also taught to her, and
stuck with her despite the complaints of others. In response, Mary gave her all
to listen to and grow her faith with Jesus hence it comes as no surprise she
became one of His most faithful disciples and best of friend.Mary Magdalene is
a model of faith and friendship. In the face of antagonism and negative
sentiment, which we often experience today, we could really use her example in
our own personal relationship with the Lord "Lord, may I never fail to
recognize your voice nor lose sight of your presence in your saving word."
July 22: Saint Mary Magdalene—Feast
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why
are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and
said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I
will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in
Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to
me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell
them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary
of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and
what he told her. ~John 20:11–18
Saint Mary Magdalene, also
known as Magdalene or Mary of Magdala, is most likely named after the bustling
fishing village of Magdala on the western edge of the Sea of Galilee. All
information about Mary comes from the Gospels. Luke 8:1–3 introduces
her as one of the many women who accompanied Jesus and the Twelve, providing
for them out of their own resources. These women are said to have been “cured
of evil spirits and infirmities,” and Mary is specifically noted to have been
delivered from “seven demons.”
. Being delivered from seven demons carries significant
implications. It could mean that Mary was genuinely possessed, obsessed, or
oppressed by seven distinct demons. The number seven also symbolizes
perfection, implying she may have been completely possessed or that her
deliverance from these demons, and from a life of sin and evil, was a perfect
deliverance. In other words, she never returned to the sins from which Jesus
delivered her. Some suggest that the seven demons represent the seven capital
sins, implying that Mary had committed grave violations of all seven capital
sins and was delivered from each of these sinful habits.
In the previous chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Luke 7:35–50,
we are given the story of an anonymous “sinful woman” who interrupts a dinner
that Jesus was attending at the house of Simon the Pharisee. This woman’s sin
is not named, but her repentance is clear. She brings with her an “alabaster
flask of ointment,” and stands “behind him at his feet,” weeping, washing
Jesus’ feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, and anointing them with
the ointment. After a discourse with the Pharisee who was judging her and Jesus
in his heart, Jesus tells Simon, “her many sins have been forgiven; hence, she
has shown great love.” He then turns to her, forgives her, and sends her forth
in peace.
Throughout the centuries, many have presumed
that this sinful woman was Mary Magdalene. Though this is possible, and some
say probable, there is no definitive way to know. This sinful woman might have
been Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. It could have been a
different woman not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, or one of the other women
who accompanied Jesus and provided for Him and the Twelve.
The second time that Mary Magdalene is
explicitly mentioned in the Bible is at Jesus’ crucifixion. Matthew, Mark, and
Luke state that she and other women were present and were looking on from a
distance. John’s Gospel, however, states that she was standing close to the
Cross next to Jesus’ mother and aunt: “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his
mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala” (John 19:25).
The third time Mary Magdalene is mentioned is
after the Resurrection. Matthew, Mark, and Luke state that Mary Magdalene went
to the tomb early on Sunday morning to anoint Jesus’ body and that she was
accompanied by one or more other women. However, John’s Gospel states that she
went alone, found the stone rolled away, and Jesus’ body missing. She then ran
to tell Peter and John, who went to investigate and found the tomb empty, just
as she had said. Peter and John left, but Mary sat by the tomb crying. Two
angels appeared in the tomb and conversed with her. She then turned around and
saw someone whom she mistook for the gardener and asked if he had taken Jesus’ body,
but it was Jesus Himself. When Jesus said her name, “Mary!”, she recognized
Him. Jesus told her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the
Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your
Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:17).
Mary quickly went and informed the disciples that she had seen the Lord.
Because it was Mary who was first sent to
announce the Resurrection of Christ to the other disciples, Saint Thomas
Aquinas referred to her as the “Apostle to the Apostles.” Though it could be
inferred from the Bible that Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen
Lord, others hold that Jesus appeared first to His own Mother, the Blessed
Virgin Mary, even though this is not explicitly stated in the Gospels. Pope
Saint John Paul II addressed this, saying, “Indeed, it is legitimate to think
that the Mother was probably the first person to whom the risen Jesus appeared.
Could not Mary’s absence from the group of women who went to the tomb at dawn
(cf. Mark 16:1; Matthew 28:1)
indicate that she had already met Jesus?” (General Audience, 3 April 1996). Nothing
else is known about Mary Magdalene after this biblical account of Jesus’
Resurrection. One ancient tradition holds that she accompanied John and the
Blessed Mother to Ephesus, where she spent the remainder of her days.
As we honor Saint Mary Magdalene, we
especially celebrate God’s unlimited mercy. The encounter with Jesus changed
Mary’s life forever. Jesus did not hesitate to associate Himself with this
woman who was delivered from seven demons. Similarly, Jesus never hesitates to
unite Himself with anyone who sincerely repents of their sins, regardless of
their past actions. Mary’s life also tells us that there is hope for everyone.
Before her transformation, many who knew her might have easily dismissed her as
hopeless. Jesus didn’t do that with her, and He doesn’t do so with anyone. In
2016, Pope Francis elevated the memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene to the status
of a Feast on the liturgical calendar. He did so during the Extraordinary
Jubilee of Mercy as a way of highlighting the important role that Saint Mary
Magdalene played in the Gospels, the depth of her love for Christ, and to
highlight the Divine Mercy of God.
Reflect upon your own sins and the manifest
sinfulness of others. For yourself, if you struggle with some habitual sin,
know that freedom is possible. For others, if you have written anyone off, try
to regain hope. Pray for that person and know that with Christ Jesus, all
things are possible. Your prayers for and witness to those who are sinful can
open the doors of Jesus’ mercy for them, giving them the chance they need to
repent and to be bathed in the mercy of God.
Saint Mary Magdalene, you lived a sinful life,
but when you encountered Jesus, you repented and followed Him. You were
faithful to Him throughout His ministry and were a witness to His death and
Resurrection. Please pray for me, that I may always have the courage to repent
of my sins and stand with you at the foot of the Cross so that I may also be a
witness to the transforming effects of the Resurrection. Saint Mary Magdalene,
pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
Jul 22 St. Mary
Magdalene 2023Introductory Prayer: Lord, you are the source of all life because you
are life itself. Your resurrection gives me the hope of being raised from the
dead to rejoice with you in heaven forever. I need to reflect more often on the
good you have done for us and on your promises to those who put their trust in
you. Thank you, Jesus, for taking up your life again and leading the way home
to heaven. I love you, and I want to follow after you with all my heart. I want
to cooperate more fully with you in bringing many others there with me.
Petition: Lord, grant me a faith that is alive, operative and
fruitful.
1. Blinded by Love, Mary
Stayed Weeping: St. John
observes that “they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the
dead” (John 20:9). Because the reality of the Resurrection had not yet entered
into the mind, and much less the heart, of Mary, she stayed weeping outside
Christ’s tomb. Take this moment to contemplate this moving scene which shows
Mary’s deep love for Our Lord. Even angels could not persuade her with their
questioning: “Why are you weeping?” Admire her love; imitate her love; want
what she wanted – to be with her Lord, always! May our love for Our Lord give
us the same fortitude in love that Mary showed at the tomb.
2. They Had Taken Her
Love Away: Poor Mary! The
sorrows of her life were so mean and pitiful. One sad day, desperation led her
into a life of prostitution. With her dignity gone, her empty soul seemed
suited only to be a haven for roaming devils (cf. Luke 8:3; Mark 16:9). The
world, the flesh and the devil saw her only with contempt and selfish
opportunity. But Our Lord had seen her differently and loved her differently.
However, The love he had restored to her life was now trampled upon as she
contemplated his empty tomb. See her heart, already heavy with grief and horror
at seeing her Lord mistreated, beaten, and crucified. All these thoughts welled
up in her mind and caused her to conclude, “They have taken my Lord.” Feel the
depths of her helplessness as she finished her thought: “And I don´t know where
they laid him.”
3. “Why Are You Weeping?” Mary’s love was at the right time, in the right
place, and for the right person. Her tears were for her Lord. Jesus, moved by
Mary’s love, would not let her remain in such a state. Now Christ asks her,
“Why are you weeping?” In effect, Jesus is saying, “The sins of your past will
no longer have power over you. Nor will those cruel men, or the devil. I am
here, the Resurrection, the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Sin, evil men, the
devil, and death might stake their claim on you, but they cannot have you, for
you are mine! I have bought you with the price of my own blood; I have laid
down my life for you, my friend!” Our Lord sums up this great truth with but a
simple, tender utterance of her name: “Mary”. Yes, Jesus knows us
personally and loves us in a personal way. We must come to our senses and
believe in the truth of the Resurrection. We must believe in Jesus.
Conversation with
Christ: Lord, you lead me to
life everlasting. Let me draw ever closer to you, trusting always in your ways
and never fearing the cross. May I love you from the little cross of my life,
whatever its form or character.
Resolution: I will seek out a friend I may have alienated by my bad
example or lack of self-control, and I will strive to be reconciled through a
generous act of charity and understanding.
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