Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần 18 TN

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần 18 TN -Matthew 16:13-20 -

Bài đọc thứ nhất hôm nay cho chúng ta những điều mặc khải đẹp nhất về Thiên Chúa. Thiên Chúa muốn chúng ta thân thiện rất cá nhân với Ngài, Ngài là ai đối với chúng ta? Những sự liên hệ của chúng ta với Ngài sẽ phụ thuộc vào điều này. Có lẽ quan điểm của chúng ta về Thiên Chúa cũng giống như một khung cửa sổ, bất kể ánh sáng mặt trời chiếu vào khung cửa sổ đó ra sao, nhưng ánh sáng được chiếu vào trong căn phòng sẽ phụ thuộc vào kích thước của khung cửa sổ đó.
Qua bài Tin Mừng, nếu chúng ta trả lời theo cùng cách mà thánh Phêrô đã trả lời Chúa “Thầy là Đấng Kitô, Con của Thiên Chúa hằng sống,” điều này có nghĩa là chúng ta biết Ngài; với tất cả các giác quan của chúng ta, chúng ta cảm thấy sự hiện diện của Chúa. Qua bức thư gởi cho dân thành Roma có biết là nếu chúng ta thú nhận với đôi môi của mình và tin vào trái tim của chúng ta là Chúa Giêsu Kitô là Chúa, thì chúng ta sẽ được Chúa biến đổi. Ngài sẽ lần lượt nói với chúng ta là " anh thật là người có phúc, vì không phải phàm nhân mặc khải cho anh điều ấy, nhưng là Cha của Thầy, Đấng ngự trên trời."
Chúng ta phải tuyên xưng bằng với đức tin cùa chúng ta là :Chúa Giêsu chính Ngài là Chúa của chúng ta, sự hiện diện của Ngài bao quanh chúng ta, Ngài có quyền trên tất cả mọi loài kể cả chúng ta, quyền năng của Ngài tuôn đổ trên chúng ta, và chúng ta phải cúi đầu thờ lạy và kính mộ Ngài. Ngài là Chúa Thánh Linh. Chúng ta thực sự được biến đổi trong sự hiện diện của Ngài.
 
REFLECTION Thursday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
Today's first reading is one of the most beautiful revelations of who our God is. Our God wants us to be very personal with Him. Who is He to us? Our dealings with Him will depend on this. Perhaps our view of God is like a window – no matter how brightly the sun shines outside, the light that is allowed to shine into the room will depend on the size of the window.
But if we answer in the same way Peter did, "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God," this means that we know him; with all our senses, we feel his presence. The letter to the Romans says that if we confess with our lips and believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ is Lord, then we are changed by God. He in turn tells us "Blessed are you – for it is the Father that reveals this reality to you."
Let us wholeheartedly confess to Jesus that he is our Lord, his presence surrounds us, his Lordship encompasses us, his power overwhelms us, and we bow down and adore him. He is the Holy God. We are indeed transformed in His presence.
 
Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord!  No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Matthew 16:22–23
What a shocking statement this must have been that was spoken by Jesus to Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus said. In the paragraph before this, Peter professed that Jesus was “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus in turn told Peter that he was Petros and on this petra He would build His Church. Petros is the Greek word for a movable rock and petra was an immovable solid rock foundation. Thus, Peter was told that he would be the stone, set upon a solid foundation, by which Jesus would build His Church. Jesus even went on to promise Peter that he would receive the keys to the Kingdom and that whatever he bound on earth would be bound in Heaven.
And then, one paragraph later, Jesus rebukes Peter for thinking “not as God” but as a human being.
Jesus rebuked Peter because Peter could not accept Jesus’ teaching about His coming passion and death. Jesus told Peter and the other disciples that He would soon suffer greatly, be rejected by the chief priest, the scribes and the elders, be killed and then rise on the third day. So Peter went from a profound proclamation of faith, to fear and a rejection of the divine plan of salvation. And for that reason, Jesus went from entrusting much authority to Peter to rebuking him for his weakness and fear.
Fear is often a paralyzing passion. Saint Thomas Aquinas explains that the passion of fear comes from a perceived future evil. Sorrow is the normal reaction to a present suffering such as the death of a loved one. But when the perceived suffering, or apparent evil, is something that has not yet come, then we often react with fear. When that fear is caused by something exterior and out of our control, it tempts us to feel shock, a sense of being overwhelmed and anxiety. In the case of Peter, the thought of Jesus suffering greatly, and being killed, was more than he was able to accept. So Peter says, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
Jesus’ rebuke of Peter was an act of true love. It was a way of shaking him free from the paralysis of fear. Jesus wanted Peter to think clearly and to face this future suffering with courage, acceptance, hope and faith. Courage provides strength. Acceptance cures anxiety. Hope produces joy. And faith is the remedy for all fear. These and other similar virtues were necessary if Peter and the other disciples were going to be able to endure the suffering and passion of Jesus. They needed to know that this perceived evil was going to be transformed by the Father in Heaven and used for the greatest good the world had ever known. They needed to know that Jesus “must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly…” It was the Father’s will. And because it was the Father’s will, the greatest good would come from the greatest evil because of God’s almighty power.
Reflect, today, upon that which causes you the most fear and anxiety in your life. When you look to the future, what is it that paralyzes you or at least tempts you to fear and worry? The truth is that any evil or suffering that you foresee has the potential to bring forth the greatest good in your life. Your natural human mind cannot discern this. We must strive to think as God, not as humans, as Jesus says. Try to look at anything that causes you anxiety through the eyes of God alone. Trust that, in faith, all can be used by God for good. Do not doubt but believe and God will begin to bestow upon you the many virtues you need to move forward with peace, courage and confidence.
My suffering Lord, You faced the evil You endured with the utmost courage and love. You never gave in to fear but pressed on, fulfilling the Father’s will. Give me the grace I need to share in Your strength so as to overcome all that tempts me to fear. I love You, my Lord. May I rely upon You for all things. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Thursday 18th Week in Ordinary Time Epriest 2018
Imagine the agony of the mother in this Gospel passage. Imagine the near-physical pain she felt in the depths of her heart. However, her love nourished her hope and propelled her to seek out Christ. When those we love suffer, we need the same wisdom to seek the Lord. \
Only a mother or father knows the depths of his or her love for a child: “Words cannot express.…” We truly understand love when it involves people we know and love. Contemplate the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine the false accusations, scourging, humiliations and the crucifixion. Now imagine your son or daughter, or mom or dad or a loved one, suffering the same fate. Christ’s passion takes on a new dimension.
"Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Faith and humility move Christ’s heart. How easily we adopt a spoiled-child mentality, believing that we deserve more. “The earth doesn’t owe you a living,” a sage once said. “It was here before you.” we will much happier when we acknowledge our littleness and unworthiness, when we recognize our status as creatures of God who gives us life, breath and every beat of our heart. All we possess is a gift of his creative love. We will very happy when we are grateful and let him know this a thousand times a day.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, I will praise and thank you a thousand times, and in a thousand ways for all you do for me. Even sufferings, I know, come from your hand for my greater good, although I may not always perceive the good at that moment. Give me the gratitude, faith, and trust to accept my cross and rejoice in your creative love for me.