Suy Niệm Thứ Báy Ngày 23/12 (Luke 1:57-66)

 Suy Niệm Thứ Báy Ngày 23/12 (Luke 1:57-66)

Trong Tin Mừng hôm nay, Thánh Luca mô tả sự ra đời của Thánh Gioan Tẩy Giả cũng như loan báo sự ra đời của Chúa Jêsus, giống như thế việc rao giảng của thánh Gioan Tẩy Giả là việc loan báo về sứ mệnh của Chúa Kitô. Thánh Gioan Tẩy Giả được Thiên Chúa chọn là một trong những tiên tri vĩ đại nhất của Ngài. Khi còn bé nhỏ, ngài bất lực và thiếu thốn. Là tiên tri, ngài đã cho chúng ta thấy sự khiêm tốn và luôn biết đặt mình vào sự phó thác nơi Thiên Chúa.

Qua phép rửa của chúng ta, chúng ta nhận được sự viên mãn của Chúa Thánh Thần. Chúng ta được cũng được rửa sạch và nhờ quyền năng của Thánh Linh mà chúng ta trở thành con cái của Thiên Chúa . Chúng ta cũng được xức dầu với ân sủng để làm tiên tri. Chúng ta làm chứng về ân sủng này qua việc chấp nhận một thái độ khiêm tốn thật trước mặt Thiên Chúa và những người chung quanh của chúng ta. Ân sủng của phép Rửa đã trao cho chúng ta một phẩm giá vượt xa Thánh Gioan Tẩy Giả.

Giống như Thánh Gioan , chúng ta được đặt tên mới. Giống như Thánh Gioan , chúng ta được ban cho một phần trách nhiệm quan trọng trong kế hoạch của Thiên Chúa, là để làm chứng cho cuộc sống mà chúng ta đã lãnh nhận trong Phép Rửa. Điều Thiên Chúa muốn chúng ta là làm chứng nhân cho Chúa Giêsu Kitô và đem Tin Mừng của Ngài đến với mọi người. Chúng ta không thể làm được điều này nếu không có sự trợ giúp của Chúa và chúng ta không thể nhận được sự trợ giúp của Chúa nếu chúng ta không có sự khiêm tốn, đó là điều mà Chúa Giêsu gọi là sự nghèo đói của tinh thần.

Tin mừng hôm nay mang lại cho chúng ta một sự suy ngẫm và nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của lời nói. Những khi nào và ở chỗ nào chúng ta nên sử dụng lời nói? Xin Chúa cho chúng ta biết trở thành những chứng nhân hùng biện của Thiên Chúa và biết nói lên những sự tốt lành của Ngài đối với toàn thể nhân loại. Chúng ta hãy sử dụng lời nói của chúng ta một cách khôn ngoan và làm những việc công chính với súc mạnh của tiếng nói của chúng ta.

 

My Reflection on Dec 23, 2019

In today's Gospel, Luke describes the birth of John the Baptist as announcing the birth of Jesus, just as the preaching of John the Baptist would announce the mission of Christ.

John the Baptist was chosen by God to be one of His greatest prophets. As a baby he was helpless and needy. As a prophet, he displayed the same humility and need for God.

We, too, are anointed with the grace to be prophets. We testify to this grace through embracing a truly humble attitude before God and our neighbor. The grace of baptism confers on us a dignity that far surpasses that of John the Baptist.

In our baptism we receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We are justified washed clean and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we become children of God. Like John, we are given a new name. Like John, we are given a vital part to play in God's plan, which is to witness to the life that we have received in baptism. What God wants us is to be witnesses to Jesus Christ and his Good News. We cannot do this without God's help and we cannot receive God's help without humility, which is what Jesus called the poverty of spirit.

Our mouths were created to give glory and praise to God, and yet we use our mouths for many purposes other than to praise God. Sometimes we defame, curse, gossip, eat excessively and spread lies with our mouths.

The Gospel makes us ponder and underlines the importance of speech. When and where should we use it? Let us be fierce witnesses of God and speak about His goodness to all mankind. Let us use our tongues wisely and do justice to our power of speech.

 

December 23, Advent Weekday

Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.  Luke 1:64

This line reveals the happy conclusion to Zechariah’s initial failure to believe in what God revealed to him. Recall that nine months earlier, as Zechariah was fulfilling his priestly duty of offering sacrifice within the Holy of Holies in the Temple, he received a visit from the glorious Archangel Gabriel, who stands before God. Gabriel revealed to Zechariah the good news that his wife would conceive in her old age and that this child would be the one to prepare the people of Israel for the coming Messiah. What an incredible privilege that would have been! But Zechariah disbelieved. And as a result, the Archangel struck him mute for the nine months of his wife’s pregnancy.

The punishments of the Lord are always gifts of His grace. Zechariah was not punished out of spite, or for punitive reasons. Instead, this punishment was more like a penance. He was given the humbling penance of losing his ability to speak for nine months for a good reason. It appears as if God knew that Zechariah needed nine months to silently reflect upon what the Archangel had said. He needed nine months to ponder his wife’s miraculous pregnancy. And he needed nine months to ponder who this child would be. And those nine months produced the desired effect of a full conversion of heart.

After the child was born, it was expected that this firstborn son would be named after the father, Zechariah. But the Archangel had told Zechariah that the child was to be named John. Therefore, on the eighth day, the day of his son’s circumcision when he was presented to the Lord, Zechariah wrote on a tablet that the baby’s name was John. This was an act of faith and a sign that he had fully turned from disbelief to belief. And it was this act of faith that undid his prior doubt.

Every one of our lives will be marked by failures to believe on the deepest level of faith. For that reason, Zechariah is a model for us of how we are to deal with our failures. We deal with them by allowing the consequences of past failures to change us for the good. We learn from our mistakes and move forward with new resolutions. This is what Zechariah did, and this is what we must do if we wish to learn from his good example.

Reflect, today, upon any sin you have committed that has had painful consequences in your life. As you ponder that sin, the real question is where you go from here. Do you allow that past sin, or lack of faith, to dominate and control your life? Or do you use your past failures to make new resolutions and decisions for the future so as to learn from your mistakes? It takes courage, humility and strength to imitate the example of Zechariah. Seek to bring these virtues into your life this day.

Lord, I know I lack faith in my life.  I fail to believe all that You speak to me.  As a result, I often fail to put Your words into action.  Dear Lord, when I suffer as a result of my weakness, help me to know that this and all suffering can result in giving glory to You if I renew my faith.  Help me, like Zechariah, to return to You always, and use me as an instrument of Your manifest glory.  Jesus, I trust in You.

 

Reflection on Dec 23, 2023

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray that you will help me imitate Elizabeth’s trust and Zechariah’s patience. Please bestow on me the spirit of exuberant expectation that the people in the hill country of Judea had.

Encountering Christ:

1. God’s Timing Is Perfect in Big and Small Ways: Due to Elizabeth’s advanced age and previously barren state, the fact that she was giving birth was miraculous. Everyone knew; everyone was talking about it. God used this opportunity to showcase that all things are possible with him. According to Jewish law, a baby boy is to be circumcised and named on the eighth day of his life. What a joyful time this must have been for the formerly childless couple. Modern science has discovered that on the eighth day of life blood in the human body is at its height in its ability to coagulate. It rises on the seventh day and decreases on the ninth. Not one tiny detail of life escapes God’s plan. John would be brought up to be a “good Jewish boy,” marked as a “son of the covenant,” and the circumstances of his birth with the entire community present gave God an opportunity to display his miraculous wonderworking power! Even when we may feel “forgotten” by God, we can rest assured that the God who caused the barren to give birth very late in life, and blood to clot at 110% on the day of circumcision, has not forgotten the details of our lives as well. 

2. Patience Is Rewarded: Zechariah was a priest and a man of prayer. He had apparently been praying for a child for a very long time. When the angel Gabriel appeared to him in the temple as he offered incense to the Lord, Gabriel stated, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you shall call his name John.” Persistent prayer pays off. But, instead of praising God at this wonderous revelation, Zechariah doubted Gabriel’s words and was made mute for Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Perhaps, God was allowing a seed of faith to be planted in Zechariah and giving some time for it to grow to maturity, so his faith, like Elizabeth’s, would “give birth” in the fullness of time. When Zechariah finally speaks, we see that instead of excuses, anger, or bitterness, only the fruit of praise gushes forth from his lips. God can “sideline” us in order to give us time to mature in our faith before we are able to be greatly used for his purposes. Be patient with yourself; God is not through with you yet. 

3. Expectation, Fear, and Astonishment: “A baby! At her age?” What must the townspeople have thought? “And Zechariah! Mute, now speaking?!” Wonder. Fear. Astonishment must have swept through the region. “Is there anything too hard for God? What will he do next?!” must have been stirring in their hearts. “Who and what exactly will this child be?” Expectations on the highest level. Oh, that we would have such expectant hearts! Although we see the wonders of each new day, we can grow cold to the everyday miracles of life every baby born, every sunrise, the earth spinning on its course.  Let us not grow jaded, cold, or blasé, but be expectant of great things in and through the Lord. May we beg for hungry eyes to see the Lord at work, an eager mind to know him, and an excited heart to explore what he will do next, not only because he loves us, but also just because he can! 

Conversing with Christ: How difficult it must have been for Elizabeth to be shunned and barren for most of her life and Zechariah to be made mute! And yet you, in your great love for mankind and tenderness for this couple, had a beautiful plan to bless them and the whole world through them. Grant me faith, perseverance, patience, and an expectant heart. May I not grow cold but be warmed thoroughly to the very core of my soul by your permeating love.

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will choose to persevere in patient trust with an expectant heart, knowing that you are a sovereign God and that my life does not escape your loving gaze or plan. Your timing is always perfect.

 

December 24, Advent Weekday

Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; for he has come to his people and set them free…” Luke 1:67–68

Our story of the birth of Saint John the Baptist concludes today with the song of praise spoken by Zechariah after his tongue had been loosened on account of his transformation in faith. He had moved from doubting what the Archangel Gabriel had spoken to him to believing and following the command of the Archangel to name his firstborn son “John.” As we saw in yesterday’s reflection, Zechariah is a model and example for those who have lacked faith, have suffered the consequences of their lack of faith, and have changed as a result.

Today, we see an even fuller illustration of what happens when we change. No matter how deeply we have doubted in the past, no matter how far we have turned from God, when we turn back to Him with all our heart, we can hope to experience the same thing experienced by Zechariah. First, we see that Zechariah is “filled with the Holy Spirit.” And as a result of this gift of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah “prophesied.” These two revelations are very significant.

As we prepare for the celebration of the Birth of Christ tomorrow on Christmas Day, we are also called to be “filled with the Holy Spirit” so that we also can act as a prophetic messenger of the Lord. Though Christmas is all about the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, Christ Jesus our Lord, the Holy Spirit (the Third Person of the Holy Trinity) plays just as much of a significant role in the glorious event, both at that time and also today. Recall that it was by the Holy Spirit Who overshadowed Mother Mary that she conceived the Christ Child. In today’s Gospel, it was the Holy Spirit Who enabled Zechariah to proclaim the greatness of God’s act of sending John the Baptist ahead of Jesus to prepare the way for Him. Today, it must be the Holy Spirit Who fills our lives so as to enable us to proclaim the Christmas Truth.

In our day and age, Christmas has become very secular in many parts of the world. Few people take time on Christmas to truly pray and worship God for all that He has done. Few people continually proclaim that glorious message of the Incarnation to family and friends during this most solemn celebration. How about you? Are you able to be a true “prophet” of the Most High God this Christmas? Has the Holy Spirit overshadowed you and filled you with the grace needed to point others to this glorious reason for our celebration?

Reflect, today, upon the role of the Holy Spirit in your life this day. Invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, inspire you, and strengthen you, and to give to you the wisdom you need to be a mouthpiece of the glorious gift of the birth of the Savior of the World this Christmas. No other gift could be more important to give to others than this message of truth and love.

Holy Spirit, I give You my life and invite You to come to me, to overshadow me and to fill me with Your divine presence. As You fill me, give me the wisdom I need to speak of Your greatness and to be an instrument through which others are drawn into the glorious celebration of the birth of the Savior of the World. Come, Holy Spirit, fill me, consume me and use me for Your glory.  Jesus, I trust in You.