Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật thứ Hai Mùa Vọng

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Chúa Nhật thứ Hai Mùa Vọng

Qua bài Tim Mừng thánh Marcô hôm nay cho chúng ta thấy là có một sự khác biệt giữa phép rửa của thánh Gioan và phép rửa của Chúa Giêsu. Phếp rửa của thánh Gioan là một phép rửa của sự ăn năn trong khi đó phép Rửa của Giêsu là một phép Rửa của Chúa Thánh Thần. Thánh Gioan kêu gọi dân chúng nên khiêm tốn nhận biết những hành vi phạm tội và những lỗi lầm của mình và xin Chúa tha thứ. Còn Phép Rửa mà Chúa Giêsu ban cho chúng ta còn vượt xa phép rửa của thánh Gioan: với phép rửa của Chúa Giêsu, chúng ta không những chỉ được xoá bỏ mọi tội lỗi nhất là tội Nguyên Tổ, mà chúng ta còn được “tái sinh làm con của Thiên Chúa  Cha trênTrời”. Chúng ta trở thành chi thể trong cùng một thân thể với Chúa Kitô và "được hợp nhất trong Giáo hội và trở thành những người cùng chia sẻ chung trong cùng một sứ mệnh của mình." (CCC # 1213),
Chúng ta nhớ rằng, khi Đức Maria đến thăm người chị họ là Elizabeth, thánh Gioan đã nhận được đầy dẫy ơn Chúa Thánh Thần trong lòng mẹ. Và cũng chính Cha Thánh Linh đã hướng dẫn thánh Gioan vào sa mạc, nơi ông được thử thách và lớn lên trong Lời Chúa và khiến ông trở thành người đi trước của Chúa Giêsu, "sứ giả đi trước dọn đường" với lòng can đảm không ngừng để khiển trách dân chúng. vì những tội lỗi và sự bất trung ngoan cố mà họ đã xử với Thiên Chúa của họ.
Mùa Vọng là thời gian chuẩn bị cho sự trở lại của Chúa Giêsu, lần đầu tiên Ngài đến thế gian với tư cách là Thiên Chúa Đấng tạo dựng nên nên mọi sự. Sự trở lại lần thứ hai của Ngài với tư cách là Thiên Chúa Đấng phán xét mọi loài vào thời gian saun hết hay tận thế: trong Mùa Vọng, chúng ta nên khiêm tốn, ăn năn tội lỗi của mình như Gioan đã thúc giục dân Do Thái khi xưa là hãy “dọn đường cho Chúa và san bằng núi đồi vả làm thẳng con đường cho Ngài”.
Thánh Gioan ăn gì trong đồng vắng? "Ông ăn cào cào và mật ong rừng." Chúng ta có thể liên kết những con cào cào với việc tự từ bỏ bản thân và thực hành sự khổ hạnh, và chúng ta cũng có thể rút ra một so sánh giữa mật ong rừng và Bí tích Thánh Thể. Nếu từ chối bản thân có nghĩa là loại bỏ một thứ gì đó ra khỏi cuộc sống của chúng ta, thì nó tạo ra không gian cho thứ khác được thêm vào, không gian cho Chúa. Chẳng hạn, Chúa Giêsu Thánh Thể sẽ rất vui mừng nếu chúng ta dành nhiều thời gian hơn để đến với những chầu Thánh Thể trong Mùa Vọng này. Đây là bánh tinh khiết nhất của sự sống, cho chúng ta sức mạnh để đi lang thang trong sa mạc của thế giới này mà không mệt mỏi. Chúng ta không còn mệt mỏi, Thật vậy, chúng ta “kêu la” những lời Chúa trong Tin và “dọn đường cho Chúa” bằng gương lành và những việc làm phúc đức của chính mình.
Sứ điệp của Mùa Vọng là chúng ta phải ăn năn và hoán cải sang đời sống của chúng ta với ơn Chúa Thánh Thần hướng dẫn để chúng ta trở nên giống như thánh Gioan Tẩy Giả, là chúng ta có thể làm chứng cho ánh sáng và lẽ thật của Chúa Giêsu Kitô.
 
REFLECTION
     There is a difference between John's baptism and that of Jesus. John's was a baptism of repentance while that of Jesus is a baptism of the Holy Spirit. John urges the people to humbly own their transgressions and ask forgiveness from God. The baptism Jesus offers goes beyond that of John: with the baptism of Jesus we are not only freed from sin, we are also "reborn as sons of God." We become members of Christ's body and "are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission." (CCC #1213) 
     We remember that, at the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, John was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb. It was also the same Spirit which led John into the wilderness where he was tested and grew in the Word of God and made him the forerunner of the Lord, "the messenger ahead of him to prepare his way" with unrelenting courage to reproach the people for the sins and stubborn unfaithfulness to God. 
     The season of Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord, for his first coming as God-made-man and for his second coming as Lord and Judge at the end of time: during Advent we repent of our sins as John urged the people of Israel to "prepare the way of the Lord and level his paths." 
     What was John’s sustenance in the wilderness? “He fed on locusts and wild honey.” We have associated the locusts with self-denial and ascetic practice, and we can also draw a comparison between the wild honey and the Eucharist. If self-denial means taking something out of our lives, then it creates space for something else to be added, space for God. He would be delighted, for example, if we created more time for eucharistic adoration this Advent. This is the purest bread of life which gives us the strength to wander in the desert of this world without growing weary. Far from growing weary, in fact, we “cry out” words of the Gospel and “prepare the way of the Lord” by our good example.
The message of Advent is repentance and conversion to lives guided by the Holy Spirit so that, like John the Baptist, we are able to give testimony to the light and truth of Jesus Christ.
 
 Monday of the Second Week of Advent
And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. Luke 5:18–19
It’s interesting to note that, as the paralyzed man’s faith-filled friends lowered him down from the roof in front of Jesus, Jesus was surrounded by Pharisees and teachers of the law “from every village of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem” (Luke 5:17). The religious leaders came in droves.  They were among the most educated of the Jews and happened to be among the ones who had gathered to see Jesus speak that day. And it was partly on account of large numbers of them gathering around Jesus that the friends of the paralyzed man could not reach Jesus without this radical move of opening the roof.
So what does Jesus do when He sees the paralytic lowered before Him from the roof? He told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. Sadly, those words were immediately met with severe interior criticism from these religious leaders. They said among themselves, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who but God alone can forgive sins?” (Luke 5:21).
But Jesus knew their thoughts and decided to do one more act for the good of these religious leaders. The first act of Jesus, to forgive the paralytic’s sins, was for the good of the paralytic. But the paralytic’s physical healing, interestingly, appears to be primarily for these pompous and self-righteous Pharisees and teachers of the law. Jesus heals the man so that they will “know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Luke 5:24). As soon as Jesus performs this miracle, the Gospel tells us that everyone was “struck with awe” and glorified God. Apparently, this included the judgmental religious leaders.
So what does this teach us? It shows how deeply Jesus loved these religious leaders despite their exceptional pride and judgmentalism. He wanted to win them over. He wanted them to convert, humble themselves and turn to Him. It’s somewhat easy to show love and compassion to one who is paralyzed, rejected, and humiliated already. But it takes an incredible amount of love to also care deeply about the proud and arrogant.
Reflect, today, upon the love Jesus had for these religious leaders. Though they came to find fault with Him, falsely judge Him and continually tried to trap Him, Jesus never ceased in His attempts to win them over. As you think about this mercy of our Lord, consider also the person in your life who is most difficult to love, and recommit to loving them with your whole heart in imitation of our divine Lord.
My most merciful Lord, give me a heart of forgiveness and mercy for others. Help me, especially, to have a deep concern for those whom I find most difficult to love. In imitation of Your divine mercy, strengthen me to act with a radical love for all so that they will come to know You more deeply. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 2^nd Week of Advent 2023
Opening Prayer: Lord God, thank you for the gift of your word. Like the crowds in the Gospel today, I also glorify you for your marvelous action in the life of this paralytic. I ask you to work in my life too. Enlighten my heart and mind to perceive your message for me today.
Encountering Christ:
1. Overcoming Obstacles: The paralytic wanted to see Jesus, but it was impossible for him. He had lost the use of his own body and was therefore powerless to effect his own will. We can experience a similar paralysis when we’re trapped by sin, addiction, or selfishness. We identify with St. Paul when he writes in Romans 7:14-15: “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin. What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.” The paralytic is thus an image of our own struggle against the physical and spiritual bondage of sin. But something else kept the paralytic from Jesus’s presence: the crowds. How often we feel “crowded out” during prayer. God seems distant. Plagued by distractions, we can’t focus. How are we to get his attention? 
2. Solutions: The paralytic’s friends solved the first obstacle by carrying him to Jesus—and here we have a symbol of Mother Church. When we are faced with problems beyond our strength, we can receive support and encouragement from our family, our community, and other believers. From the sacraments of the Church, we receive the grace and strength of Christ who heals and fortifies us. The second difficulty–God’s seeming indifference–is resolved when we see that the Lord healed the paralytic even more deeply than the paralytic himself had desired; he forgave his sins. This spiritual healing is by far the more important. The physical healing is, in fact, subordinated to the deeper spiritual healing that occurs. “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Jesus, because he loved the paralytic and heard his prayer, gave him both healings.
3. Glory to God: The people were astonished. The crowd glorified God. Jesus, too, had glorified his Father because it was the Father’s will to heal the man—the enigmatic phrase “the power of the Lord was with him for healing” would seem to support that. Lastly, we note that the man himself also glorified God. His persistence and faith in trying to reach Jesus flowered into a greater outpouring of grace than expected. God is never outdone in generosity.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, maybe I am not paralyzed, but I need help to get to you just the same. Why is it so hard to put myself in your presence? During my prayer, help me to rely not on my own strength but in the faith of the Church and in your desire to meet me.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take a couple of moments in silence to put myself in your presence. 
 
Reflection  Monday 2^nd Week of Advent 2022
Opening Prayer: Lord God, inspire in me the joy of anticipating the coming of your Son. Take from me the fear of desert sands and hard repentance. I will go into the wilderness with you if you want me to. I ask you for this baptism in the Holy Spirit, an outpouring of grace in preparation for your birth!
Encountering Christ:
1. John the Ascetic: The exercise of asceticism feels more appropriate to Lent than to Advent, but the messenger of Christ’s coming is his relative John, a desert-dweller girded in rough camel’s hair. He wore a crude leather belt, lived far from the city, and satisfied his stomach with locusts. And most importantly, he baptized with a baptism of repentance. John was the ascetic par excellence, and it was he who prepared the way of the Lord. We can learn from his spartan lifestyle. Simplicity and sacrifice lead to the necessary repentance of Advent. If we’re able to become a little humbler like John the Baptist, who said, “I am not worthy,” we will be most ready for the coming of the Christ-child.
2. The Start of Something Good: Who was John the Baptist? He was the messenger chosen by God. He was the voice of one crying out in a world where it is so easy to remain silent! John was a particular man with a personal mission, but he would not see the fullness of the salvation he hoped for—he was beheaded first. John the Baptist was a prophet not distracted by popularity. He looked forward to the coming of the Holy Spirit. By continuing to shout, cry out, proclaim, and lead people to repentance, he became in a way “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
3. Sweet Eucharist: What was John’s sustenance in the wilderness? “He fed on locusts and wild honey.” We have associated the locusts with self-denial and ascetic practice, and we can also draw a comparison between the wild honey and the Eucharist. If self-denial means taking something out of our lives, then it creates space for something else to be added, space for God. He would be delighted, for example, if we created more time for eucharistic adoration this Advent. This is the purest bread of life which gives us the strength to wander in the desert of this world without growing weary. Far from growing weary, in fact, we “cry out” words of the Gospel and “prepare the way of the Lord” by our good example. Let’s feed on the wild honey of the Eucharist.
Conversing with Christ: Jesus Christ, I believe you are truly present in the most holy sacrament of the altar. I bless your sweet name for such a tremendous gift, which even your cousin John didn’t have! I want to flee from the city and lights–at least interiorly–so I can ready my poor stable of a heart for you and Mary and Joseph this Christmas.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take some time to reflect on the sources of my spiritual nourishment and assess whether I have what I need to go into the desert with Christ.