Suy niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ hai Mùa Vọng

Suy niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần  thứ hai Mùa Vọng

Có những lúc trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, những sự bất hạnh ập đến như những con mưa dai dảng trong cuộc đời, nhiều khi không phải chỉ có một cái bất hạnh, nhưng có nhiều cứ dồn dập đến với chúng ta hết cái bất hạnh này, đến cái khác. 
Có lẽ, những lần như thế chúng ta đã thực sự muốn bỏ cuộc, muốn la hét và khóc xin với Thiên Chúa để xin cho tất cả những vấn đề phức tạp này mau mau được kết thúc? 
Mặt khác, khi phúc lành tuôn đổ đến với chúng ta, thì nhiều phúc lành khác cũng tiếp tục tuôn đến với chúng ta. Và chúng ta hãy cảm tạ Thiên Chúa cho tất cả những phúc lành Chúa ban.
            Vâng, cuộc sống có những thăng trầm của nó. Khi cuộc đời chúng ta được may mắn, và cứ my mắn. Tất cả mọi thứ đi kèm tiếp tục đổ vào thêm, và chúng ta sống như thể không bao giờ kết thúc. Nhưng khi cuộc sống của chúng ta đang đi xuống, chúng ta có cảm thấy như chúng ta đang thực sự bị rơi vào chân không, chơi vơi như kẻ chết đuối.  Nếu như không có hy vọng vào sự sống còn của chúng ta. Chúng ta có thể cảm thấy như chúng ta đang ở trong sự kết thúc của thế giới.
            Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu đã cho chúng ta niềm hy vọng.  Ngài nói với chúng ta đến với Ngài, Ngài sẽ đổi mới và thêm sức mạnh cho chúng ta. Ngài nói với chúng ta "hãy gánh lấy cái ách của Ngài."  Cái ách gì của Chúa Kitô mà Ngài nói là nhẹ nhàng, và êm ái?
            Đó là làm theo ý muốn của Thiên Chúa trong cuộc sống của chúng ta. Và ý muốn của Thiên Chúa nơi chúng ta là  những gì? Điều căn bản  đầu tiên và quan trọng nhất là yêu mến Thiên Chúa, và yêu thương tha nhân như chúng ta yêu bản thân mình. Cụ thể, Thiên Chúa mời gọi chúng ta trở nên giống như Ngài, là vị tha, dám cho những cái tốt nhất của chúng ta cho người khác mà không cần dự dự. Chúng ta có thể làm điều này nếu chúng ta nhận ra được là Thiên Chúa đã yêu thương chúng ta bao nhiêu trong Chúa Giêsu Kitô, và Ngài vẫn còn tiếp tục yêu thương chúng ta bao nhiêu mỗi ngày!.
            Hạnh phúc là khi chúng ta được làm việc cho Chúa, cho Chúa Giêsu, bởi vì chúng ta yêu mến Ngài. Đây chính là ơn gọi của mỗi người Kitô hữu chúng ta, là biết yêu thương như Chúa Giêsu yêu thương chúng ta. Quả thật, cái ách của Chúa êm ái,  và cái gánh của Chúa thì êm ái và rất nhẹ nhàng.

 
Reflection:
     "When it rains it pours." 
     You must have heard this saying. A lot of people don't like the rain because it's wet, it's bothersome. It's difficult to commute when it rains because traffic is heavy. The feeling becomes worse when the rain is strong and continuous because the effect is flooding.  
When misfortune strikes, it's not just one, but one after another. When someone in the family gets sick, another problem comes like financial difficulty. Then the house needs major repair, then… the list goes on and on. It's not easy and oftentimes we really want to just give up and scream and cry asking God when will all these problems end?  On the other hand, when blessings come our way, more blessings follow. It comes one after another as well. And we give thanks to God for all the blessings. 
     Yes, life has its ups and downs. When we are up, we are up. Everything comes pouring in, and we live as if it will never end. But when we are going down, it feels like we are really crashing and drowning as if there is no hope for our survival. It may feel like it is the end of the world. 
     In the Gospel, Jesus gives us hope. He tells us to come to him and he will refresh us. He tells us to "take his yoke." What is this yoke of Christ which he says is easy and light? It is to do the will of God in our lives. And what is God's will for us?  It is basically to love God first and foremost, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Concretely, God invites us to be like him, to be unselfish, to give our best to others without reserve. We can do this if we realize how much God has loved us in Jesus Christ and how much He continues to love us every day. Happiness is in doing things for God, for Jesus, because we love Him. This is our vocation as Christians – to love as Jesus loved. Truly, his yoke is easy and his burden light. 
 
Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
One of the most delightful and healthy activities in life is sleep. This is especially the case when one is able to enter into a deep and refreshing sleep. Upon awakening, the person who has slept deeply feels refreshed and ready for a new day. Of course, the opposite is also true. When sleep is difficult and restless, the person can suffer numerous ill effects, especially when a lack of healthy sleep becomes the norm.
The same is true in our spiritual lives. For many people, “spiritual rest” is something foreign to them. They may say a few prayers each week, attend Mass, or even make a holy hour. But unless each one of us enters into a form of prayer that is deep and transforming, we will not be able to experience the interior spiritual rest we need.
Jesus’ invitation in today’s Gospel to “Come to me…” is an invitation to become transformed, interiorly, as we allow Him to relieve us of the burdens of our daily lives. Each day we often face spiritual hardships and challenges, such as temptations, confusions, disappointments, angers and the like. We are often daily bombarded with the lies of the evil one, the hostility of a growing secularized culture and an assault on our senses through the numerous forms of media we daily digest. These and many other things we encounter each and every day will have the effect of wearing us down interiorly on a spiritual level. As a result, we need the spiritual refreshment that comes only from our Lord. We need the spiritual “sleep” that results from deep and revitalizing prayer. And that form of prayer is only possible if we heed Christ’s invitation to come to Him with every fiber of our being, surrendering all that we are and all that we encounter each and every day.
Reflect, today, upon whether you feel weary at times. Ponder, especially, any mental or emotional weariness. Oftentimes these forms of weariness are actually spiritual in nature and need a spiritual remedy. Seek the remedy our Lord offers you by accepting His invitation to come to Him, deeply in prayer, and rest in His presence. Doing so will help to lift the heavy burdens with which you struggle.
My loving Lord, I accept Your invitation to come to You and rest in Your glorious presence. Draw me in, dear Lord, to Your heart that is overflowing with grace and mercy. Draw me into Your presence so that I may rest in You and be delivered from the many burdens of life. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Wednesday 3rd week of Advent 2023
Opening Prayer: Lord God, thank you for these meek and humble words. Help me to open my heart so that your gentle invitation can seep into my soul. I want the rest that you promise. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul (Psalms 23).”
Encountering Christ:
1. Come to Me: In this Gospel passage, Christ made it very clear that he himself ought to be our center of attention. Psalm 123 reminds us, “Like the eyes of a maid on the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the Lord our God.” And here it’s as if Christ says, “Come to me; I’m the one who will give you rest. Why do you look to football games and shopping and television to satisfy you? Neither do work or school, or even family or friends, fill the God-shaped hole in your heart. If you come to me, I will put you at peace.”
2. Take My Yoke: Sometimes we do not want to accept Christ’s yoke, finding it too burdensome. But then we find we cannot plow; we cannot make any headway through the hard dirt of the field of our life. Sometimes we take up a different yoke–even one which is heavier or more irritating–because we think it is more efficient or more rational than Christ’s yoke. But then we find that this yoke is too cumbersome, that it wounds our shoulders, that it numbs our faith. This is the yoke of the world, and it is not good for us. Christ wants us to take up his yoke, because then he can plow at our side, shouldering the brunt of the burden.
3. Learn from Me: This is the third time Christ says “me” or “my”: Come to me, take my yoke, learn from me. Learning implies newness. It implies letting ourselves take a journey to new shores, to change position so that we see what we saw before, but from a new perspective. When Christ says, “learn from me,” he’s telling us, “I’m not some statue carved in stone. I live and breathe and act. Learn from how I live, how I am, how I love.” In order to learn from him, we have to come to him, to move toward new vistas, and take the concrete step of shouldering his yoke. Then we will have rest—his rest.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I turn my eyes to you! You are the one who never disappoints me. Indeed, you fascinate and attract me by your humility and friendliness. I feel drawn to you; do not let the evil one lead me away.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray Psalm 23 asking you to “restore my soul” (verse 3).
 
Wednesday 3rd week of Advent
Opening Prayer: Lord God, thank you for these meek and humble words. Help me to open my heart so that your gentle invitation can seep into my soul. I want the rest that you promise. “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul (Psalms 23).”
Encountering Christ:
1. Come to Me: In this Gospel passage, Christ made it very clear that he himself ought to be our center of attention. Psalm 123 reminds us, “Like the eyes of a maid on the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the Lord our God.” And here it’s as if Christ says, “Come to me; I’m the one who will give you rest. Why do you look to football games and shopping and television to satisfy you? Neither do work or school, or even family or friends, fill the God-shaped hole in your heart. If you come to me, I will put you at peace.”
2. Take My Yoke: Sometimes we do not want to accept Christ’s yoke, finding it too burdensome. But then we find we cannot plow; we cannot make any headway through the hard dirt of the field of our life. Sometimes we take up a different yoke–even one which is heavier or more irritating–because we think it is more efficient or more rational than Christ’s yoke. But then we find that this yoke is too cumbersome, that it wounds our shoulders, that it numbs our faith. This is the yoke of the world, and it is not good for us. Christ wants us to take up his yoke, because then he can plow at our side, shouldering the brunt of the burden.
3. Learn from Me: This is the third time Christ says “me” or “my”: Come to me, take my yoke, learn from me. Learning implies newness. It implies letting ourselves take a journey to new shores, to change position so that we see what we saw before, but from a new perspective. When Christ says, “learn from me,” he’s telling us, “I’m not some statue carved in stone. I live and breathe and act. Learn from how I live, how I am, how I love.” In order to learn from him, we have to come to him, to move toward new vistas, and take the concrete step of shouldering his yoke. Then we will have rest—his rest.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I turn my eyes to you! You are the one who never disappoints me. Indeed, you fascinate and attract me by your humility and friendliness. I feel drawn to you; do not let the evil one lead me away.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray Psalm 23 asking you to “restore my soul” (verse 3).