Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bảy Tuần thứ 5 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bảy Tuần thứ 5 Phục Sinh
Trong bài đọc thứ nhất, chúng ta nghe hai lần, Chúa Thánh Thần đã ngăn cản thánh Phaolô làm theo kế hoạch của riêng của ông.  Trước hết Thánh Phaolô không được phép rao giảng ở châu Á, và sau đó, không được phép đi đến Bithynia (miền bắc vùng Tiểu Á). Sách Công-vụ Tông Đồ đã không nói là Chúa Thánh Thần đã  hành động như thế nào, nhưng có lẽ qua lời cầu nguyện hay lời tiên tri. Tuy nhiên, Sách CVTĐ có cho chúng ta biết là khi ở thành phố Troas Thánh Phaolô đã được thị kiến và được Thánh Thần sai đến Macedonia.
Thật vậy, trong Công Vụ Tông Đồ, chúng ta thấy Chúa Thánh Thần đã dùng nhiều phương tiện để hướng dẫn các Kitô hữu, Thánh Luca tác giả CVTĐ thường xuyên đề cập đến vấn đề cầu nguyện, sự thị kiến, hay sự xuất hiện của các Thiên Thần, những lời tiên tri và những giấc mơ. Mục đích của Thánh Luca là thể hiện mối quan hệ chặt chẽ giữa những hành động của Cha Kitô Phục Sinh và của Chúa Thánh Thần.
Mặc dù Chúa Thánh Thần hầu như không được đề cập đến trong các câu cuối cùng của chương 15 trong Tin Mừng Gioan, nhưng Chúa Thánh Thần là trọng tâm trong những lời cầu nguyện của Chúa Giêsu, ngay ở đầu chương 16. Chúa Giêsu nói với các tông đồ rằng Chúa Thánh Thần sẽ liên tục hướng dẫn họ. Là Thánh Thần của sự thật, Ngài sẽ nói với họ. Qua Chúa Thánh Thần mà những gì mà Chúa Giêsu nói khi Ngài đang ngự bên Hữu của Đức Chúa Cha bây giờ sẽ được truyền đến cho các môn đệ.
Khi Chúa Giêsu rời khỏi cuộc sống ở trần tục của Ngài, Ngài đã ban cho chúng ta Chúa Thánh Thần, Người mà đem Chúa Giêsu Kitô phục sinh đến và hiện diện trong chúng ta. Cũng như Chúa Jêsus đã từng nói trong bản tính xác thịt của Ngài, bây giờ Ngài nói với chúng ta qua Chúa Thánh Thần. Giống như Phao-lô, chúng ta hãy sẵn sàng lắng nghe tiếng của Chúa qua Chúa Thánh Thần!
Lạy Chúa Thánh Thần, Xin đến và hướng dẫn chúng con hôm nay.
 
Reflection Sat 5^th week of Easter 2014       
In the first reading, we read how twice, the Holy Spirit prevents Paul from pursuing his plans. First, Paul was forbidden to preach the word in Asia, and later, not permitted to travel to Bithynia. The writer of Acts, Luke, does not say how the Spirit acted, that is, whether, through prayer or prophecy. He does tell us, however, that it was a vision or dream in the city of Troas that directed Paul to sail to Macedonia.
Truly, in the Acts of the Apostles, we see how the Holy Spirit uses many means to guide Christians. Luke most frequently mentions prayer, visions, appearances of angles, prophecies and dreams. Luke’s aim is to show the close relationship between the actions of the Risen Christ and that of the Holy Spirit.
Although the Holy Spirit is barely mentioned in the final verses of chapter 15 of John, he is at the centre of Jesus’ prayer at the beginning of chapter 16. Jesus tells the apostles that the Holy Spirit will be a constant guide to them. As the Spirit of Truth, he will speak to them. Through the Spirit, what Jesus says at the right hand of the Father will now be transmitted to the disciples.
When Jesus departed from his earthly life, he gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, who enables the Risen Christ to be present to us and in us. Just as Jesus once spoke in the flesh, he now speaks to us through the Spirit. Like Paul, let us be ready to listen to his voice! Holy Spirit, guide me today.
 
Reflection Sat 5^th week of Easter 2014
Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.” John 15:18–19
This is a sobering thought: “the world hates you.” That is, if you are among those who have been taken by our Lord out of the world. In that case, Jesus says that the world will hate you.
No one wants to be hated. No one wants to experience the wrath, persecution, attacks, or ridicule of another. Hatred is ugly, painful and difficult to endure. But that is part of the nature of hate. It’s not only a form of persecution, it’s also a form of manipulation. Hate is an attack upon another by which the hater seeks to inflict injury and to manipulate them to change and conform to their will. The secular and unchristian “world” wants to win you over and away from God. Jesus offers this teaching, in part, to prepare us so that when we do experience hatred from the world, we will not be affected by it nor manipulated to turn from Him. Therefore, this teaching is a revelation of much mercy from our Lord.
Remember that Jesus spoke of three enemies of our soul. The flesh, the devil and the world. In this Gospel passage, to “belong to the world” means that a person allows themself to be negatively influenced by the countless lies embedded within the world. The secular media, pop-culture, biased opinions, social pressures, false images of happiness and the like seek to constantly misguide us and draw us in. We are regularly tempted to believe that fulfillment is found in money, our physical appearance, the recognition of our accomplishments and much more. The world tells us that our opinions must conform to the secular values of the age—and if they don’t, then we are judgmental, close-minded extremists and should be shunned and “canceled” or silenced.
These worldly temptations and pressures are real, and, for that reason, Jesus’ words are freeing. They free us from the manipulations and deceptions we will experience when we live our faith openly for all to see. When we do so, we will be hated by the world. But knowing that provides peace of heart when it happens.
Reflect, today, upon these powerful and consoling words of Jesus. If you do not experience any form of hatred from the world, then this should be a concern and the cause for reflection. And if you do experience some form of hatred, know that our Lord prepared you for this and offers you His strength and courage to endure it with joy. In the end, all that matters is what our Lord thinks—and nothing else. In the end, if you experience hatred by the world in any form, know that this makes you more like Christ Himself.
My persecuted Lord, You endured the hatred and ridicule of many who were engulfed by the false values of the world. I pray that I may share not only in Your life of love and mercy but also in Your strength during the times that I also endure the world’s hatred. I commit myself to You and pray that You continually take me out of the world and bring me close to Yourself. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Reflection Sat 5^th week of Easter 2014
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I am in the world you have created, but this is not my true home. I am a pilgrim and sojourner on a lifelong journey to your house, where your Son has prepared a dwelling for me. Lift up my eyes toward my heavenly home. Do not let me be discouraged on the journey but fill me with hope in your promise.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Persecuted Children of the Father: The Gospel teaches us that Jesus’ disciples do not belong to the world because they have been freed from the sin of the world by Jesus himself. They are no longer slaves to sin and can now enjoy the freedom of the children of God. This freedom does not take away persecution and suffering. Just as the Son of God was persecuted and suffered, we too, as children of God, will be persecuted and suffer. One of the causes of the persecution of the bearers of the Gospel is ignorance: those who persecute the Apostles do not know the Father, who sent his only begotten Son to the world to redeem it. The proclamation of the Gospel by the Apostles, accompanied by signs and wonders accomplished in Jesus’ name, seeks to bring the people out of the darkness of ignorance and into the light of Christ. This light is a liberating and merciful light. It uncovers the lies of the world and its false promise of happiness. It reveals to us that we have sinned against God, but that we can be purified in the blood of the Lamb. Today’s Psalm reflects the joy we experience when we walk in the light of Christ. We sing today: “The Lord is good: his kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations.”
2. The Beginning of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey: In the First Reading, the Acts of the Apostles narrates the beginning of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (A.D. 50-52). Paul set out and invited Barnabas to come with him, saying: “Come, let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are” (Acts 15:37). Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them but Paul disagreed with Barnabas because Mark had abandoned them during the first missionary journey. Paul and Barnabas decided to separate: Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed to the cities of his homeland in Cyprus. Paul, on the other hand, took Silas with him and went through Syria and Cilicia and returned to the cities of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia. During their journeys, both Barnabas and Paul were able to communicate the recent decision of the Council of Jerusalem to the newly founded churches. The Council had decided that Gentiles who came to believe in Jesus did not have to be circumcised according to the Law of Moses. There were still some difficulties in accepting this teaching. We see this in Paul’s decision to circumcise Timothy. Paul did this “on account of the Jews” of the region and because Timothy was considered a Jew, and not a Gentile, on his mother’s side. As Paul hands on the teaching of the Council to the recently founded churches, the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number.
3. Persecution in Macedonia: After ministering to the churches in Galatia, Paul and Silas wanted to go north toward Bithynia, but were prevented by the Spirit of Jesus and led instead to the port city of Troas. During the night, Paul had a vision of a Macedonian imploring him to cross over to Macedonia and help them. In the morning, Paul and Silas discerned that this was God’s will for them: they would preach the Good News in Europe. At Troas, they probably met up with Luke, who accompanied them for a time and set sail with them to Macedonia. During their evangelizing mission, Paul and Silas suffered persecution in Macedonia, especially in the city of Philippi: they were stripped, beaten with rods, and imprisoned. Jesus’ Last Supper discourse in the Gospel of John refers to the persecutions that the Apostles would endure as they spread the Gospel to all nations. Jesus’ disciples must know that the world will hate them because it first hated him. Jesus tells us (in John 7:7) that the world, considered here as something negative, hates him because he shows the world that its sinful ways are evil. As the Lamb of God, however, Jesus has come to take away the sin of the world and purify and renew it.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, as a child of God, I will endure persecution and suffer for the Gospel. You know the limits of my strength. I fully trust in you to accompany me, in your Father to care for me, and in your Spirit to guide me.
Living the Word of God: How have I been listening to the Spirit lately? What is the Spirit asking me to do? Where am I called to be a witness to the Good News of our salvation? How am I promoting and proclaiming the teachings of Jesus and the Church? How can I do better?