Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ 5 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Tuần thứ 5 Phục Sinh
"Ai yêu mến Thầy, thì sẽ giữ lời Thầy. Cha của Thầy sẽ yêu mến người ấy. Cha của Thầy và Thầy sẽ đến và ở lại với người ấy. " (Jn 14:23) Đây là lời hứa của Chúa Kitô đã hứa với chúng ta. Điều này cũng cho chúng ta thấy mối quan hệ mật thiết giữa Chúa Giêsu và Chúa Cha và qua đó  Chúa Giêsu cũng đã muốn lôi kéo chúng ta đến một mối quan hệ gần gũi hơn với Thiên Chúa Cha. Bằng cách này, chúng ta được mời gọi để phụ thuộc hoàn toàn vào Thiên Chúa như Chúa Giêsu và qua Ngài mà Thiên Chúa đã thấy được những dấu lạ mà Chúa Giêsu đã làm. Tất cả cuộc sống của Ngài là một sự phản ánh của những sự tốt lành, quyền lực và tình yêu của Thiên Chúa. Chúng ta được mời gọi đến với cuộc đời này trong đức tin với Chúa Giêsu, như là khí cụ bình an , tình yêu và công lý của Thiên Chúa, do đó chúng ta có thể đem lại sự sống và hạnh phúc cho những người khác  qua Chúa Giêsu. Điều này cũng được thực hiện bởi quyền năng của Chúa Thánh Thần luôn liên tục hành động trong và qua chúng ta. Tuy nhiên, chúng ta thường hay bị thất bại trong mối quan hệ này với Thiên Chúa bởi vì chúng ta để cho những thứ ham muốn và quyền lực của thế gian này làm ảnh hưởng và kiểm soát cuộc sống của chúng ta.
            Lạy Chúa, xin ban cho chúng con những ân sủng của Chúa để chúng con luôn luôn được nhắc nhở là chúng con phải biết tập trung và tuân theo tất cả những gì mà Chúa đã dạy chúng con và chúng phải biết dựa vào Chúa Thánh Thần của Chúa để chúng con có thể được hướng dẫn trong ánh sáng cứu rỗi của Chúa..
 
Monday on 5th Of Easter Acts 14:5-18;  Jn 14:21-26
‘If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we shall come to Him and make our home with Him.’ This is the promise of Christ to us. This also reveals the intimate relationship between  Jesus and the Father that draws us to a closer relationship with them. By this, we are called to have total dependence on God like Jesus through whom God is made visible by the signs Jesus did. His whole life is a reflection of God's goodness, power and love. We are called to this life of faith in Jesus as God’s instruments of peace, love and justice, thus giving life to others through Jesus.
            The purpose of this promise is to express the unrestricted scope of the personal relationship between God, Jesus and the believers. This is also made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit who continues to act in and through us. However, we often fail in this relationship by allowing worldly values to influence and control our lives. We lose track of the ‘focus’ and like the ‘crowd’ in the first reading, we become attached to worldly things — wealth, power, fame and status and other inordinate attachments. We need to remain faithful and persevering in our response to the love God has so graciously given us.
Lord, grant us the grace to always be reminded of all that You have taught us and to rely on Your Holy Spirit for guidance and light.
 
Monday 5th Easter 2024
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” John 14:25–26
Sometimes we forget all that God has spoken to us. For example, we may have some clear experience of God’s presence in our lives, such as a powerful spiritual insight gained through prayer, a deep conviction of His voice spoken through a sermon, the transforming freedom encountered through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or some form of unmistakable clarity imparted through the reading of the holy Scriptures. When God speaks to us, imparting His Truth, strength, forgiveness and every other form of grace, we are spiritually consoled as we sense His closeness. But when trouble comes our way, those moments of clarity can be easily lost.
The disciples would have had many clarifying experiences during the three years of Jesus’ public ministry. They marveled at the spiritual authority they encountered in His sermons, witnessed countless miracles, looked on as sinners were set free, saw Jesus transfigured in glory, and watched our Lord enter deeply into prayer with the Father. Each time they encountered the power of God at work, they would have grown in their conviction that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the World. But Jesus also knew that these disciples would soon have their faith in Him shaken. He knew that as they looked on from a distance in fear as Jesus was arrested, beaten and killed, they would start to forget all that they previously experienced. Fear can cause confusion, and Jesus knew that His disciples would soon fall into that trap. For this reason, Jesus spoke the words above to His disciples. He promised them that the Holy Spirit would soon come upon them to teach them everything and to remind them all that He told them.
How nice it would be if every lesson we ever learned from God remained front and center in our lives. How nice it would be if we never allowed fear to confuse us and cause us to forget all that God has spoken to us in varied ways. Just as Jesus knew the disciples would need the help of the Holy Spirit to remember, He also knows that we need the same help from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the words spoken to the disciples above are also spoken to us. “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
What lessons of faith have you learned in the past that you need to be reminded of? It is the role of the Holy Spirit to bring those lessons to mind every time we need them. Therefore, as we move closer to the glorious celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost, it is a good time to pray to the Holy Spirit and ask for the gift of remembering the many ways that God has revealed Himself to us. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in perfect harmony with each other, but each has a distinct role in our lives. The Holy Spirit’s role is especially to lead us day-by-day into the fulfillment of the Father’s will of becoming perfectly conformed to the Person of Christ Jesus.
Reflect, today, upon this powerful promise that our Lord gave to His disciples and to us. Pray to the Holy Spirit. Open yourself to the Spirit’s ongoing direction in your life and never allow fear to lead to confusion. Instead, allow God to dispel all confusion and to remind you of all that He has spoken to you throughout your life.
Most glorious Lord Jesus, You promised the disciples and all Your people that the Holy Spirit would be sent to us to remind us of all that You have revealed. Holy Spirit, please continuously descend upon me, teach me and guide me. Help me to never forget the many lessons I have been taught so that I will never let fear lead to confusion. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 5th Easter 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. Inflame my heart with the grace of your Spirit. Enlighten my mind with the wisdom of your Spirit. Remind me of all that your Son did and taught. Help me to be docile to your commandments.
Encountering the Word of God
1. God’s Plan: God brings to fulfillment his plan of salvation through Jesus’ redemptive passion and death on the cross. This plan is crowned by the sending of the Holy Spirit, who gives life to the new people of God and accomplishes the redemption of all nations. This redemption is accomplished by the Spirit in different ways. On the one hand, the gift of saving grace is given through the Gift of the Holy Spirit. On the other, the Spirit is the Spirit of truth, who after Christ’s departure to the Father, preserves “among the disciples the truth which he had announced and revealed” (John Paul II, May 17, 1989). The essential task of Christ’s apostles and disciples is to remain in God’s truth and be led by the Holy Spirit to the knowledge of all truth (John 16:3). The Spirit bears witness to Christ and discloses the content of revealed truth within the Church, so that she may proclaim it to the whole world (John Paul II, May 17, 1989).
2. The Spirit and the Christ: The Holy Spirit does not present another revelation apart from Christ but rather recalls the words and deeds and saving mystery of Christ. The Spirit glorifies Christ and reveals what has already been said by Christ. “Thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, the Church not only recalls the truth, but remains and lives in the truth received from her Lord” (John Paul II, May 17, 1989). The Spirit is man’s true Counselor; he is the Defender and Advocate of man, the Mediator who intercedes for us. He is the one who takes our side, even though we are guilty of sin. He defends us from the penalty due to our sins and saves us from the danger of losing eternal life and salvation (John Paul II, May 24, 1989). To save the world, the Spirit convinces the world of sin and demonstrates the guilt of the world in rejecting Christ and turning its back upon God.
3. The Empowering Spirit: In the First Reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, the Spirit empowers Paul and Barnabas to speak out boldly on behalf of Jesus the Lord. God confirms their word by granting signs and wonders to occur through their hands. The two apostles are persecuted by the people, but defended by the Holy Spirit, who moves them to flee to the cities of Lystra and Derbe, where they will again proclaim the Gospel. The Spirit is close to the Apostles when they must profess the truth, justify it, and defend it. The Spirit inspires them and speaks through their words (John Paul II, May 24, 1989). Like Jesus and Peter, Paul heals a crippled man, who professes belief in Jesus Christ. Paul and Barnabas have to react quickly to the reaction of the people, who mistakenly equate them with Greek gods and want to offer sacrifice to them. The healing of the crippled man is not a proclamation of the Apostles’ divinity, but a confirmation of the truth of the Gospel message, namely, that the people should turn from pagan idols to the living God, who is the creator of all things. Creation speaks to all men and women of the one, true God’s goodness, beauty, power, and providential care.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for sending the Spirit to teach and guide the members of your Body, the Church. I love you, Lord, and desire to obey the commandments of you and your Father. Reveal your love to me and comfort me with your merciful grace.
Living the Word of God: Just as he opened the minds and hearts of those who heard Paul and Barnabas, so also the Spirit opens our minds and hearts to the mystery of God, who is at work in human history, and of his incarnate Son, Jesus Christ. In faith and through faith, we are guided by the Holy Spirit to the understanding of the Gospel and urged on by the Spirit to preach the Gospel to all men and women. Am I willing to let God open my mind and heart? What is the Spirit urging me to do today?