Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần thứ 34 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Sáu Tuần thứ 34 Thường Niên
Trong tuần cuối cùng của năm phụng vụ của Giáo Hội, các bài đọc thứ Nhất của mỗi ngày cho chúng ta thấy  những cái nhìn về ngày tận thế. Rất tiếc chúng ta không sống trong một thế giới mà chúng ta có thể có được những kinh nghiệm như Thánh Gioan đã được thị kiến và đã viết ra trong Sách Khải Huyền.  Chúng ta không biết rõ về những chi tiết lịch sử của thời đại và những dữ kiện đã xảy ra trong thời Thánh Gioan., có nghĩa là phần lớn những gì ông kinh nghiệm, ông đã truyền lại chúng ta. Tuy nhiên, nếu chúng ta có đủ kiên nhẫn để đọc và để tìm hiểu thêm về ý nghĩa của cuốn sách, thì chúng ta có thể khám phá ra khá nhiều những hiểu biết và được an ủi qua những công việc của ông.
            Đoạn cuối của Bài đọc hôm nay, khi nói đến trời mới và đất mới và sau đó nói đến một thành thánh Jerusalem mới. Bất chấp sự khinh hải của các đoạn văn trước đó, Thánh Gioan chắc chắn trải qua một số Chân Lý đã an ủi và làm cho ông rất hy vọng.
            Trời, tất nhiên, là hoàn toàn khác biệt với những kinh nghiệm ở trần thế của chúng ta, nhưng Thánh Gioan đã liên kết một trời mới cùng với đất mới là một lời nhắc nhở rằng có một sự liên tục giữa trời và đất. Cơ thể chúng ta chết, nhưng chúng ta đang sống trong một mối quan hệ mới với Thiên Chúa, Người mà cho chúng ta có được sự sống đời đời và hạnh phúc vĩnh cửu. Niềm hy vọng này và một cách chắc chắn là đức tin của chúng ta mặc khải cho chúng ta cho chúng ta. có nghĩa là chúng ta có thể có đủ sức mạnh Chúa ban như bài Thánh Vịnh chúng ta nghe . “Lạy Chúa, Phúc thay kẻ lấy Ngài làm sức mạnh, ấp ủ trong lòng giấc mộng hành hương, mưa đầu mùa đổ phúc lộc chứa chan.
 
Reflection (SG)
            In this last week of the Church’s liturgical year, the first readings each day deals with visions of the end of the world. We do not live in a world where we have any experience of the visions which the writer of the Revelation has described for us. Not knowing the historical details of the writer’s times and background, means that much of what he says passes us by. Yet if we have the patience to read and to look for meaning we can discover quite many consoling insights in his work.
            The last paragraph of today’s passage, speaks of new heavens and a new earth and then of a new Jerusalem. In spite of the terror of the previous paragraphs, the author obviously experienced some great consoling truth which gave him hope.
            Heaven, of course, is totally different from our earthly experiences, but the author’s linking together of a new heaven and a new earth is a reminder that there is some continuity between heaven and earth. Our bodies die, but we live in a new relationship with God which gives us eternal life and everlasting happiness. This hope and certainty which our faith reveals to us means that we can go from strength to strength as the Psalmist says.
Lord, by Your grace may we grow spiritually from strength to strength.
 
Friday 34th Ordinary Time
“Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Luke 21:32–33
As we approach the final days of this liturgical year, we continue to read about the end of the world. Today we read that both Heaven and earth, as they currently are, will pass away. This is worth pondering.
We know that life is full of change. It has been said that the one thing that never changes is change itself. Everything else changes. But when it comes to earth, it is hard to believe that it will one day “pass away.” Some scientists believe that the earth has existed for over four and a half billion years. That’s a long time! Now consider the fact that Jesus prophesied the end of this earth as we know it today. When will it happen? Only God knows.
Heaven, as it exists today, is also prophesied by our Lord to pass away. Heaven, as it is right now, is a pure spiritual reality in which the only corporeal bodies present are those of Jesus and our Blessed Mother. The rest of Heaven consists of the Divine Essence, the souls of those who have been redeemed and the angels of God. But if Heaven even passes away, what awaits?
First of all, the only reason that these two realities, Heaven and earth, will pass away in their current form is because, at the Final Judgment, there will be a “New Heavens and a New Earth,” as spoken of in the Book of Revelation. At that time, Heaven and earth will be united as one, and this new creation will exist for eternity.
But is there anything that is currently eternal? Anything that will never experience change? We humans will be changed at the resurrection of the dead, the angels will encounter a new home, so to speak, and God will establish a new and permanent Kingship. But, according to Jesus’ teaching today, the one thing that will remain are His words: “…my words will not pass away.” Again, this is worth pondering.
In a world filled with change and uncertainty, we need some form of stability. And that stability is the Truth found in the Word of God. The Word of God, as revealed to us through the Scriptures, must become our rock foundation upon which our whole lives are built and exist. Pondering, praying with, meditating on, and believing the Word of God enables us to stand on firm and unchanging spiritual ground as we go through the change of this life and even the changes that will come at the end of time. Though this may seem somewhat mysterious in nature, it is a helpful truth to understand and believe. Everything will pass away except Jesus’ words. Thus, the most secure thing we can do in life is to cling to His words and never let go.
Reflect, today, upon the importance of truly immersing yourself in the Word of God. How much time do you spend each week reading it, praying with it and allowing it to become your daily food? The Word of God is not simply a book of teachings meant to inspire you or guide you. The Word of God is a Living Word. It is God in His unchangeable form. God, in His essence, will never change, and engaging Him through the revelation of His written Word is one essential way by which you will be able to experience true stability in life and prepare for each and every change to come until the final order of life is permanently established.
My Eternal Word, You are unchanging and eternal. You are the rock foundation upon which I must always rely. As I continue to experience the many changes encountered in this life, please enter my soul through Your written Word, so that I will find the stability I need. As I stand firm in You, I look forward with joy to the New Heavens and New Earth that await. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Friday 34th Ordinary Time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, your word is eternal. Your word stands the test of time. Empires come and go. The world around me is passing, ephemeral, and temporal. But what you offer me is the promise of eternal life in your Kingdom. Help me to embrace this promise and center my life on you.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Heaven and Earth will Pass Away: In the Gospel, Jesus invites his disciples to consider the fig tree and all the other trees and how their buds burst open and indicate that summer is near. In like manner, Jesus says that there are things that will happen that will indicate that the time of Jerusalem’s fall is near. When Jesus says that “heaven and earth will pass away,” this is not just a reference to the end of time. It is also a reference to the destruction of the Temple. This is because the Temple in Jerusalem was considered a microcosm of the universe. The sanctuary of the Temple represented heaven. In fact, the veil of the Temple had images of the sun, the moon, and the stars. The courts of the Temple represented the earth. When Jesus promises that heaven and earth will pass away, he is predicting the destruction of the Temple. Jesus not only predicts the destruction, but he also says exactly when it will happen: before “this generation” passes away. Now, a generation, in the bible, means forty years. Jesus was crucified in A.D. 30 on the 15^th day of Nisan, which was after the evening Passover and was the day of preparation before the Sabbath. The Romans began to lay siege to Jerusalem in A.D. 70, three days before the Passover. In this way, the forty years were completed, the microcosm of the universe was destroyed, and yet Jesus’ words remain.
2. The Thousand Years: The Book of Revelation can be interpreted historically as a prophecy about salvation history and the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The First Reading refers to the binding of the ancient serpent, Satan, for a thousand years and throwing the serpent into the abyss. Historically, the thousand years mark the time from the establishment of David’s Kingdom in 1000 B.C. to the first advent of Jesus in the fullness of time. “The image of the devil being ‘bound’ for ‘a thousand years,’ therefore, is a depiction of the incredible power of God’s oath to establish the Davidic kingdom, through which the nations would be taught and the devil’s deceptions unmasked” (Barber, Coming Soon, 247). The images in the First Reading of a pit (abyss), the rock, the key, and the chain were all connected to the Temple built by David’s son, Solomon. Symbolically, however, the thousand years refers to the age of salvation and the age of the Church, from the time Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God and bound Satan to the consummation of the Kingdom at the end of time.
3. The Promise of a New Heavens and a New Earth: The destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in A.D. 70 is the initial fulfillment of the prophecy that the former heaven and former earth would pass away. “With the passing away of the old Jerusalem, the entire Old Economy – the temple, the Levitical priesthood, etc. – is replaced. A ‘new creation’ is inaugurated with the vision of the ‘New Jerusalem.’ In one sense, this explains the spiritual significance of Christ’s fulfilling all things in Himself and His Church, making the earthly Jerusalem obsolete. At the same time, it looks forward to the Last Day, in which the earth itself will pass away and the Church will receive her final heavenly glory” (Barber, Coming Soon, 257). The destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, which was understood as a microcosm of the universe, points forward to the end of the world, when all people, the righteous and unrighteous, will be judged. The unrighteous will be condemned and suffer the “second death,” torment in body and soul in the “lake of fire.” The righteous will be glorified and, in the “second resurrection,” experience the joy of heaven in both body and soul.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have inaugurated the new creation here on earth. You have made me a new creation through my Baptism. Help me to live and experience that newness to the full. I want to continue to shed the old self and fully embrace new life in and with you, my Savior and Redeemer.
 
Friday 34th Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer: Lord God, sometimes confusion is the dominant characteristic of my prayer. I don’t feel like I’m praying, I don’t know what I should say, and I don’t understand your words. In these moments, please be with me. Pray in me, and then I know I will be praying.
Encountering Christ:
Inscrutable: Luke 21, the content of this week’s Gospel readings, can be difficult to understand. In the passage just before this Jesus said “Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days,” and “Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles,” and “the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” What does Jesus want to tell us in these last days of the liturgical year? He invites us to discernment, to watchfulness. We ask ourselves, “What has the Holy Spirit been saying to me in 2021?” May we deepen our prayer and recognize God at work in these last days of the liturgical year.
Proximate: “The Kingdom of God is near.” The proximity of the Kingdom of God is one of Jesus’ most important messages to us. Our God is not far away, but very near to us, even in our very hearts. This is the logic of the Incarnation, of a God who wants to be near to his creation, and so enters it as a little baby. Luke 17:20-21 is instructive: “Asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, he said in reply, ‘The coming of the Kingdom of God cannot be observed, and no one will announce, “Look, here it is,” or, “There it is.” For behold, the Kingdom of God is among you.’” Are we able to recognize the Kingdom of God when we see it? Does God seem far away, or have we let him come very, very close?
Eternal: The Word of God is living and eternal. With a word, God fashioned the heavens and the earth. Indeed, the only-begotten Son of God is the living Word, which took flesh and dwelt among us. We know, too, that the sacred Scriptures are the living word of God. There we read of salvation history and God’s long and loving relationship with mankind—all that a loving God dreams of for his children. Scripture is an invaluable aid to discernment. There we find the right context, the appropriate lens for reading the events of our life.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the King of the world, who came to earth to establish your loving reign. I want to be a part of this empire of harmony, this domain of justice and truth. Please establish yourself over my life; I give you full permission, for you are the most tender of monarchs!
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will take some time to journal about the graces, challenges, and blessings of the past year.