Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Sau Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Hai Sau Phục Sinh – MAT 28:8-15 ,
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta thấy cái giá của sự thật là “số tiền” mà các thượng tế đút lót cho các quan lính để có một lời nói dối dễ dàng. Các thầy thượng tế yêu thích các ánh đèn màu, loè lẹt sân khấu” cũng như họ thích đánh bóng cá nhân và chức vị, cái TÔI của họ, họ cố tình dùng chức vị mà Thiên Chúa trao ban cho họ là để tôn vinh Thiên Chúa, nhưng họ đã không tôn vinh thiên Chúa mà họ còn dùng chức quyền ấy để thao túng, đánh lừa và bắt buộc người Do Thái sống trong sự lừa dối của họ, trong bóng tối của sự dữ và tội lỗi mà cha ông họ đã từng sống.  Các thầy thượng tế sợ rằng sự thật của sự phục sinh sẽ làm họ mất chức, mất quyền lợi vì người Do Thái sẽ tự do ra đi trong ánh sáng của Chúa Phục Sinh.
            Sự phục sinh  của Chúa Kitô,  là sự kiện quan trọng nhất trong lịch sử tôn giáo của chúng ta. Đó là giá chuộc của chúng ta.  Đó là giá tự do của chúng ta phải trả cho tội lỗi của chúng ta, và đó cũng là chiến thắng của Chúa Kitô trên sự chết, không phải chỉ trong thể chất, nhưng trong cả tinh thần. Ngôi mộ trống sau khi Chúa sống lại là biểu tượng của sự vĩnh cửu, của niềm hy vọng.
            Trong cuộc sống trong xã hội hiện tại, chúng ta thường hay bị cám dỗ để thao túng sự thật,  vì vậy chúng ta phải  sống làm sao khác hẳn với những kẻ xấu?, những kẻ chỉ biết lợi dụng chức quyền, tiền của để thao túng sự thật,  làm hại cá nhân hay quyền lợi của người khác. Giải pháp hối lộ thao túng thực sự có giúp cho chúng ta được tự do như chúng ta hằng mong muốn và hy vọng?  Trong mùa Phục Sinh này, chúng ta mừng Chúa Sống Lại với sự vui mừng vì chúng ta có được sự đổi mới trong tâm hốn, chúng ta hãy có gắng tránh cạm bẫy chính mình trong sức hút của sự dối trá và quyết tâm bảo vệ cho chân lý, sự thật và tự do mà chân lý đó mang lại.
Sự phục sinh, sự sống lại của Chúa Kitô là có thực, cũng như chân lý sẽ chiếm ưu thế trong cuộc sống của chúng ta, không thể chối cãi được. Và đấy chính là điều đáng được loan truyền cho thế giới của chúng ta.
 
Reflection Monday Octave Easter
Today’s readings show us that the proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection is at the heart of our Christian vocation. This proclamation is not optional but it is an urgent task that we have received from our Lord. Jesus is truly risen and we can’t stop preaching His victory to the whole world. “Go and tell my brothers that they must leave for Galilee; they will see me there” - Jesus urged the women. “Make no mistake about this, but listen carefully to what I say” - St Peter loudly and without any compromise preached to the Jews in Jerusalem.
   Only Jesus has the power to give His life for us and break the terror of death. Every celebration of Easter gives proof that our faith is based not on an illusion but on the foundation of God’s love and truth.  When we proclaim Jesus’ resurrection, we announce also liberation from sin because Jesus through His victory over death has overcome the power of Satan. We still experience temptation. We are sinners and we fail. Nevertheless, it is our Risen Lord who makes us free through the sacrament of reconciliation. When we proclaim Jesus’ resurrection we bring hope to our world because we announce the promise of eternal life. The Son of God who united His divinity with our human nature and is now raised to the heights by God’s right hand, will raise us up on the Last Day.
“Lord, You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in Your presence, at Your right hand happiness for ever.”
 
Monday Octave Easter 2025
The chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.’ And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” Matthew 28:12–14
The Lord of all rose from the grave, conquering sin and death, making it possible for us all to share in His glorious Resurrection! Death had lost. Satan had lost. The corrupt religious leaders had lost. And all those who believed in Jesus now had their eternal hope renewed. Sadly, though, what was the greatest victory ever known for humanity, a victory that opened the doors to eternal glory for all who believe, could not be accepted by the chief priests and elders of the people. They saw to His death, and, now that He had risen, they scrambled to do all they could to hide that truth.
Pride is hard to overcome. When a person professes they are right, when in fact they are wrong, and when they are then confronted with their error, the sin of pride will inevitably tempt them to further sin. This is what we see today in this passage from our Gospel. The chief priests and elders were informed by the soldiers that when the women came to the tomb early in the morning, there was a great earthquake, and they saw an angel of the Lord descend from Heaven, roll back the stone, and sit on it. When they saw this, “The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men” (Matthew 28:4). And after they heard the angel tell the women that Jesus had risen, the guards went off to tell the chief priests and elders.
After all the miracles and powerful preaching of Jesus, you would think that the chief priests and elders would have believed. But they didn’t. And then, after hearing the testimony of these soldiers, you would think they would have fallen on their knees, repented of their hardness of hearts, and come to believe. But they didn’t. They doubled down in their sin and added sin upon sin.
Some forms of sin can more easily be admitted, especially sins of weakness. When one is weak and falls, it may not be always easy to overcome that sin in the future, but it is easier to acknowledge it as sin when it is caused by human weakness. But a sin of weakness is much different than a sin of obstinate pride. Obstinate pride is not only hard to overcome, it’s hard to admit. It’s hard to admit our sin when it is based on our obstinacy and pride. As a result, this type of sin often leads to other sins such as ongoing deception, manipulation and anger. This is illustrated by these chief priests and elders. But if you can humble yourself and admit your sin when it comes from your pride, that humility can have a powerful and transformative effect upon your life.
Reflect, today, upon these chief priests and elders of the people. Try to ponder their hardness of heart and the sad situation they found themselves in as they attempted to cover up their error and sin. Resolve never to fall into this form of sin yourself. However, if this is a struggle for you, seek humility so that you can be freed of this heavy burden by the grace of the Resurrection of our Lord.
My resurrected Lord, You conquered sin and death and brought forth new life for all who believe in You. Give me the grace, dear Jesus, to never allow my sin of pride to keep me from being open to the glorious and transforming action You desire to do in my life. Please give me the gift of humility so that I may always turn from my sin and turn to You. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday Octave Easter 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I praise you and worship you. I truly believe in the Resurrection of your Son. I believe that you have the power to raise me up. Help me to give witness to the Resurrection through my words and deeds this day.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Announcing the Good News: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary became the apostles to the Apostles. The “other Mary” is the mother of James and the wife of Clopas, who was the brother of Joseph. She was Jesus’ aunt. As two women left the tomb, they were fearful yet overjoyed. They were fearful because they just experienced a great earthquake, saw an angel of the Lord descend from heaven, and saw the angel roll back the stone at Jesus’ tomb. They were filled with an abundance of joy when they heard the announcement of the angel about Jesus’ resurrection: “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him’” (Matthew 28:5-7). As they were on their way to announce the good news of Jesus’ resurrection to the apostles, Jesus met them and greeted them. 
2. Go to Galilee of the Nations: Jesus confirmed the angel’s message about the need for Jesus’ brothers – his apostles and disciples – to go to Galilee. From the other Gospels, we learn that the disciples encountered the risen Jesus twice before they departed Jerusalem and went to Galilee. The Gospel of Matthew highlights the great commission that the eleven apostles received on a mountain in Galilee. The region of Galilee was mentioned earlier in the Gospel of Matthew as “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Matthew 4:15). It was where Jesus began his public ministry and Matthew saw this as a fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah 8:23: “There is no gloom where there had been distress. Where once he degraded the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, now he has glorified the way of the Sea, the land across the Jordan, Galilee of the Nations.” Galilee was a crossroads of Jewish and Gentile cultures and peoples. By bringing the eleven apostles out of Jerusalem after the Feast of Passover and Unleavened Bread, Jesus taught them that their mission is to go out into the entire world and preach the good news: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
3. Some Doubted: Matthew emphasizes that Jesus’ disciples were slow to believe in the Resurrection. Some, when they encountered the risen Jesus in Galilee, worshipped him. But others continued to doubt (Matthew 28:17). This emphasizes the very real struggle to walk by faith. As the Catechism teaches: “[F]aith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it” (CCC, 164). It is possible that some doubted when they saw the risen Jesus in Galilee because they expected something different from Jesus as the Messiah. Where was the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus promised? Why were they still under Roman rule? Where were the restored tribes of Israel? Why were they still just a small band of people hanging around the Sea of Galilee? The Catechism encourages us that when our faith is shaken we need to turn to the witnesses of faith: to witnesses like Abraham, the Virgin Mary, and the saints who surround us (CCC, 165).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I believe in your Resurrection. Grant me a deeper faith in you as the Resurrection and the Life. Do not let my heart grow weary as I journey to you. Intercede for me before the Father so that I may overcome sin in my life and experience the resurrection to eternal life.
 
Monday Octave Easter
Opening Prayer: Lord, help me to turn to you, with my fears and anxieties, to renew my confidence and find my courage in you alone. 
Encountering Christ: 
1. Greetings!: What was in the hearts of the holy women as they left the tomb overwhelmed with joy yet fearful of the mystery still unfolding? The women interpreted emptiness positively. Having gone to care for the dead, they realized they had a new task: to announce to the living disciples the reality of the Resurrection. Having set aside their preoccupations and sadness, they could meet and receive Jesus. They had made space in their hearts to approach, embrace, and do Jesus homage. Where in our hearts might Jesus be inviting us to lay aside any preconceptions, attachments, or worries, so we can be open to receiving Him and freely proclaim His good news? 
2. “Do Not Be Afraid”: Fear is a powerful emotion that can have a strong effect on our minds and body. We all suffer to some degree from fear. Many things can cause us anxiety or stress: the threat of death (either perceived or real), public speaking, being alone, failure, a terrorist attack, or spiders, just to name a few. Fear is a natural and real response that can be challenging to manage. When Jesus came to the women with his overwhelming resurrected presence, their fear disappeared, and joy flooded in. Learning to feel less fearful is to allow Jesus to accompany us and to be present with us. Our circumstances might not change, but our hearts do, knowing whom we rely on for strength, courage, and guidance. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).  
3. Go!: Galilee is where Jesus began and ended his ministry. From this remote rural backwaters of Israel, he sent his disciples forth. His invitation came with a promise, “there they will see me.” He likewise sends us to ‘Galilee’: the familiar places of our neighborhoods, our families, our parishes, and our encounters with the poor and those in need. Wherever we find ourselves, there we will see him. The risen Lord is everywhere we bring his love.    
Conversing with Christ: Lord, you are the only one to cast out my fears and fill me with confident joy. Only by encountering you do I gain strength and courage to go out into the world, where I find you disguised in my neighbor, the poor, the suffering, and all those in need. Grant me the grace to witness to you as an agent of consolation, hope, and encouragement. 
Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will make a special effort to speak well of others, especially those with whom I disagree.  
 
Monday Octave Easter
Opening Prayer: Here I am, Lord. I come to hear your Gospel and live it out in my life. Please be with me on my journey today, and shepherd me through my fears so I can experience your joy.
Encountering Christ:
Family of Love: Jesus told the women to announce to his brothers that he would go to Galilee. This was the first time in Matthew’s Gospel that Jesus referred to his disciples as his brothers. This describes the family relationship that was restored after the Resurrection. Our relationship with God, which was broken by the fall of man, has been repaired in Christ’s death and Resurrection. We are truly his brothers because we have been restored to the dignity of being “children of God” (John 1:12). God is our Father, and Christ is our brother. The letter to the Hebrews explains the connection between Christ and his disciples: “He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin. Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them ‘brothers’” (Hebrews 2:11). Both Christ and those who follow him “have one origin”; we are all from the Father. Therefore, we have a filial relationship with the Holy Trinity and with each other. We are a family of love, united in Christ: “For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).
The End of Fear: Being a child of God means that we need not be afraid any longer. We do not have to be alone in our fear, because we are surrounded by the love of our spiritual family: God our Father, Christ our brother, the Holy Spirit, and our brethren in the Church. The women were “fearful yet overjoyed” when the angel announced Christ’s Resurrection to them. Jesus, sensing their fear, assured them, saying: “Do not be afraid.” Christ’s presence drove away their fear. Fear can hold us back from experiencing joy. We can ask ourselves if there are things that are causing us any fear in this moment, and then offer those fears to Jesus so he can give us his protection and guide us through them, as our Good Shepherd (Psalm 23). When we invite Jesus into our fears, he can help us face them with courage instead of running away from them. 
The Beginning of Joy: Eastertide is the source of our true joy. The fear and uncertainty of Good Friday and Holy Saturday have turned into the joy and surety of the Easter proclamation: “Alleluia! He Is Risen!” St. John Paul II exhorted us to break free from fear and despair because of our identity as children of God and members of the Church. He said, “Do not abandon yourself to despair. We are the Easter people and ‘Hallelujah’ is our song.” “Alleluia” has returned to our liturgies. Jesus has changed our mourning into dancing. He has removed the sackcloth of our grief and clothed us with gladness (cf. Psalm 30:12). Let us rejoice!
Conversing with Christ: My Jesus, I am honored and humbled to be one of your brethren. Sometimes I forget that I am a child of God and fall into fear and despair. Help me to call on you to be at my side when I am afraid. Help me to praise you when I am joyful. Help me to always live with dignity and love as a child of our Father.
 
Suy Niệm Thứ hai Tuần Bát Nhật Phục sinh
Chúa Giêsu đã chào đón những người phụ nữ với câu chào của người Do thái " Shalom ! bình an! " Nhưng những lời chào tiếng Do Thái bình thường này bây giờ đã biến đổi. Chào hỏi họ, Chúa Giêsu đã lấy đi sự sợ hãi của họ và chia sẻ với họ niềm vui và bình an của Chúa Phục Sinh; Vì sự an bình mà Ngài đã hứa trong Bữa Tiệc Ly và sự an bình này không thể nào có thể tìm thấy trong thế giới của chúng ta. Lời chào bình an sẽ trở thành một lời chào đặc biệt trong Kitô giáo, Một cách đặc biệt là trong sự hiệp nhất với chữ " ân sủng" như chúng ta thuờng thấy trong những câu mở đầu của các bài thánh thư gời các tín hữu và giáo đoàn của Thánh Phaolô.
Trong câu  chào hỏi " Shalom và bình an của Chúa Giêsu" Tâm hồn của các môn đệ được tràn đầy niềm vui . Phục Sinh mang lại cho họ vô số ân sủng: niềm vui và sự bình an, hy vọng và lòng can đảm trong cuộc sống mà họ sẽ phải đối mặt với , hòa bình chấp nhận và tha thứ, sự thanh thản được yêu mến mãi mãi của Thiên Chúa.
Chúng ta hãy nên nhớ rằng lời chúc bình an của chúng ta trước khi chúng ta được nhận rước Thánh Thể trong Thánh Lễ phải được tôn kính, cho chúng ta chào hỏi và “chúc bình an của Chúa Kitô" . Thân thiện củaới con người chúng ta, với lời chúc lành của Thiên Chúa, phải được thực sự trở thành một công cụ hòa bình của Thiên Chúa mà Chúa Kitô phục sinh ban cho những người khác thông qua chúng ta.
Lạy Chúa Giêsu, khi Chúa đến với chúng tôi trong Bí Tích Thánh Thể , xin cho trái tim của chúng con được lấp đầy với niềm vui và sự bình an của sự sống lại để chúng con có thể trở thành những người mang Tin Mừng của sự an bình và tình yêu đến với cái thế giới vỡ bể trong chia rẽ và hận thù của chúng ta.
 
, Monday within Easter Octave Mon 21st April 2014
Jesus greeted the women with “Shalom! Peace!” but this normal Hebrew greeting was now transformed.
In greeting them, Jesus was taking away their fear and sharing with them the joy and peace of the Resurrection - that peace which he had promised at the Last Supper and which the world could never give. That peace would become a special Christian greeting, especially in union with the word “grace” as we see in the opening verses of St Paul’s Epistles. 
At Jesus’ greeting of “Shalom! Peace!” the hearts of his disciples were filled with joy. The Resurrection brings us a multitude of graces: joy and peace, hope and courage in facing life, the peace of God’s acceptance and forgiveness, the serenity of being loved forever. We should remember that our greeting of peace before we receive the Eucharist at Mass should be reverential, for we are greeting each other with the “peace of Christ”. Our human friendliness, with God’s blessing, must become truly an instrument of God’s peace which the risen Christ offers to others through us.
            Lord Jesus, as you come to us in the Eucharist, may our hearts be filled with the joy and peace of the resurrection so that we may become the carriers of your Gospel of peace and love to this very broken world of ours.