Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 5 Mùa Chay

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ 5 Mùa Chay - John 8, 31-42
Hôm nay, Chúa Kitô mời gọi chúng ta đón nhận Lời Chúa để Lời Chúa làm chủ tâm hồn của chúng ta. Ngài cũng nói rằng tất cả mọi thứ trên đời này sẽ qua đi nhưng Lời Ngài sẽ chẳng bao giờ qua đi, nhưng sẽ tồn tại vĩnh cửu. Vì Lời Chúa chính là Thiên Chúa.
Qua lịch sử của loài người chúng ta thấy. Con người đã phát minh và đưa ra rất nhiều chân lý, và triết lý khác nhau qua những triều đại và những đế quốc có lúc rất là thịnh vượng, nhưng rồi cũng đã bị diệt vong, như đế quốc La Mã hay Mông Cổ với Thành Cát Tư Hãn... Thế giới của chúng ta luôn luôn thay đổi và phát triển liên tục. Để nhận biết chân lý sự thật, chúng ta cần phải nhận thức, Chúng ta cần có một cái mỏ neo tinh thần để có thể chịu đựng được những sự thử thách của thời gian.
Lời của Chúa "hướng dẫn chúng ta, bác bỏ mọi sự dối trá, khuyên nhủ và sửa chữa những lỗi lầm, biết nhẫn nại và chú tâm dạy dỗ người khác". (2 Tm 4:2). Tuy nhiên, không nên chỉ biết nghe không mà thôi, chúng ta cần đưa Lời Chúa vào thực tại bằng việc thực hiện Lời Chúa ngay trong cuộc sống hằng ngày của chúng ta để chúng ta có thể phát triển và thu thập được các loại hoa trái của sự hy vọng, trong đức tin và đức ái.
 
REFLECTION Gospel Reading: John 8:31-42
Today, Jesus Christ invites us to make his Word our home. He also says that everything passes away but the Word of God remains because it is eternal.  And Word is God Himself. Human history raised up many truths and philosophies. Dynasties and empires rose and fell. The world is constantly changing and evolving. To know the truth, we need discernment. We need a spiritual anchor that can withstand the test of time. The word of God "instructs, refutes falsehood, corrects errors, gives encouragement." (2 Tm 4:2) It also goes beyond the limits of time. But it should not only be listened to but put into practice as well so that we can gather fruits of faith, hope and charity.
 
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31–32
These words have the potential to make a transforming difference in our lives. Note that Jesus spoke these words “to those Jews who believed in him.” That is, those who had accepted His word and were, therefore, His true disciples. We who also believe in Jesus should consider these words carefully. The heart of this teaching is twofold: you must come to “know the truth” so that the truth you come to know “will set you free.” 
This teaching of Jesus is exceptionally helpful on both a psychological and spiritual level. First of all, on a purely psychological level, one of the greatest helps to good mental health is the truth. Most often when one struggles with various forms of depression, it’s because they are seeing aspects of their life with confusion. “Why did this person do this to me?” Or “How will I ever get through this?” Or “My life is a mess and there is no way out.” These and other similar thoughts will inevitably lead to depression for one simple reason: they are based on erroneous thinking.
One of the best forms of psychological counseling is what could be called “truth therapy.” Every despairing question that we have and every depressing conclusion that we have come to in life must be reexamined in the light of the mind of God. What does God think? What is in the mind of God in this regard? Those truths that are waiting to be discovered are the truth that “will set you free.” Depression is more easily overcome when we look at our life in the way that God looks at our life. This produces hope, and hope brings freedom to the chains of depression and confusion.
On a spiritual level, these principles apply all the more. The truth about sin, forgiveness, salvation and Heaven must be known deeply and embraced fully. When we deny the truth of sin or forgiveness, then we live within a lie and we remain bound by that lie. True spiritual freedom that leads to salvation and eternity in Heaven is obtained only when we wholeheartedly embrace the holy and perfect spiritual truth given to us by God. We must clearly know our sin, repent of it, seek the forgiveness of God, amend our lives and live the new life of grace to which we are called.
Reflect, today, upon this powerfully transforming teaching of Jesus: “know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” What psychological and spiritual truths do you need to more deeply know? What confusion or blindness remains? Seek the remedy of the Truth as it is in the mind of God and know that freedom awaits.
God of all Truth, Your Word is liberating, transforming and fills us with hope. May I turn my mind to You and to Your holy Word so that I may know the Truth as You speak it and allow that transforming Truth to set me free. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Wenesday 5th Week of Lent 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you created me out of love to enjoy your divine life. Help me to see how true freedom is found in your loving will and sharing in your Son’s life. Help me to reject the false freedom offered by the world and the devil.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Spiritual Freedom from Sin: The Gospel of John continues the debate between Jesus and the Pharisees, some of whom are starting to believe in Jesus. Jesus teaches that to be one of his disciples goes beyond merely learning his teachings. A disciple of Jesus must remain or abide in his word. Those who faithfully welcome and embrace Jesus and his word will allow it to transform their lives. The abiding Word of God will give them knowledge of the truth and the freedom of the children of God. The reaction of the Pharisees to this teaching about being set free is very hostile. In fact, the Pharisees outright lie by saying that as descendants of Abraham, they “have never been enslaved to anyone.” This ignores their history as slaves in Egypt, exiles in Babylon, and vassals under Persia. It ignores their past subjugation to the Greeks and their current subjugation under Rome. Jesus tries to bring them to a deeper understanding of their spiritual slavery. They are blind to their spiritual enslavement to the power of sin and their need for the freedom that Jesus offers (Martin and Wright, The Gospel of John, 162).
2. Children of Abraham or Children of the Devil: In the debate with the Pharisees, Jesus draws out a difference between, on the one hand, being a child of the devil and a slave of sin and, on the other, being a true child of Abraham and a free child of God. Jesus did not come to bring political liberation from the Romans, but to bring freedom from sin, which alienates us from God our Father. When the Pharisees call themselves children of Abraham, Jesus warns them that they are acting not as children of Abraham who do the works of Abraham but are acting like children of the devil (John 8:43-44). Abraham, despite his many faults and failings, was a man of faith. And Jesus has pointed out that the Pharisees are refusing to believe. Instead of imitating the faith of Abraham, who was willing to offer his son, Isaac, in sacrifice, they are imitating the murderer and father of lies, the devil, and trying to kill the Son of God to get rid of him.
3. Jesus’ Concern for the Pharisees: Throughout the debate with the Pharisees, Jesus does not hold back. He goes toe-to-toe with them, so to speak. He continues to invite them to believe in him and tries to get them to stop thinking and judging “according to the flesh” (John 7:24; 8:15). Jesus wants to bring the religious authorities, who are familiar with the scriptures, to come to believe in the fulfillment of the scriptures in his person. The Pharisees are content with the old Temple, the Law of Moses, animal sacrifices, sabbath prohibitions, and separation from sinners and Gentiles. They are resisting the New Temple, the grace of Jesus, the sacrifice of love, becoming new creations, and welcoming all nations into the new family of God.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you reveal the truth that sets me free. I want to embrace that truth and freedom with all my heart. You are able to liberate me and make me flourish as a child of God. Set my eyes on how wonderful life is when I live according to God’s will.
 
Wenesday 5th Week of Lent 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you created me out of love to enjoy your divine life. Help me to see how true freedom is found in your loving will and sharing in your Son’s life. Help me to reject the false freedom offered by the world and the devil.
Encountering the Word of God
1. True Freedom: The discussion between Jesus and the Jews deals with the difference between the slavery of sin and the freedom of children of God. Jesus links knowing the truth and living in the truth with freedom: those who follow him as his disciples will share in his divine sonship and truly be free. John tells us that Jesus is speaking with the Jews who believed in him. The Jews, however, are hesitant to accept Jesus’ teaching and answer back that they consider themselves free, not because they follow him, but because they are descendants of Abraham. Jesus wants to correct this superficial vision of things and bring them to a deeper understanding of divine sonship and its freedom. Freedom, Jesus teaches, does not depend on physical descent from Abraham according to the flesh, but on spiritual descent from Abraham according to faith. Jesus brings this point out by alluding to the story of Abraham's two sons: Ishmael, born of the slave Hagar, and Isaac, born of Sarah his wife. Paul takes up this same theme in the Letter to the Romans and writes that not all are children of Abraham because they are his descendants. The children of God are not the children of the flesh, but rather the children of the promise (Romans 9:6-9).
2. Freedom according to Paul: In the Letter to the Galatians, Paul writes: “Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise” (Galatians 4:22-23). Both Ishmael and Isaac were circumcised, but circumcision (one of the signs of the covenant with Abraham) is no guarantee that one will inherit the blessings promised to Abraham and his descendants. Jesus teaches, then, that to truly be a child of Abraham means doing the works of Abraham – believing God and obeying his divine word (Romans 4:1-3). The promise made to Abraham is given to those who share the faith of Abraham (Romans 4:16). Paul will also use the story of Hagar and Sarah to symbolize two covenants (Galatians 3:24-31): Hagar represents the Mosaic covenant of Mount Sinai (and its final form in the Book of Deuteronomy); Sarah represents the Abrahamic covenant and its fulfillment in the New covenant of Jerusalem. Rejecting Jesus means following the way of Ishmael and being cut off from the blessings promised to the descendants of Abraham. Accepting Jesus means following the way of Isaac and sharing in those blessings.
3. The Liberating Action of God: Through his sacrifice on the Cross (prefigured by the binding of Isaac on Mount Moriah), Jesus frees us from the curses of the covenant of Deuteronomy. We are justified and made righteous, not by the works of the old law of Deuteronomy, but by faith in Jesus Christ and cooperation with the grace of the Holy Spirit (Compendium CCC, 422). In the Book of Daniel, we see an example of the liberating action of God. Three men – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego – refuse to worship the king's statue and instead entrust themselves to the protection of the one, true God. They are condemned to death for their disobedience and cast into the white-hot furnace. The flames, however, do not touch them and they are protected by one who looks like a son of God. In this way, God frees them and delivers them from death. We learn from this that there is no opposition between serving God and being free. The more we act in accord with God’s law and will, the freer we become. “There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the slavery of sin” (CCC, 1733). As children of God, we are moved to act righteously not by slavish fear, but by the Holy Spirit in freedom and out of filial love. Freedom is not an indifferent ability to choose between doing evil or doing good. True freedom is a share in God’s freedom and is always ordered to the good and true and beautiful. The nearer we approach God through moral progress, the less we are inclined to sin and abuse our freedom. Knowledge of God (knowing the truth) and love for God (living according to the truth) make us truly free. On our own, we are powerless to break free from the devil and the bondage of sin. Christ alone can liberate us and make us children of the Father. This is a great mystery we contemplate as we approach Holy Week.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you reveal the truth that sets me free. I want to embrace that truth and freedom with all my heart. You are able to liberate me and make me flourish as a child of God. Set my eyes on how wonderful life is when I live according to God’s will.