Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Ba Tuần thứ Năm Phục sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Ba Tuần thứ Năm Phục sinh
“Thầy ban bình an của Thầy cho anh em, Thầy ban cho anh em không theo kiểu thế gian.”
Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu nói gián tiếp với chúng ta về thập giá: Ngài sẽ ban cho chúng ta sự bình an, nhưng với giá Ngài phải trả là sự Khổ nạn, đau đớn của Ngài trong thế giới này. Hôm nay, chúng ta được nghe những lời Ngài nói trước khi phải hy sinh trên Thập Giá, nhưng đã được viết sau khi Ngài sống lại. Với cái chết của Ngài trên Thập giá, Ngài đã đánh bại cả cái chết và sự sợ hãi. Ngài đem lại cho chúng ta hòa bình “nhưng không phải sự hoà bình của thế gian” (Ga 14:27), bởi vì như Ngài đã làm điều đó bằng cách chấp nhận những nỗi đau đớn và nhục nhã nhất: đây là cách Ngài đã chứng tỏ được tình yêu và lòng thương xót của Ngài đã dành cho con người chúng ta.
Tại sao Ngài đã làm những điều như vậy? Bởi vì, sự đau đón của con người gắn bó với sự đau khổ của Chúa Kitô đã trở thành một sự hy sinh để cứu chuộc chúng ta khỏi tội lỗi. Thánh Gioan Phaolồ 2 đã nói “Trong Thánh Giá của Chúa Kitô (...), đau khổ của con người đã được cứu chuộc” (John Paul II). Chúa Giêsu Kitô đâ âm thầm, lặng lẽ chịu đựng để làm vừa lòng Chúa Cha với sự vâng phục bằng mọi giá, mà chính sự vâng phục Ngài đã sẵn lòng hy sinh tự hiến chính bản thân của mình cho sự cứu rỗi của chúng ta.
 
Reflection
«I give you my peace. Not as the world gives peace do I give it to you»
Today, Jesus speaks to us indirectly of the cross: He will give us the peace, but at the cost of his painful “departure” of this world. Today, we read those words He said before the sacrifice on the Cross but that were written after his Resurrection. With his death on the Cross, He defeats both death and fear. He gives the peace «but not as the world gives peace» (Jn 14:27), inasmuch as He does it by going through the most excruciating pain and humiliation: this is how He proved his merciful love for man.
Why did He do it in such a way? Because thus, human pain —together with Christ's suffering— becomes a sacrifice that saves us from sin. «In the Cross of Christ (...), human suffering has been redeemed» (John Paul II). Jesus Christ quietly suffered to please the Heavenly Father with an act of costly obedience, through which He willingly offered Himself for our salvation.
 
Tuesday 5th Week of Easter
Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.” John 14:27
So how does the peace that Jesus gives you differ from the apparent peace that the world gives? We all want peace in life. The desire for interior peace is written upon our very nature. And though many people make choices that lead to interior disorder and even chaos, those choices are often made out of a confused sense of what actually provides fulfillment.
For example, those who choose to feed an addiction to drugs or alcohol often began that addiction out of a misguided desire for happiness. The temporary fix experienced gives the temporary sense of well-being. But objectively speaking, it is very clear that the temporary “peace” one receives from these actions leads ultimately to a loss of the very thing they desire. And when these choices become addictions, the person often finds themself trapped in a downward spiral.
There are also countless other ways in which people find themselves seeking satisfaction and fulfillment in life. Money, promiscuity, cheating, selfishness, anger, deception, and the like are all actions that are done with the intent of some satisfaction. Our daily goal must be to unmask those deceptive actions so that we can see them for what they are and for the fruit that they produce. These are clearly among the many ways that the “world” offers us peace.
When it comes to true happiness in life, the gift of true interior peace is one of the clearest signs that we are on the right track and are making the right decisions. When we choose the will of God each and every day, those choices may be difficult and require much initial sacrifice. Love can be hard. Faithfulness to the moral law of God can be challenging. And refusing to sin is difficult. But choosing the will of God throughout our day, every day, will begin to produce within us the consoling and sustaining gift of the peace of Christ.
True peace produces strength. It leads to interior integrity and wholeness. It produces clarity of thought and certitude in convictions. God’s peace leads to more peace. It leads to choices based on well-thought-out actions of love. Peace leads us to the will of God, and the will of God leads to peace. The cyclical effect is exponential and is one of the clearest guides to happiness in life.
Reflect, today, upon whether you truly have peace in your heart. Do you recognize the still, strong and sustaining presence of God within your soul? Do your daily choices produce greater integrity of heart and clarity of mind? Do you find that you have joy and calm, even in the midst of life’s greatest challenges? Seek out this peace, for if you do, you will be seeking out the good God Who produces this glorious gift within your heart.
`           My Lord of true peace, You and Your holy will are the only path to the deepest fulfillment of all of my desires in life. When I make poor choices that lead to disorder and confusion, help me to turn to You with all my heart. Please unmask any deception I struggle with and give me the strength I need to seek You and Your peace alone. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Tuesday 5th Week of Easter 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, your Son accomplished your will on earth out of love and bestowed the gift of peace on his disciples. Help me to fulfill your will and heed your commands today. I want to overcome the temptation to evil in my life, and I need your grace to do so. I love you and will be faithful to your holy will.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Peace with God: One of the effects of a covenant was peace. Human covenants brought about peace between the two parties. The peace that Jesus offers in the New Covenant is greater than the peace obtained through a human treaty or covenant. Ultimately, the New Covenant mediated by Jesus reconciles God and humanity. The sin of our first parents broke the original covenant of creation and estranged us from God and each other. What Jesus did was take upon himself the curse of the Old Covenant and suffer on our behalf so as to establish the New Covenant. This covenant enables us to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. The Old Covenant, mediated by Moses, did not grant the power to fulfill the laws and regulations of the Old Covenant. All that has changed in the New Covenant. Jesus sends us the grace and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and these empower and enable us to live in supernatural peace with God.
2. Peaceful Hearts: After speaking about the gift of peace, Jesus speaks about our hearts and how the peace effected by the New Covenant frees us from anxiety and fear. The sin of Adam and Eve introduced the fear of death into our hearts. The gates of paradise were closed due to the original sin of the first Adam, but were opened by Jesus, the New Adam. And so, death, while still painful and at times tragic, is not a cause for fear. We need to trust in what Jesus has done for us: “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’” Jesus has been raised from the dead and has promised to return in glory. He has conquered the curse of death by dying for us. He has conquered the consequences of our sin by suffering for us. He has shown us the way to heaven, for he himself is the Way to the Father.
3. Peaceful Suffering: We need to understand what peace is and what peace is not. Peace is not the same as an easy life or the mere absence of war or trial. Jesus doesn’t promise an easy, care-free life if someone believes in him. He promises the opposite. Peace, then, is not the absence of suffering, sacrifice, and trial. Peace is defined by St. Augustine as the tranquility of order. True peace means being in communion with God and with others. When he promises peace, Jesus also alludes to the “ruler of the world” coming. This is a reference to the devil. However, in the same breath, Jesus says, “He has no power over me.” And so, when we are united to Christ, the devil has no power over us. Therefore, we can be joyful and peaceful even when we suffer or endure trials and tribulations. We have the power of Christ working within us and can do all things with Christ.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace and have reconciled us with the Father through your life, death, and resurrection. Attend to my prayer today and hear my cry. Teach me to be a peacemaker so that I may enjoy the blessing reserved for the adopted children of God.
 
Tuesday 5th Week of Easter 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, your Son accomplished your will on earth out of love and bestowed the gift of peace on his disciples. Help me to fulfill your will and heed your commands today. I want to overcome the temptation to evil in my life and I need your grace to do so. I love you and will be faithful to your holy will.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The New Covenant Fruit of Peace: During the Last Supper, Jesus speaks about one of the fruits of the New Covenant: the fruit of peace. Jesus cautions his Apostles about the false peace offered by the world. Peace is not the mere absence of war or a false tolerance of others. True peace is both a heavenly messianic gift (a divine grace) and a task for us, a fruit of human effort collaborating with the gift of grace. The peace that Jesus gives is his personal peace. It represents his life, his love, and his joy. Sharing in Christ’s peace occurs by entering into communion with Christ and being in Christ. By entering into a communion of peace with the Son, the disciples share in the familial harmony and peace that the Son shares with the Father. The children of God are protected by the Father and dwell safely in the Father’s house. By receiving the Spirit, we live in spiritual tranquility and peace with the Father (see DeMeo, “Covenant Fulfillment in the Gospel of John,” p. 146).
2. The Conclusion of the First Missionary Journey: In the Acts of the Apostles, we read about the conclusion of the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas. They started their journey in Antioch in Syria, having been chosen by the Holy Spirit for this mission (Acts 13:2). They sailed first to Barnabas’ homeland, Cyprus, and then spread the Gospel in the southern part of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). They preached in the cities of Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. During their ministry in Lystra, Jews from Antioch in Pisidia and Iconium incited the people to stone Paul (possibly for blasphemy). They left him for dead outside the city. Paul, though, was undaunted by the stoning and, on the very next day, went with Barnabas to the city of Derbe. After making disciples for Christ there, Paul and Barnabas fearlessly retraced their steps and appointed presbyters (elders or priests) in cities they had evangelized. They eventually returned by boat to where they started and were commissioned: the Church of Antioch in Syria.
3. Two Lessons from the Journey: Paul and Barnabas learned two important lessons from their journey. First, we enter the kingdom of God through tribulations (Matthew 11:12; Luke 16:16). Preaching the Gospel means sharing in Christ's suffering and rejection. Earlier in the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples rejoiced that they had been found worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 5:41). Today’s Psalm proclaims the glory of God’s kingdom, a kingdom that is established through redemptive suffering and death. Second, Paul and Barnabas see clearly that God has opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. When the Jews rejected the Gospel message (Acts 13:45-48), they turned to the Gentiles, following the Lord's command in Isaiah 49:6. The Gentiles came to believe in Jesus Christ and received his salvation. Through their acceptance of and belief in the Gospel, the Gentiles entered into the New Covenant, established by Jesus at the Last Supper and on the Cross. On the outside, it looks like Paul and Barnabas were not granted peace. There were heated discussions between the Jews and themselves, the crowds were incited against them, and Paul was stoned. However, from God’s perspective, the two Apostles enjoyed true, divine peace and they were eager to share that peace with the Jews and the Gentiles. This peace is a fruit of reconciliation with God, a fruit of the undoing of the ancient curse of Adam, a fruit of new life in the Spirit of God.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Prince of Peace and have reconciled us with the Father through your life, death, and resurrection. Attend to my prayer today and hear my cry. Teach me to be a peacemaker so that I may enjoy the blessing reserved for the adopted children of God.
Living the Word of God: At every mass, we hear the words of Christ: “Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you.” This is the peace that flows from the Eucharistic Sacrifice of the New Covenant. This is the peace that we share in. How can I be a peacemaker today and bring others to share in Christ’s peace?
 
Tuesday 5th Week of Easter
Opening Prayer:  Jesus, may your peace reign in my heart; I believe that you have called me to this (cf. Colossians 3:15). Still my mind and still my heart to hear your words in this Gospel and live them out in my life.
Encountering Christ:
Peace of Christ: All of our readings this week take place during the Last Supper. These are Christ’s parting words to his disciples. He gives them not only his words but his peace. His peace will remain with them and carry them through the storm of his Passion and death to his Resurrection. We all yearn for this true peace, and Christ gives it to us as a free gift. So why are our hearts still troubled when we believe that his peace is with us? It could be because we have a worldly understanding of peace. The world says that peace will happen when everything around us is perfect, when we are not suffering, when there is no war in our world, in our homes, or in our hearts. This will not happen until we reach heaven, but Jesus promises us peace now. The peace that the world cannot give is internal, not external. It lives within each of us when we recognize God’s presence there.
Rejoice!: Jesus told his disciples that he was going away from them. How might the disciples have felt about this? Fearful, grieving, confused, disbelieving, anxious, distrusting? Jesus directed them to the emotion they should be feeling: joy. He said that if they loved him they would be rejoicing because he was about to accomplish his saving mission. This was truly cause for rejoicing! Later in the Last Supper Discourses, Jesus came back to this point: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy...I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (John 16:20-22). On the very day of his Resurrection, Jesus kept his promise when he returned to the disciples in the upper room: “ Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord” (John 20:19-20). The risen Christ came back to them and reminded them of the peace he had left for them. They indeed rejoiced when they looked upon his wounds. Many times in our lives we experience things that seem like cause for anxiety, fear, or grief. Sometimes events in our lives simply do not seem to make sense. But “we know that all things work for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28). This, too, is a cause for rejoicing.
In the Father’s Hands: Jesus told his disciples of his leaving and returning so they could believe. He tried to prepare them, gently reminding them that what would transpire was what God the Father had commanded him to do. This is the peace he gave them—the peace that comes from understanding that Jesus’s suffering and death was part of God’s plan for salvation. Everything is in the Father’s hands, even and especially the things that are painful or confusing. St. Elizabeth of France said, “ I do not know what will happen to me today, O my God. All I know is that nothing will happen to me but what you have foreseen from Eternity. That is sufficient, O my God, to keep me in peace.” We can ask ourselves if anything causes us anxiety and then place whatever it is in our Father’s powerful, gentle hands.
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, you are my peace, the true peace the world cannot give. Place your peace deep into my heart and let it reign there, covering all that I do in binding it together in perfect harmony (cf. Colossians 3:14-15). When I am grieving, please remind me of the peace you have given me. Help me be a bearer of your peace into the world. Let me be an instrument of your peace at all times. When I am afraid, help me to trust in you. When I am confused, give me your clarity. When I am anxious, help me to have a childlike trust in the Father’s providence for me.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will pray the Peace Prayer of St. Francis and seek to be an instrument of your peace in a concrete way today.