Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu cho chúng ta sẽ biết rằng Chúa đang có một mối lo lắng và một gánh nặng rất to lớn, nếu như chúng ta chứng kiến được những lời cầu nguyện của Ngài trong khu vườn cây dầu vào đêm trước khi Ngài phải chịu nạn chúng ta có thể biết được Ngài đã phải mang cái gánh nặng này đã bao lâu rồi. Chúng ta có hai cách để đọc và suy nghĩ về bàiTin Mừng hôm nay.
1 - Chúng ta có thể đọc đó như là bài chia sẽ mà Chúa Giêsu muốn tâm sự. Ngài muốn chia sẻ gánh nặng này với những các môn đệ của Ngài và những ai muốn gần gũi với Ngài. Nhưng có lẽ họ không có đủ sức mạnh để hiểu và chịu đựng cái nỗi đau thương của Ngài.
Chúa Giêsu biết những gì đang đến, sẽ đến và Ngài can đảm, cam kết sẽ thực thi theo ý muốn của Chúa Cha. Cho dù Ngài đã biết về sự đau khổ và phải chết trên Thập Giá nhục nhã trước khi Ngài đã tập đọc được những chữ cái đầu tiên hay Ngài chỉ biết được cái số phận của mình sau này, Ngài luôn luôn biết rằng Ngài sẽ làm theo ý Chúa Cha, mà không làm theo ý riêng mình. Lạy Chúa xin Giúp cúng con có can đảm để làm theo ý Chúa.
I wonder when Jesus learned that he would die on the Cross, or if he always knew it. I mean to say, did he know it as a five-year-old boy or did he learn it at some point later in life? He was not taken by surprise: he teaches his disciples about the sufferings to come and he discusses the Cross with Elijah and Moses during the Transfiguration. We know that it was a great burden for him, as is clear from his prayers in the garden on the night before he died, but how long did he carry this burden?
It seems to me that there are two distinct ways to read the Gospel today. We could read it as Jesus trying to share this burden with those closest to him, but they are not strong enough to help bear it, or we could read it as Jesus, knowing that his disciples would not be able to bear the burden that he carried but also wanting to prepare his disciples for his death, tells them about the suffering and death to come, but prevents them from understanding.
In the year leading up to the Cross, Jesus told his disciples many times that he would suffer and die. They did not understand then, but after he died and rose from the dead they remembered these teachings. Remembering them after the fact, with the Cross in the past, they are transformed, from the burden they would have been, to the revelation they are now.
These words are a revelation because they teach us so much about Jesus Christ. Because of these words we know that he was fully aware of the death he would suffer, yet he does not say these words as a merely prescient person would. If you knew right now the death that awaits you, your first instinct would be to consider ways to avoid it, but Jesus does not begin planning ways to avoid his fate. He knows what is coming, and he is committed to doing the will of the Father. Whether he knew about the Cross before he learned his first words or if he did not know until the year before, he always knew that he would do the will of his Father, no matter what.
“Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying. Luke 9:44–45
This is the second time that Jesus predicts His coming passion to His Apostles. After telling them that He will be handed over, the Gospel relates that “they did not understand this saying.” It also states that “they were afraid to ask him about this saying.” Why did they not understand, and why were they afraid to ask Jesus about His coming passion?
The Apostles were deeply attached to our Lord, both on a spiritual level and also through their affections. And this is good. But sometimes our affections can cloud our thinking and make it difficult to understand the deeper spiritual realities in life. Though our affections are natural, they must always be directed by the will of God. For example, if we were to try to understand Jesus’ affections, we’d have to conclude that He both spiritually and affectionately desired to lay down His life for the salvation of souls in accord with the will of the Father. He not only chose this with His will, but He also desired it in His affections, because His affections were perfectly ordered.
The Apostles, however, were unable to understand that Jesus had to lay down His life, be rejected, suffer and die, in part because they were very attached to Jesus in an emotional and affectionate way. So in this instance, their human love and attachment to Jesus hindered their ability to understand the greater spiritual good of Jesus laying down His life.
Consider, also, our Blessed Mother. How would she have reacted to Jesus saying that He had to be handed over, be rejected, suffer and die? Though this would have grieved her with a holy sorrow, the perfection of her human nature would have led her to not only understand and accept this deep spiritual truth, but she would have also desired this to happen within her affections because she perfectly desired the fulfillment of the will of the Father. There would have been no conflict within her between the will of the Father and what she desired.
In our own lives, we will often tend to struggle in the same way that the Apostles struggled. When faced with some challenging cross in life, a cross that the Father calls us to embrace freely, we will often find that our affections resist. When this happens, we become confused and even fearful of the future. Thus, the only way to conquer fear is to work to surrender every emotion, every affection and every human attachment over to the will of the Father so that His will is all we desire with every power of our soul.
Reflect, today, upon the interior struggle of these Apostles as they came face-to-face with this the second time Jesus began to prepare them to accept, understand, choose and desire His passion. Consider the interior struggle they went through at that time and even as they saw this unfold. Eventually they understood. Eventually all fear vanished. And eventually they affectionately rejoiced in Jesus’ sacrifice. But it took much time and much surrender. Reflect upon those ways our Lord is inviting you to choose His Cross in your life. Where you see your affections resisting, try to surrender, pray for understanding and seek the courage you need to desire His Cross with all your soul.
My revealing Lord, You opened Your divine heart to Your Apostles and invited them to understand and choose Your suffering and death. And though they hesitated and struggled, You continued to invite them to embrace the father’s will. Give me the grace I need, dear Lord, to embrace every spiritual truth first and foremost and to allow that Truth to free me from fear and fill me with the gift of understanding. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are the Lord of life and guide all things to their fulfillment. By sending your Son, you have overcome the sting of death and offer eternal life to your children. Teach me to die to myself so that I may live.
1. The Second Passion Prediction: After the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36), Jesus foretells his upcoming death in Jerusalem a second time. The first foretelling (Luke 9:22) said that “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” This was followed by Jesus inviting his disciples to take up their own cross and follow him. The second passion prediction was followed by the disciples arguing over who was the greatest. Jesus responds by teaching them about humility. True greatness does not consist in earthly money, earthly power, or the attainment of pleasure. True greatness, the greatness that leads to divine and eternal life, consists in loving and humble service. It consists in sacrificing for others and welcoming the humble and child-like, who often struggle to care for themselves.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Vanity of Life and the Certainty of Death: The First Reading, from Ecclesiastes, is a meditation on the vanity of life and the certainty of death. The outlook of Quoheleth, the Preacher, is very grim and dark. Earlier he wrote: “For if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity” (11:8). The Preacher doesn’t try to look beyond the grave. He encourages young people to enjoy the days of their youth but to know also that God will judge them for their actions. “Because God is also Judge and will hold man accountable for his actions (3:17; 11:9; 12:14), Qoheleth urges readers to fear [God] (5:7; 12:13), to keep his commandments (12:13), and to avoid thoughtless expressions of prayer and worship (5:2-3). He is convinced that ‘it will be well with those who fear God’ (8:12)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon, 66). Qoheleth also uses several images to talk about old age and the end of life. He thinks of the grave as man’s eternal home. Man’s body is dust and the dust returns to the earth. Yet in all this, there is a glimmer of hope, for man’s spirit, breathed into man and given by God, returns not to the earth but to God. This is only a glimmer, since Qoheleth has no vision of ongoing life or happiness after death (9:5, 10) (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon, 66).
1. “The Son of Man Is to Be Handed Over”: The disciples of Jesus were amazed at his multiplication of loaves and fishes and the many healings he performed, but at this moment, Jesus intentionally diverted their attention away from his successes. Instead, for the second time, Jesus told them he would suffer and die. Still, it didn’t sink in. Human understanding is not always capable of grasping the ways of God. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways—oracle of the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:5-6). Jesus wanted the apostles to know that suffering fit into God’s plan, so he would tell them as often as they needed to hear it. When we are confused or seek discernment about the way God is working in our life, we need to persevere in prayer until we understand the message.
They Were Amazed: It was easy to be amazed at the words and deeds of Jesus. He “taught them as one having authority” (Mark 1:22), and his miracles left people even more astounded, saying, “We have seen incredible things today” (Luke 5:26). Consequently, enlightened by grace, Peter proclaimed Jesus to be the “Messiah of God” (Luke 9:20). When Our Lord’s words inspired and his miracles cured countless people, it was easy to follow him. He was popular and admired, and some of his admiration would reflect upon his closest collaborators. They could feed off the excitement; they could bask in his glory. It is easy to follow Jesus when things are going well, when prayer brings us consolation, and when our ministry meets with success.
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tries to convey to his disciples a correct view of his mission, but they simply do not understand. The notion of a suffering Messiah is just too much for them to grasp. They even hesitate to inquire more deeply about it. They could understand Jesus' miracles. They could understand the traditional Jewish concept of a conquering Messiah. But the idea of a Messiah who would be killed was totally foreign to them. It seemed like complete defeat.
After Pentecost, however, their eyes would be opened. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they would come "to understand fully the mystery, the plan God was pleased to decree in Christ to reconcile everything in his person both on earth and in the heavens, making peace through the blood of his cross." With the Spirit they could see beyond the externals of life and religion, and see into the very heart of God. This heart is a heart of love. It is also a heart of mystery. It lives by dying for those it loves. It is glorified in being humbled for those it loves. It is given abundant wealth by becoming poor so that those it loves might share in its wealth. These things are all paradoxes. They are all mystery. Yet they all boldly and clearly proclaim the truth of God's love. This love was most dearly revealed in the death of God's Son, Jesus Christ.
Do we understand this mystery, or do we still seek a Messiah who will come in worldly victory? Do we really seek the action of the Spirit in our life so we might understand this mystery? Do we really allow ourselves to be daily born again in his love by coming to share in a daily death to selfishness and sin? As a Church we must not allow ourselves to remain in ignorance. We must be born again in the true sense of the word.
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