Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba 34 Thường Niên

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba 34 Thường Niên (Luca 21: 5-11)
Trong khi chúng ta suy nghĩ về đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay, chúng ta có thể nhận ra những gì đang xảy ra ở ngay đây trong thế giới hiện tại của chúng ta hôm nay. Chúng ta thực sự đang ở trong một thời điểm hết sức khó khăn của thế giới này: chiến tranh, đói kém, động đất, bão lụt và những cơn khủng hoảng bệnh dịch mới.  Những sự kiện này đã gây cho chúng ta sự lo sợ, nhưng có lẽ Chúa muốn dùng những dữ kiện này với một mục đích đơn thuần là thức tỉnh con người chúng ta hơn là để dọa chúng ta. Trên thực tế, Chúa nói với chúng ta là không nên sợ hãi. Chúng ta cần phải giữ vững niềm tin của chúng ta để chúng ta không thể bị lừa dối bởi thế giới xác thịt này một cách dễ dàng
            Chúa Giêsu Kitô đã quá rõ ràng việc này vì thệ Ngài mời gọi chúng ta theo ngài và tránh xa đường lồi sai lầm của ma quỷ, có nghĩa là chống lại tình yêu và lòng bác ái, các tiên tri giả sẽ xuất hiện để đánh lừa chúng ta. để chúng ta chối từ thập giá của Chúa Kitô ở trong những sự cám dỗ của thế giớ hiện tại với những công trình đồ sộ, những món quà phong phú là sự giàu có mà thế giới có thể cho chúng ta. Vì vậy, Chúa Giêsu Kitô đã chỉ cho chúng ta thấy rõ thực tế về sự phá hủy đền thờ Jeruasalem.
            Các Thánh Tử Đạo ViệtNam, cha ông chúng ta đã coi những thứ vật chất của thế này là tất cả là hư không, và sự vinh quang trở của thế giới này đã trở nên vô ích cho những người đặt niềm tin vào con người và tất cả vào những sự phát triển và bành trướng của thế gian này. Biểu tượng của người Kitô hữu chúng ta là những nhành lá cây vạn tuế (Dừa lá) vì cành là này có thể sống tươi lâu dài trong bất cứ ở thời tiết nào và cây này lúc nào cũng thấy như màu xanh lá cây. Cành lá vạn tuế này tượng trưng cho đức tin của chúng ta.
Đức Tin của cha ông chúng ta là các thánh tử đạo VN đã để lại, vì các ngài đã chịu được những sự tấn công của thế tục, một lòng giữ các điều răn của Chúa dù phải chịu những hy sinh, đau khổ và chịu chết, để chịu án phạt của thế gian vì sự công chính. Nhờ đó mà các ngài đã giúp cho chúng ta con cái của các ngài có thể thận trọng để được trưởng thành trong lương tâm và nhờ đó chúng ta có thề hướng đi theo con đường mà mà các Thánh đã mở sẵn cho chúng ta. Chúng ta cần phải chạy thật khỏe với sức mạnh của Chúa Thánh Thần đã ban cho chúng ta trong gìờ phút cuối để chúng ta có thế chiến thắng được những sự cám dỗ của trần thế như cha ông chúng ta là các thánh Tử Đạo Việt Nam đã chiến thắng trong giờ sau hết.
 
My Reflection Tuesday 34th Ordinary Time (Luke 21:5-11)
 As we reflect on today’s Gospel passages, We may recognize what is happening here today in our world. We are indeed in troubled times. Just listen to the new in TV, read the newspapers or read the internet; we would know what's going on in the world: wars, famines, earthquakes, typhoon and new kind of diseases. These events may frighten us, but they serve a purpose of merely trying to awaken us than to frighten us, in fact, the Lord tells us not to be afraid. We need to keep our faith firmly in place in order not to be easily deceived by the world.      
Jesus Christ is quite clear in asking us not to follow those who will be "anti-Christ." Anti-Christ means to be anti-love and charity, the false prophets will deceive us to deny the cross of Christ, and dwell in the fine stonework and rich gifts that the world may offer. So Jesus Christ breaks to us the reality that the temple and the world will not last. All is vanity, vain glory for those who put their trust in man and all his worldly extensions. The symbol of the Christian is the palm tree which can last in any weather and remains green. It means faith can withstand the onslaught of secularization, keeping clear the commandments of the Lord and maintaining a sound judgment with prudence and a mature conscience to guide our paths.  We need to run the good race with the strength of the Holy Spirit until the very end.
 
Tuesday 34^th Ordinary time While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” Luke 21:5–6
In a literal way, this prophecy of our Lord came true. In 70 A.D., the Temple upon which they were commenting was destroyed. After prophesying this, Jesus then goes on to warn the disciples that there will be many confusions that will come. There will be false prophets, wars and insurrections, powerful earthquakes, famines, plagues, “and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.” Why does Jesus prophesy all of these things?
The answer was simple. He was not trying to scare them. He was not simply trying to satisfy their curiosity. Instead, He was warning them and preparing us all so that we do not become misled or terrified when they come. He says, “See that you not be deceived” and “do not be terrified.” NAs the old saying goes, “Life is not a bowl of cherries.” While we live in this fallen world, chaos, confusion, deception, abuse, scandal, conflict and the like will be all around us. And when we do come face-to-face with any such difficulty, there is a temptation to fear, anger and despair. Be it family conflicts, civil unrest or even divisions within the Church itself, God wants us to remain at peace and to trust Him always.
Take Jesus’ own life as an example. He was arrested, falsely accused, sentenced to death and crucified. And through it all, He remained at peace, knowing that His suffering would become the very source of new life. God can use all things for good for those who love and serve Him.
Reflect, today, upon the undeniable fact that your life will involve difficulty. Sometimes that difficulty is self-imposed as a result of your sin, and sometimes it is unjustly imposed on account of the sin of another. Truth be told, we should only be concerned about our own sin. If other challenges come your way that are out of your control, then use those challenges as opportunities to trust. Entrust all things to God, every suffering, every persecution, every tragedy, every struggle, everything. If God the Father could bring about the greatest good ever known through the brutal murder of His own divine Son, then He can certainly do the same with all that you offer to Him in trust. Trust at all times and in all circumstances, and our all-powerful Lord will bring good from everything.
My most powerful Lord, You warned us of the many hardships that would come our way before Your glorious return. You did so to help prepare us and to strengthen us in those moments of testing. Please give me the grace I need to always trust in You and to surrender over to You every cross I carry. I do believe, dear Lord, that You can bring good from everything, even those things that are most difficult in life. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Tuesday 34^th Ordinary time 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, do not let me be deceived by the evil one. Teach me to read the signs of the times and be always prepared to meet you. I long for your embrace that will welcome me into your heavenly dwelling.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Signs of Tribulation: In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus foretold the demise of the Temple. Naturally, the people who heard this prophecy asked Jesus when it would happen and what signs would precede the destruction of the Temple. Jesus first speaks about the signs and later, in Luke 21:32, gives them a time frame (within a generation or 40 years). The signs of the time of tribulation will include false messiahs, wars, insurrections, international strife, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and celestial signs in the sky. Jesus urges his disciples not to be deceived by the false prophets and messiahs and not to be terrified during the tribulation. The signs Jesus predicted all came to pass before A.D. 70. There was a famine in A.D. 45-49 during the reign of Claudius, there were messianic pretenders, the Jewish revolt (insurrection) against Rome began in A.D. 66, and there was turmoil in the Empire after the death of Nero in A.D. 68. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught his followers to pray especially for mercy during the time of tribulation: “Lead us not into temptation,” “Do not subject us to the test.”
2. The Kingdoms of Gold and Silver: In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of nations and kingdoms rising against one another in the years leading up to the fall of Jerusalem. There is a similar theme in the First Reading. Daniel was an exile in Babylon and was called in by King Nebuchadnezzar to reveal both the king’s vision and its meaning. The King saw a great statue made of four metals. The head was pure gold, the chest and arms were silver, the belly and thighs were made of bronze, and the legs were made of iron, with the feet being a mixture of iron and clay tile. When Daniel interprets the dream, he tells the king of Babylon that he is the head of gold. But his kingdom will come to an end and be replaced by an inferior kingdom, the kingdom of silver. This will be the Medo-Persian empire, which conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. Persia, led by Cyrus the Great, defeated the Babylonian army at the Battle of Opis and took the city of Babylon peacefully.
3. The Kingdoms of Bronze and Iron: Daniel interprets the bronze in the statue as a third kingdom, “which shall rule over the whole earth.” This is a reference to the Greek empire, led by Alexander the Great, who conquered the world at breakneck speed. His empire stretched from Greek to northwestern India, covering about 2 million square miles. It was the largest of the ancient world. Alexander began his conquest of the Persian Empire in 334 B.C. and ruled until his death in 323 B.C. at the age of thirty. The fourth kingdom is “strong as iron,” and will subdue all the other kingdoms. But it will also be a divided kingdom, strong like iron, yet fragile like clay tile. This corresponds to the Roman Empire, which began its conquest of the Greeks in 214 B.C. with the First Macedonian War and completed its conquest in 146 B.C with the Battle of Corinth. The Roman Empire was strong due to its military might, but it was fragile because of internal divisions. During the time of the Roman Empire, Daniel prophesied that “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people.” This Kingdom of God will stand forever. This is the Kingdom that Jesus inaugurated through his ministry, preaching, passion, death, and resurrection. The destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its Temple, prophesied by Jesus, signifies the end of the Old Covenant and the bringing about of its fulfillment in the New Covenant.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. I pray that when I stand before you, I am judged as good wheat and not darnel or chaff. You have sowed good seed in my heart, and I want it to flourish into a bountiful harvest of good works for your Kingdom.
 
Tuesday 34^th Ordinary time 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, do not let me be deceived by the evil one. Teach me to read the signs of the times and be always prepared to meet you. I long for your embrace that will welcome me into your heavenly dwelling.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Signs of Tribulation: In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus foretold the demise of the Temple. Naturally, the people who heard this prophecy asked Jesus when it would happen and what signs would precede the destruction of the Temple. Jesus first speaks about the signs and later, in Luke 21:32, gives them a time frame (within a generation or 40 years). The signs of the time of tribulation will include false messiahs, wars, insurrections, international strife, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and celestial signs in the sky. Jesus urges his disciples not to be deceived by the false prophets and messiahs and not to be terrified during the tribulation. The signs Jesus predicted all came to pass before A.D. 70. There was a famine in A.D. 45-49 during the reign of Claudius, there were messianic pretenders, the Jewish revolt (insurrection) against Rome began in A.D. 66, and there was turmoil in the Empire after the death of Nero in A.D. 68. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught his followers to pray especially for mercy during the time of tribulation: “Lead us not into temptation,” “Do not subject us to the test.”
2. The Harvest of the Son of Man: In the Book of Revelation, we contemplate how Christ’s judgment, symbolized by the casting of his sickle, is carried out by the angels. John sees the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, wearing a golden crown, which represents his kingship and victory, and holding a sickle in his hand. The sickle was a tool for harvesting grain. It signals judgment and the end of an age. In Matthew’s Gospel, in the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43), wheat symbolizes the righteous, and weeds symbolize the unrighteous. Both are cut down together and then separated. The righteous will be vindicated and welcomed into the eternal dwelling of God, while the unrighteous will be judged and tossed into the eternal fire.
3. The Lord Comes to Judge the Earth: In the Book of Revelation, the first angel harvests the wheat, a symbol of the saints, who are gathered like sheaves and stored in a granary. The second angel is sent out by the Son of Man to sever the sinners like grapes from the vine. The judgment, symbolized as a harvest of grain and grapes, evokes a prophecy from Joel 3:13. In Joel’s prophecy, the nations who threatened Jerusalem were judged. Here, in the Book of Revelation, Jerusalem itself is judged, and this is described by John as the destruction of a wine press or vineyard. The grapes were thrown into the “great wine press of God’s fury” and crushed. This represents especially the flow of blood from the slaughter of those who died in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem is an event that foretells the battle between good and evil throughout the centuries but points forward to the catastrophic events that will lead up to the end of time and the final judgment by the Son of Man, who will come in glory on the clouds of heaven.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. I pray that when I stand before you, I am judged as good wheat and not darnel or chaff. You have sowed good seed in my heart, and I want it to flourish into a bountiful harvest of good works for your Kingdom.