Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm tuần thứ 5 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm tuần thứ 5 Phục Sinh
“Không phải anh em đã chọn thầy, Nhưng chính thầy đã chọn anh em.”
Sự lựa chọn của chúng ta để đi theo Chúa Kitô rất quan trọng, nhưng điều quan trọng hơn hết là sự lựa chọn mà Chúa hứa và cam kết với chúng ta. Chúa Giêsu yêu thương chúng ta bằng một tình yêu mà chính Ngài đã cam kết, vì vậy mà Ngài đã chấp nhận con đường Thập Giá vì chúng ta. Mặc dầu chúng ta vẫn còn thiếu kém lòng tin, và thiếu sự trung thành với Ngài, nhưng Ngài đã không bao giờ thay đổi tình yêu và sự trung tín của Ngài đối với chúng ta.
            Chúng ta được Chúa kêu gọi và chọn để theo Ngài, Ngài đã “xin” chúng ta thực hiện một sự cam kết với Ngài, đó là đáp lại lời mời gọi của Chúa. Ngài đã chọn chúng ta, và chúng ta phải đáp trả lại bằng tất cả tình yêu và cuộc sống của chúng ta. Chúa Giêsu nói với chúng ta là Ngài yêu thương chúng ta, và Ngài cũng “nài xin” chúng ta hãy yêu thương Ngài cũng như yêu thương những người chung quanh.
            Chúng ta hãy tạ ơn Chúa hôm nay vì Ngài đã ngỏ lời mời chúng ta đến với Ngài trong tình yêu và trong sự trung tín của Ngài. Chúng ta cũng hãy xin Chúa cho chúng ta những ân sủng để chúng ta có thể thực sự cam kết với Ngài.  Xin cho tất cả những gì chúng ta làm, là làm trong hành động của tình yêu, trong lòng biết ơn đối với tình yêu mà Ngài đã luôn tỏ ra cho chúng ta thấy được..
 
REFLECTION
Jesus makes this very clear in today's Gospel reading when he says: "You did not choose me, it was I who chose you." Our choice to follow Jesus is important, but far more significant is his choice to be committed to us. Jesus loves us with a love that is so committed, so dedicated that it takes him to Calvary for us. Our lack of faithfulness to him never changes his faithful love for us.
            The life of St. Mathias, the saint whose feast we celebrate today, also shows us that what matters most is the Lord's commitment to us. In the first reading, Mathias was chosen to be one of the twelve apostles after Jesus' death and resurrection. He was the replacement for Judas who after betraying Jesus committed suicide. The Apostles drew lots and he won. It was not exactly his decision. Mathias knew that he had not decided to be one of the twelve. He had been chosen by Jesus Christ.
            We are all called and chosen by the Lord. He asks us to make a commitment to him, but the commitment can only be a response to Jesus' call. He has chosen us, and our whole life is to be a response of love to that call. It is a bit like a wedding proposal. Jesus asks us, invites us and proposes to us. He tells us that he loves us, and he asks that we will love him in return.  Let us thank the Lord today for his invitation of love and for being faithful. Let us also ask him for the grace to be really committed to him. May all that we do be an act of love in gratitude for the love that he keeps showering upon us.
 
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Jesus said to his disciples: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” John 15:9–10
Imagine being loved by someone with a perfect love. Perfect love has no bounds, and experiencing it would be the source of indescribable joy. Now imagine further that the one who loves you is all-powerful and all-knowing. When combined with being all-loving, there is no limit to what such a relationship can do in your life.
Of course, we do not need to only imagine such a love—we can receive that love from God. Jesus’ words are deep, personal, and intimate: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.” His love for you is not conditional, limited, or selfish. When He says to you, “I love you,” He means it with every power of His divine soul.
Jesus beautifully describes His love for us: “As the Father loves me…” The love the Father has for the Son is so deep, perfect, and all-consuming that we cannot fully comprehend it—even in Heaven. For all eternity, we will gaze with wonder and awe at this shared love and never tire of contemplating it. What’s more, the love between Father and Son is so strong that it cannot be contained within Themselves. Their love overflows in superabundance, pouring out upon us, inviting us to enjoy perfect fulfillment within it.
Jesus’ next words are both an invitation and a command: “Remain in my love.” God’s love for us is far more than an emotion or affectionate concern. His love is a gift of His very Self, drawing us into communion with Him. To “remain” in His love means to live, move, and exist in His presence. Divine love is transforming, enduring, and life-changing. It unites us to the divine Lover and establishes the life-giving communion for which we were made.
After inviting us to remain in His love, Jesus clarifies how we can receive His ongoing and transformative gift: “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love.” At first, these words might seem challenging, especially when we consider our fallen nature and tendency toward pride. Yet they only feel burdensome if we misunderstand His commandments.
In order to fully embrace Jesus’ commandments, we need to see them for what they are: expressions of pure love gushing forth from the shared love of the Father and the Son. Note that Jesus doesn’t ask anything of us that He Himself was unwilling to do. His love for the Father was perfect because He kept the Father’s commandments. What did the Father command the Son to do? He commanded Him to love with a selfless, sacrificial love, culminating in laying down His life for us.
If we want to receive God’s love and share in its perfection, we too must love—just as the Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, and they both love us. Like Jesus, we must become an unconditional gift of self for others. This is the nature of true love.
By becoming an unconditional gift of self, we do not become anyone’s savior; rather, we allow the one true Savior to touch others through us. True love is divine. It does not originate within us but flows from God to us and through us. If we attempt to keep that love to ourselves, it is extinguished.
Reflect today on the perfect love within the Most Holy Trinity. Hear Jesus invite you to share in that perfect love on the condition that you become an instrument of it for others. This is His commandment: “Love one another as I love you” (John 15:12). Only in this way will we share in the perfect joy God desires to bestow upon us for all eternity.
My loving Lord, Your love is perfect, all-consuming, and transforming. Your invitation to remain in Your love is an invitation to share in Your very life, the life You share with the Father and Holy Spirit. I accept Your invitation, dear Lord, and vow to keep Your commandments so as to become an instrument of Your love for others. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, by sending your Son and Spirit, you have rebuilt the fallen hut of David and established the Church as the seed and beginning of your Kingdom on earth. I am so blessed to be a part of that Kingdom.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Controversy in the Early Church: The mission of Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles was not without controversy. It seems that John Mark left the mission due to his disagreement with Paul about the Gentile converts not having to follow all of the Laws of Moses. And even Barnabas, it seems, had his doubts (see Galatians 2:13). The controversy was noted early on in the Acts of the Apostles, when Peter returned to Jerusalem after baptizing the Gentile Cornelius and his family. Peter was criticized, not for baptizing Cornelius, but for eating with someone who was uncircumcised. And so, there was a debated question. Some, like Paul, held that the Gentile converts did not need to be circumcised; others, who were called “the circumcision party,” held that they did. When Peter arrived in Antioch (Galatians 2:11), he began to eat with the Gentiles. But when people, sent by James the Lesser, came from Jerusalem to Antioch, Peter started to separate himself from the Gentile Converts. “With that the controversy burst into flame, threatening the unity and very identity of the new Christian movement” (Gray and Cavins, Walking with God, 296).
2. Joy During the Debates at the Council of Jerusalem: According to the First Reading, the joy of Christ lasted even when the disciples endured trials. The early followers of Jesus were known to rejoice even under persecution. We can suppose that true Christian joy lasted throughout the Council of Jerusalem (in A.D. 49). The Council’s debates, discussions, and discernment all took place in the context of prayer and Christian charity. The Apostles and elders (presbyters) of the Church earnestly sought the will of God and sought to understand the signs and wonders God worked through them among the Gentiles. At the Council of Jerusalem, Peter affirmed that both Jews and Gentiles receive the gift of salvation through faith and the grace of Christ, and not through circumcision and the burdensome yoke of the Old Law. To demand that the Gentile believers submit to the sign of circumcision and the Old Law would mean putting God to the test (like the Israelites in the desert) and would only place a yoke of burden on the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas confirmed what Peter decided and spoke of the signs and wonders God worked through them among the Gentiles. The Sacrament of Baptism commanded by the Messiah, not the sign of circumcision commanded by Moses, was the way of entry into the New People of God.
3. James Agreed with Peter: James the Lesser – who was the son of Alpheus, the brother of the Lord, and the Bishop of Jerusalem – agreed with the decision of Peter: “We should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God.” But James also taught that, in accord with the Law (Leviticus 17:8-18:30), the Gentile believers should refrain from several things: eating meat sacrificed to pagan gods; sexual immorality; eating meat with blood in it; and eating meat from animals slaughtered improperly or not properly drained of blood. James was concerned that if the Gentile believers continued to do such things, this would destroy the communion and table fellowship between Jewish and Gentile Christians. James quoted the prophet Amos, who foretold of the day when God would rebuild the fallen hut of David. As a descendant of David, Jesus accomplished this restoration and rebuilt David’s hut, tabernacle, tent, or dwelling (skene). What is more, Amos foresaw that this restoration signaled the day when all the Gentile nations, and not just the tribes of Israel, would seek the Lord and be welcomed into his people. The Gentile believers are to be welcomed not with the burden of the Old Law, which was powerless to save, but with the grace and love of Jesus Christ, which does save. It was important to highlight how James agreed with Peter, since James was more traditional in his beliefs and was the one who, for a time, resisted the idea that the Gentiles did not need to follow everything in the Law of Moses when they converted to Jesus Christ.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are my Savior. You have rescued me from the slavery of sin and the scourge of death. Strengthen me today to abide in you and keep your commandment to love. Pour out your Spirit so that I may enjoy true and lasting joy as I journey toward the eternal joy of heaven.