Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ  Bẩy Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh
Trong bài đọc thứ Nhất, chúng ta thấy, ông Appôlô  là người có học thức và có được cách ăn nói hùng hồn. Hai điều  kiệm rất quan trọng cho người đàn ông trong thế giới thời cổ đại. Ông đã được Chúa Thánh thần nung đốt trong niềm tin vào Chúa Giêsu và rao giảng to dân ngoại về Chúa Giêsu Kitô. Mặc dầu thế, sự hiểu biết về Tin Mừng và phép rửa của Chúa Kitô của ông chưa được đầy đủ, và ông đã nhờ sự chỉ bảo của bà Priscilla và ông Aquila để ông có thể hiểu biết vể Chúa hơn. Tài hùng biện hay sự thong minh của một người không nhất thiết là đã hiểu biết tất cả về chan lý và sự thật.
Chúng ta không bao giờ có thể nghĩ rằng chúng ta có tất cả những câu trả lời cho mọi thứ, và chúng ta nên cởi mở vả sẵn sang, khiêm thốn để hõi hỏi nơi những người khác. Điều này cũng sẽ giúp rất nhiều cho chúng ta để chúng ta có thể thừa nhận những sai lầm và sửa sai những ý kiến của chúng ta. Không một ai có thể hiểu biết mọi thứ và có tất cả những câu trả lời cho những thắc mắc của con người.
Trong bữa ăn tối sau cùng, Chúa Giêsu nói với các môn đệ rằng ngày sẽ đến Chúa Giêsu sẽ phải trở về với Chúa Cha, Ngày đó Ngài sẽ ban Chúa Thánh Linh xuông trên những ngưòi theo và Tin vào Ngài. Họ  có thể cầu xin Thiên Chúa bất cứ điều gì họ cần một cách trực tiếp trong danh Ngài . Ngài đã kêu gọi họ nên trưởng thành trong tâm linh hơn là phụ thuộc vào người khác như trẻ con hoặc thụ động.
Tất cả chúng ta đã được Chúa Giêsu ban  trao cho mỗi người quyền thiêng liêng như Ngài đã ban cho các môn đệ. Nhưng đây không phải là một việc cho không, biếu không, chúng ta phải thực hiện những điều cam kết với Chúa như các môn đệ  để trở thành nhựng môn đệ thực sự của Chúa. Chúa Giêsu sẽ rất vui mừng nếu chúng ta tiếp tục công việc mà Ngài đã bắt đầu. Lạy Chúa, xin ban cho chúng con những hồng ân và ơn  Chúa Thánh Thần của Ngài để hướng Dẫn chúng con tiếp tục sống và thực thi ý Chúa.
 
Saturday Sixth Week of Easter
Apollos was educated and eloquent, both of which were very important in the ancient world. He was on fire for his new-found faith in Jesus. But his understanding was incomplete, and it was up to Priscilla and Aquila to set him straight. Eloquence or brilliance are not the same as truth. We should never think we have all the answers, and we should be open to correction from others. It would also help immensely if we could admit when we are wrong and revise our opinions. No one has all the answers.
            At the last supper, Jesus told his disciples that the day was coming when they would no longer ask him for anything. At first, it sounded as if he was cutting them off, but that was not the case. He was speaking of their empowerment. Since Jesus was returning to the Father, he was empowering his followers with the Spirit. They would be able to ask God directly in Jesus’ name for whatever they needed. He was calling them to spiritual maturity rather than childish dependence or passivity.
            We are offered the same spiritual empowerment that he gave his disciples. But this is not a free pass — we have to make the commitment to be real disciples. Jesus would be delighted if we continued the work that he began and do even greater things than he.             Lord, grant me the gift of Your Spirit.
 
Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.” John 16:23–24
During Jesus’ Last Supper Discourse, the theme of praying to the Father in Jesus’ name comes up repeatedly. Each time, Jesus reassures His disciples that whatever they ask for in His name, the Father will grant. That’s quite a promise! How do we make this promise a reality?
Today’s Gospel is the third and final time this theme appears. Jesus informs the disciples, “Until now you have not asked anything in my name…” He highlights this to ensure they understand what awaits them: praying in His name will bring about complete joy: “Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”
Complete joy is not a fleeting emotion or the satisfaction of earthly desires. It is the deep and abiding happiness that flows from union with God—the fulfillment of our deepest longings. This joy is rooted in the very life of the Trinity, which we begin to share when we enter into a relationship with the Father through Christ. It is a foretaste of the eternal joy of heaven, where our love for God will find its perfection.
Though every rational person desires this joy, we often extinguish it in our hearts by choosing sin. Sin deceives us into believing it will bring happiness, but it ultimately separates us from the source of true joy—God Himself. Jesus instructs us that to receive this joy, we must ask for it in His name. But what does it mean to pray in His name? Jesus provides the answer: “On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God” (John 16:26–27).
Praying in Jesus’ name means loving Jesus by believing that He is God and treating Him as God. This is authentic prayer. It is an act of divine worship of the Son of God. Worship is the highest form of love because it acknowledges Jesus not only as our Savior but as our God. Worship goes beyond charity and is the form of love owed uniquely to God. This worship transforms us, drawing us into the Son’s perfect relationship with the Father. Through worship, we are united with Christ so intimately that we become one with Him, making His prayer to the Father our own.
This oneness with Christ earns us the Father’s love because the Father loves the Son perfectly. As we unite ourselves with Jesus through worship, the Father looks upon us and sees His beloved Son. Worship is not merely one aspect of Christian life; it is central to everything Jesus teaches us. It is the means by which we attain the fullness of joy and participate in the life of the Trinity.
Reflect today on your desire for complete joy and the means to attain it: divine worship. When you pray, do you only ask for favors, seek consolation, or pursue understanding? Or do you move deeper into the heart of prayer by worshiping God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength? One of the most profound ways to worship Jesus is through Eucharistic adoration. Spending time on our knees before Jesus, praising Him because He is worthy of our praise and is God Almighty, must be the foundation of our prayer. Believe that the Father will grant everything you pray for in the name of His Son. Pray that way through divine worship so that the Father will bestow countless blessings on you and the world through you.
My divine Lord Jesus, I believe that You are God and worship You with all the powers of my soul. I praise You, adore You, and glorify You as my God and my all. Please deepen my worship and transform me by it, so that as I pray, the Father hears Your sacred voice and answers Your every prayer. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I thank you today for introducing me through your Son and Spirit into your own divine life. I do not in any way deserve this great gift and yet you generously offer it to me out of love. I pray that all people may enjoy the gift of divine life.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Paul’s Third Missionary Journey: The First Reading follows the end of Paul’s second missionary journey (A.D. 50-52) and narrates the beginning of his third journey (A.D. 53-57). During his second journey, Paul had stayed in Corinth for about a year and a half (Acts 18:11). Paul left Timothy and Silas to care for the Church in Corinth, and departed the city with Aquila and Priscilla, a married Jewish Christian couple who had been deported from Rome by the Emperor Claudius in A.D. 49. The party stopped at Ephesus, and Paul left the couple behind to evangelize there. The city of Ephesus would become the focal point of Paul’s third journey. Paul made his way to Antioch, his home base, and remained there “some time” (Acts 18:23). The First Reading picks up with Paul departing on his third journey and proceeding through Galatia and Phrygia, the area that he had earlier evangelized.
2. The Ministry of Apollos: The First Reading describes the preaching of Apollos in the city of Ephesus during Paul’s absence and before Paul’s arrival (Acts 19:1). Apollos had a Greek name but was a Jew from Alexandria in Egypt. While Apollos was able to preach accurately about Jesus, about John’s preaching on preparing the way of the Lord, and about the baptism of John, Apollos needed Priscilla and Aquila to explain the Way of God more accurately. Apollos knew about some of Jesus’ deeds and sayings, but not with the full truth of Jesus’ identity as the Christ, Jesus’ mission, Jesus’ death and resurrection, the mystery of the Church, and the Sacrament of Baptism. Priscilla and Aquila likely taught Apollos that “the Lord proclaimed by John is the crucified and risen Lord Jesus and that ‘the Way of the Lord’ is the path of discipleship that one enters through baptism into Christ” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, 288). Aquila and Priscilla had been with Paul in Corinth for a year and a half and had learned much from Paul. They were a husband-and-wife team who were able to pass on the doctrine of the Christian faith and build Apollos up in the faith.
3. The Primitive Church: After this encounter with Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos left Ephesus and went to Corinth in Achaia and proclaimed from the Scriptures that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah (the Christ). “The success of Apollos in establishing the faith was noted by Paul (1 Corinthians 3:6), who said that Apollos had watered what Paul had planted. A group of Christians, however, formed a separatist faction in the Corinthian community in Apollos’ name. Paul did not consider Apollos at all responsible for the formation of the faction (1 Corinthians 3:3-9; 4:6), as Paul clearly respected Apollos as a fellow laborer. Instead Paul tries in 1 Corinthians to break down the divisions among the Corinthian Christians” (Catholic Bible Dictionary, “Apollos,” 58). We know from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, that the house of Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus was used as a primitive Church (1 Corinthians 16:19). “Hence, we come to know the most important role that this couple played in the environment of the primitive Church: that of welcoming in their own house the group of local Christians when they gathered to listen to the Word of God and to celebrate the Eucharist. … In the house of Aquila and Priscilla, therefore, the Church gathered, the convocation of Christ, which celebrates here the Sacred Mysteries” (Benedict XVI, February 7, 2007). Aquila and Priscilla would one day return to Rome, where they once again welcomed the church into their home (Romans 16:3-5). 
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have revealed to me the mystery of divine life and how I am called to share in that life. Teach me to pray and converse with the Father in union with you. May the Holy Spirit animate my prayer and inspire me to ask for good things from the heavenly Father.
 
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Jesus said to his disciples: “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.” John 15:18–19
No one wants to be hated. Yet our Lord makes it very clear that because He has “chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.” He doesn’t say that the world “might” hate you or that you “might” suffer some injustice. He declares that those whom He has chosen out of the world will be hated by the world. This is one of the paradoxes of our faith—living in Christ brings love from Him but hatred and persecution from the world. Yet this hatred is a sign of a deeper reality: We are no longer bound by the fleeting values of this fallen world but are participants in God’s eternal Kingdom, where joy, peace, and true freedom are found.
The “world” in this context is not Creation itself. All that God created is good. The world represents the fallen spiritual order, caught up in sin. Those who “belong to the world” are those who conform to diabolical values, such as seeking power for power’s sake, wealth as a selfish means to fulfillment, or carnal indulgence in an attempt to satiate oneself. Living in accord with the values of the fallen world is foolishness. It leads to a superficial life that cannot ultimately satisfy our deeper spiritual cravings and shares in the envy and hatred of the demons.
Breaking free of worldly attachments is difficult at first because those who have become worldly are blinded by their disordered desires. Sin is a slippery slope: compromising even in small ways to gain acceptance risks losing clarity of purpose and rootedness in Christ. The more people sin, the more miserable they become, and the more miserable they become, the more they seek satisfaction from sin. Only when that cycle is broken does peace begin to take hold and freedom is found. Yet, in the midst of this struggle to detach from worldly illusions, Jesus offers a profound truth: “I have chosen you out of the world.”
To be chosen by Christ is to be set apart for a life of divine purpose and eternal fulfillment. This call draws us into communion with Him, transforming suffering into a path to glory. The disciples’ identity is not self-made but rooted in His choice. This divine election sets them apart for a mission that challenges the temptation to worldly ambitions. Their call to holiness and truth inevitably provokes hostility because it shines a light on the darkness of the world’s sin and draws others to conversion. Yet with this call also comes the promise of eternal joy.
This raises an important question for each of us: Does the world love or hate you? Do you fit in or stand in opposition to worldly values? If we try to gain the world’s love, from those who have embraced worldly ambitions and values, then we will find ourselves compromising to gain acceptance. But if we remain steadfast, even when persecuted, we share in Jesus’ victory and the promise of eternal life.
Jesus tells us this sober truth as a way of preparing us for the inevitable: “Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20). We must remember His word, His warning, so that if we experience persecution, hatred, or any form of judgment or criticism, we will not become discouraged or fearful. Understanding the consequences of living contrary to worldly values will prepare us for the rejection that our Lord Himself experienced.
Reflect today on being chosen by God and the consequences of being called out of the world. Consider any ways that living your faith openly results in criticism or persecution. As you do, recall that you are called to be like Jesus, including being given a share in His sufferings—but also a share in His glory. As Saint Paul reminds us, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us” (Romans 8:18). Do not give in to fear. Remain courageous and confident that along with Jesus’ call comes the grace to respond and endure whatever comes your way, knowing that the joy of the Resurrection awaits.
Victorious Lord, You have conquered the world, sin, and death, and You have called me out of this fallen world into the light of Your grace. Strengthen me with courage and steadfastness when I face persecution for my faith. Help me to trust in Your victory, to endure with hope, and to find joy in the promise of sharing in Your eternal glory. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, guide me always with your Spirit. Help me to be docile to the Spirit’s urgings so that my faith may work through love and charity to extend your Kingdom.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Paul and Timothy: After the Council of Jerusalem in A.D. 49, Paul and Barnabas, accompanied by Judas and Silas, went to Antioch to deliver the decree of the Council (Acts 15:22-23, 30). Paul and Silas continued on to the churches of Syria and Cilicia and delivered the decisions (dogmata) that had been reached by the apostles and presbyters (priests) who were in Jerusalem (Acts 16:4). “IN the nearby city of Lystra, they were joined by Timothy, ‘the son of a Jewish woman’ (Acts 16:1) who had probably become a disciple during the earlier journey of Paul and Barnabas (see Acts 14:6-7). Although Timothy’s father was a Gentile, he would have been considered a Jew by other Jews on account of his mother, albeit one who was living in violation of the Deuteronomic Law due to his lack of circumcision. Paul therefore circumcised Timothy to avoid giving scandal to other Jews” (Pimentel, Envoy of the Messiah, 5).
2. Paul’s Second Missionary Journey: The Acts of the Apostles narrates the beginning of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (A.D. 50-52). Paul set out and invited Barnabas to come with him, saying, “Come, let us return and visit the brethren in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are” (Acts 15:37). Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them, but Paul disagreed with Barnabas because Mark had abandoned them during the first missionary journey. Thus, Paul and Barnabas decided to separate: Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed to the cities of his homeland in Cyprus. Paul, on the other hand, took Silas with him and went through Syria and Cilicia and returned to the cities of Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia. During their journeys, both Barnabas and Paul were able to communicate the recent decision of the Council of Jerusalem to the newly founded churches. The Council had decided that Gentiles who came to believe in Jesus did not have to be circumcised according to the Law of Moses. There were still some difficulties in accepting this teaching. We see this in Paul’s decision to circumcise Timothy. Paul did this “on account of the Jews” of the region and because Timothy was considered a Jew, and not a Gentile, on his mother’s side. As Paul handed on the teaching of the Council to the recently founded churches, they grew stronger in faith and increased in number.
3. Persecution Awaiting in Macedonia: After ministering to the churches in Galatia, Paul and Silas wanted to go north toward Bithynia, but were prevented by the Spirit of Jesus and led instead to the port city of Troas. During the night, Paul had a vision of a Macedonian imploring him to cross over to Macedonia and help them. In the morning, Paul and Silas discerned that this was God’s will for them: they would preach the Gospel of the Kingdom in Europe. At Troas, they probably met up with Luke, who accompanied them for a time and set sail with them to Macedonia. During their evangelizing mission, Paul and Silas suffered persecution in Macedonia, especially in the city of Philippi: they were stripped, beaten with rods, and imprisoned. Jesus’ Last Supper discourse in the Gospel of John refers to the persecutions that the Apostles would endure as they spread the Gospel to all nations. Jesus’ disciples must know that the world will hate them because it first hated him. Jesus tells us (in John 7:7) that the world, considered here as something negative, hates him because he shows the world that its sinful ways are evil. As the Lamb of God, however, Jesus has come to take away the sin of the world and purify and renew it.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, when I contemplate your life, I see how you were driven by the Spirit in every moment. Your apostles, too, were led by the Spirit. I need to imitate your example and that of the saints, and discern in prayer how the Spirit is guiding my thoughts, words, and actions.
 
Saturday of the Sixth Week of Easter
“I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father.”  John 16:25
When is it that Jesus will speak clearly about the Father? When is that “hour” of which He speaks? First, this “hour” can be understood to be the time after His death, Resurrection and Ascension to Heaven. It is then when the Holy Spirit will come upon them at Pentecost to open their minds to understand all that He has taught with much greater insight and clarity. But in John’s Gospel, the “hour” is also a reference to His death on the Cross. It is His hour of glory, the hour in which the Son of Man saves us through His holy passion. Therefore, this statement of Jesus should be read within the context of Him alluding to His coming passion. Recall that this sermon Jesus gives is part of His “Last Supper Discourse.” It is given immediately prior to Jesus going out to the Garden of Gethsemane to be arrested.
When we consider this “hour” to be the passion and death of Jesus on the Cross, we should be aware of the fact that His act of dying is not only a saving act of redemption, it is also one of the clearest ways in which He speaks about His Father in Heaven. Jesus’ suffering and death does, in fact, reveal the Father to the disciples in ways that His “figures of speech” could not reveal. Jesus’ veiled language was spoken as truth but as truth that could not be fully communicated. However, Jesus’ freely embraced suffering and death does clearly communicate the Father in the most profound way possible. The Cross is pure love, and the Father is pure love. Jesus’ death on the Cross in obedience to the will of the Father reveals to all that the Father loves us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son so that if we but believe in Him, we will inherit eternal life.
The message of the Cross is a true teaching about the love of the Father. It’s a teaching that took place through an act of the most pure and sacrificial love imaginable. The Cross was Jesus speaking “clearly about the Father” insofar as it reveals the depth of the Father’s love for all humanity. If you find this difficult to understand, then you are not alone. The disciples themselves struggled with this. That is why they ultimately needed the Holy Spirit to come upon them to open their minds. We too need the Holy Spirit if the veil is to be lifted and we are to comprehend this most powerful message of God’s infinite love.
Reflect, today, upon Jesus’ burning desire to lift the veil of His teaching and to reveal to you, clearly, the depth of the Father’s love for you. Allow the Holy Spirit to open your mind to this revelation as it is given through the Crucifixion. Pray for that gift. Listen to Jesus tell you He desires to give you this understanding and then await the grace you need to see and understand the very heart of the Father and His divine love for you.
My precious Jesus, Your hour of glory upon the Cross is the clearest and fullest revelation of the Father’s love. On the Cross, You show us all how deeply we are loved by You and Your Father in Heaven. Please do open my mind, dear Lord, to all You wish to reveal to me, so that as I come to know You, I will also come to know Your Father in Heaven. Jesus, I trust in You.
 

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Sáu Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh
Trong xã hội hôm nay, nhiều người trong chúng ta thừa nhận rằng cuộc sống hiện tại đầy dẫy những khó khăn. Cho dù bất cứ trên các lĩnh vực nào, chính trị, kinh tế, tôn giáo, xã hội, ở đâu dường như cũng có quá nhiều bóng tối đang chực chờ hay đang bao trùm trên cả đất nước và thế giới của chúng ta. Vào những lúc như thế này, một số người trong chúng ta có thể rất dễ  đâm ra chán nản, lo lắng, hoặc mất di niềm hy vọng. Chúng ta cũng có thể đặt câu hỏi là liệu chúng ta có nên tin tưởng vào Thiên Chúa khi những lời cầu nguyện của chúng ta không được Ngài đáp trả vả ban cho như ý muốn của chúng ta..?
            Một lần nữa, hôm nay, chúng ta được nhắc nhở là đức tin thực sự có nghĩa gì?. Đức tin là sự tin cậy nơi Thiên Chúa trong bất cứ hoàn cảnh, hay tình huống nào. Trong bài Tin Mừng, Chúa Giêsu đã nói với các môn đệ rằng sẽ có lúc họ se phải chịu những sự khổ cực và than khóc. Tuy nhiên, nỗi buồn sẽ không bao giờ sẽ tồn tại mãi mãi, Thay vào đó, sự đau buồn đó sẽ được biến thành niềm vui, giống như một người mẹ vui mừng sau khi đã sinh đứa con ra khỏi cung lòng, sau cơn đau đón là hạnh phúc. Các môn đệ của Chúa đã tin tưởng rằng Chúa Giêsu sẽ giữ lời hứa của Ngài và Ngài sẽ vượt qua cái chết và sống lại.
            Đó chính là niềm tin đã thúc đẩy Thánh Phaolô và các bạn đồng hành của ngài tiếp tục rao giảng Tin Mừng của Chúa Giêsu.  Mặc dù có những nguy hiểm và đau khổ mà các ngài đã phải trải qua. Dưới sự khuyến khích và thúc đẩy của Chúa Thánh Thần, thánh Phaolô  đã chứng minh được những gì có nghĩa cho cuộc sống. đó là sự tin tưởng và niềm hy vọng vào Chúa Giêsu, chứ không phải là phụ thuộc vào hoàn cảnh bên  ngoài. Cái chết và sự phục Sinh của Chúa Giêsu đã khắc phục được bóng tối, và bóng tối đã phải nhường chỗ cho ánh sáng. Với niềm hy vọng mà chúng ta cần phải tiếp tục trong sự tin tưởng vào Thiên Chúa vì Ngài là nơi nương náu của chúng ta, và là đấng nâng đở và bảo vệ của chúng ta. Vâng Chúa là người lôn tuân giữ những lời hứa của Ngài;  Lạy Chúa, xin cũng cố lòng tin của chúng con, giúp con có lòng tin tưởng vào Chúa mà không phụ thuộc vào bất cứ những gì trong thế gian….
 
Reflection:
These days, many people would admit, life is difficult. Whether it is on the political, economic, religious or social sphere, there seems to be so much darkness enveloping the nation and the world. At times like this, it is easy for some of us to give in to discouragement, anxiety, or to lose hope. We may even question whether we should trust God when our prayers do not seem to be answered by Him.
            Today, we are reminded again what faith actually means. Faith is about trusting God regardless the circumstances. In the Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that there will come a time of weeping and wailing. However, sorrow will not have the last word. Instead, it will be turned into joy — just like a mother who rejoices once her child is born. The disciples are to trust that Jesus will keep his promise, that he will overcome death.             It is this conviction that drives Paul to continue proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus inspire of the dangers and the suffering he undergoes. Under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, he demonstrates what it means to believe and place his hope in the Lord Jesus, regardless of the circumstances. This is why we celebrate the Season of Easter. It is a reminder that death has been overcome, and that darkness has given way to light. It is with this hope that we must keep believing and trusting that God is our refuge, our provider and protector. He has, and he will, fulfill his promises.   Lord, I trust You regardless of the circumstances.
 
Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter
“When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” John 16:21–22
When we live fully united to Christ, we can endure anguish with confidence and determination. Without Christ, even small, temporary trials become so burdensome that we tend to avoid them. Though trials are not desirable in themselves, God permits them to strengthen us in virtue and prepare us for eternity. The anguish that accompanies them is temporary, but the victory over them is eternal. If we refuse to endure the temporary, we risk losing the eternal.
Our Gospel illustrates this point well. The purpose of pregnancy is to cooperate with God’s creative power and to bring forth into the world a precious new soul who will exist for all eternity. What a joy it is for parents to learn of their pregnancy, endure the nine months and the labor, hold their newborn child, and accompany that child throughout life and into Heaven.
In order to give birth to that child, the woman must endure labor pains. These pains are not desirable or sought for their own sake, but a woman willingly endures them as a necessary condition for the great joy of new life. Afterward, a loving mother does not regret having a baby because the labor was painful. The joy of holding her newborn is so rewarding that it puts the pain in perspective.
Just as a woman willingly endures labor pains for the joy of new life, we too must embrace temporary trials to receive eternal blessings. Trials are a consequence of Original Sin. In the beginning, God did not will that trials would be part of our lives. After the Fall, many forms of trials entered human existence. To enable us to overcome these trials, the Son of God took on flesh and overcame everything we endure. Therefore, when we face trials, God looks at us and invites us to follow His example: to carry our crosses with His strength, to do what He already did.
When Jesus told His Apostles, “So you also are now in anguish,” He was speaking not only to them but also to us. Jesus was fully aware of the anguish the Apostles would endure through His coming Passion, and He is fully aware of every anguish we will endure. His awareness is active, offering hope: “I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” This is His promise to each of us as we confidently endure the trials of life. Our endurance will lead to eternal joy, for we will share in the victory of Christ’s Resurrection.
Reflect today on whether you are willing to endure the anguish of temporary trials so as to share in the eternal blessing that will come after. Are you living for what is temporary or eternal? Do you avoid trials out of fear, or do you embrace them with trust in Christ’s promise? Reflect on how you might unite your daily struggles with His Passion and seek His grace to persevere. Turn to Jesus, Who has already endured every trial and triumphed, and imitate Him so that you share in His victory and rejoice with Him for all eternity.
My determined Lord, You fully aligned Your will with the Father’s by embracing the great anguish caused by Your Passion and exhorted Your disciples to imitate You. You call me to do the same. Please give me the grace and wisdom I need to keep my eyes on the eternal and glorious end to which I am called, so that I can endure every temporary anguish with hope and joy. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter 2026
Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are with me. I have no reason to fear. I will speak your Word faithfully and seek always to be guided by your Spirit. Strengthen me to remain steadfast in your service.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Paul in Corinth: The First Reading continues the story of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey. We can date Paul’s time in Corinth to A.D. 51 or 52, when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia. Paul spent a year and a half with the Corinthians, preaching and teaching the word of God. He was reassured by the Lord Jesus in a dream or vision at night to continue his witness and not be silent. The Lord assures Paul that, even though he will be brought before the governor by the Jews, no one will attack him or harm him. What the Lord predicted came to pass. The Jews in Corinth accused Paul of inducing people to worship God contrary to the law of Moses and brought him before Gallio, who was indifferent to the complaints of the Jews. Gallio rejected their case and drove them from the tribunal. Instead of attacking Paul, the Jews seized Sosthenes, who was a synagogue official who had accepted the Gospel, and publicly beat him.
2. Priscilla and Aquila: The end of the First Reading mentions Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple who were expelled from Rome by the Emperor Claudius in A.D. 49. They encountered Paul in Corinth and welcomed him into their home, and worked together making tents. Priscilla and Aquila welcomed into their home the Christians who gathered to hear the Word of God and celebrate the Eucharist. Pope Benedict XVI reflected on this and taught: “Every home can transform itself into a little church. Not only in the sense that in them Christian love must reign... but still more in the sense that the whole of family life, based on faith, is called to revolve around the singular lordship of Jesus Christ” (Benedict XVI, February 14, 2007). Paul and the early Christians suffered for their faith in Jesus Christ. They were strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit and did not waver under persecution. They rejoiced that they had been found worthy to suffer something for the name of Jesus. Their joy is not fleeting and is not based on their whims or sentiments. It is based on the conviction that they have become sons and daughters of God through Jesus Christ and will receive the divine inheritance of eternal life. In prayer, we lift our hearts and minds to the Father who will grant us our petitions when we ask for what we need in the name of Jesus. God the Father knows what to give us, his children, and when to give these good things to us.
3. Paul’s Vow: The last line in the First Reading speaks about Paul shaving his head or getting a haircut because he had taken a vow. Luke doesn’t say what vow this was, but it was probably a Nazirite vow. This was a form of consecration to God that included abstention from alcohol and cutting one’s hair (see Numbers 6:1-21). “On completing the terms of the vow, a Nazirite would offer sacrifices in the temple and shave his head; [Acts 18:22] implies that after arriving in Caesarea, Paul did in fact go to the temple in Jerusalem. This mention of this detail shows that Paul is still an observant Jew. This will be further underlined by James’s request that Paul join four men taking a vow and pay their expenses so as to silence those who accuse Paul of breaking the Mosaic law (Acts 21:23-24)” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, 285).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, make my home and household a little Church where you reign and where all of my family members are united in a bond of true love. Help us to offer up our sufferings and experience true and lasting joy.
 
Friday of the Fifth Week of Easter
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” John 15:13–15
Is it possible to know everything that Jesus knows? Certainly not. Yet, Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” Jesus Himself is the full revelation of the Father. Therefore, in Him we have been given perfect access to the life of God. Even though God has revealed everything to us, we are limited in our ability to receive it because we are finite creatures. Nonetheless, our imperfect natures do not limit what Jesus has told us from the Father.
By analogy, consider water. When we are thirsty, we drink a glass of water. If we are very thirsty, we might drink several glasses. However, we are limited in how much water we can consume in one sitting. All that Jesus has revealed to us from the Father is like an infinite ocean of grace. He doesn’t offer us only one glass or even several. He offers us the ocean. Though He bestows it on us fully, we are limited in what we can receive by our finite nature and sin.
The goal of the Christian life is not to take one “sip” or “glass” of grace. Our goal is to continuously increase our capacity for receptivity. The greatest of saints spent their lives doing so. The more grace they received, the greater their capacity, and the greater their capacity, the more they received. St. Teresa of Ávila described this process as progressing through the “mansions” of the interior castle, with each step drawing the soul closer to union with God. St. John of the Cross taught that detachment from worldly attachments and the purification of the soul increase our receptivity to God’s grace. St. Thomas Aquinas explained that the theological virtues, especially charity, expand the soul’s capacity for divine love.
The presence of grace in any soul ensures that the soul will attain Heaven upon death. However, the level of glory that each will experience for eternity is determined by how much the soul’s capacity for grace expands in this life. This capacity is built through love. Jesus teaches, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” The love of charity is the process by which we lay down our lives for others. Jesus is not only the source of such love, He is also the Model. His choice to die on the Cross in His human nature exemplifies the kind of sacrificial love we are called to embody.
That form of sacrificial charity can be difficult to comprehend and live. Our fallen human nature tempts us toward selfishness. We can easily become deceived into thinking that taking is better than giving, being served is better than serving, and looking out for ourselves is better than putting others before us. The only way out of such deception is to enter into friendship with Jesus: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.”
The freedom to love is found through obedience to God. Though we cannot arrive at such obedience instantaneously, we can grow into it through prayer, penance, and fidelity to His commands. What does He command us to do? “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you” (John 15:12). Jesus loved us by laying down His life for us. In turn, we are called to lay down our lives for others. This means thinking of others before ourselves, anticipating their true needs, and working for their highest good—the salvation of their souls.
Reflect today on how Christ’s infinite ocean of grace flows into your life. What areas of selfishness or fear prevent you from receiving more of His love? Commit to growing in charity by laying down your life in concrete ways for those whom God has placed in your path. Seek to imitate Jesus who calls you His friend and shares everything with you that He has heard from the Father. Remember His command: “Love one another as I love you.” The more you love, the more your soul will expand, and the more you will share in His eternal glory.
My infinite Lord, the depth of love within Your soul is incomprehensible, yet You have revealed that love to us and invited us to receive it. Please flood me with the gift of charity so that I will not only share more fully in Your eternal glory, but so that You will touch others through the charity You place within my heart. Grant me the grace to embrace sacrificial love, laying down my life for others as You laid down Your life for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Friday of the Sixth Sunday of Easter 20206
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I love seeing the early Church figure things out slowly but surely. It encourages me to see that they didn’t have all the answers right away, but were guided by your Holy Spirit to all truth. Help me to contemplate more deeply what the pastoral leadership of Peter, the preaching and experience of Paul, and the pastoral concerns of James all mean for my life today.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Interpreting the Prophets on the Restoration of David’s Kingdom: After the Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles and presbyters sent a letter to the Church in Antioch about the decision they reached. Led by Simon Peter, the Church decided that the Gentiles did not have to follow many of the laws of the old covenant, especially those regarding circumcision. Many of the laws of Moses had a temporary character and were a cultural and social safeguard against contact with pagan Gentiles. That barrier of separation was being torn down in the forty years between Jesus’ death and the destruction of Jerusalem. At the Council, Paul and Barnabas confirmed Peter’s decision by relating how God was acting through them among the Gentiles. The apostle James also confirmed Peter’s decision and referred to the prophetic passages that described the return from exile and the restoration of Israel during the last days (Hosea 3:4-5; Jeremiah 12:15; Amos 9:11-12; and Isaiah 45:21). Jeremiah, for example, used the imagery of the Gentiles being built up like a building in the midst of Israel and this suggests their incorporation into the new temple, the Body of Christ. “Drawing on this imagery, James considers the gathering of the Gentiles in the midst of Israel to be the key to interpreting the Scriptures concerning the Gentile disciples during the last days” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 134). James also interprets the prophet Amos to mean that when God rebuilds the kingdom of David, it will be made up of all those – Gentiles included – who are united to the Messiah. 
2. The Church and the Gentiles: When James interprets the prophets, he understands that with the restored Kingdom of Jesus, there are not two separate people of God – Jews and Gentiles – but one People of God. The Deuteronomic covenant was national in character, but the Davidic covenant was always intended to be international and universal. “The collective message of the various prophetic texts that James alludes to or quotes is that in the last days, when the kingdom of David is restored by the Messiah, God will build a new temple in which the Gentiles may dwell with Him. According to the teaching of the apostles, the new temple is the Church (see 1 Peter 2:4-10; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:19-22). The Gentiles can therefore be brought into the People of God without submitting to the Deuteronomic Law (see Acts 15:19). Nevertheless, James immediately proposes a decree for Gentile believers that contains four prohibitions that seem to be derived from the Mosaic Law (see Acts 15:20). In the words of the final decree, the Gentiles should ‘abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity’ (Acts 15:29)” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 136). James understood that, even though many parts of the Mosaic Law were no longer binding on the Gentiles, they were in a transitional phase of overlap between the Old Covenant and the New. “During this transitional phase, the Mosaic Law was no longer binding but had not yet been externally removed by the destruction of the Temple” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 137).
3. The Apostolic Decree: The apostolic decree, communicating the decision of the Council to the Gentiles, had a temporary character. The three prohibitions about food only endured until the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70. All four prohibitions, though, were inspired by Leviticus 17-18, which laid out precepts for the Gentiles living amid God’s people in the land of Israel. These four prohibitions, then, became the four precepts that James considered applicable to the Gentile disciples during the last days. Improper sacrifices were prohibited in Leviticus 7:8-9; the consumption of blood was prohibited in Leviticus 17:10-12; the prohibition of consuming animals not properly slaughtered was derived from Leviticus 17:13; and the prohibition of sexual immorality was found in Leviticus 18:6-23 and 26. In this way, what James did was seek a compromise with the “circumcision party,” i.e., those who wanted the Gentile converts to follow the entire Law of Moses. James was trying to soften the blow, since the apostolic decree expressly condemns the actions of the circumcision party (see Acts 15:24). Paul and Barnabas were sent to Antioch and the churches of Syria and Cilicia, along with Judas and Silas, to convey the decree and decision of the council. “To assure the Church’s survival and growth after Jerusalem falls, Paul continues with his missionary journeys in order to plant the Church securely among the Gentiles before Jerusalem is destroyed [in A.D. 70]. The Church has been born, but she is still attached by the umbilical cord to the womb of Jerusalem, and that cord will soon be cut. The People of God has undergone a transition of covenants and thus of covenantal laws, from the Deuteronomic Law to the New Law of the Spirit. The circumcision party grasped the implication of this transition and resisted it. If members of the People of God could remain outside the Deuteronomic Law, then the Deuteronomic covenant and the national boundaries that it upheld were no more. Thus, the apostolic decree clearly signaled that the People of God could no longer be identified with a single nation, but would henceforth embrace all nations. The judgment of Jerusalem [in A.D. 70] would complete the transition of covenants, replacing the Temple made with human hands with the new temple of the Holy Spirit” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 139-140).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I contemplate today your Holy Spirit at work in the early Church. Contemplating the Council of Jerusalem, I realize that debates continue and will continue for centuries. In every age, the Church needs to discern how to live out the New Law that you gave and address the “new things” and “new situations” that arise.
 
Friday of the Sixth Sunday of Easter
“When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.”  John 16:21
This truth can certainly be extended to any form of anguish we experience for a good reason. Note that the pain experienced in childbirth is pain for a good and holy reason. Therefore, the pain is forgotten, in a sense, when the mother sees and holds her newborn child. That suffering is forgotten in the sense that it is transformed into joy by the birth of a child.
There is much in life that can cause anguish. In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes on to say to His disciples: “So you also are now in anguish.” He says this because He had just finished speaking to them about His coming departure to the Father and about the suffering that they would all experience in the form of persecution. But then He says to them that after He departs and they no longer see Him, they will then see Him again and will rejoice. And He says, “On that day you will not question me about anything.” This is an important line to understand.
Anguish, or any form of suffering, can tempt us to question our lives and even to question God. It is clear that after Jesus was killed, the disciples questioned everything. They were confused and frightened. All appeared to be lost. Then, to a lesser degree, after Jesus ascended into Heaven and prior to Him sending the Holy Spirit, the disciples would have also experienced confusion. Why did Jesus leave them? Why didn’t He stay longer? Who was going to lead them now? These and many other similar questions would have arisen in their minds.
So also with us, when things do not go as planned, or when things take a painful turn in our lives, we can immediately question and even doubt the perfect plan of God. If things fall apart because of our sin, then repentance is the remedy. But if things fall apart, in the sense that life becomes difficult, then we should especially listen to the words of Jesus today.
When anguish in life happens because we are fulfilling God’s will, we must see that anguish as a means to a much greater good. Just as the pains of childbirth lead to the gift of a child, so the pains of bringing forth God’s will in our lives will lead to the presence of God Himself. Patient endurance is a virtue that is especially important in this case. For example, the anguish of overcoming an addiction, or of praying when we don’t feel like praying, or of forgiving someone who hurt us are all examples of anguish turning into blessings. Very often, combatting our own selfish will is difficult. But the fruit of engaging in such a battle within us is joy. There is joy found in victory over sin. Joy is found in persevering in prayer. Joy is found in every difficulty we endure for the Kingdom of God. But the joy is not always our first experience. It is only experienced when we patiently endure the situation.
Reflect, today, upon any form of anguish you are currently enduring for the glory of God, or anything you are currently avoiding because it seems difficult to do. Do not shy away from these difficulties. See them as a means to a glorious end. Endure the “labor pains” of the purification and mission God is calling you to by looking beyond the difficulties you initially experience so that you will see the end result that awaits you.
My glorious Lord, You endured Your passion with perfect virtue. You never wavered from fulfilling the will of the Father, and the fruit of Your perseverance was the glory of the Resurrection. Please help me to patiently endure the crosses in my life and give me hope to see that from them You will bring forth the good fruit of eternal joy. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Friday Sixth Week of Easter 2025
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I trust in your Son’s promise that my grief in this life will become joy. You are capable of all things and can transform the pain of my suffering into the joy of love. I ask you today for the grace and charity I need to be your faithful child.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Your Grief Will Become Joy: At the Last Supper, Jesus tells the Apostles that their grief will become joy. This is a law of Christian life. We will share in the passion and sufferings of Jesus and will rise with him to glory. We are persecuted for our faith, yet we are consoled and comforted by the presence of God. We live by faith, the beginning of the joy of the eternal vision of God. We live by hope, look beyond the sufferings we endure in this passing world, and are confident in Jesus’ promise of eternal life. We live according to love, knowing it alone lasts beyond the grave.
2. The Image of a Woman in Labor: To exemplify the turning of grief into joy, Jesus uses an allegory of a woman in labor. “The hour of Christ’s Passion is compared to the pangs of childbirth. The disciples, like a woman in labor, will experience extreme distress that soon gives way to joy when Christ is reborn to a new life on Easter morning” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, 1920). The image of a woman in labor is able to be connected to Mary, who, in John’s Gospel, is the model disciple, “who exemplifies this sorrow turning to joy more than anyone else. As the mother of Jesus, she experiences the sorrow over the loss of him like no other. In fact, John’s Gospel highlights how this allegory about the pains and joys of childbirth is concretely embodied in Mary’s experience at the foot of the cross” (Sri, Walking with Mary, 137). The hour is coming when Mary, the New Eve and the New Rachel, will suffer with her Son and give birth to the Church.
3. In Jesus’ Name We Pray: After the Resurrection, things will become clearer for the disciples. Throughout the Last Supper Discourse, they have been asking Jesus questions and seeking answers. After the resurrection, they will not question him because they will truly understand his identity and the meaning of his Cross through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. “Through the Holy Spirit, the risen Jesus will draw his disciples to share in his communion with the Father, and an indication of this new relationship will be their praying to the Father in Jesus’ name. … To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray in union with him, who was completely obedient to the Father’s will out of love. It is to pray and desire that the Father’s will be done (Matthew 6:10)” (Martin and Wright, The Gospel of John, 272).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, make my home and household a little Church where you reign and where all of my family members are united in a bond of true love. Help us to offer up our sufferings and experience true and lasting joy.

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Năm Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh
Bình thường chúng ta nghĩ rằng, khi Chúa Giêsu Lên Trời, Ngài vào thiên đàng, và Ngài bỏ chúng ta lại ở dưới thế này. Thật sự thì Chúa Giêsu đã rời bỏ thế giới này, nhưng điều đó không có nghĩa là Ngài bỏ rơi chúng ta.
Hôm nay chúng ta mừng kính lễ Chúa lên Trời, và mỗi năm chúng ta nên lợi dụng cớ hội này để suy gẫm vả phản ánh về mối quan hệ của Chúa Giêsu với chúng ta, về sự hiện diện lâu dài của Ngài ỡ giữa chúng ta và ở trong chúng ta.
            Khi Chúa Giêsu đã sống lại từ cõi chết, Ngài đã hiện ra với các môn đệ và những người đã tin tưởng và yêu mến Ngài như những người phụ nữ thân tín của Ngài. Mục đích Chúa hiện ra sau khi sống lại trong 40 ngày là để giúp cho các môn để và những người theo Ngài được hiểu rõ là qua cái chết, và sự sống lại Chúa Giêsu, Ngài đã sống lại trong cách sống mới nhưng Ngài vẫn luông ấp ủ mối quan hệ của Ngài với chúng ta, mặc dù bây giờ đã được thể hiện theo một cách mới.
Việc Chúa về Trời cũng là một trong những phần mà Chúa đã hiện ra, đâ là lần cuối cùng và cũng là lúc mà Ngài thiết lập mối quan hệ không phải chỉ với những người đã gặp gỡ Ngài trong cuộc sống trần thế của Ngài, nhưng là với tất cả những người trong mọi lứa tuổi, những người sẽ đến và tin vào Ngài và trong Giáo Hội.
            Chúa Giêsu đã  sinh ra để làm “Thiên Chúa ở cùng chúng ta” (Immanuel), Ngài sẽ là đấng Immanuel, Thiên Chúa ở cùng chúng ta mãi mãi.
            Lạy Chúa Giêsu, Xin ở cùng với chúng tôi trong tất cả và mãi mãi, Xin Chúa mang chúng con đến với niềm vui trong cuộc sống đời đời với Ngài trong sự hiện diện của Chúa Cha muôn đời.
 
Reflection  Thursday Sixth Week of Easter
            It is normal to think that, at his Ascension into heaven, Jesus left us. It is true that Jesus left this world but that does not mean that he left us. At the feast of the Ascension each year we have a good opportunity to reflect on Jesus' relationship with us, his enduring presence among us and within us.
            When Jesus rose from the dead, he spent forty days appearing to his disciples, those who knew him before his death and believed in him and loved him. The purpose of these appearances was to bring them to understand that though he had died he was alive in a new way and still cherished his relationship with them, though it was now expressed in a new way. His ascension into heaven was part of this series of appearances, the last one and the one which would establish his relationship, not only with those who had seen him in his earthly life but all those throughout the ages who would come to believe in him in the Church. Born to be Immanuel, he would be Immanuel, God-with-us, forever.
            Lord Jesus, present with us in all ages, bring us joyfully to eternal life with You in the Father’s presence forever and ever.Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” John 16:19–20
Joy often brings clarity, while grief is often accompanied by confusion. When the disciples saw Jesus arrested, tortured, and crucified, their grief led to confusion. They might have wondered, “Was He not the Messiah? Did we not witness His miracles? Did He not speak with divine authority? How could it be that He is now dead?” After the Resurrection, those questions faded as their joy brought clarity.
In a similar way, we face moments of grief and confusion when God’s will seems hidden or His promises delayed. When a perceived misfortune happens, such as a serious illness and hospitalization of a loved one, we feel grief and might experience confusion. If our loved one recovers and returns home, we rejoice and give thanks to God. That thanksgiving is often accompanied by an apparent clarity that God was faithful and brought about the healing through our prayers. Though that might be true, it’s important to understand the effects that grief and joy have on us.
Not every earthly cause of human grief will result in natural joy. Not every loved one recovers. Not every prayer is answered in the way we hope. Similarly, not every experience of the emotion of joy is in response to God’s answer to our prayer. Sometimes joy is simply a natural response to something we desire and have attained.
The important point is that the emotions of grief and joy are not good guides to God’s will. Jesus, in His great empathy, showed He was aware of and concerned about the emotional turmoil His Apostles would soon experience. That’s why He told them, “You will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” He was readying them to navigate the emotions they would soon face. Jesus continues to extend the same fatherly care to us, preparing our hearts to navigate the complexities of life with faith and trust.
If the Apostles understood the value of Jesus’ Crucifixion as we understand it today, they might have had a different emotional experience. Certainly, there would have been deep sorrow as they gazed upon the human suffering of the Son of God. But the clarity they would have had, knowing the infinite riches of grace that were being won through His Passion, would have transformed their human grief into a spiritual sorrow, simultaneously mixed with joy.
By analogy, imagine seeing an incredibly heroic act of courage and selflessness in which someone laid down his life for another. For example, say you were with Saint Maximilian Kolbe when he stepped forward in Auschwitz and offered to die in place of Franciszek Gajowniczek, the father and husband whom the guards chose to die in the starvation chamber. Witnessing such selflessness would likely have brought tears to your eyes but also great inspiration and joy within your spirit. Similarly, if the Apostles knew what we know today about Jesus’ death and Resurrection, they would have had clarity in the face of grief, and joy would have accompanied that grief.
While the Apostles struggled with sorrow and confusion, the Blessed Virgin Mary provides the perfect example of how grace transforms suffering. Given that Mary was full of grace and sinless, her human emotions and thinking were perfectly aligned with God’s will. As she gazed on the horror of her Son’s Passion, she had both sorrow and joy, feeling the pain of Jesus’ sufferings as she rejoiced in the greatest act of love ever seen.
Reflect today on the fluctuations of emotion you have encountered and how those experiences have affected your thinking. Remind yourself that emotions are poor guides to God’s will. Sometimes God calls us to great sacrifice, which results in suffering. Such sacrifice, when seen with clarity, allows joy to coexist with grief. Resolve to look at your life through the lens of Jesus’ Passion, knowing that every sacrifice you make with and in Him is an act of love worth rejoicing over, no matter how difficult the emotional grief that accompanies such sacrifice may be.
My empathetic Lord, You are aware of every emotion I feel, confusion I have, and thought that I ponder. Please purify my emotions and bring clarity to my thoughts so that I am guided by You alone as I experience the sorrows and joys of life. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
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 Sixth Week of Easter 2025
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.
 
Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.” John 16:17–18
How about you? Do you know what Jesus means? Or do you find that you are confused by what He said just like these disciples were? Though pride may tempt you to claim that you fully understand all that Jesus taught, the humble and honest truth is that you are probably very much like these disciples in their confusion. And that is not necessarily a bad place to be.
First, the confusion of these disciples shows they took Jesus seriously. They were not indifferent. They cared, were interested, wanted to understand, and must have had some level of faith in Jesus. Otherwise, they would have ignored Him. But they didn’t. They listened, tried to understand, discussed His teaching, thought about His words and humbly concluded that they didn’t understand.
Jesus is not critical of their confusion. He sees that they are trying and that they have some level of faith. And even though these disciples are confused, Jesus continues to speak to them in figures of speech rather than directly and clearly. One of the reasons that Jesus speaks in figurative language is because the message that He is teaching is profound and deep. It’s not something that can be quickly and easily understood and mastered. The mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven are so deep, vast, profound and mystical that the only way to begin to understand them is to first have faith. Faith does not mean you fully understand everything. Faith is a supernatural gift by which you come to believe without fully seeing and understanding. The certainty comes from God, not from your own reasoning ability. But faith always leads to deeper understanding. Therefore, as these disciples professed their faith, they also came to understand. And even though Jesus speaks in this figurative way, these disciples ultimately made the choice to believe. Later in this chapter they conclude, “Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God” (John 16:30).
If you find yourself confused about various matters of faith, God, morality, and the like, or if you find yourself confused about the various mysteries of life itself, or your life in particular, do not be afraid to admit to this confusion. Admitting confusion is the humble admittance of the truth, and this humility will be a helpful step toward the gift of faith.
Reflect, today, upon whether you struggle at all with indifference toward the mysteries of life. If so, commit yourself to be more like these disciples who intentionally grappled with all that Jesus spoke. Do not be afraid to admit your confusion and to place that confusion before our Lord. Strive to have the gift of faith and allow that spark of faith to become the pathway for your deeper understanding of the many mysteries of life.
My mysterious Lord, You and all the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven are so deep and profound that no one will ever fully comprehend their depth, breadth and beauty. Please open my mind, dear Lord, to a deeper understanding of You so that I may profess my faith in You and in all that You have chosen to reveal. I do believe, my God. Help my unbelief. Jesus, I trust in You.