Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ Nhật Mùa Chay

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Tư Tuần thứ Nhật Mùa Chay (Luke 11:29-32 )

Nhiều người trong chúng ta cảm thấy rất là khó khăn để ăn năn, sám hối và thay đổi cuộc sống của chúng ta thật sự trong mùa chay này. Chúng ta cũng chẳng khác gì hơn những người Biệt Phái Do thái, những người đang tìm kiếm các dấu lạ hơn là chấp nhận những gì họ mà đã thấy trong suốt cuộc hành trình của Chúa Jêsus.   Có lẽ, nếu chúng ta thấy Chúa Giêsu Kitô xuất hiện trước mặt chúng ta, kêu gọi chúng ta ăn năn sám hối thì lúc đó chúng ta mới chịu chấp nhận và thay đổi cuộc sống của chúng ta?  hay nếu chúng ta nhìn thấy một cây thánh giá xuất hiện lơ lưởng giữa bầu trời, hoặc một cái gì đó phải làm cho chúng ta run lên, sợ hãi thì mới chịu trở lại với Chúa Giêsu? Trong trường hợp này, chúng ta đúng là những người của một  "thế hệ gian ác", vì chúng ta chỉ có tin vào Chúa Kitô khi chúng ta nhận thấy được một dấu lạ nào đó mà thôi. Nếu chúng ta tin, thì chúng ta phải nên giống như những người trong thành Ninivê, những người biết nhìn nhận tội lỗi của mình, biết ăn năn sám hối khi được ông Giô-na rao giảng cho họ. Chúa Kitô đã đến để giúp chúng ta nhận ra chính mình và biết ăn năn.

            Trong một Tin Mừng khác, Chúa Giêsu đã nói, "Ví như Giôna đã ở trong bụng thuồng luồng ba ngày ba đêm thế nào, thì Con Người cũng sẽ ở trong lòng đất ba ngày ba đêm thể ấy.. Chúa Kitô đã ám chỉ đến mình, với thời gian Ngài ở trong mộ đất. cũng như Giôna ra khỏi bụng của cá voi (thuồng luồng), Chúa Kitô cũng ra khỏi mộ. Đây là biểu hiệu lạ mà Chúa Giêsu đã ban cho chúng ta thấy và vẫn còn tiếp tục là dấu chỉ cho chúng tôi hôm nay. Trong thời gian chúng ta tìm thấy chính mình trong mộ, hãy tin rằng Chúa Kitô, Đấng đã đi vào cái chết và trở lại trong cuộc sống mới, Ngài sẽ không để chúng ta lại trong ngôi mộ của chúng ta và Ngài sẽ mang và giải thoát chúng ta ra khỏi ngôi mộ đó để đưa chúng ta trở lại, để cùng trải nghiệm trong cuộc sống mới với Ngài, cho dù ngôi mộ này là một thử thách, khó khăn to lớn, một lỗi phạm nghiêm trọng, một tội các hay bất kỳ một cái chết, Chúng ta có thể trải nghiệm sự phục sinh của Chúa Kitô. Ngài luôn sẵn sàng để biểu lộ vinh quang của Ngài bằng cách thực hiện dấu chỉ này trong cuộc sống của Chúng ta.

            Lạy Chúa Cha trên trời, trong Mùa Chay này, Xin Chúa ban cho chúng ta một tinh thần khiêm tốn và thống hối để chúng con có thể bước theo Chúa Giêsu một cách tự tin trong con đường của sự thánh thiện đích thực.

 

Reflection WEDNESDAY, 1st Week of Lent 

Many of us find it difficult to believe that we need to repent of our sins and change our lives; we are like the Pharisees who were looking for more signs than what they had already seen throughout Jesus' ministry. Probably, if we see Jesus Christ appear in front of us, calling us to repent then that's the only time we will convert; or if we see a cross appear in the sky, or something to that sort, we will tremble with fear and turn to Jesus. In that case, we are a "wicked generation" for we will only believe in Christ if we see a sign. You may say, "but I do believe in Jesus Christ." If we do believe, then we should be like the people of Nineveh who repented then Jonah preached to them. Christ comes to help us with a sign.

            In another Gospel, Jesus said. Christ is alluding to himself, to the period he would spend in the tomb. Just as Jonah came out of the belly of the whale, Christ also came out of the tomb. This is the sign that Jesus had given us and continues to be the sign for us today. In times when you find yourself in a tomb, believe that Christ, who already entered into death and came out of it with a new life, will not leave you in your tomb and will bring you out of it to experience his new life. Whether this tomb is a heavy trial, a serious sin, a vice or any sort of death, you can experience Christ's resurrection. He is always ready to manifest his glory by performing this sign in your life.

 

WEDNESDAY, 1st Week of Lent   2021

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” Luke 11:29

The crowd seemed to be a mixed bunch. First, there were those who wholeheartedly believed in Jesus. The Twelve, for example, left everything behind to follow Him. His mother and various other holy women believed in Him and were His faithful followers. But within the growing crowd, it appeared that there were many who questioned Jesus and wanted some form of proof of Who He was. Thus, they wanted a sign from Heaven.

A sign from Heaven would have been some externally manifest proof of Who Jesus was. Granted, Jesus had already performed numerous miracles. But it seems that this was not enough. They wanted more—and that desire is a clear indication of a stubbornness of heart and a lack of faith. So Jesus could not and would not give them the sign they wanted.

Instead, Jesus says that the only sign they will receive is the sign of Jonah. Recall that the sign of Jonah was not very appealing. He was thrown over the side of a boat and swallowed by a whale, where he remained for three days before being spit up on the shores of Nineveh.

Jesus’ sign would be similar. He would suffer at the hands of the religious leaders and civil authorities, be killed and be placed in a tomb. And then, three days later, He would rise. But His Resurrection was not one in which He came forth with rays of light for all to see; rather, His post-Resurrection appearances were to those who already manifested faith and already believed.

The lesson for us is that God will not convince us of the matters of faith through powerful and Hollywood-like public manifestations of God’s greatness. Instead, the “sign” we are offered is an invitation to die with Christ so that we can personally begin to experience the new life of the Resurrection. This gift of faith is interior, not publicly exterior. Our death to sin is something we personally and interiorly do, and the new life we receive can only be seen by others by the witness of our lives that are changed.

Reflect, today, upon the true sign God has given you. If you are one who seems to be waiting for some manifest sign from our Lord, wait no longer. Look at the crucifix, see Jesus’ suffering and death, and choose to follow Him in a death to all sin and selfishness. Die with Him, enter the tomb with Him and allow Him to bring you forth interiorly renewed this Lent, so that you can be transformed by this one and only sign from Heaven.

My crucified Lord, I gaze upon the crucifix and see in Your death the greatest act of love ever known. Give me the grace I need to follow You to the tomb so that Your death will triumph over my sins. Free me, dear Lord, during the Lenten journey so that I will be able to fully share in Your new life of the Resurrection. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

WEDNESDAY, 1st Week of Lent   2024

Opening Prayer: Lord God, you are constant in your call to me to repent, to turn from a life of sin to a life of grace. I want this so much. Sin leaves me empty and unfulfilled. Only you truly satisfy my deepest desires. My happiness is in you alone.

 

Encountering the Word of God

 

1. Jonah’s Call to Repentance: The main message of the Book of Jonah is that God wants all people, not just Israel, to repent from their sins and receive his merciful salvation. When Jonah first heard the call of God to preach repentance to Assyria, the ancient enemy of Israel, he refused to do it. The last thing Jonah wanted was for the capital city of the Assyrians, Nineveh, to be spared! That is why Jonah tried to flee by ship to Tarshish to get as far from the city of Nineveh as possible. 

 

2. Irony in Jonah: The story of Jonah is full of irony and contrasts. Jonah experienced God’s mercy when he was saved from drowning by the fish and protected from the sun by a plant that miraculously grew in one night. And yet, Jonah was angry when God was merciful to the repentant Ninevites. Are we like Jonah? Have we experienced God’s mercy yet are hesitant to be merciful toward others? Jonah’s call to repentance does not fall on deaf ears. The people of Nineveh believed and performed public penances, including fasting and wearing scratchy sackcloth, to avert the coming judgment of God upon the city.

 

3. The Sign of Jonah: In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus refers to the preaching of Jonah and recalls how the people of Nineveh responded to it. Jesus tells his listeners that they are experiencing something greater than Jonah. Because of this, Jesus says that, at the Last Judgment, it will go better for the ancient Ninevites who heard Jonah than for the generation who heard Jesus’ preaching and call to repentance.  The Ninevites saw no signs or miracles and yet they believed the simple message of the prophet Jonah. The people in Jesus’ day saw the signs and miracles Jesus performed and yet refused to repent and believe. In his words, Jesus is also alluding to the future preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles by the Apostles. Like the Gentiles who responded to Jonah’s call to repent, the Gentiles throughout the Mediterranean will respond to the Apostles and their call to repent and believe in the Gospel.

 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I want to believe. Help my unbelief! Increase my faith, hope, and love. I want to live the Gospel in my life so that I may attain eternal glory with you.

 

Resolution: This Lent, we have heard both Jonah’s and Jesus’s call to repentance. We have been invited to turn from sin and from the things of this passing world to God. We should not attempt to do this by relying on our own efforts. Any true conversion we have or any true repentance we manifest must be empowered by the gift of God’s grace. We cannot save ourselves; we can only cooperate with God’s saving grace and action. How will I repent today?

 

WEDNESDAY, 1st Week of Lent  2021

Opening Prayer: 

Dear Jesus, light a fire within me. May I seek you as fervently as the queen sought Solomon’s wisdom. May I repent of my sins as wholeheartedly as did the Ninevites. Kindle in me the desire to follow you in all of my ways.

Encountering Christ:

1.      Demanding a Sign: Despite the fulfillment of dozens of major Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah, some in the crowd demanded yet more signs from Jesus. He offered another chance to these unbelievers by clearly stating that he was “something greater” than Jonah of the Old Testament, who was a sign of God’s love for the Ninevites, or King Solomon, who was sought for his wisdom by the Queen of Sheba. Jesus, himself, was the sign to Israel and the promised Messiah. Pagans such as the Ninevites and the Queen of Sheba turned their hearts to God when they met his imperfect messengers. These Jews had the most perfect sign in their midst, the Son of God himself, yet many did not believe. 

2.      Recognizing Our Lord: There is a warning here for followers of Christ today. Do we pick and choose which teachings of the Church conveniently align with our own opinions and desires? Or do we acknowledge “something greater” in Christ Jesus, and trust in the wisdom of his bride the Church? Jesus warns that the men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba will condemn the generations who fail to acknowledge God in their midst. We must take this warning to heart. 

3.      Seeking God at Great Cost: The Queen of Sheba went to great trouble and expense to seek out the wisdom of Solomon. A pagan ruler of Saba, in Southwest Arabia, she became a believer after visiting Solomon and learning of the God of Abraham. The people of Nineveh, a pagan Assyrian stronghold, converted to faith in the Lord when Jonah preached repentance to them. Seeking and following Jesus can be a costly undertaking. It can require painful detachment, lots of sacrifice, and little failures along the way. Yet, this process of transformation reaps for us eternal rewards beyond our imagining. “For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I thank you for your words and your presence. You are truly a God of second chances. Forgive me for the times I have doubted you, ignored you, or strayed from your ways. Strengthen my faith in you. I pray for true conversion in my heart. 

Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will prayerfully read the first reading of the day, Jonah 3:1-10. I will reflect on the second chance you gave Jonah and the amazing results when Jonah followed your wishes. I will pray for courage and strength to do what you ask in my own life.

 

WEDNESDAY, 1st Week of Lent 

In the first reading Yahweh castigates his people Israel for their sins and transgressions against him.

     In the Gospel reading, in similar fashion, Jesus castigates the people for their hardness of heart and unwillingness to see and to listen to his message. He reminds them that the Queen of the South traveled far to listen to Solomon and yet "here (today) there is greater than Solomon"; the people of Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes at the preaching of Jonah and yet "here (today) there is greater than Jonah."

     As we begin the season of Lent let us take seriously the message of repentance for our sins: "0 my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because I have offended thee, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen."