Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần Thánh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Ba Tuần Thánh
Đoạn Tin Mừng hôm nay đã cho chúng ta thấy hai nhân cách nổi bật và mỗi nhân cách có những đặc tính trái ngược nhau. Giuđa cố tình phản bội Thầy của mình, trong khi đó Phêrô, trong một những khoảnh khắc yếu đuối, sợ sệt đã chối Thầy mình bằng những lời thề.
Hành động của Giuđa có vẻ lạnh lùng và có tính toán. Còn Phêrô, tuy không cố tình chối Chúa những vì bản tính của ông hay bốc đồng, có thể là trong sự yếu hèn và nhút nhát. Chúa Giêsu hiểu rất rõ ông Phêrô và biết lòng trung thành một mực của ông cũng như những thiếu xót và yếu đuối của ông. Ông Phêrô có một thói quen trực tính là hay nói tất cả những ông ta suy nghĩ từ sự mộc mặc và chất phát trong tâm hồn của ông, ông không hề suy nghĩ hay tính toàn sự hơn thua. Sự Phản bội của Giuđa, tuy nhiên, được nhìn thấy một cách tồi bại nhất khi Chúa Giêsu biểu lộ tình cảm đặc biệt với ông ta ngay trong bữa tiệc ly.
Trong bài Tin Mừng Thánh Gioan cho chúng ta thấy rằng Satan đã nhập vào con người Giuđa khi anh 
ta từ bỏ Chúa Giêsu để theo đuổi con đường tham lam và bạo ác của mình. Satan xoay chiều và có thể biến sự yêu thương thành thù hận. Nó có thể biến sự thánh thiện thành niềm tự cao, ngạo mạn, biến sự hiền diệu, có kỷ luật thành con người tàn ác, gian manh, biến tình cảm vào sự tự mãn. Chúng ta cần phải đề cao, cảnh giác tâm hồn của chúng ta vì sợ rằng Satan sẽ đem chúng ta ra khỏi tình yêu của Thiên Chúa v àcon đường mà Thiên Chúa đã chọn cho chúng ta. 
Chúa Thánh Thần sẽ ban cho chúng ta những ân sủng, sức mạnh và hướng dẫn chúng ta trong thời gian
 thử thách. Nếu chúng ta  môn đệ của Chúa, chúng ta phải bước đi trong ánh sáng của chân lý, sự thật trong tình yêu của Ngài. Nếu chúng ta quay lưng lại Ngài,  chúng ta sẽ vấp ngã và rơi vào con đường  tội lỗi và bóng tối. 
    Chúng ta đã sẵn sàng để đi theo Chúa Giêsu trên đường đến thập giá?
 
REFLECTION Gospel Reading: John 13:21-38
The Gospel passage highlights two personalities, each with contrasting traits.  - Judas deliberately betrayed his Master while Peter, in a moment of weakness, denied him with an oath and a curse. - Judas' act was cold and calculated. Peter, however, never meant to do what he did. He acted impulsively, out of weakness and cowardice.
Jesus knew both the strength of Peter's loyalty and the weakness of his resolution. He had a habit of speaking with his heart without thinking through the implications of what he was saying.
- The treachery of Judas, however, is seen at its worst when Jesus makes his appeal by showing special affection to him at his last supper.               John says that Satan entered into Judas when he rejected Jesus and left to pursue his evil course. Satan can twist love and turn it into hate. He can turn holiness into pride, discipline into cruelty, and affection into complacency.
We must be on our guard lest Satan turn us from the love of God and the path which God has chosen for us. The Holy Spirit will give us grace and strength in our time of testing.  If we submit to Jesus we will walk in the light of his truth and love. If we turn our backs on him we will stumble and fall in the ways of sin and darkness.
    Are we ready to follow Jesus in his way of the cross?
 
Tuesday of Holy Week
“Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once.”  John 13:31–32
Jesus speaks this line about Himself being glorified immediately after Judas leaves the supper to go forth to betray Him. Jesus had just finished washing the feet of His disciples, and soon He would finish the Last Supper, go to the Garden of Gethsemane, be arrested, beaten and crucified. And this was to all take place through the betrayal of one of the Twelve. Yet rather than speak of these pending events in a fearful or anxious way, Jesus points to the glory He will receive through them.
Everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Even our sin can end in God’s glory when we repent and receive God’s forgiveness. It will not be our sin that glorifies God but His mercy poured forth from the Cross upon us that gives Him glory.
The same is true with the events of Holy Week. When looked at from a purely human perspective, what Jesus endured was tragic and horrific. One of His closest companions betrayed Him. The religious leaders of the time betrayed Him. The civil authorities betrayed Him. And all of the disciples except John fled in fear as Jesus was betrayed. But Jesus did not look at any of this through human eyes alone. He saw it all from the eternal perspective and clearly taught that all of these seemingly tragic events would end in His glory.
When we commit ourselves to the following of Christ, we can be assured that we will also share in His Cross. We will experience the sins of others, encounter mistreatment, and have to endure various sufferings. The question for us all as we have these encounters in life is whether we will endure them in anger and despair or with the hopeful confidence of our Lord. Again, everything in life has the potential to become an instrument of the glory of God. Nothing in life has the power to steal away that glory when we keep our eyes upon the will of God and His power to use all for His glory.
Reflect, today, upon your call in life to see everything from the divine perspective. If you are upset, angry, despairing or confused at times, know that God wants to bring clarity and grace to every situation. He wants to show you how you can share in His divine mission of transforming every evil into God’s glory. Seek out the ways that your life must give glory to God in everything, especially those things that seem incapable of being used for good. The more an experience in life seems incapable of being used for God’s glory, the more that experience is capable of giving true glory to God.
My glorious Lord, You brought forth good from all things. Even the grave evil of Your betrayal was transformed into a manifestation of Your glory. I offer to You, dear Lord, all that I endure in life and pray that You will be glorified in all things, and that my life will continually become a manifestation of the glory due Your holy name. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Tuesday of Holy week
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I earnestly desire to follow your Son. Like Peter, I am willing to lay down my life for Jesus. I want to love you with all my heart and soul and give myself in service to my brothers and sisters.
Encountering the Word of God 
1. The Second Servant Song: The first song of the Servant of the Lord prophesies that Jesus will bring salvation and justice to the world. He will mediate a New Covenant that extends to the whole world. The second song of the Suffering Servant, proclaimed in today’s First Reading, continues many of the themes of the first song yet adds a couple of things. First, the Suffering Servant is not just chosen by God but is called by God from birth and given his name while still in his mother’s womb. The Son of God, in whom the Father is well-pleased, becomes flesh and dwells among us. His mission of justice is accomplished through the Incarnation in Mary's womb. For thirty years Jesus was hidden in Nazareth: God made Jesus a sharp-edged sword and concealed him in the shadow of his arm; God made him a polished arrow and hid him in his quiver. This was the way that the Father chose to manifest his eternal glory. Second, this way to glory passes through the humility and apparent failure of the Cross. The Servant is tempted to think that he toiled in vain and that he spent his strength for nothing. Jesus, however, did not die in vain. He trusts completely in the Lord and is rewarded for his obedience. Not only is he raised from the dead, but he merits salvation for all God’s children. 
2. A Light to the Nations: God reveals the universal mission of the Servant. It is too little for the Servant to restore the tribes of Israel. His saving mission will reach to the ends of the earth. He will be a light to all the nations. We know that Jesus himself understood that his public ministry was first directed to the lost tribes of Israel and to Judah. On occasion, Jesus ministered to Gentiles during his public life. However, after his Ascension, Jesus will send out his disciples to all the nations. We, as Jesus’ disciples, share in the mission of the Suffering Servant and are called to bring his light and his salvation to the ends of the earth.
3. God is Glorified in His Son: In the Gospel, we see Judas leave the upper room to hand over Jesus to the chief priests. At this point, Jesus speaks of three glorifying actions. First, Jesus reveals that he is glorified in his passion and death. This is the glory of the Cross. His fidelity and his merciful love are worthy of praise and honor. Second, God is glorified in Jesus. Through the Cross, Jesus draws all men to himself and into the true worship of the heavenly Father. The New Covenant enables the worship of the Father in Spirit and in truth. Third, God the Father will glorify Jesus through the resurrection from the dead. God will glorify him “at once” on the third day and lift him up to heaven to be seated at his right hand in power and in glory. Jesus explains this mystery to the apostles, “his children.” He says: “I will be with you only a little while longer.” In less than twenty-four hours, he will be crucified on the Cross. Then he says: “Where I go you cannot come.” Jesus will descend to the dead to release those who awaited the opening of the gates of heaven. As well, Jesus will rise from the dead and ascend to the Father. Finally, Jesus says: “Where I am going, you will follow later.” The Apostles will follow Jesus in his ministry, in his death, and in his Resurrection. They will go out to all nations and baptize them; they will be martyred for their faith; and they will rise with Jesus to new life.
 Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, just as you were commissioned by your Father to bring salvation and justice to the earth, so also I am commissioned and sent. My mission is a share in your mission. Help me today to be guided by your Spirit in fulfilling your Father’s will.
 Living the Word of God: Each of us has a role in God’s plan. Am I familiar with God’s plan for me? How have I discerned this in prayer? What is God asking of me today?