Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần thứ bốn Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Thứ Bẩy Tuần thứ bốn Phục Sinh
Trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay, Chúa Giêsu nói rõ cho chúng ta biết rằng Chính là Chúa Cha, Đấng đã sai và chúc lành cho Ngài để  làm những việc tốt lành. Ngài cũng nói rằng nhiệm vụ của Ngài là đến với thế gian này là để làm những gì mà Chúa Cha đã sai Ngài đến để làm.
 Và đối với các thánh cũng thế.  Thánh George là một quan lớn trong quân đội La Mã, nhưng sau khi ông được rửa tội và theo Thiên Chúa, ông đã lập tức từ bỏ tất cả của cải trần thế của mình và ông đã bố thí tất cả những gì ông có cho người nghèo. Ông rời bỏ quân đội và sau đó, ông đã đứng lên làm chứng nhân cho Chúa Kitô  và đã chết vì đức tin cho Chúa Kitô. Từ cái chết can đảm, dũng khí của ông đã khuyến khích rất nhiều người khác dám chết cho Chúa. Ai đã làm cho Thánh George có đủ can đảm để làm tất cả những điều này? Chính Chúa Giêsu, Người Thầy và là đấng Cứu rỗi của ông ta.
 Thánh Adalbert là một người ngoại giáo đã theo đạo Công giáo. Ông trở thành Giám Mục Prague (Thủ đô Tiệp) và ông đã truyền bá Tin Mừng cho người Ba Lan và Hungary. Ông gặp phải nhiều sự chống đối, và cuối cùng ông đã phải chịu tử đạo trong khi cố gắng để rao giảng Tin Mừng  cho quân Phổ ở vùng Baltic và kêu gọi họ trở lại. Thánh Adalbert cũng đã lắng nghe tiếng của Thiên Chúa khi ông làm những công việc truyền bá phúc âm của mình.
  Chúng ta có nghe tiếng nói của Thiên Chúa trong cuộc sống của chúng ta? Sau khi Ngài đã  giúp chúng ta phân loại và nhận định đâu cuộc sống không có mục đích của chúng ta. Đôi khi Ngài cũng đã còn mời gọi một số người trong chúng ta làm việc cho Ngài còn nhiều hơn . Chúng ta đã có bao giờ nghe thấy tiếng gọi ấy?. Xin Chúa Thánh Thần mở long trí và giúp chúng biết nghe tiến Chúa.
 
Reflection Saturday 4th Week of Easter
In the Gospel reading, Jesus says clearly that it is the Father who enables him to do good works.  He also says that his mission is to do what the Father tells him to do.
This is also true for the saints.  St. George was a tribune in the Roman army when he converted to Christianity.  Immediately he gave up all his worldly possessions and gave them to the poor.  He left the army and was subsequently martyred for standing up for the faith.  His death inspired many others to die for the Lord.  Who inspired St. George to do all this?  Obviously, the Lord, his Master and Savior.
 St. Adalbert was a pagan convert to Catholicism.  He became the Bishop of Prague  and he evangelized the Poles and Hungarians.  Encountering much opposition, he was martyred trying to convert the Baltic Prussians.  St. Adalbert also listened to the voice of God when doing his evangelical work.  
 Have you heard the voice of God in your life?  After He helps sort out our aimless lives, sometimes He invites some of us to do more for Him.  Have you heard this calling?
 
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father. And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” John 14:12–14
How is it that we are called to do greater works than the works that Jesus Himself did? Of course, it’s true. This is our calling. We know that, because this is what our Lord promised us. This truth should fill us with gratitude for being used so powerfully by God.
Among the “greater” works of which Jesus speaks is, first and foremost, the sharing of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. As Jesus walked the earth, His mission was primarily to the people of Israel. But when He ascended to Heaven and sent the Holy Spirit upon the Church, He also empowered all who would receive the Holy Spirit to share the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Thus, the conversion of hearts is the greatest work that we can cooperate with.
Do you want to do great things? Most children dream of doing so because this desire is written upon our human nature. We want to make a difference. We want to be great. But too often we become confused about true greatness. We attempt to fulfill that innate desire through acts of worldly and passing greatness. We seek recognition, wealth, and other passing rewards that stem from selfish ambitions. None of these ultimately fulfill us, even if we were to achieve them to the greatest extent. For example, imagine if you won the Nobel Peace Prize, or became the leader of a nation, or became the wealthiest person alive. Would the attainment of one of these goals fulfill you? Only if it were the will of God. If not, it would be an empty and meaningless act.
Begin by looking within. Do you see the desire within you to do great things? Hopefully you do. From there, remind yourself that the greatest thing you can do, so as to fulfill the desire within you, is to do that which is the will of God for your life. Jesus says, “If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.” Asking in Jesus’ name means asking for the fulfillment of His will. It means asking that God use you to bring His saving grace to others any way He chooses. If you ask our Lord for this grace, He will grant it.
This form of prayer requires humility and a complete detachment from our own will. It requires that we ask the Father only for that which the Son asks the Father for us. But the reward of such a humble prayer is that God will bestow His grace and mercy on others through us. This is His perfect will.
Reflect, today, upon this high calling. Do so by looking at the desire within your own soul for greatness and then unite that desire with God’s will as the only thing that can fulfill you. Pray for this gift every day with humility and detachment and you will become an instrument of acts that give eternal glory to God. In Heaven, this will be your eternal joy.
Providential Lord, Your will is perfect and glorious. Please help me to humble myself before You, every day, so that I will understand Your will for my life and choose it always. May I be an instrument of Your saving grace to all whom You wish to touch through me. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Saturday 4th Week of Easter 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, my deepest desire is eternal communion with you. I long to see your face and enjoy your blessedness. Guide me on my journey to you and empower me to accomplish the greater works your Son has revealed. Glorify your name!
Encountering the Word of God.
Communion with the Father and the Son: Today’s Gospel brings out the fact that the truth of our salvation in Christ is inseparable from the truth of his divine sonship. Jesus, the Son of God, was sent by the Father to save us and to bring us into communion with the Father. We are called to believe that the Son is in the Father and that the Father is in the Son. This communion between the Father and the Son is manifested in the divine works that the Son accomplishes. The divine works of the Son are the works of his Father. When we enter into that communion between Father, Son, and Spirit through faith and Baptism, we too will accomplish the works of God.
Preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles: During their ministry in Antioch in Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas were invited to preach again in the local synagogue on the Sabbath (Acts 13:42). Paul concluded his first sermon, given the week before on the Sabbath, by affirming that through Jesus’ death and resurrection the forgiveness of sins is now possible (Acts 13:38). What the observance of the law of Moses could not accomplish for us – justification and forgiveness – Jesus Christ has accomplished. As believers, we are justified in Christ (Acts 13:39). Paul reminds his listeners that they have received the offer of salvation in Christ and that they are to remain faithful to this grace of God (Acts 13:43). The success of Paul’s first sermon is evident. Almost the entire city goes out to hear the word of the Lord preached by Paul. The Jews became envious of this success and began to argue with Paul and tried to contradict his message. This rejection of the Gospel by some of the Jewish people led Paul and Barnabas to turn to the Gentiles. In this way, they bring to fulfillment the prophecy of Isaiah: “I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may be an instrument of salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6). The prophesy originally referred to Israel and her mission to spread knowledge and worship of the one true God among the nations. The prophecy was applied by Simeon to Jesus at the presentation in the temple (Luke 2:30-32). Now, Paul and Barnabas discern that God is commanding them to continue Jesus’ mission. “The Gospel itself did not show how Simeon’s prophecy was fulfilled or how Jesus’ mission actually affected Gentiles beyond Israel. It is in Acts that Jesus’ mission to the Gentiles is accomplished in what he does and teaches through his Spirit-filled disciples” (Kurz, Acts of the Apostles, p. 219).
Destined for Eternal Life: The Gentiles enthusiastically welcomed the Word of God. They believed and received the gift of eternal life. Luke says that those who believed “were destined for eternal life.” This does not mean that God arbitrarily chose to predestine some people to salvation and others to condemnation. All men and women are ordered and directed to eternal life. We are destined to be God’s children through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:3-6). Predestination, then, is the eternal knowledge that God has of the ordering and directing of human beings and angels to salvation and eternal life. Predestination is part of God’s providential knowledge of the order of all creation to himself as the end of all things. When God governs his creation, he executes his eternal and providential plan in them; when he calls and justifies the human being, he brings to fulfillment his eternal plan of predestination (Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, I, q. 23, a. 2). Paul teaches in the Letter to the Romans that God foreknew us and predestined us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Those he predestined in Christ he called, and those he called he justified, and those he justified he glorified (Romans 8:28-30). God’s eternal predestination does not take away our freedom: “When God establishes his eternal plan of predestination, he includes in it each person’s free response to his grace” (CCC, 600). 
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have forgiven my sins and established me in a right relationship with God the Father. I have been healed and justified by your grace and granted divine sonship. Help me to live as a true child of God and heed the words of my Father in heaven.
Living the Word of God: A person can choose to reject God’s call and grace. They can reject God’s love and mercy. When we reject God’s merciful love, we abuse the gift of our freedom and bring condemnation upon ourselves. When we accept and collaborate with the grace of God’s merciful love, we use the gift of our freedom properly and are brought to share in eternal life. Will I accept or reject God’s grace and mercy today?
 
Saturday 4th Week of Easter
Opening Prayer: Here we are, Lord, on the first day of May, the month of Mary, on the first Saturday of the month, Mary’s Saturday, in the year of St. Joseph, during the Easter season. Could this moment be more spiritually rich? Bless me as I listen for your voice while I pray over these words of Scripture.
Encountering Christ:
God Bless Philip: Even though he accompanied Jesus for quite some time, Philip still missed an important truth about his master—that the Father and Jesus are one. Yet, Philip spoke from his heart when he begged, “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Like Philip, many of us are “seasoned followers of Christ,” having been with him for years in our vocations as priests, consecrated persons, or lay men and women. Like Philip, we often misunderstand Jesus when he reveals something of himself to us, even if we should know better. Philip teaches us that when we ask Jesus sincerely for clarification or greater insight, Jesus answers us. We have this beautiful description of Jesus’s relationship with the Father because Philip asked to see and understand.
Doing His Works: Once more, Jesus tells us in these lines of Scripture that by faith we can work miracles. “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these.” If we’re not doing miracles or witnessing them, the fault lies with us. Perhaps our faith is too weak. Perhaps we haven’t discerned when miracles are called for. Perhaps we aren’t ready to give Jesus all the credit. Or maybe we fail to see miracles for what they are. Is there any greater miracle than to see the light of Christ sparkle in someone’s eyes for the first time as you witness about him? Lectors, eucharistic ministers, and church musicians can be miracle workers, bringing the word to life in people’s souls by their ministries. Healing miracles happen through healing services or by our own intercessory prayers. We are miracle workers every time we act according to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, for we become Christ’s hands and feet for the good of our neighbor.
Asking: Jesus told us that if we ask anything of him in his name, he will do it. What a promise! How often do we trust the Lord with our heart’s greatest desires? We think, “I want to be a saint” or “I want the conversion of my fallen-away children.” These things are certainly at the top of our list, but are they truly our greatest desires? Maybe we want to be hugged? Loved? Understood? Do we long for companionship? Physical healing? When we ask the Lord to reveal to us what our greatest desires are, the answers may surprise us. Our Lord knows what we want, so let’s have the courage to tell him the truth from the depths of our hearts. We take these things to Jesus and trust that he hears us and is working on it. And we say with St. Therese of Lisieux, “I am certain... that you will grant my desires; I know it, O my God!”
Conversing with Christ: Lord, thank you for this month of May to honor your mother and mine. Blessed Mother, watch over the souls entrusted to me. Ask your Son to please increase my faith so that I may be pleasing to him and humbly, obediently, do all that he asks of me. Like St. Therese, I am certain that Jesus knows my heart’s desires and hears and answers my prayers.
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will spend ten minutes in intercessory prayer, confident that you hear and answer my prayers.
 
Saturday 23rd April 2016 4th Week of Easter
Prepare the way of the Lord. Make the pathway level and smooth. Fill in the valleys and lower the mountains so that the way may be easily accessible for everyone. The construction is not finished yet! Clearly there have always been difficulties in preparing the way of the Lord. Whether it is a lack of understanding like on the part of Phillip or the petty jealousy which causes the message of Paul and Barnabas to be rejected without a real hearing, the path to the kingdom is fraught with obstacles and pitfalls and trials.
Where do we begin? We begin at the beginning: with ourselves. Is the person we see in the mirror someone in whom and through whom the Light of the world shines? Are we a means of salvation for one another? Or do we somehow or sometimes obscure the light with our pettiness or some other sin? Do we find our way to the Father through Jesus? Can we see Jesus in the faces of our sisters and brothers?
Perhaps the first thing we need to ask the Father in Jesus’ name is to remove any blindness in us, any unbelief and any pettiness so we can fully receive and embody the good news and glorify the Father   through our lives. Being a disciple and preparing the way has never been easy but with God’s grace we may be filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit even in the face of obstacles and rejection and ignorance.  Lord, to have seen You is to have seen the Father. Amen.