Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai Tuần thứ 3 Sau Phục Sinh

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng thứ Hai Tuần thứ 3 Sau Phục Sinh
Khi chúng ta tuyên xưng tin vào Chúa Giêsu, chúng ta cũng phải tự hỏi mình những câu hỏi này: Lạy Chúa Giêsu, Chúa  muốn con làm những điều gì?  Và Con sẽ phải làm gì cho Chúa Giêsu?
Đức tin không có việc làm tốt thì Đức tin ấy trống rỗng, bởi vì chúng ta chỉ tuyên xương  đức tin của chúng ta trên môi trên miệng mà thôi. Một lô danh mục và những gì chúng ta mong muốn được thực hiện vẫn còn đó nếu chúng ta không nhận ra và thực hiệc để làm những việc ấy. Bản chất của niềm tin là lời cam kết. Khi Chúa Giêsu rao giảng về "Bánh hằng Sống", Ngài đã nói về Thiên Chúa Emmanuel, Thiên Chúa ở cùng chúng ta trong con người của Chúa Giêsu, chính Ngài. Ngay cả khi Chúa Giêsu đã lên trời, Sự hiện diện thần bí của Ngài ở trong Giáo Hội và sự hiệp thông mà chúng ta tin và cử hành trong Thánh Thể.
 Đức Tin là sự dấn thân vào trong sứ mạng của Chúa Giêsu Kitô và hội nhập với Chúa qua sự hiệp thông với Giáo Hội, là thân thể của các tín hữu. Sự sống đời đời chỉ có thể được thực hiện như cơ thể của Chúa Kitô. Đó là lý do tại sao Thiên Chúa nói trong sự kiện Biến: "Đây là Con yêu dấu của ta, hãy nghe lời Người." Nghe để  tin và tin là theo Chúa Giêsu trong sứ vụ của mình.
 
Reflection Monday 3rd Week of Easter
When we profess to believe in Jesus, we must also ask ourselves these questions:    What does Jesus want me to do?  What am I doing for Jesus?  What will I do for Jesus?
Faith without good works is empty because profession of belief becomes lip service only.  Wish lists remain wishes until they are acted upon and realized.  The essence of belief is commitment.  When Jesus preached about the "Bread of Life", he was talking about God Emmanuel, God with us in the person of Jesus, himself.  Even if Jesus had already ascended to heaven, his mystical presence is in the Church and the communion we believe and celebrate in the Eucharist. To believe is to commit ourselves to the mission of Jesus Christ and integration through communion with the Church, the body of believers.  Eternal life can only be realized as the body of Christ.  That is why God said in the Transfiguration event:  "This is my beloved Son, listen to him."  To listen is to believe and to believe is to follow Jesus in his mission.
 
Monday 3rd Week of Easter
“Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” John 6:25–27
What do you work for in life? That which ultimately perishes? Or that which is eternal? This is an important question to sincerely answer. Too often we spend most of our lives putting most of our time and energy into those things that have little value for eternity.
The day before the above quoted conversation, Jesus had multiplied the loaves and fishes and fed five thousand households. The people were so impressed that the next day, when they were hungry again, they came looking for Jesus and found Him on the other side of the lake. Jesus, of course, immediately understands the situation. He realizes that the crowd of people who found Him were more interested in another meal than they were in the spiritual food that is eternal. So Jesus gently uses the opportunity to give them this short lesson about what is most important. The “food that endures for eternal life” is ultimately faith in Jesus.
Imagine if you were one of those people who witnessed, first hand, the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. What sort of an impact would that have had on you? Would it have drawn you into a deep faith in Jesus, the Son of God? Or would you have been more impressed with the free and miraculous food? What’s interesting is that Jesus feeds the five thousand when they are not expecting it and not desiring it. But when they do come expecting it and desiring it the next day, He refuses. Jesus refuses another miracle because He wants the people to look deeper to the eternal reality. 
In our own lives, living primarily for the deeper and eternal reality is often hard to do. It’s easy to keep our eyes on the superficial and less important aspects of life. How do I make more money? Or buy a new car? Or have a fancier meal? How can I better entertain myself? What new piece of clothing should I buy? And the list goes on. Of course none of these things are evil, but they are all passing and will not have an effect upon our eternal soul. And, in fact, if we give too much attention to the superficial and least important aspects of life, they will have the effect of distracting us from that which is most important.
Reflect, today, upon this challenge from Jesus. Do not work for that which perishes; work for that which is eternal. Look at your priorities in life. Where is your focus? What concerns you the most every day? Hopefully your greatest concern is to grow deeper in faith in the Son of God. Hopefully it is to live the charity that is eternal. If you honestly look at your life and the goals you have and see yourself overly concerned with the things of this world, then allow these words of our Lord to speak to you directly so that you are storing up riches for eternal life.
My most glorious Lord, You are the Food that is eternal. You are the Food for everlasting life. Give me the wisdom I need, dear Lord, to turn my eyes from the passing and least important things of this world and to turn, instead, to that which is eternal. May I keep my eyes upon You and be nourished by my faith in You. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Monday 3rd Week of Easter 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of the Eucharist. I believe it truly is the food that endures for eternal life. I ask that you deepen my faith and that, in my life, I always look for your Son, Jesus Christ.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Sign Points to Something Greater: The Gospel of John tells us that, after the sign of the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus says to the people that they are looking for him, not because they saw the sign and now believe in him, but because they were filled with bread. The people are mistaken because they continue to seek the bread that perishes and not the food that gives eternal life. Signs – like the changing of water to wine, the healing of the official's son, the healing of the crippled man, and the multiplication of the loaves – point to something greater. The sign of the multiplication of the loaves of bread points to Jesus as the Bread of Life and to the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
2. The Sign Points to the Eucharist: When the people ask Jesus what they have to do to accomplish the works of God, Jesus responds that the work of God for them is to believe in him. Later on, John will explain this: “I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). The works, signs, and wonders accomplished by Jesus will also be done by his disciples. And this is seen clearly in the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles: Peter heals a lame beggar (Acts 3:7) and the Apostles themselves work many signs and wonders and heal all who come to them (Acts 5:12-16). Jesus’ promise goes beyond physical healing. Jesus’ disciples will do even greater signs and works. These works are the Sacraments of the Church that give eternal life. The Eucharist is the Sacrament to which the other six are ordered (CCC, 1211). Saint Thomas Aquinas writes that Holy Orders are ordered to the consecration of the Eucharist, Baptism to the reception of the Eucharist, Confirmation strengthens us not to abstain from this sacrament, Penance and Anointing prepare us to receive the Eucharist worthily, and Matrimony signifies the union of Christ with the Church, of which union the Eucharist is a figure (Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae, III, q. 65, a. 3).
3. Stephen’s Witness to Christ: In the First Reading, Stephen is presented as a model of a believer who accomplishes the works of God. He believes in the one whom God the Father has sent to save the world from sin and death. He preaches without fear because he knows that his message is from the Holy Spirit. Stephen takes up the difficult theme of freedom from the old Law of Moses and the end of the old Temple worship. The people, the elders, and the scribes accuse him of “saying things against this holy place and the law.” Something similar happens at Jesus’ trial, when they accuse him of saying “I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands” (Mark 14:58). What Jesus actually said was: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Only after Jesus was raised from the dead did his disciples come to understand that he was speaking about the temple of his body. The risen, glorified body of Jesus is the New Temple, where God is worshiped in spirit and in truth. The Old Testament sacrifices are completed and surpassed by the Eucharist. Here, on earth, the sacrifice of the New Temple is the Eucharistic sacrifice. In this great sacrament we enter into communion with Jesus, we are separated from sin, and we are filled with grace. In the mass, we are united with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate the heavenly glory of eternal life (CCC, 1326).
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd and I am part of your flock. You are the Sheep Gate and I choose to go through you to the pasture of eternal life. You are the Bread of Life and I am humbled to be invited to partake of this bread. You are the true Vine and I am a branch united to you. You are the light of the world; shine your light in and through me today. You are the Resurrection and the Life, raise me up to new life with you. You are the way, the truth, and the life; lead me and guide me to the dwelling of eternal life.
Living the Word of God: How do I prepare myself to receive the Eucharist? What can I do better to prepare for this great Sacrament? Is there anyone I can invite to come to mass with me on Sunday?
 
Monday 3rd Week of Easter 2023
Opening Prayer: Lord, all praise and honor we rightly offer you! We genuinely look for you, but we sometimes find ourselves searching and hungry for bread that perishes. Forgive us, Lord! Please, show us that you are the living bread we desire.
Encountering Christ: 
1. Hunger of the Heart: Jesus used food as a “hook” to capture the crowd's attention when he multiplied the loaves and fish. While we do not multiply bread or fish to feed people, we can imitate Jesus by using everyday events to invite people to discover and grow in a relationship with God. Each day we have opportunities to cast a “ hook” into the stream of people’s lives to share the love of Jesus with them. Our words, as well as our actions, can lift their minds, at least momentarily, to “things that are above,” bringing them into contact with their greatest good, Our Lord (Colossians 3:2).
2. Temporal versus Eternal: Many people sought Jesus for physical food or healing. Jesus challenged them, saying, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” We, too, can become earthbound, distracted by our temporal world of work and home, and unaware of the connectedness of the temporal and eternal realms when, in fact, everything we possess, any talent we have received, belongs to the Lord, and should rightly be used to reach out to share Jesus with others, either directly or indirectly. We are invited today, in this Gospel, to sit with these thoughts and ask ourselves, “How am I living each day with an eye on eternity, and sharing my perspective with those I’m called to reach?” 
3. The Work of God: “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” A quick peek into a thesaurus reveals words that may intensify what Jesus means when he says “believe”—words like faith, trust, confidence, certainty, acceptance, reliance, conviction, and hope. Do these words reflect the depth of our belief and commitment to Jesus? We don’t earn faith–it’s a gift from God–but we do need to open our hearts, empty them of superfluous concerns, pray for faith, and be ready to receive the answer to our prayer. 
Conversing with Christ: Jesus, I do believe; help my unbelief! Abba, grow my heart’s longing for you today as I pray over the ways I hunger for you, the ways I keep my gaze fixed on eternity, and the ways I “do the work of God.” Thank you, Lord, for this time of prayer. Increase my belief in the one you sent so that I might become a fisher of men.
Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I ask you to give me opportunities to build the kingdom by my words and actions and become an instrument in the evangelization of others.