Suy Niệm Thứ Ba Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh:

Suy Niệm Thứ Ba Tuần thứ 6 Phục Sinh:

Trong Bài Đọc I, một số phép lạ đã xảy ra trong nhà tù. Trước hết, là việc động đất và tất cả các dây xích sắt của các tù nhân đã đuợc cắt đứt và được mở ra, nhưng không tìm cách trốn thoát. Tuy nhiên, phép lạ lớn nhất đấy chính là người cai ngục, người mà luôn ngược đãi các tù nhân, đã được Thiên Chúa mở mắt và nhận ra rằng Thánh Phaolô và Silas là đặc sứ của Thiên Chúa. Vì vậy, ông đã xin họ cho ông được ơn cứu độ nơi Thiên Chúa. Chính ông là người đã đem họ ra khỏi nhà tù và đem về nhà săn sóc những vết thương của họ và ngồi lắng nghe lời họ giảng dạy về Chúa Giêsu và ơn cứu rỗi của Ngài. Tất cả những người trong gia đình ông chủ ngục đã được rửa tội và nhận đức tin của Chúa Giêsu Kitô. Đây chính là một phép lạ!
            Chúng ta đã được chứng kiến những phép lạ mà mọi người đã được biến đổi hoàn toàn cuộc sống của họ? Việc đó chắc chắn sẽ là một điều sẽ là tuyệt vời để chứng kiến phép lạ như vậy bởi vì chính việc đó thực sự đã làm củng cố đức tin của chúng ta vào Thiên Chúa. Việc biến đổi của Thánh Phaolô cũng là một phép lạ như vậy. Sự biến đổi kỳ diệu chính là công việc của Chúa Thánh Thần. Khi Chúa Thánh Thần chạm vào một người nào đó, Thì Thánh Thần có thể thay đổi những người ấy và làm cho họ có được tâm hồn đầy dẫy lòng nhiệt thành để vâng lệnh của Ngài.
            Chúng ta không nên nản lòng và bỏ rơi bất cứ ai, không cần biết là họ xấu thế nào, bởi vì Thiên Chúa có sức mạnh hơn tội lỗi của chúng ta. Ngài có thể thay đổi chúng ta hoàn toàn nếu chúng ta tin vào Ngài và mong muốn được biến đổi theo như cách làm việc và sự suy nghĩ của Ngài. Những việc Chúa Thánh Thần làm là hủy bỏ hoàn toàn các việc làm của của ma quỷ và thánh hoá  chúng ta. Vì vậy, chúng ta không nên sợ những điều ác vì Thiên Chúa đã chiến thắng ma quỷ và sự dữ trong ngày Chủ Nhật Chúa Phục Sinh.
 
Reflection: Tuesday 6th Week of Easter
     In the first reading, several miracles occur. First, there is an earthquake and the chains of all the prisoners fall off. But the bigger miracle is that no one tries to escape. Most probably Paul talked to them and convinced them not to run away. However, the biggest miracle is about to happen. The jailer, who must have maltreated many of the prisoners, realizes that Paul and Silas are envoys of God. So he asks for salvation from God through them. He brings them to his house (still another miracle), washes their wounds and then sits down to listen to their preaching. All his family members are converted to the faith and are all baptized. Now that is a miracle!
     Have you witnessed miracles in which people completely change the direction of their lives?  It would be great to witness such miracles because they truly strengthen our faith in God. The conversion of St. Paul is one such miracle. Miraculous conversions are the work of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit touches a person, he can change immensely and is filled with zeal to obey God and His commands. We should not give up on anyone no matter how bad they might be because God is more powerful than our sins. He can change us totally if we believe in Him and desire to be converted to His way of doing and thinking. The work of the Holy Spirit is to undo the works of the devil. So we should not be afraid of the evil one because God has already triumphed on Easter Sunday over the prince of this world.  The gospel says so.    
 
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Jesus said to his disciples: “Now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” John 16:5–7
Jesus continues to speak prophetically to His disciples about the necessity for Him to go to the Father so that He can send the Holy Spirit. What’s interesting in this passage is that Jesus points out to His disciples that “grief” has filled their hearts because of what He has said to them. Clearly, this grief in their hearts is because they do not understand what they will soon experience and do not want their relationship with Jesus to change.
Throughout our lives, our Lord will call us to change. At times, He calls us away from that with which we are familiar and comfortable, and He calls us to something new. This can be frightening and can become the cause of “grief” for us also. To help, let’s consider this passage above in detail.
Recall that there were many times, prior to Jesus’ death, that Jesus slowly started to reveal to His disciples, especially to the Twelve, that He would be going to the Father and that He would no longer be with them in the way He had been. Jesus wanted the Twelve to begin to understand that their relationship with Him, with the Father and with the Holy Spirit would soon take on new meaning in their lives. But the fact that this was something new, a change to what they had grown accustomed, meant that they were more focused upon the grief that accompanies loss than they were focused upon the joy that awaited.
This same experience can often be found in all of our lives. Though dramatic change is not necessarily a regular occurrence throughout life, most everyone will experience change at various moments in life. And when that change occurs in accord with the will of God, it must be embraced with hope and great expectation.
For example, vocational changes, such as getting married, having children, or entering a religious vocation, always bring with it much change—but a change that God can use for much good. Also, the death of a loved one, a move to a new community, a new job or school, the establishment of new relationships and the like can be difficult but also fruitful. Since the Gospel passage above specifically refers to the change that comes from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it might be helpful to consider the fact that whenever some new change takes place in our lives, the Holy Spirit is there, waiting to enter into the new situation in ways we could have never imagined. So if you find yourself at times experiencing the grief of some loss, or difficulty with some new endeavor in life, know that the disciples experienced something similar. But in the end, Jesus’ words came true—“it is better for you that I go.” Though they did not want to see Jesus die and then ascend to Heaven out of their sight, this was part of the plan of God for their lives. So also when the changes we encounter in life are part of God’s divine plan, we can be certain that good things await.
Reflect, today, upon anything that our Lord may be asking of you in regard to a change in your life. Are you open, ready and willing to do whatever He asks? Or are you fearful or grieved by the thought of some change. Be open to anything our Lord asks of you and know that the full embrace of His holy will is the only path to true happiness in life.
My dear Jesus, You prepared Your disciples for the new life of grace that they would receive after Your death and Resurrection. Though fearful and uncertain, they embraced the new life You called them to live, and You did marvelous things through them. Please open my heart to the full embrace of my vocation and any changes that You desire for my life. I say “Yes” to You, my Lord, and pray that You work powerfully through me by the Holy Spirit. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Tuesday 6th Week of Easter.
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I praise you for who you are and thank you for all you have done for me. You have created all things and guide them carefully to their ultimate end. You sent your Son to redeem me and your Spirit to sanctify me. You have done marvelous things and show, in all things, your love and mercy.
Encountering the Word of God
1. The Guiding Spirit: The Gospel reminds us that it is the Holy Spirit who will guide us to all truth. When we reject the Spirit’s guidance we abuse our freedom. However, when we allow ourselves to be guided by the Spirit we are truly free. Just as the Holy Spirit was at work in Paul’s ministry and preaching, the Spirit can also work in us and through us. Ultimately, this world was created for the glory of God. It is not the result of chaos or just one more world in a never-ending series. By allowing the Holy Spirit into our lives we share in the glory of the Son and of the Father.
2. Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica and Beroea: The First Reading takes place during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (A.D. 50-52). The Acts of the Apostles tells us that Paul left the city of Philippi and made his way with Silas and Timothy down to Thessalonica, the provincial capital of Macedonia. Paul preached there in the synagogue for three weeks, proving first that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, and second that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Some of the Jews and many devout Gentiles were persuaded by his argument, but the Jews, unfortunately, became envious of the new Gentile converts and attacked the house of Jason, who had received the missionaries into his home (Acts 17:7). Like the previous episode in Philippi, the accusation before the city authorities of Thessalonica against Paul appeals to Roman sensibilities. Jesus, we recall, was brought before Pilate and was accused of presenting himself as a king in opposition to Caesar: “We found this man perverting our nation, and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ a king” (Luke 23:2). In Philippi, the people accused Paul of promoting customs unlawful for Romans (Acts 16:21). Now, in Thessalonica, Paul is accused of “acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:7). Paul and Silas escaped from Thessalonica by night and went to Beroea, where they preached in the synagogue (Acts 17:10). Once again, the Jews from Thessalonica became envious of the Gentile converts, and they stirred up the crowd against Paul, who had to flee by boat to Athens. Paul wrote two letters to the Thessalonians. The first letter manifests Paul’s concern for the recent converts to the faith, who were left alone to face persecution. “Absent in person and eager to return (3:10), Paul sent the epistle in his place to strengthen them through these difficult times (3:3-5), to encourage them to be chaste and charitable (4:1-12), and to console the bereaved among them with the hope of resurrection (4:13-14)” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament,371). Paul’s second letter corrects some misunderstandings about Christ’s return.
3. Paul in Athens: In Athens, Paul preached not only in the local synagogue on the Sabbath but also daily in the public square (Acts 17:17), where he had to contend with people belonging to two schools of philosophy in Athens: the Epicureans and the Stoics. On the one hand, the Epicureans did not believe in an afterlife – death is annihilation for them – and held that the world was formed by atoms moving about in a void. The only thing valuable for an Epicurean was pleasure and securing whatever leads to pleasure. The Stoics, on the other hand, held that everything was material and composed of fire, even God. God, for the Stoics, is the primal fire and pervades the entire world. They thought that all things return to the primal fire and this return gives rise to another world identical in every way to the previous worlds. This process never ends and man, after death, continues to exist until his return to the primal fire. Man is encouraged by the Stoics to live according to his rational nature and the laws of the universe, battle against his passions, and find happiness in virtue for the sake of duty. Paul’s approach with the Jews in the synagogues was to show them that Jesus is the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. He takes a different approach with the Gentile philosophers and begins by presenting his doctrine about God, who is the Creator of this world and the source of all life. God, Paul argues, is not material or the primal fire. He is immaterial and spiritual and does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands. God doesn’t lack or need anything. Human beings come from God and are not the result of a chaotic mix of atoms (according to the Epicureans) or a fiery process of the universe (according to the Stoics). God directs and orders both the world and man, so that man will seek after him freely. Paul proclaims that the time of ignorance about the world, man, and God is over, since all truth has been revealed in and through a man whom God appointed and confirmed by raising him from the dead. Things were going well for Paul until he mentioned the resurrection of Jesus. Although some in the crowd, like Dionysius, accepted the faith, the majority of the Epicureans and Stoics could not accept Paul’s doctrine about life after death. They were slow to raise their minds to heavenly things, preferred a purely material explanation of the world, and placed pleasure or virtuous duty as their ultimate happiness. They rejected that man’s true delight is in God alone and did not see that human virtue is not enough for true happiness. Our true happiness, seeing God face to face, is a gift, not a human conquest. This eternal life begins in us in this life through faith, hope, and love.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you are the true philosopher and lover of wisdom. You teach the truth about all things and the path that leads to true happiness. Welcome me into your school of wisdom and let me learn from you each day.
Living the Word of God: What do I place my happiness in? What do I pursue most in this short life? Money? Possessions? Health? Pleasure? Honor? Seeing the Face of God? How can I correct my pursuit of ultimate happiness?
 
Tuesday 6th Week of Easter
Opening Prayer: Heavenly Father, fill my heart with your peace. Increase my faith, knowing that you will never leave me or abandon me. I am your child precious in your sight. Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart and kindle in me the fire of your love!
Encountering Christ:
Grieving Hearts: How hard it is to say goodbye to those we love! The disciples had given up everything to follow Jesus and now he was saying goodbye. They must have been brokenhearted. So many times, emotion blinds us from the goodness and grace Our Lord wishes to pour out upon us. Let us be not afraid when trials come our way, or completely overwhelmed by grief when sorrows hit, but rather be hopeful, for we know where Jesus went, where he is now, and where we would like to be some day.
The Advocate: Jesus promised us a great Counselor, the sweet guest of our soul— the Holy Spirit. Let us cling to the Holy Spirit, calling upon the graces from our confirmation. We need to rely on the gifts and the fruits that we received from the Holy Spirit to live as beloved sons and daughters of the Father and proclaim Christ to the world.
Go: When we lose loved ones, we naturally want to keep their memory alive. Our faith tells us they are not far from us, separated by a thin veil between heaven and earth. “On this mountain he will destroy the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations” (Isaiah 25:7). Our faith also tells us that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit abide in us! While eyes may not see and ears may not hear, we are never alone. What a consolation his accompaniment can be to our grieving hearts. 
Conversing with Christ: Lord, increase my faith, increase my hope, increase my love! Help me stay sober, awake, and alert knowing you are here with me. Open my heart to receive you and enlighten me on how I can use the gifts and fruits you have so generously poured out upon me. I love you!
Resolution: Lord, today by your grace I will list the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit and strive to more concretely
 
Tuesday 6th Week of Easter
The sudden change in the attitude of the jailer in the first reading invites study and reflection. In one instant he's a terrified, fearful man, bent on suicide. In the next he's leading his prisoners out of the jail, bathing their wounds, and spreading a feast before them. He was fearful because he thought his prisoners had escaped from detention. Now, by his own volition and decision he gives freedom to these same men who have been entrusted to his charge by his superiors.
            Paul, of course, along with Silas, reacted much differently when confronted with crisis. Without any semblance of a trial, Paul had been scourged publicly. He was a Roman citizen, and to scourge a Roman citizen was a crime punishable by death. Furthermore a Roman citizen could not be punished at all without a trial. Yet, in spite of this public, very painful, humiliating, and unjust experience, we find Paul, and Silas with him, marvelously calm, though chained in prison. When the earthquake struck, their calm continued. Paul calmly called out to the jailer to dissuade him from killing himself.
            Paul and Silas, and the jailer as well, found their faith an enormous source of strength. Depending on the depth of our faith and the intensity of our love for the Lord Jesus, we share this same source of strength with them. In time of crisis, for instance when we must accept rejection by those we love and admire for the sake of Christ's values or when because of these same values we must say no to wealth immorally acquired, we can dip into this strength-source. The Lord Jesus himself will share his strength with us. Then we will profess Jesus joyfully, even though the environment be hostile.
 
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter
1. Sadness at Jesus’ Parting: As Jesus’ imminent self-sacrifice approaches, the apostles are overwhelmed with confusion and grief. “Who is going to betray him?” “Why is he going?” “What will we do without him?” Questions like these — fruit of their concern for their Master and friend are whispered to and fro. They have given up everything to follow him. Jesus strives to console them although he is immersed in grief himself. Sorrow is not lacking in the life of any pilgrim, and as Christians we are exiles in a foreign land. Our joy and hope comes from the vision of faith, which enables us to follow in the footsteps of Our Lord. His sacrifice and victory give meaning to our daily trials.
2. The Consoler’s Coming: We are called to an intimate friendship with the Holy Spirit, the “Sweet Guest of the Soul.” Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon us at our baptism to be the craftsman of our holiness, and our consolation and strength as we await Christ’s return. No one would wish to face a criminal trial alone and unaided; nor should we try to face the ordeal against sin without the help of Christ’s advocate. Am I aware of the gentle presence of the Holy Spirit in my soul? Am I attentive and docile to his inspirations and movements?
3. Setting Things Right: Nothing is so unsettling as to see the “bad guy” win. Whether it be in the movies or in real life, somehow it seems written in the very fabric of the universe that good should prevail. Many times evil has appeared to usurp the upper hand momentarily, but a Higher Power has always intervened, causing one tyranny and dictatorship after another to crumble. In our own day, evils abound in societies where the lives of the most vulnerable are greatly undervalued. Christ reminds us, however, that the Holy Spirit is at work. Time and again the Holy Spirit continues renewing the face of the earth and changing hearts, bringing good out of evil. Am I too pessimistic in the face of evil, or do I have the optimism of a Christian? Do I confide in the grace and action of the Holy Spirit?
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have left us to go to the Father, and yet you are still with us through the action of your Holy Spirit. Help me to find strength and consolation as I strive to follow his guidance.
Resolution: I will take a moment out of my day today to thank the Holy Spirit for his action in the world and my life.