Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Ngày 3/5 Lể Thánh Philiphê và Giacôbê Tông Đồ

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Ngày 3/5 Lể Thánh Philiphê và Giacôbê Tông Đồ
            Tin mừng hôm nay cho chúng ta câu trả lời chi câu hỏi của thánh Philiphê: “ làm thế nào để cho chúng ta đến với Chúa Cha?”.
Để trả lời câu hỏi này,  Chúa Giêsu Kitô đã đáp trả với  một góc nhìn đôi: Bất cứ ai đã thấy Chúa Giêsu, là thấy Chúa Cha (khía cạnh cá nhân), và ai thấy việc Ngài đang thực hiện là thấy được những việc mà Đức Chúa Cha làm (khía cạnh liên tác). 
Trong các công trình Chúa Cha đang làm là công việc Chúa Giêsu đang thực hiện và ngược lại.  Bài tin mừng này tiếp tục chuyển tiếp và mở rộng cho chúng ta theo hai chiều hướng bao gồm các yếu tố về con người: đó là việc làm, hành động và việc cầu nguyện.
- Việc làm, Hành động: bất cứ ai tin vào Chúa Giêsu sẽ làm các công việc mà Ngài làm.
- Cầu nguyện:  bất cứ ai trong chúng ta xin điều gì vì danh Chúa Giêsu Kitô, Ngài sẽ ban cho chúng ta điều chúng ta xin đó.  Nhưng, việc đầu tiên phải được nhấn mạnh đến đức tin ("ai tin ta"); thứ hai, nhấn mạnh về đời sống thiêng liêng của làm("những việc ta làm").
            Các tông đồ có thể không hiểu được hoàn toàn sự quan hệ hiệp nhất giữa Chúa Cha và Chúa Giêsu, họ đã không nhận ra Chúa Giêsu là Thiên Chúa và là con người trong cùng một bản thể.   Nhưng Ngài không giới hạn chính mình để chứng minh sự bình đẳng của Ngài với Đức Chúa Cha, Ngài cũng nhắc nhở cho họ biết rằng họ được chọn để tiếp tục thực hiện công việc Cứu chuộc của Ngài: Ngài trao cho họ sức mạnh để làm phép lạ, Ngài hứa với họ rằng Ngài sẽ ở bên họ mãi mãi trong mọi ngày, và tất cả mọi thứ gì họ kêu xin vì danh Ngài, Ngài sẽ ban cho.
            Chúng ta là những môn đệ của Chúa Kitô Hôm nay, Chúa cũng hứa sẽ ở lại với chúng ta luôn mãi và ban cho chúng ta tất cả những ơn gì mà chúng ta biết chạy đến kêu cầu danh ngài. Nếu chúng ta có lòng tin và sự hiệp nhất trong Chúa Kitô như các thánh Tông đồ. 
 
Reflection 3, 2017  – STS. PHILIP AND JAMES, Apostles
     In the Gospel reading today, we hear Philip asking Jesus, "Lord, show us the Father and that is enough." Jesus reminds Philip, his apostle-companions and all of us, that "whoever sees me, sees the Father." Indeed, the Gospel Good News is about the Triune God loving us and sending the Son in order that he may reveal the Father and his love for us.
     In our younger years, we were taught in catechism class a song which reflected today's reading: "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; his banner over me is love." Though we did not fully understand the song, we loved to sing it.  For adults, what does the song say? What does it mean for Jesus to be "the way, the truth and the life"? He is the Way to the Father: we know the Father through him; he is truth as God is all Truth; he is life as God himself is Life.
     The song ends, "his banner over me is love": Jesus revealed to us the love of the Father for us.
 
STS. PHILIP AND JAMES, Apostles
Philip said to Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:8–9
Today’s liturgical feast is in honor of two of the Apostles, Philip and James the Lesser.  Little is known about James other than that he was chosen by our Lord for the apostolic ministry and that we have one of his letters, which is contained in the New Testament.  James eventually went to Jerusalem and led the Church for a few decades until he was stoned to death as a martyr. Philip preached in Greece, Phrygia and Syria.  He and Saint Bartholomew were thought to have been crucified upside down. Philip preached upside down from the cross until his death.
In the Gospel for today’s Mass, we are presented with an encounter that Philip had with Jesus. Though this encounter appears to be a rebuke of Philip by Jesus, it’s a rebuke that is quite heartfelt. Jesus says, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip?” Jesus did, indeed, spend much time with His disciples. They stayed together, ate together, traveled together and spent much time talking with each other. Therefore, Jesus’ comments to Philip emanated from His real and lived personal relationship with Philip.
Take the first part of that statement to begin with. “Have I been with you so long…” Imagine Jesus saying this to you. Is this something He would be able to say to you? Is it true that you do spend much time with Him? Do you spend time reading the Gospels, speaking to Him from the depths of your heart, conversing with Him, praying to Him and listening to His gentle voice?
But Jesus goes on: “…and you still do not know me…?” This is a humble truth that is important to admit. It is true that even those who have a very deep and transforming life of prayer do not know our Lord deeply enough. There is no limit to the transformation that can take place in our lives when we know Jesus personally.
Jesus’ statement goes on: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” So the next question is this: “Do you know the Father?” Do you know the Father’s love, His care for you, His perfect will? Though the Father and the Son are united as one God, They are still distinct Persons, and we must, therefore, work to establish a relationship of love with each one of them.
As initially mentioned, the comments from Jesus are a gentle rebuke of love to Philip, and He wants to speak this same gentle rebuke to you. But it’s a rebuke of love meant to encourage you to get to know Him better. It’s an invitation to personalize your relationship with Jesus and the Father in a real and concrete way. Do you know Him? Do you know the Son of God? Do you know the Father in Heaven?
Reflect, today, upon these loving questions of our Lord as if they were spoken to you. Let His words encourage you to get to know Him more deeply. Pray for your relationship to become more personal and transforming. And as you get to know our Lord more intimately, know that it is also the Father in Heaven Whom you are getting to know.
My divine and personal Lord, it is the deepest desire of Your Sacred Heart to know me and to love me. Fill my heart with this same desire so that I will not only know You, dear Lord, but also the Father in Heaven. Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your perfect love and pray that I may open myself to that love more fully each and every day. Saints Philip and James, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Reflection 3, 2024
Opening Prayer: Lord God, throughout the year I contemplate the example of the saints. They were holy men and women who sought to heed your word and accomplish your will. I pray that I too may live a holy life like the saints and be attentive to the action of the Holy Spirit in my life. 
Encountering the Word of God
1. Saint Philip the Apostle: Philip was from Bethsaida, a town on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. In the Gospel of John, Philip was the one who introduced Nathanael (Bartholomew) to Jesus of Nazareth. Philip responded to Nathanael's skeptical question, “Can anything good come from Nazareth,” by inviting Nathanael to “come and see” Jesus (John 1:46). In this way, Philip the Apostle “engages us to become closely acquainted with Jesus” (Benedict XVI, September 6, 2006). Only by truly encountering Jesus and dwelling with Jesus can the Apostles proclaim him to all the nations. Like the Apostles, we need to enter into contact with Jesus by listening to him in prayer, responding to him in faith and love, and living in communion with him. This communion enables us to give witness to him and bring ourselves to encounter him and find life. At the sign of the multiplication of the loaves, it was Philip who told Jesus that two hundred days’ wages would not be enough to buy bread for the large crowd (John 6:7). Philip, who has a Greek name meaning “friend of horses,” was also one of the ones who brought the Greeks to speak to Jesus (John 12:20-22). Finally, during the Last Supper, Philip was the one who told Jesus: “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied” (John 14:8). Philip learned that night that seeing the face of Jesus is to behold the face of the Lord God. Through the Incarnation, “God gave himself a human face, the Face of Jesus, and consequently, from now on, if we truly want to know the Face of God, all we have to do is to contemplate the Face of Jesus! In his Face we truly see who God is and what he looks like!” (Benedict XVI, September 6, 2006). Philip ultimately gave his life for Christ and, after preaching in Greece, was martyred at Hierapolis in Phrygia (Asia Minor).
2. Saint James the Lesser: Two of Jesus’ apostles had the name “James.” Tradition gave them the titles “greater” (older or taller) and “lesser” (younger or shorter) to distinguish them. James the Greater was the son of Zebedee and the brother of John the Apostle and was martyred in A.D. 44. James the Lesser, whom we celebrate today, was the son of Alphaeus. He came from Nazareth and was probably a relative of Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles, James the Lesser acted as the Bishop of Jerusalem. During the Council of Jerusalem in A.D. 49, he agreed with Peter’s decision and declared that Gentile pagans could be received into the Church without first submitting to circumcision (see Acts 15:13). Today’s First Reading declares that James saw the risen Lord after Peter. Regarding his martyrdom, Flavius Josephus “says that the death of James was decided with an illegal initiative by the High Priest Ananus, a son of the Ananias attested to in the Gospels” (Benedict XVI, June 28, 2006). During the interval between the Roman Procurator Festus and his successor Albinus, James was martyred by being thrown from the terrace of the Temple and then stoned to death. James was likely the author of the Letter included in the New Testament. The Letter holds that our faith cannot be reduced to mere lip service but needs to be expressed in charity and good works. The Letter of James teaches us that “faith must be fulfilled in life, above all, in love of neighbor and especially in dedication to the poor” (Benedict XVI, June 28, 2006). 
3. What Do the Two Apostles Teach Us? Philip teaches us to seek Jesus and find in Jesus, the Face of God. He “teaches us to let ourselves be won over by Jesus, to be with him and also to invite others to share in this indispensable company; and in seeing, finding God, to find true life” (Benedict XVI, September 6, 2006). James teaches us to abandon ourselves to the will of God, who knows what is truly good for us (Benedict XVI, June 28, 2006). The teaching of James on how we are justified does not oppose that of Paul. Paul often speaks about our initial, unmerited justification. Paul teaches that we are justified not by the works of the Old Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ and by God’s grace. James emphasizes the ongoing process of our justification and teaches that we are justified and sanctified not by an empty faith, but by a faith informed by love and manifested in good and charitable works. As Paul says in his Letter to the Galatians, what counts is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). 
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, help my faith flourish in works of love today. Show me your face so that I may see the Face of the Father. Move my heart to spend time with you and dwell with you so that I may bring others to encounter you.
Living the Word of God: Is there anyone in my family or workplace that I can bring to Jesus through my words and actions? What good works are evidence of my faith in Jesus?