Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Lẽ Kính Thánh Tôma Tông Đồ

Suy Niệm Tin Mừng Lẽ Kính Thánh Tôma Tông Đồ
Chúng ta đang sống trong một nền văn hóa mà chúng ta phải biết tất cả mọi thứ. Nếu không có sự thật, nếu thiếu bằng chứng, thì chúng ta sẽ từ chối không tin. Đôi khi, chúng ta cũng chẳng chịu tin ngay cả khi sự thật và bằng chứng được bày ra trước mặt. Đôi khi chúng ta biết rằng đức tin đó mời gọi mọi người chúng ta phải cam kết hoàn toàn với ơn Chúa Thánh Thần (Dei Verbum5).
Ông Thomas từ chối tin vào sự sống lại của Chúa Giêsu khi các Tông đồ đã nói vợi ông về cuộc gặp gỡ với Chúa khi Chúa hiên ra với họ sau khi sống lại: “ Chúng tôi đã thấy Chúa” (Gioan 20:25). Nhưng lời nói của các Tông đồ đã không lay chuyển lòng cứng tin của ông Thomas. Ông ta biết rằng Chúa đã chết. Có lẽ ông ta đã đến mộ Chúa Giêsu vào ngày thứ bảy khi ông ta đã thấy những người lính Lamã bảo vệ đóng quân ở đó và ông ta đã tưởng rằng không có cách nào để Chúa ra khỏi ngôi mộ? Chúng ta chắc cũng có những lý do gì để đưa ra và thuyết phục lòng tin của chúng ta như thế?
            Ông Thomas đã nhìn thấy Chúa và nói Chúa:“Tôi nhớ lại lời Chúa phán: phàm ai xưng Ta ra trước mặt người đời, thì Ta cũng xưng kẻ ấy ra trước mặt Cha Ta, Ðấng ngự trên trời.” (Mt 10:32). Chúa đã mời gọi ông Thomas thực hiện đức tin đó theo từng bước, từng bước một: hãy bỏ lại sau lưng tất cả mà chấp nhận sự Phục sinh của Chúa. Ông đã thấy Chúa Giêsu làm cho ông Lazarus sống lại, và bây giờ Ngài mời gọi ông ta hãy tin vào sự sống lại của Chúa Giêsu và sự hằng sống của Ngài. Chúa là Thiên Chúa, Ngài là sự sống và sự sống thật. Chúa Giêsu cũng đang mời gọi chúng ta cũng giống như ông Thomas ngày xưa là hãy tin rằng Chúa vẫn luôn sống mãi trong cuộc sống của chúng ta.
Lạy Chúa, chúng con muốn luôn có sự hiện diện của Chúa trong cuộc đời của chúng con.
            Phúc cho những ai chưa thấy mà tin. Lạy Chúa chúng con không thể lên được thiên đàng mà không có đức tin. Những lời Chúa phán với ông Thomas đã ám chỉ những gì mà Chúa sẽ dành cho chúng con nếu chúng con biết đặt niểm tin của chúng con vào Chúa cho đến khi chết. Chúng con đã chưa có sự sống khi Chúa đến trong thế giới này, nhưng ánh sáng trong lời Chúa phán với ông Thomas, Chúng con có thêm lý do để thực hành đức tin của chúng con và cầu nguyện như ông Thomas đã làm: “Lạy Chúa tôi và là Thiên Chúa của tôi! “. Chúa, mong muốn chúng con có niềm tin vào Chúa cũng giống như Chúa muốn lòng tin của ông Thomas. Chúa Thật tuyệt vời biết bao! Giáo lý Giáo hội Công giáo dậy chúng con là “Trước hết, tin là sự gắn bó bản thân của con người với Thiên Chúa; đồng thời và một cách bất khả phân ly, tin là  tự do ưng thuận tất cả chân lý mà Thiên Chúa đã mạc khải. (Giáo lý Giáo hội Công giáo, câu 150).
Lạy Chúa chúng con muốn tin theo Chúa, vì  Chúa là Chúa của chúng con và Thiên Chúa của chúng con.
 
Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of faith I received with baptism. I believe all that you have revealed, though I recognize that my faith is still small. I now submerge my weak faith in your overflowing goodness and mercy, and I trust in you completely. I love you, my Lord, and my God, with all my mind, heart, soul, and strength.
Petition: Lord, increase my faith.
1. “I Will Not Believe.” Lord, I live in a culture where I have to know everything. If there are no facts, if I lack evidence, then I refuse to believe. At times, Lord, even with facts and evidence in front of me, I still refuse to believe. I know, Lord, that faith calls for man “to commit his entire self to God” (Dei Verbum5). Thomas refuses to do this when the apostles share the exciting news: “We have seen the Lord” (John 20:25). But their news does not correspond to what Thomas knows. He knows that you died. Maybe he went to the tomb on Saturday. He would have seen the guards stationed there and would have imagined that there was no way to take you from the tomb. Do I come up with convincing reasons not to believe? If I do, how can I answer better through faith?
2.“Do Not Be Unbelieving But Believe.” Lord, Thomas looks at you in the Upper Room as you say this. I recall the words: “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32). You invite Thomas to take that step of faith: to leave behind what he knows and to accept your Resurrection. He had seen you raise Lazarus, and now you invite him to believe that you are forever alive. You are God, both living and true. There in the Upper Room, you invite me, as you did Thomas, to believe that you are alive in my life. Lord, I want you to have a strong presence in my life.
3.“Blessed Are Those Who Have Not Seen and Have Believed.” Lord, I cannot make it to heaven without faith. Your words to Thomas allude to what lies in store for me if I believe until death. I was not alive when you walked on the earth, but in the light of what you say to Thomas, I have all the more reason to exercise my faith and pray as Thomas did: “My Lord and my God.” You desire my faith, Lord, just as you desired Thomas’. How great you are, Lord! “Faith is first and foremost a personal adherence of man to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 150). I want to adhere to you, my Lord, and my God.
Conversation with Christ: Lord, I believe that you want to be the epicenter of my life. You want to be the Lord of it. My faith is so little. Help me to increase my faith. Give it what it needs to grow.
Resolution: Today, during the day, I will read numbers 150-152 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church about faith, to work to increase my faith in God.
 
Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle 3-7
“Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” John 20:27–29
Thomas the Apostle, in many ways, represents each and every one of us in this exchange with Jesus. We’d like to believe that we always believe and are not unbelieving. But it’s important to admit the humble truth that we may not believe as deeply as we should. And it’s important to reflect upon our own reaction to the blessings that others receive that we do not.
Recall that Thomas was not among the other Apostles when Jesus first appeared to them. Therefore, when Thomas returned and heard that Jesus had appeared and that he missed His appearance, he clearly felt bad. Unfortunately, the sorrow Thomas felt at not being present when the Lord appeared to the others left him with a certain bitterness rather than joy. This is the sin of envy. Envy is a certain sorrow over the blessings others receive that we do not. Ideally, Thomas would have rejoiced at the blessing that the other Apostles received by encountering the risen Lord. But, instead, his sorrow at missing this even left him sad. He said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Why was Thomas absent from this encounter with our Lord? Perhaps it was by divine providence, in that God wanted Thomas to set an example for us. If so, then one example Thomas set was that we must humbly rejoice in the blessings others receive when we are not also the recipient. Of course, if Thomas were there, then it would have been easier for him to share in the joy. But, in many ways, Thomas’ absence provided him an even greater opportunity. An opportunity that he failed to embrace.
When you see others receive blessings from God, how do you respond? Many people respond by immediately looking at themselves, wishing they were blessed in the same way. They struggle with envy. They think, “I wish I had received that blessing.” This form of envy is not always easy to see. For that reason, Thomas is given to us as a witness of what not to do in this situation.
Of course, Thomas is not a horrible person, which is why Jesus does later appear to him. That time, Thomas spoke words that are traditionally spoken as a devotion by the faithful at Mass when the Consecration occurs. He said, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus then gently rebukes Thomas by saying, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” But this gentle rebuke was an act of love, in that Jesus wanted Thomas to ponder the reason for his unbelief. Jesus clearly wanted Thomas to examine the unbelief caused by envy, which appears to have led to an intentional lack of faith.
Reflect, today, upon this holy Apostle. Today, Saint Thomas the Apostle is among the great saints in the Kingdom of Heaven. God used him to teach us these important lessons about envy, humility and faith. Let his weakness, from which he fully recovered, help you examine your own struggle with envy over the blessings that others receive that you do not. Learn to rejoice always in the ways that God is at work in our world and learn to grow in humility, so that when others are blessed in ways that you are not, you react as Saint Thomas ultimately did: “My Lord and my God!”
My most generous Lord, You pour forth Your blessings upon others, day and night. As I see those blessings, help me to overcome all temptations toward envy so that I may rejoice in Your grace given to all. You are my Lord and my God, and I thank You for every way that You bless my life and the lives of those around me. Fill me with a deeper gratitude, dear Lord, for every grace and blessing I see every day, especially those graces not given directly to me. Jesus, I trust in You.
 
Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle 3-7
Opening Prayer: Lord God, I renew my faith in your Son. I humbly ask for help to overcome any unbelief that remains. I trust in you, Lord, and will spend my life in the service of your Kingdom. Grant me your peace.
Encountering the Word of God
1. Jesus Waited: Each encounter with the Risen Jesus has very unique and personal notes. We can ask, “Why did Jesus wait to encounter Thomas?” Jesus could have easily appeared to Thomas on Easter Sunday, wherever he was. Instead, Jesus knew that it was best for Thomas to wait. Thomas was tested all week: Would he believe the other apostles and the women that Jesus appeared to them and was risen from the dead? The longing in his heart to see his Lord built up day after day. And when Jesus appeared, Thomas was ready for his great act of faith: “My Lord and my God!” The story of Thomas teaches us that God knows the times and the places. He knows when we are ready and when we are not. God is gentle, patient, and meek. Love cannot be forced. When God seems to be absent in our lives, we need to be like Thomas and allow the longing for God to grow, so that when he appears we may welcome him as Thomas did. 
2. All Christians are Called to Be Like Thomas: The story of Thomas teaches an important lesson for all those who came after the first generation of Christians who knew and saw Jesus in his earthly life and after his resurrection. Jesus pronounces a blessing upon all those who will not see his resurrected body: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Every Christian who is baptized is welcomed into this faith in the Risen Jesus. When we bring our children to the baptismal font, we are confessing, “My Lord and my God!” And Jesus, from heaven, sees our act of faith, and pours out his blessing upon us and our family.
3. Bringing the Gospel to India: Thomas the Apostle eventually made his way to India some two decades after his encounter with the Risen Jesus. Tradition holds that after evangelizing in Syria and Persia, he arrived in Western India, at Muziris in present-day Kerala, around A.D. 52. He established seven churches over the course of two decades. He was martyred near Madras around A.D. 72. Stories are told of how he performed miracles before members of the Brahmin caste to demonstrate the truth of the Gospel he preached. He worked to bring the people from idolatry to the worship of the God of Jesus Christ.
Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you know me better than I know myself. You know the depths of my heart. Grant me true knowledge so that I may better serve my brothers and sisters. Help me to know my strengths and my weaknesses, and where I need your grace.