Chúa Nhật Lễ Lá năm A

[hoangvu]

Ý CHÚA
CNLELA-A : (Rước Lá: Mt 21: 1-11 & Bài Thương Khó: Mt 26:14-27:66)

Ngắm ánh bình minh rực rỡ chói chan với tiếng chim hót rộn ràng reo vui ban mai, như đang báo hiệu niềm vui và hạnh phúc tràn đầy tâm hồn thi nhân chìm đắm trong cõi mênh mông bao la như vô tận. Nhưng cảnh thiên nhiên huy hoàng chỉ luôn là chất xúc tác bên ngoài cuộc đời; chúng chẳng thay thế được thân phận và tương lai đời người. Nếu coi cái số như một định mệnh in sẵn trên bầu trời cuộc đời nhân loại, thì những ngôi sao xấu hay tốt cũng thường là những dấu hiệu tương lai vận mệnh đời ta. Những người tin Chúa hay coi đó là ý Chúa cho cuộc đời mình dưới ánh sáng đức tin. Chúng ta không mê tín dị đoan khi tin vào mọi biến cố xảy ra cho mình đều là ý Chúa, bởi Thiên Chúa là tình yêu, hoàn thiện và vô cùng nhân ái, nên chẳng bao giờ muốn con người phải sống trong đau khổ và bất hạnh; ngược lại nhân loại tự gây khổ cho nhau trong cuộc đời thì đúng hơn. Nếu thế thì các biến cố trong mầu nhiệm cứu chuộc của Đức Kitô phải hiểu thế nào cho đúng nghĩa: là ý Thiên Chúa Cha hay là ý của loài người, nhất là ý của những kẻ xấu và gian ác?

Cảnh biến hình của Đức Kitô trên núi Tabor kèm theo với lời tiên báo về cuộc khổ nạn của Người luôn đúng với con đường đi, hay đúng hơn là khuôn mẫu của hành trình đức tin mà Thiên Chúa muốn xảy ra cho Người và toàn thể nhân loại trong đức tin vào Ngài: Vào thành Giêrusalem huy hoàng rồi sau đó bị kết án bởi chính những người vừa tung hô Con Vua Đa vít; mới đây chịu đóng đinh và chết nhục nhã trên thánh gía, nhưng lại sống lại và lên trên trời hiển vinh, và có ngày sẽ lại huy hoàng đến chủ trì phán xét toàn thể nhân loại. Như thế có thể nói: Mọi biến cố trong các mầu nhiệm Nhập Thế và Nhập Thể cũng như Cứu Chuộc nhân loại của Chúa Kitô đều nhất cử nhất động nằm trong ý Chúa Cha, vì Chúa Kitô đã cầu nguyện: Xin đừng theo ý Con, một xin vâng ý Cha vẹn toàn. Một khi xác nhận điều này, thì cũng xác quyết rằng tất cả những vai trò liên quan đến các mầu nhiệm ấy đều nằm trong chương trình cứu chuộc của Thiên Chúa dành cho con người, chẳng hạn như vai trò của Mẹ Maria, thánh Giuse, các tông đồ, kể cả Phêrô chối Chúa và Giuđa phản bội, vua Hêrôđê, quan Philatô, những người Biệt Phái, Pharisiêu, quân lính, đám dân chúng hoan hô đả đảo, và toàn thể nhân loại phản bội... Từ chân lý của các mầu nhiệm ấy, chúng ta có thể nhìn thấy ý Chúa trong cuộc đời riêng mình. Nếu để góp phần vào ơn cứu độ cho ta, thì chắc chắn dưới ánh sáng đức tin, các biến cố đời ta cũng đều nằm trong ý Chúa như Chúa Kitô, nhất là các biến cố đau khổ được gọi là mầu nhiệm. Hãy cùng với Chúa Kitô vào thành Giêrusalem, ta sẽ hiểu rõ hơn về hạnh phúc và đau khổ đời mình.

Lm. Raphael Xuân Nguyên



Passion Sunday, A
Is 50:4-7; Phil 2:6-11; Mt 26:14-27:66
No Stranger to Hardship (John Walsh)
Impact of the Passion narrative (Peter Briscoe)
Complete Let-Down (Liam Swords)
Matthew's Account (Jack McArdle)

No Stranger to Hardship
(John Walsh)

"He was oppressed and was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth” (Is 53:7). These words of Isaiah evoke a response deep down within true followers of Christ, inasmuch as we are aware how aptly they apply to God's only beloved Son, and the way he died for all of us. If you dwell prayerfully on them they will surely enkindle within you a love that can change your whole life. For, in the words of St Peter, “without having seen him you will come to believe in him, and so you will be filled already with a joy so glorious that it cannot be described” (1 Pet 1:8 ). On the other hand, unless you have a sincere love of Christ, you are not true followers of his. You cannot say you love him unless you have a feeling of gratitude to him, and this gratitude will not exist unless you appreciate what he suffered for you. Indeed we might go so far as to say that it is impossible that anyone can have attained to the love of Christ without feeling distressed at the thought of his bitter sufferings, and regret having contributed to them by his/her own personal sins. Having heard the Passion narrative there is no real necessity to retrace in great detail the events there described. But it is well to bear in mind that Christ was no stranger to hardship, privation and suffering, long before that final day of his life.
Being in the form of God, St Paul says, from the moment he came on earth, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are (Phil 2:6f). He, the most high God, became a poor man, and suffered the hardships of the poor, at times having not even a place whereon to lay his head. He endured hunger and thirst, and after journeying on foot all day long, surrounded by crowds of people seeking favours, he oftentimes remained whole nights at prayer on the mountains. Despite his love and compassion for all who came to him, he was subjected to hatred, contempt and persecution, in particular by the Pharisees and priests, who openly planned his death. Many attempts had been made on his life. St John recalls how his enemies tried to stone him (8:59), and Luke describes how his own townspeople at Nazareth attempted to throw him over a cliff (4:30). But because his hour had not yet come, he walked through the midst of the mob and went away. Yet, how deeply grieved he must have been at this rejection and antagonism. “How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child,” King Lear, in Shakespeare's play, said. And how deeply grieved Christ, who was God incarnate, must have been at being spurned by the very people he had chosen, before all others, to live amongst.
Both in soul and body, Jesus was to be handed over to the malice of the evil one, to the powers of darkness, whose hour this was. With his loud cry to the Father, “Not my will but yours be done,” he had finally steeled himself for what lay ahead. So terrible was the. inner struggle he had to surmount that the perspiration pouring from his face became great drops of blood falling to the ground. A further bitter pill was the knowledge that one of his very own would betray him, that most of the other Apostles would forsake him, and that Peter, his designated successor, would swear repeatedly that he never even knew him. With his arrest his sufferings would become more physical, as described in the passion narrative. But most terrible of all was his feeling of being abandoned by God, his inner spirit shrouded in a darkness that reflected the murky darkness that enveloped Calvary as the end drew nigh. It was this latter that made him cry aloud, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” To him the words of scripture could surely be applied, “Attend all you who pass by, and see whether there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow” (Lam 1:12). That the person so suffering was the eternal Word made flesh, yet still true God from true God, is a profound mystery.
So the face cruelly disfigured was the face of God himself. The forehead streaming with blood, the hands and feet nailed to the Cross, the body lacerated with scourges, the side pierced with a lance, these were the forehead, the hands and feet, the sacred body, the side of the eternal God himself, made visible in Jesus. Why such suffering? We can only say with Isaiah, “It was for our transgressions he was smitten, for our sins he was brought low. On him lay the punishment that brings us healing, through his wounds we are made whole” (53:5+). God, our Father, grant that your Son's suffering for us may not be in vain.






Passion Narrative
(Peter Briscoe)

The reading of the Passion narrative in today's Mass is one of the high-points of this week's liturgy; it carries its own impact independently of any comment or homily, i.e. providing it is well-rehearsed and presented. It is particularly important that it be well done today since many members of our congregations will not be at the Good Friday Liturgy. Given the length of the gospel and its innate effectiveness, the homily today should not be long and should take just one aspect of the narrative for reflection.
Today's Gospel is called the “Passion,” a word derived from the Latin that draws attention to the suffering that Jesus endured during the last day of his life on earth. So, one possibility for us today is to offer some reflections on the meaning of Christ's sufferings, on what they have to say about human suffering in general. One of the things to be noted is the lack of detail about the individual sufferings of Jesus. We are told the basic facts of course, i.e. concerning the violence of his arrest, imprisonment, some abuse and mockery (all the usual degradation of the condemned man in the world of the time) and the actual crucifixion. There is however no indulgence in the gory details in all their physical dimensions and perhaps we should take a leaf out of the evangelists” book in this regard. What is highlighted throughout is the human and personal struggle to be faithful in the face of apparent futility and the victory of evil.
We see this especially in the Gethsemane scene. Jesus' agony (a word meaning “struggle') about the chalice of his father will. His mission seems to be about to end in failure - failure to convert his own people, failure to have faithful disciples around him. As he suffers, they sleep; and when they finally wake up to what is about to happen to their Master they desert him. Jesus has to face this failure and the apparent futility of all his life's struggle to bring in the Kingdom of God. We may get the impression that the futility is ~overcome as Jesus accepts the Father's will “Yet not my will but yours be done” and as he faces the future with determined resolution, saying to the disciples “Rise, let us be going.” This is undoubtedly Jesus' continuing acceptance of the Father's will, his acceptance against all the appearances that the futility he experiences her is somehow transcended by the divine mystery. So he goes to face the friend who betrays him, the leaders who betray their people, the official who betrays justice. He accepts the continuing struggle to the end, yet he receives no consolation in his acceptance, the futility remains, as finally on the cross he feels abandoned not only by man but by God “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And so we are told “he yielded up his Spirit” and in giving it up for the Father he has given this Spirit of his life to all men who come to him in faith.
In trying to find the sense in all this that Jesus endured, that we usually summarise under the title of “the cross,” we must not jump too quickly to the resurrection to solve the problem of its apparent futility. The resurrection, of course, cannot be left out of the picture, but if we jump to it too quickly there is the danger of seeing it simply as a “deus ex machina.” The fact is that the resurrection is the other side of the cross, the cross which has its own contribution to make the redemption of broken man.
In the above examination of the sufferings of Jesus I have drawn particular attention to the theme of futility because this is the aspect of suffering that touches us all. Both for those who suffer physical or mental affliction and for the fortunate who don't, the problem of meaning always arises - “What is the purpose of it?” “Why me?” For the sufferer it is no abstract philosophical question but very often the burden of an apparently useless life. Have we any answer to these questions? People have tried to find the answer in personal guilt, that it's punishment for wrong-doing in their past or in that of their society. Such a theory can never cover all the cases as the Book of Job demonstrates. No doubt the wrong-doer may be brought back to his senses by some trial but what of the innocent? Here it does not seem possible to find a solution in the past or in the person themselves, here we can find nothing to explain away the problem, we can only grasp for a solution in the future, a purpose beyond the person themselves, but for this to work the person themselves has to accept this purpose.
Here we have the notion of vicarious suffering such as is described in Isaiah's “Song of the Suffering Servant,” a poem that influenced early Christian understanding of the Passion of Christ. We return to the problem of guilt. There is the mystery of evil in the world and somehow it is possible for the innocent to voluntarily atone for the guilty. Christ was the innocent, the just man who freely accepted the pain and failure of the cross to atone “for the many.” It is only the mystery of his love which could accept such futility. So at the end what we believe is that only incomprehensible love has anything to say to the sufferer. It does not offer easy explanations but a challenging purpose. For the one who accepts the love of Christ in faith it is possible to accept suffering as a way of sharing in his love for others and of sharing in his work of redemption. If such a purpose can be accepted then the futility is in fact overcome.






Complete Let-Down
(Liam Swords)

Jesus Christ was not the first man to die for a cause, nor the last. He was not the first or the last innocent man to be put to death. He was not the only one ever crucified. There were on that very same day two others. Even as regards physical pain it is at least possible that others have suffered as much. What then makes the passion so different? And it is undeniably different.
The gospel account is roughly about two newspaper columns long, and even though I've read it, or heard it read hundreds of times, it still affects me. I wonder why? I think the answer lies in the details - the completely human and utterly shabby circumstances in which Christ died.
Take for example the behaviour of his friends. Was there ever such a complete let-down? Judas, one of the twelve, especially chosen. One can feel the hurt, almost the unbelief in Christ's gentle words, “Friend, why are you here? Judas would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?'
One could almost stomach the betrayal of Judas had the other eleven remained faithful. No way. One short line tells their story: “And they all forsook him and fled.” And Peter - surely not Peter. Think of all those miracles Christ worked, specially for him. He raised the dead child to life, set him walking on water, was transfigured before him. Only a few short hours be fore, Peter had boasted, “Even though all abandon you, I will follow you to prison and to death.” - but at a distance, a safe distance. And when he was cornered a jibe or two from a servant girl looking for notice, Peter the Rock disintegrated. “He began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man.” That must really have hurt Jesus. “And Jesus turning looked at Peter and Peter went out and wept bitterly.” And these were his friends, his only friends. The people he lived with and loved. The people he showered his miracles on and shared his secrets with. And not one of them lifted a finger for him.
What has this story to do with us? It is the story of our salvation. But it is more, much more. It is the story of our lives. There isn't a part in the whole sordid script that we, you and I, wouldn't play to perfection. Peter in his pride and Peter in his fall and, hopefully, Peter in his repentance too. We'd fit in perfectly with the disciples who fled at the first sign of danger, or with Caiaphas and the high priests, with their self-righteousness and eagerness to reform others while ignoring themselves, or with Pilate in his abuse of authority, or with the mob with its thirst for excitement and blood. And Judas? Let's face it - there's a Judas in all of us. There are times and situations in all our lives when Jesus could easily say to us as he said to Judas, “Friend, why are you here?” The truth is, it was only his friends who could really have crucified him so.
Additional Bidding Prayers
We pray:
- for the victims of tyranny and injustice everywhere.
- for those who suffer mental, physical or spiritual anguish.
- for the courage to defend those who axe oppressed.






Matthew's Account
(Jack McArdle)

]Theme: This is Matthew's account of the Passion. More than any of the others, it highlights the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter, the fact that the others ran away and, finally, that Judas hanged himself. It does, of course, cover the story from the Last Supper to the death and burial of Jesus, but the contrast between the resoluteness of Jesus, and the weakly cowardice of his followers is most evident.
Parable: I was reading an article recently by a confrere of my own in which he was recalling his days in the novitiate. The Novice Master was very strict and, on occasions, could be quite severe. Manual labour was a big thing back in those days. The one thing that stuck Out in my confrere's mind was the fact that, no matter how difficult or distasteful the work, the Novice Master always took a full share in the task. This made a big impression on his novices. He never asked them to do anything that he himself was not prepared to do. My friend declared that his own personal love of the Congregation, and his own sense of mission in union with others, was born through that unspoken, but clear statement from his Novice Master.
Teaching: It is significant that our gospel today begins with the disciples” query to Jesus about where he wished to celebrate the Passover. This was to be a much more realistic Passover than they had expected. It is obvious that Jesus himself knew what was coming. To risk being simplistic, one could say that Jesus seems to be more upset and hurt that one of his friends should betray him, and another should deny him, than that he himself should face death. His death had already been determined by his enemies. It is said that only my friends can really hurt me, because I expect more from them. Jesus knew that he was surrounded by enemies on every side. They had hounded him, had listened to his every word to find something to use against him, and were determined for some time past that they had to get rid of him. Everything he did and said seemed to come from a person who worked outside of the rules and constraints that it was their duty to impose and uphold. His disciples, however, should Surely have come to know the heart and the mind of Jesus by now, and that they should turn their backs on him was something that he felt very deeply. At the moment of his arrest we are told that “at this point all the disciples deserted him and fled."
Throughout his lonely vigil in Gethsemane he did all within his power to obtain or retain the presence and support of his disciples. His spirit was deeply crushed and he felt totally alone. With all his soul he cried out to the Father. “If it's possible, let this chalice pass from me. But not my will, but yours be done.” Part of him would welcome an escape route, but that could never be, and he could never accept it, if it was not the Father's will. Original sin was one of disobedience, and redemption would come through the path of obedience, even on to death. The Father's will was the one constant in his life. Earlier, he had told his apostles that his very meat, what kept him alive, was to do the will of him who sent him. Remembering what I said just now about the apostles deserting him, it is significant that the only words Matthew gives us from Jesus on the cross is the cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'
It is not surprising to read that, at the moment of his death, there were signs and movements in the earth and sky. The veil of the Temple was rent in two, from top to bottom. This was what separated the people from the Holy of Holies, where God was considered to dwell. The obvious message now was that we all had access to the full presence of God. The graves of the dead were uprooted, and the dead arose and appeared to many. In other words, nothing would or could ever be the same again. The barriers had been breached between this world, the world of God, and the world of the dead. The Red Sea had opened up once again, and it was possible to cross dry-shod from one stage of life to the next. Earlier, when Jesus had gone down into the river Jordan, taking on all our sins, we are told that “the heavens were opened,” the Father's voice was heard, and the Spirit was seen to descend upon Jesus. The journey of redemption begun in the Jordan was now completed. It is ironic that the Pharisees took special precautions to protect the tomb. Jesus was now safely beyond their grasp, the battle was over, the victory was won, and they would very properly find themselves guarding an empty tomb a few days later.
Response: If I accept that the gospel is now, and that I am every person in it, then I must look at the role of Peter, Judas, and the other disciples in an uncritical and objective way. It is interesting to note that Judas, of his own accord, went to the leaders and offered to betray Jesus. He wasn't approached nor was he bullied or blackmailed. There was something in him that should stir up fear in the best of us. It is so easy to confuse wealth with riches. I could be a very rich person and not possess a penny. On the other hand, I could possess enormous amounts of wealth, and be pitifully poor. Wealth and money have a way of turning on their owners, and taking over control of them. The most precious possessions I have in life are life itself, my health, and my relationships. I could be extraordinarily rich in all of this. The tragedy then would be if I failed to appreciate that fact. Judas has lent his name to acts of wrongdoing that are especially evil. I might not do something like that myself, but I certainly must look within my heart, and discover the germinating seeds of such behaviour. It may show itself in the simplest ways, where I put myself and what is mine before the welfare of another. I can know the price of everything and the value of nothing, and fidelity to friends and to the responsibilities of relationships may not be among my more important priorities.
Peter comes out of the story much better than Judas. We may be afraid to admit our greed, but we cannot be condemned for our fears. There is something very likeable about Peter and, in our hearts, many of us might identify with him. He had a brash self-confidence, and a veneer of bravado that covered up the coward and the very weak human being within. In his heart, however, he was essentially a good man, and Jesus seemed to have been very fond of Peter, and to have chosen him among his small group of personal friends. Peter obviously appreciated Jesus for the extraordinary gift that he was. I couldn't imagine Peter taking money in exchange for Jesus. The thing that saved Peter was that he was totally convinced of Jesus' love for him. When he first met Jesus, we are told that “Jesus looked at Peter.” Now when he denied him, we are told in another Passion narrative, that “Jesus turned and looked at Peter.” Peter saw that the look had not changed in the slightest, and he went out and cried bitterly. In one way his sin was similar to that of Judas. Each had turned his back on Jesus, one for money, and the other to save his own skin. The response to the failure of each, however, was entirely different. Judas saw himself as being outside the possibility of God's love and forgiveness. He didn't have much in the areas of faith, hope, or charity. Peter, on the other hand, knew that everything was still O.K. He had the love, he had the faith, and he obviously had the hope. It is very significant that Peter should write in one of his letters, “Always have an explanation to give those who ask you the reason for the hope that you have."
Throughout all of today's Passion narrative, Jesus himself shows a very earthy humanity. He reveals every emotion in the book, from disappointment to hurt, from grief to terror, from courage to total surrender. On the one hand he would submit himself totally to what was to happen, while reminding his apostles, “Don't you realise that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I do, how would the scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” Throughout the rest of the narrative Jesus speaks twice. He felt compelled to answer one question, because it was couched in words that he would take seriously, “I demand in the name of the living God that you tell us whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” I imagine that if the question had not been asked in the name of his Father that he might have chosen to ignore it. The other words he spoke were words of prayer, taken from one of the Psalms, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It certainly was a prayer, and not a cry of despair. On very special occasions there can come a cry of prayer from deep within our souls. It is not possible to cry out to God like this and not be heard. There is an awesome sense of loneliness in this particular Passion narrative. At no stage is Jesus alone, but throughout most of it he is completely on his own. The soldiers even took and divided among themselves the very clothes he had worn. He was stripped of everything, and he let go of everything, even life itself. And he did all of that for you and for me.
Practical: The Wednesday of Holy Week used be called Spy Wednesday. It was a way of highlighting the role played by Judas. It could and should be a time for all of us to look within our own hearts and, with Judas in mind, to see what we discover there. This is a good time for reconciliation, for renewal of commitments, and for strengthening of hope. The only real sin a Christian can commit is to lose hope. There is nothing impossible with God and, in my darkest hour, it is a very special gift ·of God to hold on to the hope that all is well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.
"By this shall all people know that you are my disciples, if you have love, one for another,” says Jesus. Whenever I fail to show love, I am denying Jesus, in so far as I am not giving any evidence that I am one of his disciples. The core of Christian living is its witness value. It must be seen, it must be evidenced, it must be witnessed. “See how these Christians love one another” was the comment of those who first encountered the early Christians. Moral cowardice is the most frequent and the worst form of cowardice. To keep silent in the face of injustice and evil is moral cowardice of the most serious kind. This is certainly to deny Jesus. There are many moral and ethical issues today that are completely against the teaching of Jesus. Legislation permitting some of these makes its way into our national Constitution, because people who profess to be Christian are afraid to stand up and be counted, or they just don't bother themselves to get involved. All that is needed for evil people to succeed is that good people should do nothing.
I have already referred to the sense of loneliness that comes across in today's gospel. This is what happens in a person's life when there is no sense of accompaniment; where there is no sense of anyone travelling alongside, sharing the journey. Living as a Christian today is my chance to experience the accompaniment of Jesus along every step of the journey of life. In one way, his journey is over, and he does not need me to accompany him. On the other hand, he has chosen to travel the same journey all over again, in, through, and with each one of us. While he is accompanying me, I too can accompany him, and that is what we call prayer. Prayer is giving God time and space in my life. It is being with him, and for him, even if all others are too busy to spare the time. It is working on my relationship with him, and for any relationship to grow and develop, there must be time and space. The traditional prayer of the Stations of the Cross can become a real time for deep and personal reflection. It may be of such a nature that I might drop into a church amid spend a few minutes at just one of the stations. It can be a way of ·identification, and of personal involvement in the journey of salvation that Jesus undertook for me.
Story: There is a certain understanding in the Russian Orthodox Church that is typified by the following scenario. It is the day of the General Judgement. The people are making their way into heaven. Jesus is standing outside the gate, welcoming them. Then he is seen to look off into the distance, and to search the horizons with his gaze. Someone asked him why he was doing that, and he said that he was waiting for Judas There is another story about Judgement Day. All the “good people” are gathered outside the gate, waiting to march in triumph. They looked around amid see many of their friends there, members of sodalities, and other church groups to which they had belonged. ·They were delighted to arrive here together, and were impatient for the great entrance. Suddenly, there was a huge cheer in the distance. When they asked what that was, they were told that Jesus had forgiven “the others'. This infuriated them. How could he do such a thing for such a collection of scumbags? They themselves had worked hard to arrive at this moment, and now all the others are going in as well. Suddenly, there was the loud blast of a horn. When they asked what that was, they were told that that was the Judgement. The problem was that they were still outside the gate. Apparently, no one had told them that Jesus had died for everyone.