Chia sẻ tin vui

Thỉnh thoảng, mình gởi cho một đoàn thiếu nhi ở Mỹ bài chia sẻ lời Chúa trong các dịp lễ quan trọng trong năm. Lễ Phục Sinh mình cũng làm việc này như để gởi lời chúc mừng đến các bạn trẻ thân thương. Trước đây mình cũng từng tham gia vào đoàn thiếu nhi này. Nên mặc dầu đã rời đoàn từ lâu, mình vẫn cảm thấy gắn bó với đoàn. Sau đây là nội dung của bài chia sẻ mình gởi cho các bạn trẻ:

Share the Good News

In 2006, it was estimated that throughout the world
people generated 161 billion gigabytes of digital information.
That includes all the photos, videos, e-mails, Web pages,
instant messages, phone calls and other digital content
that we put out minute by minute, second by second.

If you can't fathom what 161 billion gigbytes of digital information look like,
Let me give you some comparisons.
If you own the best IPOD machine on the market,
It would take more than 2 billion of those to hold 161 billion gigs.
It's the same as 3 million times the information of all the books ever written.
It's the same as 12 stacks of books that each reach

from the Earth to the Sun.
In another word, it's a lot of information.
But it doesn't stop there.
By 2010, they expect that we would generate 988 billion gigs of information.

They're not wrong when they say this is the information age.
We are constantly generating information and passing it on to other people.
How many people here have received in your email
A funny picture that someone took,
Or a really good joke that your friend received from someone else,
And now is passing it on to you.
After you finish reading that joke,
You think it's so hilarious, you'd want to pass it on to someone else.

Indeed, it is wonderful when I get a really good laugh
From an email that a friend sent,
Or a little chuckle from some funny pictures,
Or a feeling of satisfaction when reading an inspirational story on the internet.
I believe that the way we are,
If we really think something is beautiful or wonderful,
We automatically want to share it with someone we know.
Laughing alone is never as good as laughing with someone else.
Rejoicing alone is never as great as rejoicing with someone else.

And so, I want to put forth a question for all of us to consider:
During this past week,
Having relived the good news of the resurrection of Christ,
How many of us have rejoiced in that good news?
How many of us have found this joy so wonderful
So ecstatic, so terrific, that we can't wait to share that joy with someone else?
How many of us have cared to pass on that piece of information
To a family member, to a friend, to a stranger, or to a co-worker?
Or have we pretty much listened to the good news,
But like any other news we read in the newspaper,
It gets shoved below our stacks of newspapers and magazines.
In the email box of our heart and mind,
It gets moved to the trash box or even the SPAM box.

This Sunday in the Gospel reading, Jesus comes to the disciples
Who have locked themselves up in the house
Because they have not been able to rejoice in the good news
Of the resurrection of Christ.
Even though they have discovered the empty tomb,
They could not comprehend the image that they see
They could not understand the information given to them.

They saw the empty tomb, but that was not enough information.
Jesus had to appear to them,
To let them see him,
To give the the Holy Spirit,
So that they may truly believe in the Good News.

Jesus did not only have to appear the one time,
But again after that so that Thomas who would not believe
Because he did not himself see Jesus could also believe.
Nevertheless, we know that once all the disciples
Were confirmed that Christ had indeed risen from the dead,
They no longer stayed locked up inside the house,
But went out to preach wherever they could
The good news that they had experienced.

Dear friends, all of us have already received the good news.
We have received it 50 years ago.
We have received it 25 years ago.
We have received it 7 years ago.
We have received it 3 years ago.
We have received it one week ago.
And we are receiving it again today.
The Good News is that Our Lord Jesus Christ
Was put to death on the cross, but has risen from the dead
So that all of us may be saved.

With this good news in hand,
With this good news in heart,
With this good news in mind,
Shall we remain locked up in our house
Or shall we go proclaim what we have heard to others,
Whether by mouth, by email, by Yahoo messenger,
Or by our very actions.

If we receive the good news but do nothing about it,
Then we are no better than the disciples
Who saw the empty tomb but were too scared to leave the house.
If we receive the good news but do not pass it on,
Then we are no better than Thomas
Who refused to believe

until Jesus told him to put his hand into his side.

The Gospel message of Jesus' death and resurrection
Is not just to make us feel good inside,
But it demands that we pass that information on to others
Who have not heard the good news
So that they too may feel joy and hope,
So that they too can pass it on to others.

So that we ask the people next to us:
Do you know what I know?
Do you hear what I hear?
Do you see what I see?

The challenge of the gospel message is also that
We live out our lives in such a way that reflects our reaction

toward the Good News
That means we take time and effort

to comfort people who are down in spirit,
Give help to the sick and helpless,
And come to the side of the poor and the downtrodden.

Only in this way does it show that the Good News
Had indeed made an impact on us,
That it affected us in some way,
And that it changed our lives in some way.
If not, then it doesn't matter how many times

we receive the Good News,
Be it 100 times or 3 times, it doesn't really make a difference.

Today, let us take a moment to reflect on the Good News

that we have heard today.

Let us once again feel great joy in our heart,
Let us once again feel great thankfulness in our mind,
And let us feel motivated to share that Good news with others,
In our words, and in our actions.
Of the billions and billions of gigabytes of information

that we generate each year,
May some of that information be about God's great love for us
In what was done for us through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Bangkok, ngày 15.4.2007