今天救恩临到了这一家

常年三十一主日

我们许多人感到很渺小 – 我们觉得我们是罪人, 不堪当天主的爱及眷顾. 为此, 我们继续过着我们的生活好象天主不存在似的. 我们知道天主存在, 但只是在星期天罢了. 而整个星期内, 我们需要工作, 自己做一切事情好象天主从不帮助我们. 我们尽量获取财富并使自己感到重要以补偿我们脆弱的自尊. 这就是在今天福音中匝凯还没遇见耶稣之前的写照. 匝凯是一个税吏, 是一位罗马官员, 是犹太人眼中的仇人及罪人. 而匝凯肯定感到很孤单, 但, 他的财富及权势给了他些许安慰. 福音形容他是个子矮小的人.因嫌弃自己的矮小也介意别人对他的看法而感到自卑.

匝凯爬上野桑树为了看耶稣. 他认为爬到树上可以高高在上. 我们有时候也这样做. 因为我们感到没有安全感. 我们尝试夸耀自己或取笑别人显示自己的优越. 像匝凯一样使自己与别人疏远. 别人开始避开我们因为没有人喜欢吹牛的人.

看来人人都闪避匝凯, 耶稣却注意到他. 耶稣从人群中认出他并请他从树上下来. 耶稣重新使他归回到团体. 我们是群居的. 身为基督徒, 我们不能忘记我们团体的特性 – 耶稣要我们互爱 共融相处而不是自私自利, 自我中心独处. 耶稣的爱改变了匝凯. 对匝凯来说, 有生以来头一遭, 有人赏识他并不因他的地位财势而是出自真爱和关怀.

我们常在主日听到天主爱我们的信息. 耶稣爱我们并不是因我们的财富或是我们的成就或是我们的圣德或是我们在社会的地位. 不管我们是谁耶稣爱我们. 耶稣知道我们的优点, 我们的美善即使我们自己不察觉. 在读经一中, 我们读到天主怎样爱一切所有, 不恨他所造的. 这位作者写到, 如果天主憎恨什么, 他必不会造它. 天主不制造垃圾. 天主从不犯错.

我们许多人对自己所做的错事而感到羞耻. 有些甚至恼恨自己. 的确我们是罪人. 我们一生中,犯很多错也不断地犯错. 我们也的确不堪为领受天主的怜悯. 但天主仍爱着我们. 那就是天主的爱及怜悯, 在我们还是罪人时派遣他唯一圣子为我们而死. 那就是我们在天主眼中的真正价值. 如果我们能认清世上没有任何事可以改变天主对我们的爱, 我们就能体验天主的救恩. 天主从不拒绝赐给我们他的救恩. 反之, 是我们自己,把救恩,有所保留,拒绝去承认天主对我们的爱. 唯有在我们相信天主以个人方式爱我们时, 皈依才发生作用.

今天, 在弥撒中, 我们听到耶稣个别对我们说: “今天救恩临到了这一家 – 因为人子来, 是为寻找及拯救迷失的人.”

Today salvation has come to this house

Thirty First Ordinary Sunday Year C

Many of us feel very small – we feel that we are sinners and that we are unworthy of God’s love or attention. And so we continue to live our lives as if God does not exist. We know God exist, but he only comes out on Sunday. Throughout the whole week, we have to work and do things all by ourselves as if God isn’t there to help us. We try to acquire riches and make ourselves feel important to compensate for our low self-esteem. This was the life of Zaccheus in today’s gospel before he met Jesus. He was a tax-collector, an officer of the Roman government and thus seen as an enemy and a sinner to all Jews. Zaccheus must have really felt all alone, but to him, his wealth and his power gave him some consolation. The gospel describes him as a short man. He could have been physically short but quite likely he felt small too in terms of how he saw himself or how he thought others saw him.

Zaccheus climbed the sycamore tree to have a better look at Jesus. By climbing the tree, he thought that he could raise himself to a position that was higher than the others. We also do that sometimes. Because, we feel insecure, we try to boast or make fun of others in order to make ourselves bigger than we truly are. But like Zaccheus, this only alienates us from others. People begin to avoid us because no one likes a braggart.

Although everyone seems to ignore Zaccheus, Jesus notices him. Jesus picks him out from the crowd and invites him to come down from the tree. Jesus reintroduces him to the community. We are created as social beings. As Christians, we must never forget our communal identity – Jesus wants us to live with each in love and peace and not as selfish and self-centered individuals. The love of Christ brings about the conversion of Zaccheus. For the first time in his life, someone takes notice of Zaccheus not because of his position or because of his wealth, but because of pure love and compassion.

This is the good news that we hear every Sunday. God loves us. Jesus loves us not because of our wealth, or our achievements, or our holiness or status in society. Jesus loves us for who we are. Jesus recognizes our goodness and our beauty even when we are unable to see it within ourselves. In the first reading, we have heard of how God loves all that exists, and holds nothing that he has made in abhorrence. For as the writer writes, if God had hated anything, He would not have formed it. God does not make rubbish. God doesn’t make mistakes.

Some of us may be ashamed of bad things that we have done in life and some have even grown to hate themselves. It is true that we are sinners. It is true that we have made many mistakes in life and we continue to make mistakes. It is true that we are not worthy to receive God’s compassion. But God loves us nevertheless. That is the love and compassion of God who is prepared to send his only Son to die for us while we were still sinners. That is our true value in the eyes of God. If we can come to recognize this – that we are loved by God and that nothing we do, no mistakes that we make, no sin that we commit, is going to change the love of God for us – then we will truly be able to experience the salvation of God. God does not withhold salvation from us. It is we who withhold salvation from ourselves by failing to recognize God’s love for us. Only when we come to believe that we are loved by God in a personal way, will conversion take place.

Today, during this Mass, we hear the voice of Jesus speaking to each of us personally: “Today salvation has come to this house … for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.”

Humility is boasting of God's blessings

Thirtieth Ordinary Sunday Year C

One of the sins we find hardest to confess is the sin of pride? We are ready to confess our other sins- anger, unforgiveness, lying, beating our children, scolding others – but find it hard to confess our pride. Pride has a way of hiding itself. We hide many things from others because we think that if they came to know about it, they would no longer respect us or like us. That’s pride. Pride means that we do not want to lose face. So we lie, we exaggerate, we make fun of others, we become jealous of others, we criticize others.

I think that many of us would not want to pray like the Pharisee in today’s gospel. So we often criticize our own achievements and try to humble ourselves before others. We will say things like: “No, I’m not clever. Actually I am very stupid.” Or when others praise us, we will try and say things like: “no it was just luck.” We try to be polite. When we serve food that we have cooked to others, we will often say that it is common and simple food although we may have spent the whole morning and afternoon trying to make the most delicious dish to impress our friends. Very often our own self-criticism is an attempt at soliciting greater praises from others. Rather than true humility, every time when we brush off a compliment from someone else, it is an indication of our pride. We actually want them to praise us more.

What is true humility? It isn’t self-criticism, as I had explained. True humility is the ability to recognize both my weaknesses and my strengths. True humility is about knowing oneself. True humility is recognizing that we are nothing without God and that all that we have received comes from God alone. When we criticize ourselves we are criticizing God –we are saying that He has made a mistake with us. That’s not humility but pride! A truly humble person is able to receive compliments and recognize his own strength because he knows that this is a gift from God.

In the second reading, St. Paul appears to be boasting about himself when he says: “I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith …” But St. Paul is not blowing his own trumpet. He is actually giving praise to God. He knows that he would not be able to do it alone. He knows that he is able to do all these things only with the power of God. If we read the second part of the second reading, we will see this. He writes: “But the Lord stood by me and gave me power, so that through me the whole message might be proclaimed for all the pagans to hear … The Lord will rescue me from all evil attempts on me, and bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever.”

That’s true humility. To be able to speak of all the blessings that we have received from God and give him glory. We are not praising our own achievements when we speak of them. We are not boasting when we speak about how God has blessed us. Rather, it is God who is praised and glorified. Without God nothing is possible. We need to give testimony to God’s blessings. False humility hides the glory of God. False humility is actually pride that seeks praises for oneself.

In today’s mass, let us echo the voice of tax collector who recognized his sinfulness and limitations but yet recognized the mercy and power of God to forgive him his sins. For the Lord will indeed listen to the prayer of the truly humble man.

祈祷 - 放慢的招术

常年期二十九主日

什么时候是最合适的呢? 对我们许多人, 现时是最佳时刻. 毫无等待可言. 我们期待事情即时发生. 不是明天, 不是下个月, 不是明年而是现在! 因此, 我们讨厌等待. 我们对特别人, 自己, 天主没有耐心. 我们自问: “我们为什么要等? 为什么它不能现在就发生呢?”今日的社会要求快速的电脑, 更快速的网路, 更快速的交通工具, 快餐, 速成教育课程 – 快, 快!! 在5到10年前所习惯的一切可能已经不够了. 物质被淘汰的如此惊人.

或许, 我们已经忘了什么叫做等待, 什么叫做浪费时间, 什么叫做与你所爱的人相处 - 与朋友, 与天主共度时光. 我们必须重心学习放慢的招术. 祈祷时, 我们被迫放慢速度. 没有快速简单的祈祷. 祈祷常需要时间因为交谈需要时间.

今天的读经教导我们关于祈祷及坚忍. 在祈祷生活中我们必须学习忍耐. 我们必须继续祈祷纵使我们对等待天主的俯允感到厌倦. 原因很简单: 没有祈祷, 放弃将是最容易不过的事. 在面对难题, 失望,挫折我们有足够的理由放弃.

祈祷支撑我们的信德. 信德带来希望. 信德带来的希望允许我们信赖天主相信天主永不会放弃我们. 天主必会在他适当的时刻, 方式俯允我们. 祈祷允许我们珍惜与天主及别人共处的时光.它不断地提醒我们不该掌控我们的生命. 在样样讲求快速的世界里 – 快餐, 快速电脑, 工厂的快速生产行列, 我们肯定在这些事务中失去控制我们的生命. 我们成为这类似生活的奴隶. 祈祷允许我们重新控制我们的生活也让天主掌控我们的生活. 只有在天主内, 我们才可找到真正的自由.

你们当中, 或许有人想放弃, 像读经一中的梅瑟, 你们或许觉得举起双手祈祷很累 - 悔心祈祷 – 而想休息一会儿. 你们或者经历了长期的考验, 困难, 焦虑而感到祈祷并没有结果及在生命里也没什么分别. 但是, 今天的福音告诉你: “不要灰心, 静心等待, 天主必会来! 你可能不能看到或预料未来将发生的事. 明天或许与今天没两样, 但你的忍耐及坚持将得到赏报. 天主必会俯允我们. 但在他指定的时刻及方式.

我们很快就要接近年终了. 我们是否有抽空与我们的家人及所爱的人共度时光呢? 或者我们忙于许多生活上的琐事没有时间给我们的家人, 朋友或天主. 在这台弥撒中, 让我们求天主赏赐我们缓慢下来的能力, 使我们会珍惜重要的一切.

Prayer - the Art of Slowing Down

Twenty Ninth Ordinary Sunday Year C

What time is the most suitable time? For many of us, the present time is the best time. No point waiting. We want things to happen now. Not tomorrow. Not next month. Not next year. No. Now! And so we hate to wait. We become impatient with others. We become impatient with ourselves. We become impatient with God. We ask ourselves: “Why must we wait? Why can’t it happen now?”

Today’s society demands for faster computers, faster internet, faster modes of transportation, fast food, short educational courses – Fast, Fast. What we may have been used to 5 or 10 years ago is not enough. Things become obsolete at a frightening pace.

Perhaps, we have forgotten what it means to wait, to waste time, to spend time with the people we love – to spend time with our friends – to spend time with God. We must relearn the art of slowing down. In prayer, we are forced to slow down. There is no quick or easy prayer. Prayer always requires time because conversion requires time.

Today’s readings teach us about prayer and perseverance. We must learn patience from our prayer life. We must continue praying even when we become tired of waiting for an answer from God. The reason for this is very simple: without prayer, giving up will be extremely easy. In the face of problems, disappointments and set-backs, we have more than enough reason to call it quits.

Prayer sustains our faith and faith brings hope. The hope that comes from faith allows us to trust God and believe that he will not abandon us. He will answer us in his own time and in his own way. Prayer allows us to cherish the time we have with God and with others. It reminds us again and again that we are not in control of our lives. In a world of fast food, fast computers, fast production lines in the factories, we have certainly lost control of our lives to all these things. We have become slaves to this way of life. Prayer allows us to take back control over our lives and to allow God to take control of our lives. Only in God can we find true freedom.

Some of you today may feel like giving up. Like Moses in the first reading, some of you may feel so tired with holding your hands up in prayer – persevering in prayer – and you feel that you just want to take a break. Some of you may be experiencing trials, problems, worries for so long that you feel that praying is useless and does not make any difference in your life. But the message of the gospel for you today is: Be patient! Wait for the Lord, for the Lord will come indeed! You may not be able to see or predict what’s going to happen in the future. Tomorrow may appear to be the same as today. But your patience and perseverance will be rewarded. God will surely answer us, but in his own time and in his own way.

We are fast approaching the end of the year. Have we taken time to be with our family and loved ones? Or have we been so busy with so many things in our life that there is no longer time for family, friends or God? During this Mass, let us pray for the ability to be able to slow down so that we can cherish the things that truly matter.

对天主的感恩

常年期第二十八主日

我相信你们都知道渔夫与他的妻子的童话故事罢. 这是一则有关一个穷渔夫与他那贪得无厌的妻子的故事. 有一天, 穷渔夫出去捕鱼. 从早到晚一无所获.最后, 正打算收网回家时, 他网到了一条大鱼. 使他惊讶的是这条大鱼竟会说话并告诉渔夫说他是海王的王子. 他要求渔夫放过他,并答应给以一切所求. 渔夫因是个仁慈怜悯的人, 没有要求什么就放了大鱼回海里去了. 他回家后, 告诉了他的妻子. 他的妻子对他大发雷霆责骂他的愚蠢. 他的妻子要他即刻回去要求大鱼给他们一栋大房子因为他们所住的是一间摇摇欲坠的破木屋. 很不情愿地渔夫会到海边向大鱼要求. 大鱼很乐意地答应了.渔夫回家时看到了他原有的木屋已变成了一栋大房屋还有许多工人. 他的妻子很满意. 可是第二天, 贪得无厌的妻子却吵她的丈夫去向大鱼要更大的回报. 这次, 她要做公爵. 像第一次一样, 很快又厌倦了而要更大的要求. 从公爵, 她要成为国王, 帝王, 教皇. 当她成为教皇时, 渔夫以为她的妻子该会满足了. 然而, 第二天早晨, 她叫醒渔夫, 告诉他说她已控制了全世界但却没能控制太阳的起落及宇宙辰星的运行. 除非她成为天主, 她永不会满足. 为此, 渔夫又回到海边找那条有求必应的大鱼. 这时,天布满了黑云, 刮起了狂风, 海中巨浪翻滚. 大鱼现身. 渔夫于是提出了他最后的要求. 大鱼回答说: “既然, 你的妻子对我所赐与的一切都不满意, 我就全给拿掉.” 大鱼跟着消失了再也见不到了. 渔夫回家发现他原来的妻子及那破烂不堪的木屋即知道一切已被拿回.

有的人的确永不会满足. 他们总会找些东西来抱怨. 当他们所要求的被应许时, 他们会常寻求其他更好的. 这辆车不够大. 这部电脑不是最新的. 基基团的组长不够好. 我的媳妇或女婿不够理想. 或者那神父不够好. 也许, 我们所缺少的是鉴赏, 感恩的精神. 我们重视我们的福份吗? 我们常感谢天主所赏赐的一切吗? 我们有感谢我们的父母, 我们的孩子或其他的人以表心意吗? 也许, 我们只想到自己或专找事埋怨.

今天的福音及读经一中, 我们得知两位非犹太人表达他们对天主的感恩. 第一读经,我们有叙利亚人的纳阿曼及福音中的撒玛黎雅癞病人. 其余的九个癞病人呢? 他们也同样只顾自己. 他们把耶稣恩赐的恩惠认为他们应得的. 我们是否也一样对别人如此呢? 我们可有常记得说 “谢谢” 这两个字呢?

弥撒的意思是感恩圣祭. 今天让我们化点时间点算我们所得到的恩赐. 让我们为我们的家人和朋友感谢天主. 让我们为自己生命及这团体的成员二感恩. 也感谢天主为我们赐下他的圣子耶稣. 正如圣保禄提醒我们说: “如果我们不忠信, 他仍然忠信的, 因为他不能否 认自己.” 感谢天主!

Expressing our Gratitude

Twenty Eighth Ordinary Sunday Year C

I’m sure that most of you know the children’s story of the fisherman and his wife. It is the story of a poor fisherman who lived with a wife who was never satisfied. One day, as the poor fisherman went fishing, he caught nothing till the evening. Finally, when he was ready to go home, a large fish was caught in his net. To his surprise, the fish could talk and told him that he was a prince and a son to the King of the Seas. He begged the fisherman to release him and in return he would grant any wish which the fisherman would make of him. The fisherman, being a kindly and compassionate man, released the fish without making any request. He returned home and narrated the whole story to his wife. His wife was furious and scolded him for his stupidity. She told him to go back that very instance and demand for a larger house because they both were living in an old ramshackle hut made of wood. The fisherman reluctantly went back to the fish and made the request. The fish willingly granted the request and the fisherman returned home to find in place of his old hut, a large mansion with many servants. The wife was satisfied for one night. But the following morning, the greedy wife harassed her husband to return to fish and ask for a greater gift. This time she wanted to be a duke. When the gift was granted, like the first time, she was only satisfied for a little while and began to make greater request. From a duke, she became a king, from a king she became an emperor, from an emperor she became the Pope. When she was the Pope, the poor fisherman thought that she would now be finally satisfied. But, no! The following morning, she woke the fisherman and told him that she now controlled the whole world but she was still not able to control the rising and the setting of the sun and the movement of the stars in heaven. She would not be satisfied until she became God. And so the poor fisherman returned to the beach in search for the magic fish. Now the clouds were dark and stormy and there were large waves in the sea. When the fish finally appeared, the fisherman made this last request. The fish answered: ‘Since your wife has never been satisfied with any of the earlier gifts which I had given her, I will take it all away.” With that the fish disappeared and was never seen again. The fisherman went home and discovered his wife in their old ramshackle hut and realized that all had been taken away.

Some people are never really satisfied. They will always find something to complain about. When their requests are met, they will always look for better things. The car isn’t big enough. The computer isn’t the newest. The BEC leaders are not good enough. My daughter-in-law or my son-in-law is not good enough. Or the priest isn’t good enough. Perhaps, what we truly lack is the spirit of appreciation and thanksgiving. How often do we really count our blessings? How often do we thank God for the many blessings and good things that we have received in life? How often have we thanked our father or our mother or our son or daughter or someone else and expressed our appreciation to them? Or are we only thinking about ourselves or looking for things to complain about.

In today’s gospel and in the first reading, we find two non-Jews expressing their gratitude to God – in the first reading we have the Syrian general, Namaan and in the gospel we have the Samaritan leper. What happened to the other 9 lepers who came to Jesus for healing? They were too preoccupied with themselves. They took Jesus and the gift which he had bestowed upon them for granted. Do we also take others for granted? Do we bother to say these two simple words – Thank you?

Eucharist means thanksgiving. Let us today take some time to count our blessings. Let us thank God for our family members and friends. Let us thank God for our lives and the members of this community. Let us thank God for giving us his Son Jesus. As St. Paul reminds us: “We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful, for he cannot disown his own self.” Thanks be to God.

如芥子般的信德

常年二十七主日

当我们环顾世界四周, 我们常想到世界及人们疯了.残杀不只在战场发生也祸及无辜孩童; 家庭暴力;虐待女佣; 强奸; 贪污; 破坏. 我们可以认同先知哈巴谷对当时社会的陈诉: “在我面前, 只有迫害和残暴, 争吵不休, 辩论迭起.” 这世界充满邪恶, 怪不得那么多人沮丧成疾.

或者对我们来说较关切的问题该是: “在这疯狂的世界, 我如何可以找到人生的意义呢?” 哲学家历年来曾想尽办法为我们解答这问题但仍没有满意的答案. 很明显的, 答案不在于人的解答方法. 为了应付那超出我们的控制范围,超出我们所理解的 “邪恶” – 我们必须寻找那超出人所能理解的答案.

今天的读经谈及信德 – 信德使我们看到纵然邪恶和残暴看来遍布各处, 但天主仍常控一切; 当我们迷失时, 信德指示方向; 当我们面对人生无数的问题时, 信德帮助我们坚持到底. 处在今时今日的世界, 若要生存, 我们更需要信德甚于任何东西.

耶稣告诉我们如果我们有”如芥子般的信德” 我们可以拔根移山. 我们要如何理解这一点呢? 首先, 耶稣并没有着重在信德的神力. 有人以为只要我们有信德, 所有的疾病, 甚至绝症都能不药而愈. 如果当他们看不到效果时, 他们的结论是他们缺乏信德或开始抱怨天主不俯允他们的祈祷. 这是对信德的错误了解. 类似的误解使信德当着奇迹的管道而天主也变成受薪的执行者.

真正的信德是建基于信赖的关系上. 信德是当我们相信天主会掌管一切并不容许我们受到任何伤害. 信德是让天主做天主. 让天主掌管我们的生命及处境而不是要天主随我们的意愿解决我们的问题. 这样, 我们才能明白, 为什么耶稣用极小的芥子作比喻. 信德, 就有如我们对解决问题的贡献像芥子般小. 我们只管求, 然后静静地让天主处理一切. 如果我们说我们有 “信德”, 我们就该让天主随心所欲地为我们及世界安排. 问题是我们常认为我们应该做更大的角色 - 我们要做那能移山的,而不是让天主来做.

在今天的弥撒中, 让我们求天主赏赐圣宠好能以信德的眼光看世界. 让我们也向宗徒们看齐求天主说: “请增加我们的信德吧!”

Faith the size of a mustard seed

Twenty Seventh Ordinary Sunday Year C

When we look at the world around us, we often think that the world and its people have gone crazy! Killing not only in the war fields but also innocent children; domestic violence; ill treatment of maids; rape, corruption, destruction. We can identify with the sentiments of the prophet Habakkuk when he made this statement about the society of his time: “Outrage and violence, this is all I see, all is contention, and discord flourishes.” With so much evil in the world, its no wonder that so many people suffer from depression.

Perhaps the more important question that concerns us is this: “How can I find meaning in life in the midst of so much madness?” Philosophers have been trying to provide solutions to this question over the centuries but there is no satisfactory answer. It is clear that the answer does not lie with a human solution. In order to deal with an ‘evil’ that is beyond our control, an ‘evil’ that is beyond our understanding - we must seek for answers that lies beyond mere human understanding.

Today’s reading speaks of faith – a faith that enables us to see how God remains in control although evil and violence seems all pervasive, a faith that gives direction when we are lost; a faith that helps us to persevere even when faced with the many problems of life. In today’s world, we need faith more than ever if we are to survive.

Jesus tells us that if we were to have faith “the size of a mustard seed” we could uproot trees and in fact, move mountains. How do we understand this? First of all, Jesus is not focusing on the miraculous power of faith. Some people think that if we have faith, all kinds of illnesses, even the terminal ones, can be physically healed. The conclusion they often make when they don’t see the results of healing is that they lack faith or they may begin to blame God for not answering their prayers. This is a wrong understanding of faith. This kind of understanding makes ‘faith’ a kind of ticket for miracles and reduces God to a paid performer.

True faith is really based on a relationship of trust. Faith is when we believe God will take care of all things and ultimately not allow us to come to any harm. Faith is allowing God to be God, allowing God to take control of our lives and the situation without dictating to him how we want him to solve our problems. In this sense, we can then understand why Jesus uses the metaphor of the ‘mustard seed’, a tiny seed. Faith, our contribution to the solution of the problem is like that tiny seed. We just need to ask, sit back and allow God to do the rest. If we say that we have ‘faith’ then we must be prepared to allow God a free hand to do what he thinks will be the best for us and for the world. The problem is that we often feel we must take a greater role – we want to be ones that can move mountains rather than allowing God to do this.

In today’s mass, let us ask God for the grace to be able to see the world through the eyes of faith. Let us echo the words of the disciple and ask this of God: “Increase our faith.”