传扬福音的热火

复活期第六主日

设想你刚赢得大彩头奖. 你会做什么呢? 你会保密不向任何提及呢? 我相信你必会向祢的家人及要好的朋友宣布. 祢要每一个人都知道. 你曾有一些好消息想与你所爱的人分享吗? 学校考试获得好成绩? 工作上的升级? 你孩子的出生?

好消息并不是收藏保密的. 我们与我们亲密的家人朋友分享因为我们引以为豪. 我们希望与他们分享我们的喜乐. 这也就是宣传福音的意义. 耶稣为了救赎人类而死了. 他升天后派遣圣神做我们的领导及朋友. 这是多美妙的消息呀! 我们不应该收着不外传. 我们应该在屋顶上宣扬.

我们每一个人都是基督的使徒. 我们每一个人都赋予宣传福音的使命. 这并不只是神父修士修女的责任. 也不是只有基督教信友所做的. 这是每一位授洗的天主教徒的工作及责任. 一个天主教徒也必定是一位福传者.

我们又如何成为使徒呢? 许多人常以为使徒是那些必须放弃一切, 他们的财产, 家庭, 离乡背井到别处传扬福音. 为一些使徒的确是如此尤其是修士修女. 但为我们的使命也指在我们的家庭中, 学校里, 近邻及我们工作场所. 今天, 我们庆祝劳工节. 身为基督徒工作者,我们不能忘记在工作场所的使命. 我们必须诚实以言以行反映天国的价值观.

我们宣扬耶稣基督的福音及天主的国不是只引用福音章节, 更甚的是我们的见证来自我们的生活及言行. 所谓行动胜于语言. 今天读经一的撒玛黎雅人藉着斐理伯的宣讲接纳了耶稣的圣道不是因为他们听了他的宣讲. 他们接受了圣道是因为他们看到斐理伯的生活见证. 斐理伯的行动胜于语言.

当我们宣讲天主的圣言时, 我们必须以温和敬畏, 纯洁的良心宣讲. 换句话说, 我们永不能强迫他人接受我们的圣道. 我们千万不可贬低他人的宗教或谴责他人的信仰. 我们必须记住信仰的皈依是圣神的作为. 我们不能改变任何人的宗教. 我们只能与别人分享我们从基督那里所领受的福音.

让我们今天祈求天主圣神燃起我们内心向我们所遇到的人们, 传扬耶稣基督及天国福音的热火. 让我们引用圣咏作者的话回应: “普世大地请你们向天主欢呼!”

Sharing the Good News

Sixth Sunday of Easter Year A

Try to imagine that you have just won the first prize of a lottery ticket. What would you do? Would you keep this news to yourself? I’m sure that the first thing you would do would be to announce it to your family members and closest friends. You would want everyone to know. Have you ever had some good news that you wanted to share with people that you love? Good results at your schools exams? A promotion at work? The birth of your child?

Good news is to not meant to be kept as a secret. We share good news with the people who are closest to us – our family members and friends because we are proud of it. We want them to share our joy. This is what evangelization is all about. Jesus has died in order to save all mankind. He is risen and he has sent us the Holy Spirit to be our guide and friend. This is wonderful news! This is not something which we must keep to ourselves. This is not something that we should be ashamed to announce from our rooftops.

Each of us is a missionary of Christ. Each of us is entrusted with this responsibility to proclaim the good news. It is not only the responsibility of priests and religious. It is not only something which Protestants do. It is the work and responsibility of every baptized Catholic. To be a Catholic means one has to be a missionary.

How can we be missionaries? Many people often think that missionaries are those who have given up everything, their belongings, their family, their home in order to go to another country to spread the good news of the gospel. This is true of some missionaries, especially those religious brothers and sisters. But each of us is also a missionary in our homes, in our schools, in our neighbourhood, and in our working place.

We announce the good news of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God not only by quoting verses from the bible. More than anything else, our witness must come from our lifestyle and actions. Actions speak louder than words. In today’s first reading, the Samaritans came to accept the message of Christ through the proclamation of Philip not only because they had hear his preaching. They accepted the message because they saw the life witness of Philip. His actions spoke louder than words.

When proclaiming the word of God, we must always do it with “courtesy and respect and with a clear conscience.” In other words, we can never force others to accept our message. We must not belittle other religions or condemn other people for their beliefs. We must always remember that conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot convert anyone else. We can only share the good news that we have received from Christ.

Let us pray today that the Holy Spirit will enkindle in each of our hearts the passion to share the good news of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom with everyone that we meet. Let us echo the words of the Psalmist: “Cry out with joy to God all the earth.”

我们为祈祷而受造

复活期第五主日

我们时常抱怨为许多事务忙碌. 太多工作等着我们去做. 有太多的责任及烦恼. 当我们回到家中, 还有许多事需要我们去处理. 有时, 对教会的工作也一样. 我们许多人不管在家中, 或在工作场所, 或在圣堂, 或在基信团体里, 因工作占据了我们的时间而常找借口没空祈祷. 我们或许会想: “我们已做了这么多的善功, 不论是在圣堂的服务, 家务或工作场所的职责. 天主肯定会了解我的处境.” 为此, 当我们的工作占据了大部分时间时, 我们的祈祷时间相对地减少.

圣伯多禄在读经二中提醒我们, 我们是特选的种族, 王家的司祭, 圣洁的国民, 属于主的民族, 为叫我们宣扬那由黑暗中召叫我们, 进入他奇妙之光者的荣耀.” 换句话说, 我们为祈祷而受造. 这是我们一生的目标及意义 – 藉着我们的言行赞美天主.

很多时候, 我们却忘了这重要的事实. 我们忽略了祈祷. 因为我们以为天主只要看有成果的行动并不看无用的祈祷. 然而, 祈祷并不永无用. 事实上, 我们的行动该是祈祷的结果. 祈祷帮助我们保持集中. 它提醒我们, 我们正做着天主的工作而不是我们的. 祈祷提醒我们, 掌管一切的是天主不是我们.

在读经一中, 宗徒们意识到在他们的团体的问题需要他们迫切的关注. 他们在团体日常的供应品上疏忽了他们的寡妇. 因此在祈祷的事工与福利的服务上的优先性 引起了不安及冲突. 为了解决他们这种状况,他们选拔了七位执事管理这些要务而宗徒们可以专务祈祷并为真道赋役. 宗徒们意识到团体的力量合一赖于祈祷与圣言. 同时也意识到耶稣托付给他们向贫穷弱小者传福音的使命. 这两者之间并没有冲突. 它们是相辅相成的.

耶稣在今天的福音一开始就对门徒们说: “你们心里不要烦乱; 你们要信赖天主, 也要信赖我.” 这是令人安心的话. 它提醒我们, 我们必须信赖天主. 这些话也挑战我们把我们的忧虑,恐惧和难题交托在天主的手中并让天主掌管我们的生命. 我们必须记住, 我们不能做每件事. 有很多问题我们是找不到解决的方法的. 但是我们相信天主掌管一切. 他会掌管我们的生命及照顾我们所需的. 祈祷肯定这一点.

让我们重新我们的祈祷承诺. 当我们忙碌时, 当我们面对无数的责任和问题时,我们更应该抽出时间向天主祈祷. 因为我们知道我们永不能单独一人做一切. 只有天主才能成就一切.

We were made for Prayer

Fifth Sunday of Easter Year A

We often complain about our busy schedule. There is so much to do at work. So many responsibilities and worries. When we return home, there are other things to worry about. Sometimes, we can say the same thing about Church work. Many of us are so preoccupied with our work, whether at home, or in the office or at church, or in the BEC, that we give excuses for not having time for prayer. We may think: “We’re doing a great deal of good works, be it church work, house work or responsibilities at our working place. God will surely understand my situation.” As our busy schedule increases, our prayer time decreases.

St. Peter in the second reading reminds us that we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who called (us) out of darkness into his wonderful light.” In other words, we were made for prayer. This is our goal and purpose in life – to give praise to God through our words and actions.

Very often we forget this important truth about ourselves. We neglect our prayers because we think that God wants to see action that bear results rather than just useless prayers. Prayers are never useless. In fact, our actions must flow from our prayers. Praying helps us to stay focus. It reminds us that we are doing the work of God and not our own. Prayer reminds us that we are not in control – God is in control.

In the first reading, the apostles recognized a problem in the community that required their immediate action. A certain section of their community, the widows, was being overlooked in the daily distribution of aid. A tension/ conflict arose between the priority given to prayer and their duty to social justice. This tension was resolved by the appointment of seven deacons to help in the distribution of goods so that the apostles “can continue to devote themselves to prayer and to the service of the word.” The apostles recognized that the strength and unity of the community depended on prayer and the word of God. At the same time, they recognized the mission entrusted to them by Jesus to bring good news to the poor and the weak. These two realities were not in conflict. Both complimented each other.

Jesus tells his disciples at the beginning of today’s gospel: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me.” These words are so reassuring. They remind us that we need to place our trust in God. These words challenge us to place all our worries, fears and problems in the hands of God and allow him to take control of our lives. We must remember that we cannot do everything. There will be many problems that we will not be able to find a solution to. But we trust that God is in control. He will take charge of our lives and take care of our every need. Prayer affirms this.

Let us renew our commitment to prayer. It is when we are busy, when we are faced with so many responsibilities and problems, that we must find more time to turn to God in prayer. This is because we know that we can never do it alone. All things are possible only with God.

每个人都有圣召

圣召主日(复活期第四主日)

今天我们庆祝善牧主日或圣召主日. 今天是特别的一天因为我们为神父和圣职人员圣召祈祷.

什么是圣召? 每一个人是否有圣召? 你有圣召吗? 许多人认为只有少数享有特权的人才有圣召而其他的人没有. 这是不对的. 每个人都有圣召. 圣召是个人感召使命. 它是我们在母胎, 形成那一刻就开始. 我们甚至可以说宇宙创造之前我们的圣召即已开始了. 我们每一个人蒙召去充份发挥我们的潜能, 因我们生来并不完美.

然而, 圣召也是一个挑战. 它要求牺牲. 圣召是为爱而做的工作. 它挑战我们完成人生的使命. 而我们的使命是爱. 我们每一个人蒙召成为慈善的人. 爱是我们圣召的核心. 天主召叫我们因他爱我们. 我们藉着父母的爱而来到世上. 这圣召必须用爱加以培养并希望有一天我们能结爱的果实. 有些蒙召一婚姻生活来表达这份爱而有些却以司铎或修道生活表达. 也有些以独身来表达.
因此, 圣召并不是某些使我们感觉得好或容易的事. 它既不是生活也不是爱. 因圣召仅在生活及爱内通过挣扎, 净化及痛苦才能成为真实的.

已婚, 独身的人们, 司铎及修道的, 都有圣召. 每一个圣召都是独特和无人可取代的, 且都显示天主的爱. 但是, 神父和圣职人员的圣召与那些独身或婚姻的却截然不同. 它们不同不等于它们较高尚. 而唯一最高尚的圣召是爱本身. 不同的地方又在那里呢? 一位神父或一位修士或修女的生命里,如果没有基督将没有意义. 在这样的生命核心中, 没有信德也毫无意义. 身为神父及修士修女, 我们蒙召成为寂寂无名的小人物. 我们蒙召放弃一切头衔, 权势, 财富, 地位及我们个人的意愿和需要为能成为天主临于世上的活圣事. 我们不再为自己但为天主而活. 的确, 我们神父们及圣职人员也都是罪人及不完美. 因此, 我们需要你们的代祷. 可否想象有一天没有神父, 修士修女? 可否想象有一天不再有任何圣事? 没有弥撒, 没有洗礼圣事, 没有坚振圣事, 没有告解圣事.

让我们在今天的弥撒中, 祈求耶稣, 我们的善牧, 派遣更多的工人来收他的庄稼, 因为庄稼多, 工人少. 让我们求更多的神父及修会圣召. 让我们鼓励我们的儿女和青年人接受挑战回应天主的召叫.

Everyone has a vocation

Good Shepherd Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Easter Year A)
Today we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday or Vocation Sunday. Today is a special day when we pray for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

What is a vocation? Does everyone have a vocation? Do you have a vocation? Many people think that only a handful of privileged people have a vocation while others do not. This is not true. Everyone has a vocation. A vocation is a calling forth of a person. It starts at the very moment of our existence in our mother’s womb. We can even say that our vocation began before the universe was created. Each of us are called to develop our fullest potential because we are born incomplete.

But vocation is also a struggle. It demands sacrifice. A Vocation is a labour of love. It is a working out of a mission. And our mission is love. Each of us is called to be loving persons. Love is at the core of our vocation. God calls us because he loves us. We came into this world through the love of our parents. This vocation must now be nurtured by love and hopefully one day we will bear the fruits of love. Some are called to express that love in marriage. Others are called to express that love through the priesthood or religious life. Some are called to express that love while remaining single.

Thus, a vocation is not something that merely makes us feel good, nor is it necessarily easy. Neither is life or love. For in both life and in love, vocation becomes real only through struggle, purification and pain.

Married people, single persons, priests and religious all have vocations. Each vocation is unique and irreplaceable, all revealing the voice of God’s love. But priestly and religious vocations are profoundly different than those who are single or married. They are different but it doesn’t mean that they are higher vocations. The only highest vocation is love itself. What then is the difference? The life of a priest or a religious brother or sister should make no sense without Christ. Such a life, in its core, is meaningless without faith. As priests and as religious brothers and sisters, we are called to be “nobodies”. We are called to give up all titles, power, wealth, position and our personal wishes and wants so that we can become living sacraments of God’s presence in this world. We live no longer for ourselves but for God. It is true that we priests and religious are also sinners and broken people. That is why we need your prayers. Can you imagine one day when there is no longer any priest or religious brother or sister? Can you imagine one day when there will no longer be any sacraments? No mass, no baptism, no confirmation, no confessions.

Let us in today’s mass pray to Jesus, our Good Shepherd to send more workers into the vineyard, for the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Let us pray for more vocations to the priestly and religious life. Let us encourage our children and the young people to take up the challenge of responding to God’s call.

天主从不放弃我们

复活期第三主日

你有想过放弃吗? 你有想要离开吗? 当我们的努力及计划失败时我们常想放弃. 为我们许多人唯一的选择将是走开及尽量忘记过去.

今天的福音中的两个门徒离开耶路撒冷. 他们打算放弃. 他们是耶稣的追随者而在他们的心目中, 耶稣“是一位先知, 在天主及众百姓前, 行事说话都有权力,” 但这伟人却死了. 他们的希望及理想好象也随着耶稣的死而灭了.

虽然他们离开了耶稣, 但耶稣却没有离开他们. 天主从不放弃我们, 纵然我们常受到诱惑放弃天主. 耶稣亲自走近这两位门徒并慢慢地帮助他们记起他们的使命. 耶稣常伴着我们同行. 有时候, 我们感觉到天主离我们很远, 甚至不在我们的生命当中. 有时我们觉得好像被天主所离弃. 但是天主从不离弃我们. 他常伴随着我们并尝试使我们明白我们的过失及罪过不是人生的尽头. 总有复活的希望.

当我们被疑难问题所困扰或重负失败的压力时, 我们往往对天主在我们中间的临在视而不见. 在痛苦失望期间, 我们被自怜所蒙蔽. 耶稣就在我们中间. 天主与我们同在. 但是因我们太过关注于我们本身及自身的问题而忽略了天主.
很多感到被天主遗弃的人, 开始不再参与主日弥撒. 他们认为既然天主遗忘了他们, 参与弥撒已没有意义了. 天主并没有忘记他们. 而是他们忘了天主. 然,反而在他们所逃避的弥撒中, 将帮助他们想起. 在每一台弥撒中, 我们意识到耶稣的亲临并陪伴着他的门徒往厄玛乌前行. 在每一台弥撒中, 耶稣藉着圣经的读经向我们说话.

在每一台弥撒中, 耶稣将擘饼开我们的眼睛使我们看到他临在圣体内, 及在我们周遭的人身上. 在每一台弥撒中, 耶稣将更新我们的使命, 重新派遣我们向世界传报爱和平安的喜讯. 每一台弥撒提醒我们, 我们绝不是孤单一人, 耶稣常陪伴在侧虽然有时我们很难认出他.

今天, 如果有人想放弃天主或生命, 请相信 – 耶稣临在我们当中. 他与你同行虽然你没有觉察到. 他了解你的痛苦和悲伤, 你的失望和失败. 请敞开你的心迎接他. 欢迎耶稣到你的心中好象今天福音中的那两位门徒欢迎他到他们的家中. 如果你让他进入你的心中, 他会开启你的心, 使你的心及你的信德重新燃烧. 让这火点燃每个人好使他们也知道 “主真复活了.”

God does not quit on us

Third Sunday of Easter Year A

Have you ever thought of giving up? Have you ever felt like quitting? We often feel like giving up when our efforts and projects fail. For many of us, the only option would be to walk away and try to forget the past.

The two disciples in today’s gospel were also walking away from Jerusalem. They were giving up. They were followers of Jesus “who proved he was a great prophet by the things that he said and did in the sight of God and of the whole people;” but this great man was now dead. It seemed that all their hopes and dreams also died with Jesus.

Although they have quit on Jesus, Jesus does not quit on them. God never gives up on us although we are often tempted to give up on Him. Jesus walks along with these two disciples and slowly helps them to remember their vocation and mission. Jesus is also always walking by our side. There are times, some of us may feel God so far away or even absent from our lives. There are times, we feel as if abandoned by God. But God will never abandon us. He is always walking by our side and trying to make us realize that our mistakes and sinfulness do not mean the end of our journey. There is always the resurrection.

When we are beset with problems or weighed down by our failures, we often become blind to the presence of God in our midst. During moments of pain and disappointment, we are blinded by self-pity. Jesus is in our midst. God is present to us. But we are too focused on ourselves and our problems to take notice of him.

Many people who often feel abandoned by God would start missing mass on Sundays. They often feel that there is no point coming for mass since God has forgotten them. God has not forgotten them. It is they who have forgotten God. It is truly ironic that it is the Mass, which they seek to avoid, that will help them to remember. At every Mass, we become aware of the presence of Jesus who walks with his disciples along the road to Emmaus. It is at every Mass, that Jesus will speak to us from the readings in the bible. It is at every Mass that Jesus will break bread and open our eyes to his presence in the Eucharist and in the people around us. It is at every Mass that Jesus will renew our mission and send us forth to bring the good news of love and peace to the whole world. It is at every Mass that we are reminded that we are never alone, that Jesus is always walking next to us even though it is hard to see him at times.

Today, if there are some among you who feel like giving up on God or on life, believe this – Jesus is present here among us. He is walking along with you although you may not be aware of it. He understands your pains and sorrows, your disappointments and failures. Open your hearts to receive him. Welcome him into your hearts like the two disciples in today’s gospel who welcomed Jesus into their homes. If you allow him to enter into your heart, he will open your hearts and make your hearts and your faith burn again with new fire. Let this fire spread to everyone else so that they too may know that “the Lord has risen!”