Wednesday, December 30, 2015

尊敬母亲是兑现儿子



2016年天主之母节

今天庆节的名称——天主之母节,对非天主教徒来说,尤其是对基督教信徒及穆斯林,时常都会造成混淆。基督教信徒会指责我们崇拜偶像,而穆斯林则会说我们给没有父亲或母亲的全能造物主一位人性的母亲。可是,非天主教徒一点都不了解,当我们称圣母玛利亚为“天主之母”时,其实那是我们对耶稣至高无上的尊崇。


教会有关圣母玛利亚的教导可在圣母四端信理中找到,这些信理分别是“终身童贞”、“天主之母”、“始胎无染原罪”及“蒙召升天。每一条信理都是以基督为中心,和耶稣基督息息相关。前面的两端信理提醒我们,耶稣基督不单只是一位人类母亲的儿子,祂也是天主子。后面两端则提醒我们人类的终向。换句话说,这四端信理都指向耶稣基督的救世工程。基督降生成人,为的就是要拯救我们脱离罪恶,并要领我们回到天乡去,而圣母就是这事件的证明。


我们称玛利亚为“天主之母”有几个原因。第一,这称号告诉我们有关耶稣的事迹;它指明了我们信仰的核心,那就是:耶稣是人,也是天主。


第二,“天主之母”这称号让我们对天主有更深一层的认识,它凸显了天主的谦卑;因为天主取了人性,并选择借着凡间女子降生,寄居人间被养育。


第三,这称号也讲述有关我们自己及人类。当圣言在圣母胎中成了血肉时,人类就变成了天主在世的住所。透过取了人性的恩宠,天主圣化了我们的生活。教会时常教导我们关于天主怎样成为人,为让世人也能像天主一样。


所以,正当全世界在庆祝新一年的开始,并为新一年列下展望时,让我们也在这慈悲年中,列下我们的展望,并以圣奥斯定的祷词作为祈祷:“就如同圣母胎中怀有耶稣,让我们在心中也怀有耶稣;正如童贞女孕育出基督的肉身,愿我们的心中也孕育出基督的信德;如同圣母带来救世主,愿我们的灵魂也有救赎和赞美。愿我们的灵魂在天主内不是贫瘠的,但却是富足的。”

We honour the Son when we honour the Mother



Solemnity of Mary Mother of God 2016

The name of the feast which we celebrate today has given cause to Protestants to accuse us Catholics of idolising Mary as it has scandalised Muslims into thinking that we Christians believe that the eternal God could have been birthed by another, a mortal person for that matter. For that would seem to be the apparent conclusion to be drawn from such an august title conferred on a mere mortal. But little do many Protestants and even Catholics realise, the title seeks to honour the Son more than the mother. The great theologian saint, St Louis Marie de Montfort, who was responsible for the promotion of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary writes, “We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek – Jesus, her Son.”

To accuse Mary of being a distraction is to totally miss the mark when it comes to the Church’s teachings and especially the dogmas concerning Mary. The four Marian dogmas of the Church, two ancient (the Ever Virgin and the Mother of God) and two modern (the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption), are essentially Christological as well as Christo-centric. The first two points to the nature of Christ and highlights his divinity, whereas the second two demonstrates in a concrete way his mission, the salvation of all humanity, already prefigured in his mother.

First, the title ‘Mother of God’ speaks to us of Jesus. The title the Church uses to honour Mary’s name is testimony of the Church’s most central belief – that Jesus is both human and divine. If Mary is not the Mother of God, then either Christ is not God (and that is the denial of his divinity – the Arian heresy) or Mary is not his Mother (the denial of his humanity – the Docetist heresy). Finally, the title ‘Mother of God’ attests that Jesus is both God and man in the same person. This was the reason for which the Fathers of the Council of Ephesus adopted this august title for our Lady. It expresses the deep unity between God and man realised in Jesus and how God bound himself to man and united man to himself in the most profound unity that exists – the unity of the person.

Secondly, the title ‘Mother of God’ also speaks to us of God. In other words, it not only a Mariological or Christological title, but also a theological one. Mary’s divine motherhood attests to the humility of God, a God who not only condescended to take on our human condition, but a God who took on a mother and placed himself in her care. This is a powerful reminder that we, in our hubris, need not built pyramids or towers to reach the heavens to search for God. This is because God has already come down by silently entering the womb of a mortal woman. By entering into our mortal condition, God sanctified and deified our lives, injured by original sin. God became man in order that men may become gods.

But apart from its Christological and theological implications, the title also speaks to humanity about ourselves? To confess that God has taken flesh like ours, has ‘emptied himself taking the form of a servant’ (Phil 2:7), and has joined our human race, is to state that the kingdom of God has arrived in our midst. In and by the flesh of Mary, God has entered our world. In the gospel of St Luke, Mary is depicted as the new Ark of the Covenant, God’s dwelling who journeys to the house of Elizabeth and is greeted by the joyful leaping of the child. The presence of God in the ark, which the people of Israel adored, and to which only the high priest had access, is now, through the mystery of the Incarnation, manifest in the face of every human being. From the moment God’s word took flesh in Mary, human beings have become God’s dwelling place on earth.

The title also addresses the confusion brought about by modern ideologies that seeks to fragmentise the human person. The mystery of the Incarnation consistently refuses to accept ancient dualistic assumptions that fragment life into independently existing parts (matter and spirit, body and soul, female and male, emotion and reason etc.). We therefore resist any alienated, other-worldly view of redemption that expresses a pessimism toward the world, and which does not appreciate the goodness of God’s physical creation.

And so as the world celebrates the beginning of a New Year and many start it off with a whole list of resolutions, let us as echo the prayer of St Augustine as we make our own list of resolutions for this Year of Mercy: “His Mother carried him in her womb, may we carry him in our hearts; the Virgin became pregnant with the Incarnation of Christ, may our hearts become pregnant with faith in Christ; she brought forth the Saviour, may our souls bring forth salvation and praise. May our souls be not sterile, but fertile for God.”

Friday, December 25, 2015

Pray, Keep Faith and Be Joyful



Solemnity of the Holy Family 2015

The Sunday which follows Christmas is always dedicated to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It is powerful reminder that Jesus was born into our human condition, a condition that necessitates a fundamental foundation, a family. As Christians, the humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden chain that binds us to Christ, and through Christ to God. Today, we see how Christ is bound to us through a human family.

The importance of the Holy Family’s example of faith and love is essential for families. As St John Paul II said, the Holy Family is “the prototype and example for all Christian families.” The family of Nazareth, according to Pope Francis, was not unlike most families: “with their problems and their simple joys, a life marked by serene patience amid adversity, respect for others, a humility which is freeing and which flowers in service, a life of fraternity rooted in the sense that we are all members of one body.” Our Holy Father is renowned for his favourite leitmotifs of joy and mercy. But often too little attention has been given by the secular mainstream media to another favourite theme, a theme that has been quite apparent in the convoking of the Extraordinary Assembly of Bishops last year and this year’s Ordinary Synod on the Family, and the Pope’s weekly catecheses.

In the first year of His pontificate, which coincided with the Year of Faith, Pope Francis delivered a catechesis that provided three simple tips on how to make family holy. It would be good to revisit these points today.

First, the family prays. The first reading taken from the Wisdom literature of the Book of Sirach sets out the basic dynamics of a family, with a special focus on children revering parents. What is interesting about this passage is not just a lesson of filial piety but also one of prayer. The one who listens, obeys, and respects his parents will have his prayer heard. Just like the Holy Family of Nazareth, every family must be a school of prayer. Prayer is not taught in a classroom setting. Neither is it handed down through lengthy and complicated theological discourses. We learn to pray from those around us. And the first and primary teachers are our parents. When parents do not pray, children follow suit. When parents gather together to pray, not just for special occasions, but on a regular basis, children also begin to learn the value, the art and the beauty of prayer. The best gift that we can give to our children and to each other within the family is prayer. Tuition, expensive toys, holiday excursions all make cheap substitutes for this invaluable gift. It would be the pole and anchor for the family that keeps it afloat even in the stormiest of weathers and most challenging of crises.

Secondly, the Holy Father exhorts families to “keep faith.” Keeping faith doesn’t mean keeping it to ourselves and keeping it private. We live a society where faith is often kept secret in the private sphere for fear of offending anyone. Just like politics and other divisive topics, religion is often not on the table for discussion. But Pope Francis said that “Christian families are missionary families … They are missionary in everyday life, in their doing everyday things, as they bring to everything the salt and leaven of faith.” Catechesis can only take place in the context of evangelisation. The New Evangelisation which the last few Popes have been emphasising speaks of this need to re-evangelise our own members. Faith can no longer be taken for granted. We live in a culture and society of unbelief. We experience a market place of ideas, values, ideologies and other religious teachings. The family can no longer remain aloof and uncommitted in this area of evangelising. If the members fail to evangelise to each other, we would soon fall victim to counter-evangelisation from other factions and groups.

And finally, the Pope raises one of his favourite leitmotifs, as he insist that a family must experience joy. Though simple in comprehension, this last secret of a holy family may be the most challenging. Most of us know so well the pain and hurts we experience in families. This is understandable as the persons who are dearest to us and most important to us are often the ones who can inflict the most severe hurts.  But, the Pope is insisting that joy is not an impossibility. True joy comes from transformation that must take place if families are to survive and even proclaim the good news of salvation. True joy is never the denial of pain, disorder or even sin. To do so would be to relate in a superficial way. The Holy Father tells us that “True joy comes from a profound harmony between persons, something which we all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life’s journey.”

But the greatest secret is this – joy can never be humanly engineered or manufactured. It is the gift of God. Cut off from God, human love does not remain human for long. The Pope tells us that “the basis of this feeling of deep joy is the presence of God, the presence of God in the family and his love, which is welcoming, merciful, and respectful towards all.  And above all, a love which is patient: patience is a virtue of God and he teaches us how to cultivate it in family life, how to be patient, and lovingly so, with each other. To be patient among ourselves. A patient love.  God alone knows how to create harmony from differences.  But if God’s love is lacking, the family loses its harmony, self-centredness prevails and joy fades.  But the family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally.  That family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society as a whole.”

On the eve of this year’s Synod on the Family, Pope Francis presided over a candlelight vigil for the synod, calling on the Synod Fathers to listen to families, including the Holy Family, over the course of their deliberations. “The family is a place of discernment, where we learn to recognise God’s plan for our lives and to embrace it with trust. It is a place of gratuitousness, of discreet fraternal presence and solidarity, a place where we learn to step out of ourselves and accept others, to forgive and to be forgiven.” Looking out onto the darkened square filled with candlelight, the Pope reflected on the symbolism of the candle in the dark, in reference to the difficulties we face throughout our lives. “What good is it to light a little candle in the darkness? Isn’t there a better way to dispel the darkness? Can the darkness even be overcome? When life proves difficult and demanding, we can be tempted to step back, turn away and withdraw, perhaps even in the name of prudence and realism, and thus flee the responsibility of doing our part as best we can.”

But then the Holy Father issued this timely reminder that “every family is always a light, however faint, amid the darkness of this world.” He prayed that for every family, “the Gospel is always 'good news' which enables us to start over.”  In order to this, we must always keep our “gaze fixed on Jesus, the definitive Word of the Father and the criterion by which everything is to be measured.”