教会是天主的

常年期第二十七主日

这是我的手表！ 这是我的书！ 这是我的教堂！ 你们是我的教友！ 我的！ 我的！ 我的！

把东西占为己有是很容易的！ 当我们声称某些东西是属于我们时，我们会常觉得我们拥有某些掌控权。 我们可以控制及操纵使用我们所拥有的。 许多父母常以为孩子们是属于他们的。 有些丈夫相信他们的妻子是他们的私人财务。 有一些认为朋友也是他所属。 我们也认为教会是属于我们的。

兄弟姐妹们，我不想使你们失望，但我要诚恳地告诉你们，这一切事物或人都不属于我们的。 这就是今天福音中的葡萄园园户的错。园户认为葡萄园是属于他们的因此设法从园主手中夺下这块园地，所以把园主派来的仆人甚至园主的儿子都一一杀掉。

当我们设法拥有某一些，控制某一些，并认定是属于我们时，在这样的过程中，我们只有伤害别人。你的孩子并不属于你的。 他们是属于天主的。 他们是委托于你使你学习去照顾他们，喂养他们，爱护他们，与他们分享你的信仰；当有一天，他们已准备好，你得放手，让他们独立生活。 许多父母，当孩子都已成家立业了仍不愿放手。 父母们仍不断地干涉孩子的生活及家庭。 这，并没有带来利益反而造成损害。

做丈夫的，你并不拥有你的妻子。 你并没从菜市里把她们买回来。 做妻子的，你也不拥有你的丈夫。 你们因爱互托终生。 爱并不强迫任何人做违反他们意愿的事。 爱使我们自由地成为天主所意愿的人。

许多人也认为教会是他们所属。为此，他们认为他们有权控制或占有堂区的某善会或小组。 我们抓住不放并确保没人可以接任。 它不在乎是否我们可以胜任。 有时，或许，我们做得很好，别人也未必可以重复我们所做的，但要记得，事奉的工作不属于我们的。 它是属于耶稣基督的。 然而，有的并不结果实但仍固执地赖着不走。 当，较有才华的人有意加入行列时，他们通常感到威胁。

弟兄姐妹们，教会并不属于任何人的，它不属于我们的。 教会是天主的。 我们属于天主的。 我们是天主的子民。 如果我们认为它是属于我们的，我们就会想控制它。 如果我们滥用天主所委托的，有一天它将从我们中夺去而交给别人；有如今天福音中所描述的恶园户一样。

The Church Belongs to God

Twenty Seventh Ordinary Sunday Year A

This is MY watch! This is MY book! This is MY Church! You are MY Parishioners! Mine! Mine! Mine!

Easy for us to claim things as ours! When we claim something as ours, we often feel that we have a certain power over it. We can control and manipulate that which we possess. Many parents often think that their children belong to them. Some husbands believe that their wives are their possessions. Others feel that they own their friends. Many of us also may think that the Church belongs to us.

My brothers and sisters, I do not want to disappoint you but I have to tell you sincerely that none of these things or persons belong to us. This is was the mistake made by the tenants of the vineyard in today’s gospel reading. The tenants thought that they owned the vineyard or they tried to wrest control of the vineyard from the owner by beating up the owner’s servants and finally by killing the son of the owner.

When we try to possess something, when we try to control something, thinking that it is ours to own, we will only hurt the other in the process. Your children do not belong to you. They belong to God. They are given to you on trust so that you may learn to care for them, feed them, love them, share your faith with them, and one day when they are ready, allow them to live their own independent lives. Many parents are not willing to let go even when their children have grown up and have families of their own. Parents continue to interfere in the lives of their children and their children’s families and sometimes cause more damage than good.

Husbands, you do not own your wives. You did not buy them from the market. Wives, you too do not own your husbands. You have given yourselves to one another in love. Love never forces anyone to do anything against his or her own will. Love frees us to be the persons God has intended us to become.

Many people also think that they own the Church. Many people think that they have a certain control or possession over a ministry or a group within the Church. We hold on to control by making sure that no one else can take over. It doesn’t matter whether we are able to do the work or nor. Sometimes we may be doing a wonderful job and others may not be able to repeat the kind of work that we are doing, but always remember the ministry does not belong to us it belongs to Christ. Still others are not able to bear fruit but still find themselves stuck in that particular area. They often feel threatened when others who are more capable are interested to join that ministry.

My brothers and sisters, the Church does not belong to any one, it does not belong to us. The Church belongs to God. We belong to God. We are the People God. If we think that it belongs to us, then we will be tempted to control it. If we abuse the trust which God has given us; that which has been entrusted to us will be taken away from us and given to some other just like the wicked tenants in today’s gospel.

爱就是答案

常年期第二十三主日


我们中的许多人对团体生活持有不同的想法。 团体的核心是爱。 圣保禄在读经二告诉我们： “爱不加害于人，所以爱就是法律的满全。” 爱就是答案。 不报复，不缄默，不尝试寻找人的解决办法。

然而什么是爱呢？爱肯定不是一种感觉。感觉是易变的。 爱并不是喜欢因为喜欢或不喜欢某人或某事物是一种感觉。 感觉是非我们所能控制的情绪 － 相反的，爱是一个决定。 我可以选择爱我的仇人即使我不喜欢他。 我可以选择宽恕我的仇人即使我仍感到伤痛和被出卖。

爱并不是什么使我们感到愉快的事。 有时，爱并不使我们感到愉快而那不愉快的感觉并不重要。 有时即使我们感到痛苦，我们却要去爱。 一个父亲必须对他儿子吸烟习惯表示坚决的立场即使他清楚他的儿子必会生他的气，可能几个星期或几个月不理睬他。 这是辣手的爱。 拒绝与你的朋友同流合污将使你失去他们的友谊也是辣手的爱。

而在团体中，爱要求我们彼此诚实。 但，我们的诚实必须是积极的并以爱为基础。 我们不能互相斥责只因我们要向对方报复或为难他。 如果我们诚实，它必建设那人或团体。 很多时候，我们许多人对要向我们团体中的兄弟姐妹甚至我们的朋友说真话，感到吃力。 我们不想做坏人。 我们不想失去他们的友谊。 为辩护自己的行为，我们说伤害别人的情感有缺爱德。

缄默永不是解决的方法。 很多时候，每当我们选择不愿面对我们的弟兄姐妹或朋友的真相时，我们却向别人说他们的闲话。 闲话对任何人都没有益处。 闲话也不能建设团体。 它更不能帮助你的朋友成长。出于爱心的作法是温和地与你的朋友交谈对话。 有时，他会接受你所说的。有时，他或不能接受甚至使你们的关系闹僵。 然而宁可让真相僵化感情，而彼此最后得以成长，好过有所隐瞒的关系。

爱使我们有责任去对抗我们的弟兄姐妹所做的恶。 但是我们的责任并不是去改变那个人。 只有那个人可以选择改变。 如果那个人拒绝改变，我们该做什么呢？ 你应该为团体着想来决定那个人是否该留下而继续让他伤害成员，影响团体的合一或为了整个团体的益处而把那个人排除。 这不是个容易的决定。 但是，不论决定如何，为爱那个人及团体里的每一个成员着想，它必须以爱做出发点。

耶稣给我们宽恕的力量。 这不仅是力量，也是一种恩赐和命令。 我们的团体并不完美因它的成员都不完美。 宽恕为此常是爱的必然表达。 让我们继续为我们的基信团，我们的堂区团体祈祷。 团体或许看来不可能建立。 但为那爱我们的天主，一切都可能。 让我们彼此宽恕正如他宽恕了我们一样。

Love is the Answer

Twenty Third Ordinary Sunday Year A

Many of us have different ideas of what community life is all about. At the heart of community is love. St. Paul tells us in the second reading: “Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.” Love is the answer. Not revenge, not keeping silent, not trying to find some human solution.

But what is love? Love is certainly not a feeling. Feelings come and go. Love isn’t about liking because to like or dislike someone or something is a feeling. Feelings are human emotions that are beyond our control. On the contrary, love is a decision. I can choose to love my enemy even if I dislike him. I can choose to forgive my enemy even if I continue to feel the hurt and the betrayal.

Love isn’t something that makes us feel good. Sometimes, love does make us feel good but feeling good is not essential. There are times when we are asked to love even when it pains us to do so. A father has to be firm about his son’s smoking habits even though he knows that his son will be angry with him and may not talk to him for weeks or months. This is tough love. Refusing to follow your friends in doing something which you know to be wrong, while knowing that you may lose their friendship. This is tough love.

Likewise in community, love requires us to be honest with one another. But out honesty must be constructive and based on love. We should not be telling each other off just because we want to get back at that person or make that person suffer. If we are honest with our words, it must done for the good of that other person and for the community. Very often, many of us find it difficult to tell the truth to our brothers and sisters in the community or even to our circle of friends. We don’t want to be the bad guy. We don’t want to lose their friendship. We try to justify our actions by saying that it is not loving to hurt the feelings of the other person.

Silence is never the solution. Very often, when we choose not to confront our brother or sister or friend with the truth, we will talk about it in gossip with other persons. Gossip never helps anyone. Gossip does not help the community. Neither would it help your friend to grow. The loving thing would be to speak your friend in a gentle way and dialogue with him. There are times that he will be able to accept what you have said. There are times he will not be able to accept it. There are times your relationship will even be strain. But it is better to have a relationship that is strained by the truth, which will eventually help both parties to grow, than a relationship that is covered in lies.

Love places a duty on us to confront the evil that our brother and sister has done. But our duty is not to change the other person. That person alone can choose to change. What do we do if the person refuses to change? You must then decide as a community whether that person should remain within the community and continue to cause harm to the members and to the unity of the community or this person needs to be excluded for the good of the whole community. It is never an easy decision. But whatever the decision, it must always be done out of love. Love for that person and love for each member of the community.

Jesus gives us the power to forgive. This is not just merely a power but a gift and a command. Our community is not perfect because its members are not perfect. Therefore, forgiveness is always a necessary expression of love. Let us continue to pray for our BECs and our parish communities. Community may sometimes seem impossible to establish. But everything is possible with God who loves us. Let us forgive one another as he has forgiven us.

Rocks are chosen, not born

Twenty First Ordinary Sunday Year A

We all know Simon Peter as the one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. But Peter was not his original name. His original name was Simon, a Hebrew name. In today’s gospel, Jesus gives him a new name. With the new name comes a new identity, a new role and a new mission.

At baptism, each of us is given a Christian name in addition to the name given to us by our family. This is important because like Peter, we too are given a new identity, a new role and a new mission. We are no longer the son or the daughter of so-and-so. We are no longer someone with a particular surname. We are no longer just a member of a particular family. Through our baptism and through our naming, we are now made members of a bigger family – the family of the Church. Through our naming and baptism we are made children of God. As Christians, we are now given a new mission in life.

The gospel tells us the meaning of Peter’s name. It means “rock.” Now, we all can understand the symbolism of the rock – it represents something solid, strong, and stable. Was this the character of Peter? Surprisingly, the Peter that we see in the gospels turns out to be in contrast with this image of the rock. We see Peter as someone who is weak, who changes his position and decision when faced with problems, someone who deserts Jesus and runs away in order to save his own life. Does this mean that Jesus made a mistake by naming Peter as ‘rock’?

The answer is a definite No. Jesus was able to see potential in Peter, although it was not visible to others or even to Peter himself. The choice of God is not based on the ability of the one chosen. Rather, the choice of God transforms the person chosen. This is what vocation is all about. Vocation isn’t about God calling and choosing persons who are worthy and qualified. On the contrary, God often calls those who in the eyes of the world are not qualified or worthy. This is what St. Paul meant in the second reading: “How rich are the depths of God – how deep his wisdom and knowledge – and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who could ever know the mind of the Lord?”

If we were given a chance to choose the Twelve Apostles, we would perhaps had chosen more qualified candidates – persons who are prayerful, who know their catechism well, who are good leaders, who are unselfish. But Jesus didn’t call any of these. Rather, Jesus called sinners, fishermen, tax collectors, cheats, prostitutes etc. If we are prepared to heed the call of God, in spite of our weaknesses and limitation, his choice will begin the transformation within us.

Our call is always the initiative of God. God chooses us not because of any qualification or merit on our part. God chooses us in spite of our weaknesses and limitations. God chooses the weak to shame the strong. God chooses the foolish to shame the wise. God chooses the sinner to shame the righteous.

Perhaps, this will help us to understand that the leaders of the Church may not always meet our expectations. But our expectations are not important. We will never have perfect leaders. But what is of the utmost importance is this - God’s freedom to choose whoever he wants and his ability to use those persons in spite of their weaknesses. Let us continue to pray for them and for ourselves that we will always be open to the call of God who raises the lowly and humbles the proud.

选最重要的

常年期第十七主日

我要你们想象你的房子着火了! 你没有时间抢救一切. 你只有走一趟的时间及只可拿五样东西. 你会抢救那些? 我给你两分钟想一想. 什么是你最想抢救的呢? 我想你们当中许多人会选择你们的身份证. 如果你刚好在准备学校考试的作业,或许那就是你想要拿走的. 有一些会尽量抢救钱财和珠宝. 其他的,或许会抢救他们的宠物. 你有想过要抢救任何人 – 你家中的另一个成员吗? 没有? 其他的人呢? 是不是东西比人更重要呢?

当然,这只是个想象罢了. 然而,只有在我们面对这样的紧急关头 – 当我们面对一连串的选择时 – 在取舍之间才意识到我们生命中真正看重的东西. 你在火灾中所抢救的东西看来是你所珍惜的. 面对选择,你愿意从中放弃一些为拥有另一些你所珍惜的.

今天,耶稣在福音中告诉我们为我们最重要的并不是物品,不是金钱,不是你所拥有的贵重财产,不是你的大学学位,甚至不是你所爱的人. 不是的. 为我们每一个人最重要的是天国. 耶稣给我们这个比喻: “天国好象是藏在地里的宝贝;人找到了,就把它藏起来,高兴地去卖掉他所有的一切,买了那块地.”
在我们的生命中,没有任何东西,绝对没有可以与天主的国的价值比拟. 那么,什么是天主的国或天国呢? 天主的国不是一个地方或一件东西. 天国描述天人合一及人与人之间的共融美好关系境界. 当我们承行天主的旨意时,天主的国就实现了. 耶稣在告诉我们没有什么比这关系来得更重要.

撒罗满意识到这个真理. 天主尊重撒罗满并允许他选择天主将要赐与的恩惠: “你不拘求什么,我必给你.” 如果天主给我们这样的选择,我们将做怎样的选择呢? 一生的幸福? 财富? 一位好丈夫或一位好妻子? 考试考到好成绩? 权势和名誉? 长寿? 撒罗满并没有选择这一些. 他选择明白天主旨意的智慧. 知道及承行天主的旨意总结天国的意义. 知道天主要我们做什么才是唯一重要的.

当然,人一生中,财产,钱财及人际关系是重要的. 但,是否让这些东西操纵我们的生命呢?这些都是我们的神明及偶像吗? 有一样是肯定的. 这一切我们死后不能随身带走.

让我们不要等到最后一分钟. 让我们不要把人生的一切本末倒置而遗恨面对死亡. 让我们现在就开始储蓄为买下那块地里的宝贝,那颗宝贵的珍珠,就是天国. 让我们把天主放在万有之上.

Choose This Over Others

Seventeenth Ordinary Sunday Year A

I want you to imagine that your house is burning down? There is no time to save everything. You have only enough time to make one trip and you can only take 5 items with you. What would you try to save? I will give you 2 minutes to think about it. Now what are the things that you would most likely try to save? I believe that many of you will go for your identity cards. If you have been preparing an assignment for your school exam, maybe, that’s the item you will try to save. Some of you will try to save as much cash and jewelry as possible. Others may try to save their pet dog. Did you think of saving anyone – another member of your family? No? How about the others, are things more important than people?

Of course, this is all imaginary. However, it is only when we are confronted with a situation like this – a situation of urgency – when we are confronted with a series of choices – to choose this over another, that we will come to realize the things that we really value in life. The things that you have chosen to save from the fire are most likely the things which you value the most. Faced with a choice, you are prepared to choose these over others. You are prepared to sacrifice your other possessions in order to save these.

Today, Jesus tells us in the gospel that the most valuable object for us is not a simple object, it is not money, it is not your most valuable possession, it is not your university degree, it is not even your loved one. No, the most valuable thing for each of us is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus gives us this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone has found; he hides it again, goes off happy, sells everything he owns and buys the field.”

Nothing in our lives, absolutely nothing can compare with the value of the kingdom of God. And what is the kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven? The kingdom of God is not a place or a thing. The kingdom of heaven describes that perfect relationship where man is united with God and with one another. The kingdom of God materializes when we do the will of God. Jesus is telling us that there is nothing more valuable than this relationship.

Solomon came to realize this truth. God honoured Solomon by allowing him to choose the gift which God would bestow on Solomon: “Ask what you would like me to give you?” If we are given such are choice by God, what would we choose? Happiness for the rest of our lives; riches; a good husband or a good wife; the best results in exams; power and honour; long life. Well, Solomon chose none of these. He chose wisdom to understand the will of God. To know and do the will of God sums up the meaning of the kingdom of heaven. To know what God wants of us is the only thing that matters.

Certainly in life, property, money and human relationships are important. But do these things control our lives? Are these our gods and idols? One thing for certain. We cannot bring any of these things with us to that life after death.

Let us not wait till the very last. Let us not face death with regrets of having mistaken the less valuable things in life for those things that really matter. Let us now start saving up in order to buy that treasure in the field, that pearl of great value, the kingdom of heaven. Let us place God as our highest value and first priority.