2018-4-12

朋友们，今天的福音宣布天主赏赐圣神时是不限量的。沙特尔主教座堂内的耶稣肖像被七只鸽子围绕着，象征着圣神七恩：上智、明达、超见、刚毅、聪敏、孝爱、 敬畏。默西亚将充满了所有的这些天主的才智和活力。

 

这七恩在我们的传统中有着重要的地位，在神学家身上大放异彩，如额我略一世、奥古斯丁和多马斯·阿奎纳，而他们又各有特色。这些恩典证明了基督徒参与于耶稣基督之内。那么，教会就是通过这个肖像来要求我们默想自己要成为的角色：耶稣之内的参与者。

 

那么我们如何获得这些恩典？我们确实无法赚取或孜孜追求这些恩典。但它们真的来自耶稣基督，所以可以通过教会和圣神来接近祂。当我们充满喜悦地期待耶稣降临之际，让我们祈祷自己能与祂一致，这种一致性就在于圣神七恩。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel declares that the Son of God does not ration his gift of the Spirit. At the cathedral in Chartres, the figure of Jesus is surrounded by seven doves, symbolizing these seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. The Messiah will be filled up with all of the powers and energies of God’s Spirit.

 

These seven gifts have played a prominent role in our tradition, appearing in theologians as diverse as Gregory the Great, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas. These gifts are signs that the Christian is participating in Jesus Christ. In holding up this image, therefore, the Church is asking us to meditate on the people that we are called to be: participants in Jesus.

 

How does one come by these gifts? We can’t really earn them or work our way toward them. But they do come from Jesus Christ, and therefore from our proximity to him through the Church and the sacraments. As we wait in joyful hope for the coming of the Lord, pray for the conformity to him which consists in the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

 

2018-4-13

朋友们，今天的福音重点是圣若望对圣餐意义的深切默想。基调就是唯一一个四部福音书都有记载的奇迹，亦即大家都耳熟能详的增饼故事。这个场景深深影响着首批基督徒。

 

耶稣吩咐群众坐在草地上。然后祂用五个饼和两条鱼干让这么庞大的人群饱餐一顿。这些人又饿又累，因为步行跟随耶稣而筋疲力尽，而耶稣给了他们日用的口粮。

 

对于多玛斯·阿奎那来说，圣餐的绝妙隐喻是口粮，是旅途的粮食。圣洗给我们下定义，使我们成为天主的儿女；坚振确认及深化我们的身份；婚姻和圣秩确保着我们人生的使命。这些圣事都是一次性的，我们只会在关键时刻领受。

 

而圣餐是日用粮食，是我们赖以生存的营养品。如果我们毫不进食，或者只在逢年过节才进食，我们能好好过活吗？不太可能。所以，在精神生活中，我们必须吃喝，否则不会有力量。

 

Friends, our Gospel today focuses on St. John’s intense meditation on the meaning of the Eucharist. The tone is set with the familiar story of the feeding of the five thousand, the only miracle story mentioned in all four Gospels. This scene deeply affected the first Christians.

 

Jesus instructs the crowd to recline on the grass. Taking the barley loaves and dried fish, Jesus makes a meal that satisfies the enormous crowd. They are hungry, tired, and worn out from their exertions, and Jesus gives them sustenance for the day.

 

For Thomas Aquinas, the great metaphor for the Eucharist is sustenance, food for the journey. Baptism defines us, making us sons and daughters of God; confirmation confirms and deepens this identity; marriage and holy orders seal us in our life’s vocation. These are sacraments offered once at key moments in one’s life.

 

Then there is the Eucharist, which is daily food, nourishment to get us through the day-to-day. How effective would we be if we never ate, or ate only on special occasions and in a festive environment? Not very. So, in the spiritual life, we must eat and drink or we will not have the strength.