2018-7-12

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣派遣宗徒们去执行传播福音的使命，这个使命一直延续到今天，由我们来担当。

 

作为天主教徒，我们无法躲避传播福音、宣扬信仰的要求。第二次梵蒂冈大公会议决议在这一点上的态度非常清晰，天主教会本身不过就是传播福音的工具。根据第二次梵蒂冈大公会议决议，与其说教会在统领传播福音的使命，不如说这个使命在统领教会。基督教化不是众多工作之一，而是天主教会的核心工作，我们所做的一切都应该围绕这个核心。

 

我们是否需要传播福音？统计数据提供的答案最清晰不过了。你知道吗，在美国国内曾是天主教徒的人口和天主教徒的人口几乎持平？你知道吗，据估计，定期去新教的柳溪超大型教堂的人群中，约百分之五十到百分之八十的人曾是天主教徒？你知道吗，在那些关于宗教信仰的民意调查中快速增长的一类是“无宗教信仰”？你知道吗，一项最新的调查显示，在有宗教信仰的年轻人当中，对自己的宗教传统最一无所知的是犹太人，而倒数第二的却是天主教徒？

 

我们前所未有地需要传播福音，你会担起这个使命吗？

 

Friends, in our Gospel today, Jesus sends the Apostles on a mission of evangelization, a mission that we continue today.

 

We Catholics cannot avoid the demand of evangelization, of proclaiming the faith. Vatican II couldn’t be clearer on this score, seeing the Church itself as nothing but a vehicle for evangelization. According to Vatican II, it’s not so much the case that the Church has a mission, but rather that a mission has the Church. Bringing people to Christ is not one work among many; rather, it is the central work of the Church, that around which everything else we do revolves.

 

Do we need evangelization? The statistics couldn’t be clearer. Did you know that the fastest-growing "religious" group in the United States is the "nones"—that is, those who claim no religious affiliation? In the latest Pew Research Center survey, fully 25 percent of the country—80 million people—say that they have no formal religion. When we focus on young people, the picture is even more bleak. Almost 40 percent of those under thirty are nones, and among Catholics in that age group, the number rises to 50 percent. Of all the Catholic children baptized or confirmed these last thirty years, half no longer participate in the life of the Church.

 

We need evangelization more than ever before. Will you answer the call?

2018-7-13

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣向我们保证，当我们面对迫害时，圣神会帮助我们。在受难日前夜，耶稣曾对众门徒说他与圣父将派来另一位Parakletos（护慰者）。该词由词根kaleo（大声说出）及前缀para（为，或代表）组成，意指有如律师一样代表他人、为人辩护的角色，同时提供支持、护慰和鼓励。

 

耶稣说的是虽然他会抽身而出，但他和圣父会派圣神来作为我们的朋友。正是这位护慰者激励着古往今来的基督徒。

 

当殉道者就义时，圣神在支持着他们；当传教士踏上敌意重重的国土去宣扬信仰时，圣神为他们答辩；当艾蒂特·史坦茵被盖世太保投入奥斯威辛集中营时，圣神与她一同前往。而这位圣神此时此刻就在你身边。

 

Friends, in our Gospel today Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will help us when we face persecution. Speaking to his disciples the night before he dies, Jesus says that he and his Father will send another Parakletos (Advocate). That word, stemming from kaleo (to call) and para (for, or on behalf of), designates something like a lawyer, someone who would plead on behalf of another, who would support, advocate, encourage.

 

Jesus is saying that while he will depart physically from the scene, he and his Father will send the Spirit as a friend. This is the the advocate who will inspire Christians up and down the ages.

 

When the martyrs went to their deaths, it was with the help of the Holy Spirit; when the missionaries went to proclaim the faith in hostile lands, it was the Holy Spirit who pleaded on their behalf; when Edith Stein went with her Gestapo captors to Auschwitz, she too went with the Holy Spirit. And that same Spirit is with you today, right now.

2018-7-14

朋友们，耶稣在今天的福音中吩咐众门徒“不要害怕那杀害肉身，而不能杀害灵魂的；但更要害怕那能使灵魂和肉身陷于地狱中的。”

 

我们最害怕的是什么？毋庸置疑，答案是对丧命的恐惧；我们惧怕肉身的死亡。但耶稣叫我们不要担心那些只会伤害美好肉身的纸老虎。

 

当我热爱着天主，当我最“敬畏”的是天主，我就牢牢扎根于一种超越时空的力量，这种力量支配着整个宇宙，这种力量高于生死。

 

更进一步说，这种力量对我了如指掌，并根据祂的旨意引领着我：“两只麻雀不是卖一个铜钱吗？但若没有你们天父的许可，牠们中连一只也不会掉在地上。就是你们的头发，也都一一数过了。所以，你们不要怕”。因此，普天之下，我们应当无所畏惧。

 

Friends, Jesus instructs his disciples in today’s Gospel, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.”

 

What is the greatest fear we have? Undoubtedly, the fear of losing our own lives; we fear the death of the body. But Jesus is telling us not to worry about those paper tigers that can only affect the body and its goods.

 

When I am in love with God, when I am “fearing” him above all things, I am rooted in a power that transcends space and time, a power that governs the universe in its entirety, a power that is greater than life and death.

 

More to it, this power knows me intimately and guides me according to his purposes: “Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid.” Because of this we have nothing to fear from anything or anybody here below.

2018-7-15

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣派遣十二门徒去宣布天国的临近。我想谈谈接受使命和如何做到称职。

 

执行使命需要什么？你要有以天主为生活的绝对中心的强烈意识。总而言之，你需要圣神七恩中的孝爱之恩和敬畏之恩。我知道这些字眼听起来模糊又刻板，但其实它们代表着强而有力和必不可少的东西。

 

首先，你要有敬畏之恩，这不是说你要畏惧天主，而是指没有什么比天主更重要，你对天主的爱是你整个人生的中心和主导。第二，你要有孝爱之恩。孝爱是指你最崇敬的是天主，你只崇拜祂。这些圣神之恩使你能够找到真正的平衡；它们让你找到人生意义。

 

带着这些圣神之恩，你就整装待发去执行使命。接受了圣神之火，你就准备妥当去一鸣惊人。

 

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus sends the Twelve on their mission to announce the nearness of the kingdom. I want to say a few things about our embracing our mission and being equipped for it.

 

What do you need for your mission? You need a keen sense of God as the absolute center of your life. In a word, you require the spiritual gifts of piety and fear of the Lord. I realize that these terms can sound fussy and puritanical, but they are actually naming something strong and essential.

 

You need fear of the Lord, which does not mean that you are afraid of God. It means that nothing to you is more important than God, that everything in your life centers around and is subordinate to your love for God. And your equipping needs to include piety. That means that you honor God above everything else, that you worship him alone. These spiritual gifts enable you to find true balance; they allow you to know what your life is about.

 

Equipped with these gifts, you are ready for mission. Having received the fire of the Holy Spirit, you are ready to set the world on fire.

2018-7-16

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣定下了作为基督徒的条件：“谁爱父亲或母亲超过我，不配是我的；谁爱儿子或女儿超过我，不配是我的。谁不背起自己的十字架跟随我，不配是我的。谁获得自己的性命，必要丧失性命；谁为我的缘故，丧失了自己的性命，必要获得性命。”

 

泥金装饰手抄本《圣若翰版圣经》里其中的一副装饰图上有这样的一句：“我们必须凭着爱来冲出重围。” 这个信念既非懦弱无能、也非无病呻吟、更不是盲目的。当我们毫不吝啬地去爱，我们并不是故意无视道德现实—而是恰恰相反。爱不是一种情绪，而是正如陀思妥耶夫斯基所说的，“是件残酷可怕的事情”。

 

耶稣在可怕的十字架上展示的爱正是如此，而这也正是我们基督徒都必须模仿的。背起十字架意味着我们不仅愿意受苦受难，而且还甘愿像祂那样以宽恕和非暴力来化解暴力和仇恨。

 

Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus lays down the conditions for discipleship: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

 

There is line from the illuminator of the St. John's Bible which states: "We have to love our way out of this." There is nothing wimpy or namby-pamby or blind about this conviction. When we love extravagantly, we are not purposely blinding ourselves to moral realities—just the contrary. Love is not a sentiment, but "a harsh and dreadful thing," as Dostoevsky said.

 

This is just what Jesus shows on his terrible cross. And this is just what we, his followers, must imitate. Taking up the cross means not just being willing to suffer, but being willing to suffer as he did, absorbing violence and hatred through our forgiveness and nonviolence.

2018-7-17

朋友们，今天耶稣对没有信从祂也没有悔改的加里肋亚城邑作出宣判。为了和子民重归于好，天主派出过的先知可以大排长龙，耶稣就站在队伍的末端。正如所有的先行者一样，耶稣遭受忽视、嘲弄和拒绝。

 

人类拒绝天主之后会怎样？是有后果的。不忠的民族会受到天主的审判。天主维持正义的工具是什么？异族之一的加色丁人攻陷摧毁耶路撒冷的城池、烧毁圣殿、劫走殿内圣物、迫使古以色列人流亡他乡。然后公元一世纪时古罗马人照葫芦画瓢地重演历史。

 

是运气欠佳？是天下大势，分久必合，合久必分？非也！《圣经》强调该历史应该被解释为天主的举措，更具体地说，是天主的审判和惩罚。要注意的是，这不是一种武断的惩罚，并非残酷无情，也不是怀恨在心，而是天主允许堕落的民族去体会其罪恶的后果。

 

那么教训是什么？罪恶结出的是苦果，而我们几乎都会在今生今世就能尝到自酿的苦果。

 

Friends, today Jesus declares judgment on the towns of Galilee that did not believe in him and repent. He stands at the end of the long line of prophets God sent in order to reconcile his people to himself. Like the prophets before him, Jesus is ignored, mocked, and rejected.

 

What happens as a result of man's refusal of God? Not nothing. God's judgment falls on the unfaithful nation. What is the instrument of God's justice? One of the heathen nations, the Chaldeans, come and destroy the city of Jerusalem, burn the temple, carry off its most sacred objects, and force the Israelites into exile. And then the Romans follow suit in the first century.

 

Is this bad luck? Just the typical give and take of geopolitical forces? No! The Bible insists that this should be read as God's action, more specifically, as God's judgment and punishment. Mind you, this is not an arbitrary punishment, something cruel and vindictive; rather it is God allowing the fallen nation to feel the effects of its sin.

 

So what's the lesson? Sin has consequences, and we rarely have to wait for the next world to experience them.

2017-7-18

朋友们，在今天的福音中，我们读到耶稣向圣父祈祷，从而得以分享天主的内在生活、听到圣三位一体中前两位的对话。

 

瞒住了明达的人，而启示给小孩子的“事”是什么？不过就是天主内在生活的奥秘。

 

那么，究竟为什么要把此事瞒住明达之人而揭露给小孩子呢？线索就在下一句话：“我父将一切交给了我。” 神圣生活的本质是什么？是施与受的交流。

 

圣父在忘我之中扶育着圣子，而圣子不愿自以为是，欣然接受圣父的恩宠。圣神就是圣父和圣子之间共享的天伦之乐。天主最本己的生活是一种深情对望。

 

从亚当和厄娃直到今天，人类的根本问题在于，我们皆有所追寻，却从来没有把天主纳入寻找范围之内。我们企图用其他东西来填充自我，例如声色犬马、权势名望。但这是行不通的，因为我们生来就注定要回归天主，而天主就是爱。

 

Friends, in today's Gospel we see Jesus praying to his Father. We are being given a share in the inner life of God, the conversation between the first two Trinitarian persons.

 

And what are the "things" that have been concealed from the learned and revealed to the little ones? Nothing other than the mystery of the inner life of God.

 

Now why, precisely, is this knowledge concealed from the learned and disclosed to children? The clue is in the next statement: "All things have been handed over to me by my Father." What is the essence of the divine life? It is a play of giving and receiving.

 

The Father, forgetting himself, gives rise to the Son, and the Son, refusing to cling to himself, receives from the Father. The Holy Spirit is this mutual sharing of the Father and the Son. God's ownmost life is a looking toward the other in love.

 

From Adam and Eve to today the fundamental human problem is that we seek something other than God. We seek to fill up the ego with stuff, such as sex, pleasure, power, honor. But this will never work, because we've been wired for God, and God is love.

2018-7-19

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣给出的并不是又一条天主的哲理。祂给出的是来自圣三位一体内部的观点。正因如此，我们应该响应祂的这个激动人心的邀请：“凡劳苦和负重担的，你们都到我跟前来，我要使你们安息。”

 

每个人都想获得安息，但这种安息指的不是放松，而是获得喜乐。我们认为把自我塞满了各种美好事物就能得到喜乐的观念是极其错误的。事实上，喜乐源于掏空自我、颠覆生活、朝天主的方向前行。 

 

我们在今天的福音中还读到这句异乎寻常的话：“你们背起我的轭，跟我学吧。” 耶稣自己正在背着祂所说的轭，因为祂和圣父共负一轭，祂看见圣父做什么，只会照着做。耶稣最本己的性质是言听计从。

 

因此，祂的意思是要我们跟祂并肩站在一起，就像并排拉犁的两只牛一样。正如耶稣与圣父同负一轭，我们也应该跟耶稣同负一轭，像祂服从圣父那样服从于祂。

 

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus is not offering us one more philosophy of God. He is offering us the view from the inside of the Trinity. And that is why we should respond to his compelling invitation: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."

 

What everyone wants is rest, but not in the sense of relaxation. Rest here means achievement of joy. The great illusion is that joy will come from filling up the ego with goods. In fact, it will come from emptying out, from turning one’s life over to the direction of God.

 

We also find in today’s Gospel those extraordinary words: "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me." Jesus himself is bearing the yoke that he speaks of since he is yoked to the Father, doing only what he sees the Father doing. Jesus is, in his innermost nature, the one who listens and obeys.

 

What he is saying, therefore, is to stand next to him, just as one ox stands next to the other as they pull together. Just as Jesus is yoked to the Father, so we should be yoked to him, obeying him as he obeys the Father.