|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie

朋友们，今天的福音叙述的是玛利亚探访依撒伯尔。这个访亲故事中，玛利亚的“急速”总是令我兴趣盎然。玛利亚听到天使加俾额尔报出自己和表姐的双重喜讯后，“急速往山区去，到了犹大的一座城”去看望依撒伯尔。

 

为什么她这么刻不容缓和目的明确？因为她在天主中心戏剧中找到了自己的使命和角色。当今世上，自我中心戏剧横行霸道、影响深远。自我中心戏剧即我们自编自制自导自演的戏剧。在当下的文化中，这些自我中心戏剧绝对是到处可见。选择自由至高无上：我的人生由我作主。

 

天主中心戏剧是天主亲自叙述的伟大故事、亲自执导的伟大戏剧。我们只有在这个故事、戏剧里找到自己的角色，生活才会变得激动人心。玛利亚的人生正是如此。她在天主中心戏剧中找到了自己的角色（实在是个高潮角色），她想与有着同样领悟的依撒伯尔一起商榷。我们必须像玛利亚一样，在天主的故事里找到自己的位置。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel tells of Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. I’ve always been fascinated by Mary’s "haste" in this story of the Visitation. Upon hearing the message of Gabriel concerning her own pregnancy and that of her cousin, Mary "proceeded in haste into the hill country of Judah" to see Elizabeth.

 

Why did she go with such speed and purpose? Because she had found her mission, her role in the theo-drama. We are dominated today by the ego-drama in all of its ramifications and implications. The ego-drama is the play that I’m writing, I’m producing, I’m directing, and I’m starring in. We see this absolutely everywhere in our culture. Freedom of choice reigns supreme: I become the person that I choose to be.

 

The theo-drama is the great story being told by God, the great play being directed by God. What makes life thrilling is to discover your role in it. This is precisely what has happened to Mary. She has found her role—indeed, a climactic role—in the theo-drama, and she wants to conspire with Elizabeth, who has also discovered her role in the same drama. Like Mary, we have to find our place in God’s story.

 

2017-12-22 

朋友们，今天的福音说明了玛利亚的“承行主旨”的重要性。到目前为止，最重要的将临期人物是纳匝肋的玛利亚、即天主之母，因为玛利亚一人就归纳总结了整个以色列民族，而该民族的全部意义在于为主的来临做好准备。天主眼看自己亲手创造的美好的天地万物受到邪恶、不公、愚蠢和罪恶的沾污，决心选择一个民族，并根据祂的心意来塑造它，使它成为自己在世间的载体。时机成熟之时，救世主将降生于这个民族。

 

因此玛利亚概括了以色列的故事，即救赎的故事。我们似乎可以在她身上读到整部《圣经旧约》。玛利亚是真正的以色列，她知道要做的事情是什么，并且兴高采烈地去做。她从不拖拖拉拉、不畏首畏尾、不迷失方向、不怨天尤人：她行动起来、马不停蹄。她攀登高峰，那里正是天主一直以来召唤以色列的地方，从而使以色列成为世界之光。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel explains the significance of Mary’s fiat. By far, the most important Advent figure is Mary of Nazareth, the Mother of God, for Mary sums up in her person the whole of the people Israel, the nation whose whole purpose was to prepare for the coming of the Lord. In the face of the evil, injustice, stupidity, and sin that were marring his beautiful creation, God resolved to choose a people and to form them according to his heart so that they could be the vehicle of his presence to the world. From this people would come, as a sort of flowering, the Messiah.

 

Thus Mary recapitulates the story of Israel, the story of redemption. We can, as it were, read the whole Old Testament in her. As the true Israel, she knows what to do, and she does it with enthusiasm. No dawdling, back-pedaling, straying, or complaining: she moves, she goes. And she goes upon the heights, which is exactly where God had always summoned Israel, so that it could be a light to the nations.

 

2017-12-23

朋友们，今天的福音回顾洗者若翰这个绝对重要的人物。老实说，你若不了解若翰，就无法真正了解耶稣，所以四位福音书作者都以洗者的故事作为耶稣生平的序曲。若翰总结了以色列，如果没有以色列人的背景，耶稣的故事会变得晦涩。

 

若翰的出身带出他的父母：匝加利亚和依撒伯尔。两人均是强有力的司祭式人物。依撒伯尔是以色列第一位司祭亚郎家的后代，匝加利亚是个在职的圣殿司祭。

 

对于我们来说，重点是若翰浓厚的司祭性。那么为什么当我们第一次听到他的名字时，成年的他不是身处圣殿之中，而是在沙漠里？长久以来，先知们一直批判着腐败的圣殿。在若翰的时代，圣殿深陷于非常混乱、恶劣、暴力的政治中。那么他在沙漠里做什么呢？他在给人们提供圣殿本应提供却因为腐败而无法提供的一样东西，即对罪恶的宽恕。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel reflects on the absolutely pivotal figure of John the Baptist. It’s fair to say that you cannot really understand Jesus without understanding John, which is precisely why all four Evangelists tell the story of the Baptist as a kind of overture to the story of Jesus. John sums up Israel, and without the Israelite background, the story of Jesus becomes opaque.

 

The story of John’s birth brings his parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth, into focus. Both are strongly priestly personages. Elizabeth is a descendant of the family of Aaron, the first priest of Israel, and Zechariah was a practicing Temple priest.

 

What’s important for our purposes is that John was of very priestly stock. So why, when we first hear of him in his adult life, is he out in the desert and not in the Temple? Well, there was a long prophetic tradition that criticized the Temple for its corruption. In John’s time, the Temple was mired in very messy, vile, and violent politics. So what is he doing in the desert? He is offering what the Temple ought to be offering but wasn’t, due to its corruption, namely, the forgiveness of sins.

 

2017-12-24

朋友们，今天的福音介绍了最崇高的人：玛利亚，天主之母。教父们经常把人类之母厄娃与天主及教会之母玛利亚联系起来。事实上，他们把玛利亚看作是“全新的厄娃”，因为她补偿了厄娃所作的孽。

 

天使向玛利亚打的招呼是重要的：“万福！充满恩宠者。”受到天使问候的玛利亚是个有能力接受恩赐的人。厄娃和亚当急切索求；玛利亚则准备好了去接受。玛利亚的回答同样重要：“这事怎能成就？因为我不认识男人。”玛利亚毫不胆怯。

 

天使解释道：“圣神要临于你，至高者的能力要庇荫你…”灵修生活的核心在于深信你的人生与你无关。真正的灵修生活是允许自己被深爱着我们的那位庇荫着。玛利亚是个为不可能的事情作好了准备的人，因此她是基督徒的模范。“愿照你的话，成就于我吧！”这句话是对奇遇的默许。

 

Friends, our Gospel today introduces the most elevated creature: Mary, the Mother of God. The Church Fathers often made a connection between Eve, the mother of all the living, and Mary, the Mother of God and Mother of the Church. In fact, they saw her as "the new Eve," the one who undid the damage done by Eve.

 

The angel’s greeting to Mary is important here: "Hail Mary, full of grace." Mary is greeted as someone who is able to accept gifts. Eve and Adam grasped; Mary is ready to receive. And Mary’s reply is also significant: "How is this possible, for I do not know man?" There is nothing cowed about Mary.

 

The angel explains to Mary: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…" At the heart of the spiritual life is the conviction that your life is not about you. The real spiritual life is about allowing oneself to be overwhelmed by the one who loves us. Mary is someone who is ready for the impossible, and this makes her the paradigm of discipleship. "Let it be done to me according to thy word." That’s an acquiescence to adventure.