2017-10-27

朋友们，第二次梵蒂冈大公会议上教父们作出“理解现世征兆”的著名号召是以今天福音中耶稣的训词为根据的。耶稣的信徒应该以明亮的眼睛来留心看待世界和事态。但这种留心与众不同，尽管可以涵盖科学家或哲学家或政客的留心，但依然与它们有所不同，是对天主之事的留心。

 

我经常提出当今很多人依然局限于以自然神论的观点看待天主，把天主看作是遥远又冷漠的宇宙起源，对受造的世界袖手旁观。但多马斯·阿奎納教导说天主“以本质、存在和力量”渗透于一切之中，而且天主在方方面面都保佑着祂的受造物。因此，我们应该能在自然、历史和人文中看到祂存在的征兆。

 

我们一旦看到了就应该说出来！耶稣的信徒观察现世的征兆并非为了图一己之利，而是可以与世人分享预言性的观点。因此，我们要环顾四周、留心观察、以信德之眼看！

 

Friends, the famous call of the Vatican II fathers to "read the signs of the times" is grounded in Jesus' exhortation in the Gospel for today. Followers of Jesus are meant to look at the world with clear eyes, to see what is happening, to be attentive. But this attention is of a particular type. It is not the attention of the scientist or the philosopher or the politician—though it can include those. It is an attention to the things of God.

 

I have often argued that many of us today are still enthralled to a Deist view of God, whereby God is a distant and aloof first cause of the universe, uninvolved with the world he has made. But Thomas Aquinas taught that God is in all things, "by essence, presence, and power" and that God providentially cares for every aspect of his creation. Therefore, we should expect to see signs of his presence and activity in nature, in history, and in human affairs.

 

And once we see, we are meant to speak! In a way, followers of Jesus are not looking at the signs of the times for their own benefit, but rather that they might share their prophetic perspective with everyone else. So look around, look with attention, look with the eyes of faith!