原文|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie

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 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.

 

First, 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. Second, your equipping needs to include piety. Piety means you honor God above everything else, that you worship him alone. These spiritual gifts enable you to find true balance; they allow you to discover 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.

 

2017-9-26

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣把信徒看作自己的亲人。我想说一下我们如何成为祂家的信徒。我们一旦决定追随耶稣，就必须放弃其他所有至高无上的东西。正如我曾多次提过，每个人都有某样东西或某种价值观被视为最好的。

 

也许是金钱、物质上的东西、权力或他人的敬重。也许是你的家人、孩子、妻子、丈夫。

 

这些都没错、都不坏。但是你若把其中任何一样当作绝对的重心，事情就会出岔子。当你把其中任何一样看作终极的或决定性的善，你的精神生活就会乱七八糟。当你绝对执着地献身于其中任何一样，你就会崩溃。

 

只有当我们把基督作为生活的奠基石，那么我们才会真正为执行使命做好准备。记住在《圣经》中每一个邂逅天主的人都随之成为使者，被派去做主的工作。如果我们在做主的工作时心怀其他任何牵挂，就会以失败告终。就这么简单。

 

Friends, in today's Gospel Jesus identifies his disciples as his family. I want to say something about our becoming disciples in his family. Once we make the decision to follow Jesus then every other claimant to supremacy must fall away. As I've argued many times before, every one of us has something or some set of values that we consider greatest.

 

Perhaps it is money, material things, power, or the esteem of others. Perhaps it is your family, your kids, your wife, your husband.

 

None of this is false, and none of these things are bad. But when you place any of them in the absolute center of gravity, things go awry. When you make any of them your ultimate or final good, your spiritual life goes haywire. When you attach yourself to any of them with an absolute tenacity, you will fall apart.

 

Only when we make Christ the cornerstone of our lives are we truly ready for mission. Keep in mind that every encounter with God in the Bible conduces to mission, to being sent to do the work of the Lord. If we try to do this work while we are stuck to any number of attachments, we will fail. Period.