原文|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣叫我们直接规劝得罪我们的人。我知道这样做格外困难，但直面对方既有效又鼓舞人心。至少你在尽力有所作为，而且你心中的爱得到巩固。

 

若对方不理你，甚至狠狠攻击你，耶稣鼓励你带“一个或两个人”去跟对方谈。也许对方就会顿开茅塞、回头是岸。

 

若对方还是不听？那就告诉教会。当今，我们说的教会即教区神父和他的同事或者某些在教区内处于领导地位的家庭。若对方连教会都不听？那么上主建议我们始终保持同情心并坚持为对方祈祷：“将他看作外教人或税吏。” 但记住耶稣是如何以爱相待外教人和税吏的。最后，关于祈祷的妙语：“只要有两个或三个人，因我的名字聚集一起，我就在他们中间。” 跟一个或两个人一起为罪人的改邪归正而祈祷。

 

Friends, in today's Gospel Jesus tells us to speak directly to a person who has offended us. I know it is exceptionally difficult, but going to the person directly is both productive and spiritually up-lifting. It has at least a fighting chance of accomplishing something, and it confirms you in love.

 

Suppose the person blows you off, even lashes out at you. You are then encouraged to bring "one or two others" into the conversation. Perhaps the person will see the point and get over his defensiveness.

 

Now suppose he doesn't listen even to this group? Then tell your church. Today, we might say the pastor and his team or perhaps some of the leading families in the parish. Suppose he doesn't listen even to the church? Then the Lord recommends ongoing compassion and prayer: "treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector." But remember how Jesus relates in love to Gentiles and tax collectors. Finally, the wonderful word on prayer: "wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." Pray together with one or two others for the conversion of a sinner.

 

2017-9-9

四部福音书三番五次地描写了耶稣违反在第七日休息这个神圣诫命的行为。比如说，祂经常在安息日治愈病人，令护卫犹太律法的人们惊恐不安。

 

今天的福音中，耶稣的门徒在安息日掐麦穗吃，然后祂宣布自己是“安息日的主”。在公元一世纪时，一个犹太人作出如此声称，那种惊心动魄的程度真是难以言表。只有雅威才能配得上“安息日的主”这个称号，那么耶稣在暗示什么呢？

 

简而言之，耶稣宣称的是，因为祂是上主，所以祂凌驾于礼仪之上，甚至高于虔诚犹太人的定义性习俗。因此，规章惯例必须隶属于天国，而此时此刻这个天国正在主耶稣的引领下进入人间。

 

Again and again in the Gospels, Jesus is portrayed as violating the sacred command to rest on the seventh day. For example, he often cures on the Sabbath, much to the dismay of the protectors of Jewish law.

 

And then in today’s Gospel, after his disciples pick grain on the Sabbath, Jesus declares himself “Lord of the Sabbath.” It’s hard to express how breathtaking this claim would be for a first-century Jew to make. Yahweh alone could be assigned the title “Lord of the Sabbath,” so what is Jesus implying?

 

In short, he is claiming that he is above their rituals, even perhaps the defining practice of pious Jews, because he is the Lord. Thus the rules must be placed in subordination to the kingdom of God, the kingdom that the Lord Jesus is ushering in even here and now.

 

2017-9-8

朋友们，在我们今天庆祝童贞圣母玛利亚的诞辰之际，教会用的福音是圣玛窦福音的开头。证明耶稣并非来历不明对于玛窦来说是极其重要的。耶稣的出身于丰富多彩的家世。圣依勒内说，道成人身的历史悠久，天主逐步降生成人。

 

看看这长长的族谱中包含的人物：有圣人、罪人、骗子、凶手、诗人、帝王、以色列人和外族人——他们都有份带出基督。当然，达味王是其中之一。他无疑是一个伟大人物，统一了以色列民族、击败了敌人并首次建立了以色列帝国。但我们知道他也是一名奸夫和杀人凶手，为了铲除赫特人乌黎雅而滥用职权。

 

最后，今天庆祝诞辰的童女在高潮中隆重登场：“雅各伯生若瑟、玛利亚的丈夫，玛利亚生耶稣，他称为基督。”

 

Friends, today as we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary the Church gives us the very beginning of St. Matthew's Gospel. It is desperately important for Matthew to show that Jesus doesn't just appear out of the blue. Rather, he comes out of a rich, densely-textured history. St. Irenaeus tells us that the Incarnation had been taking place over a long period of time, God gradually accustoming himself to the human race.

 

Look at this long line of characters: saints, sinners, cheats, murderers, poets, kings, insiders and outsiders—all leading to the Christ. Of course King David is mentioned. He is, without doubt, a great figure, the king who unites the nation, defeats its enemies and establishes the first Israelite empire. But he is also, we know, an adulterer and a murderer, the one who abuses his power in order to eliminate Uriah the Hittite.

 

And finally the climactic entry that notes the virgin whose birthday we celebrate today: "Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called the Messiah."

 

2017-9-7

朋友们，今天的福音讲述了神奇的捕鱼故事。这段福音在许多方面都体现了精神生活的全部内容。

 

耶稣不请自来地直接上了渔船，以最直接的方式进入西满的生活，并且干脆利落地发号施令，首先叫西满把船稍微划离岸边，然后划到深处去。这代表了恩宠的涌入。你一生中要做的最重要的决定只有一个：当耶稣上了你的船，你会听从祂吗？

 

在很多方面，你生活中的其他一切都是次要、都是注脚。当主耶稣基督上了你的船，祂总会把你带到深处。正如圣若望·保禄二世很喜欢引用耶稣的这句话：“Duc in altum”（划到深处）。那是不是更危险？是。是不是更刺激？是。

 

注意，我们这里所说的深处是精神的深处，而我们所说的刺激是来自精神蜕变的真实刺激。这种深处跟一切世俗认为重要或刺激的事情都毫无关系。

 

Friends, today's Gospel gives us the story of the miraculous draught of fishes. In many ways, the whole of the spiritual life can be read off of this piece.

 

Without being invited, Jesus simply gets into the fisherman's boat. This is to insinuate himself in the most direct way into Simon's life. And without further ado, he begins to give orders, first asking Simon to put out from the shore and then to go out into the deep. This represents the invasion of grace. The single most important decision that you will ever make is this: Will you cooperate with Jesus once he decides to get into your boat?

 

In many ways, everything else in your life is secondary, is commentary. When the Lord Jesus Christ gets into your boat, he will always lead you to the depths. Duc in altum, as St. John Paul II loved to quote. More dangerous? Yes. More exciting? Yes.

 

Now mind you, the depths we're talking about here are spiritual depths. The excitement we're talking about is the true excitement that comes from spiritual transformation. The depths have nothing to do with what the world considers important or exciting.

 

2017-9-6

朋友们，在今天的福音中，我们看到行动中的耶稣。祂总是奔波劳碌、马不停蹄。今天，路加给我们描述了耶稣“日常的一天”。那是多么忙碌的一天啊！首先，这段福音承接了耶稣在葛法翁城的会堂里驱魔的戏剧性一幕。然后，耶稣进入西满的家，并治好了他的岳母。随之，镇上所有人都蜂拥而至。耶稣整晚都在治愈各种病患，人数大概有好几百。

 

在十八、十九和二十世纪，为了使理性主义者和“现实主义者”更容易接受耶稣，神学家们极力强调耶稣的布道，尤其是伦理方面的教训。

 

但路加给我们描绘的耶稣并非如此，而是一位医治者。Soter这个希腊词译成拉丁语是Salvator，意思是萨卢斯（司健康、幸福和兴盛的女神）的载体或健康。路加把耶稣刻画成一位治病者、一位拯救者。在祂身上，神性和人性二合为一；在祂身上，神圣生活和神圣力量突围而出。天主对其心爱的受造物所持有的意旨出现了——天主为我们在将来的天国里所计划的一切如今在人类历史上可待发生。

 

Friends, in our Gospel we see Jesus in action. He is always hurrying from place to place, on the go. Today Luke gives us a sort of "day in the life" of Jesus. And it is quite a day! Our Gospel opens just after the dramatic expulsion of a demon in the Capernaum synagogue. And after entering the house of Simon, Jesus cures Peter's mother-in-law and then the entire town comes to his door. He spends the whole evening curing presumably hundreds who were variously afflicted.

 

In the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, in an attempt to make Jesus more palatable to rationalists and "realists," theologians put great stress on Jesus' preaching, especially his ethical teaching.

 

But this is not the Jesus that Luke presents. Rather, he is a healer. Soter, rendered in Latin as Salvator, which just means "the bearer of the salus" or health. Jesus is portrayed as a healer, a savior. In him, divinity and humanity have come together; in him, the divine life and divine power are breaking through. God's deepest intentions for his beloved creatures appears—what God plans for us in the Kingdom to come is now historically anticipated.