BishopBarron|天主统治所有混乱力量

2017-08-09 10:08     阅读量:5738

原文|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie
2017-8-8
朋友们,今天的福音是耶稣在水上步行的故事。纵观《圣经》,水总是危险的象征。在一开始,天主的神在水面上运行。这表明天主统治所有混乱力量。
 
四部福音书均有耶稣驾驭海浪的故事。故事中的船和船上的伯多禄以及其他门徒让人联想起天主教会。船在海上漂移,而教会在历史长河上漂移。风暴—混乱、腐败、愚蠢、危险、迫害—将无可避免地出现。
 
夜间四更时分,也就是说夜里最黑暗的时刻,耶稣在海上步行而来。这是对他的神性作出肯定:正如起初天主的神在水上运行一样,如今耶稣在水上行走。所以,他对惊慌失措的门徒说:“放心!是我。不必害怕!” 但这还不够:你们可以分享我的神力。“伯多禄遂从船上下来,走在水面上,往耶稣那里去。” 这就是所有圣人共有的经历。
 
Friends, our Gospel today is the story of Jesus walking on the water. Water is, throughout the Scriptures, a symbol of danger. At the very beginning, the spirit of the Lord hovered over the surface of the waters. This signals God's lordship over all of the powers of disorder.
 
In all four Gospels there is a version of this story of Jesus mastering the waves. The boat, with Peter and the other disciples, is evocative of the Church. It moves through the waters, and the Church will move through time. Storms—chaos, corruption, stupidity, danger, persecution—will inevitably arise.
 
Now during the fourth watch of the night, which is to say the darkest time of the night, Jesus comes walking on the sea. This is meant to be an affirmation of his divinity: just as the spirit of God hovered over the waters at the beginning, so Jesus hovers over them now. So he says to his terrified disciples: "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." But even more than that: you can participate in my power. "Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus." This is the story of all the saints.
 
2017-8-7
朋友们,今天的福音讲述了耶稣喂饱五千人的故事。耶稣吩咐群众坐下,于是他们坐着草地上。然后祂用五个饼和两条鱼干让这么庞大的人群饱餐一顿。这些人又饿又累,因为步行跟随耶稣而筋疲力尽,而耶稣给了他们日用的口粮。
 
对于多玛斯·阿奎那来说,圣餐的绝妙隐喻是口粮,是旅途的粮食。圣餐是日用的食粮,是精神旅途的口粮,是我们赖以生存的营养品。如果我们毫不进食,或者只在逢年过节才进食,我们能好好过活吗?不太可能。所以,在精神生活中,我们必须吃喝,否则不会有力量。
 
这只是一个含糊不清的象征吗?不是,而是一个生动的类比。因为正如身体需要营养物质那样,灵魂也需要精神上的营养品,这条定律是我们无法规避的。
 
我们想想有多少天主教徒不参加弥撒、不领取圣餐、不进行告解、甚至不会每日祈祷。这种精神性营养不良是我们教会所面对的首要问题。
 
Friends, our Gospel today tells about the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus instructs the crowd to recline, and they do so on the grass. Taking the loaves and dried fish, Jesus makes a meal that satisfies the enormous crowd. They are hungry, tired, worn out from their exertions, and Jesus gives them sustenance for the day.
 
For Thomas Aquinas, the great metaphor for the Eucharist is sustenance, food for the journey. The Eucharist is daily food, sustenance for the journey, nourishment to get us through the day to day. How effective would we be if we never ate, or ate only on special occasions and in a festive environment? Not very. So, in the spiritual life, we must eat and drink or we will not have strength.
 
Is this just meant in some vague symbolic way? No, rather in a vividly analogical way. For just as the body needs physical nourishment, the spirit needs spiritual nourishment and there is no getting around this law.
 
Now think of how many Catholics are absent from the Mass and the Eucharist and Confession or even daily prayer. This spiritual malnourishment is the number one problem facing our Church.
 
2017-8-6
朋友们,今天我们庆祝主显圣容日。我想把这件大事及其来龙去脉放入明显相关的犹太和圣经的框架内。圣容显现在山上,这就直接与《圣经旧约全书》扯上了关系。天主在西乃山上把法律颁布给梅瑟,而厄里亚在加尔默耳山上挑战巴耳的先知们。山是接近天主的地方。
 
在《圣经新约全书》中,耶稣在山上颁布祂的法律:山中圣训;祂在哥耳哥达山上受难,并且祂在传教生涯的高潮时刻带着三个门徒上山,随之在他们面前显现圣容。
 
这里特别强调了耶稣是如何作为实现《圣经旧约全书》之启示的代表,跟祂谈话的两个人物则简洁高效地象征了这种实现:梅瑟代表法律,厄里亚代表先知。当时的犹太人在谈及《圣经》时,都会简约地称之为:法律和先知。因此,通过跟梅瑟和厄里亚交谈、通过祂圣容显现的光荣,耶稣表示祂使两者真正得到实现。
 
Friends, today we celebrate the Transfiguration of Lord. I would like to place this event and story within their clearly Jewish and Biblical framework. The transfiguration takes place on a mountain, and this immediately places it in relation to the Old Testament. The law is given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, and Elijah challenges the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel. Mountains are places of encounter with God.
 
So, in the New Testament, Jesus gives his law on a mountain: the Sermon on the Mount; he dies on Mt. Calvary, and, in a climactic moment in his public life, he brings three of his disciples to the top of a mountain—and there he is transfigured before them.
 
What is especially being stressed here is the manner in which Jesus represents the fulfillment of the Old Testament revelation, economically symbolized by the two figures with whom he converses: Moses, representing the law, and Elijah, representing the prophets. When a Jew of Jesus' time would speak of the Scriptures, he would use a shorthand: the law and the prophets. So in speaking to Moses and Elijah, in the glory of the transfiguration, Jesus signals that he brings them to their proper fulfillment.

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