2018-6-8

朋友们，在今天的福音中，若望说一个罗马兵士为了证实耶稣已经死去，用枪刺透了祂的肋旁，“立时流出了血和水。”医生说这个描述属实，因为枪应该是刺破了心包膜，即围绕心脏的囊，囊中含有液体。

 

这是什么意思？神学家推测血和水有着象征价值，使人联想到圣体圣事和洗礼圣事。

 

但是公元一世纪的犹太人又有哪一个会不理解这个明显的诠释呢？这是应验了厄则克耳的预言：雅威洁净祂的圣殿时，水将流出，使世界焕然一新。

 

Friends, in today’s Gospel, John tells us that a Roman soldier, in order to verify that Jesus was dead, thrust a lance into the side of the crucified Christ, “and at once blood and water came out.” Physicians tell us that this is a credible account, given that the lance would have pierced the pericardium, the sac around the heart, which contains a watery substance.

 

What does this event mean? Theologians have speculated that the blood and water have a symbolic valence, evoking the sacraments of Eucharist and Baptism.

 

But which first-century Jew would have missed the most obvious interpretation? This was the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy that when Yahweh cleansed his temple, water would flow forth for the renewal of the world.

 

2018-6-9

朋友们，今天的福音讲述大家都熟悉的玛利亚和若瑟在圣殿里找到耶稣的故事。在找到祂的时候，他们自然恼怒地责备祂：“孩子，为什么你这样对待我们？”但耶稣回答：“你们不知道我必须在我父亲那里吗？”

 

这个故事表达了一个反情感的真理：最强烈的亲情说到底都要被为使命让位。虽然玛利亚内心挣扎得很厉害，她还是放开儿子，让祂在圣殿里找到使命。合理的情感之所以会变成感伤情绪正是因为我们以情感取代了天职。

 

圣经对家庭的定义是：一个家最重要的是成为父母子女都能够分辨出各自的天职的论坛。当然，家庭成员之间能培养出深厚的亲情是最好的，但这些关系和感情都必须让位于更基本、更持久、更具精神性的东西。

 

悖论在于：正是当一个家中每个人都集中精力为彼此找到各自的天职时，家里才变得更有爱和安宁。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel tells the familiar story of Mary and Joseph finding twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. When they find him, they upbraid him with understandable exasperation: "Child, why have you treated us like this?" But Jesus responds, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?"

 

The story conveys a truth that runs sharply counter to our sensibilities: even the most powerful familial emotions must, in the end, give way to mission. Though she felt an enormous pull in the opposite direction, Mary let her Son go, allowing him to find his vocation in the Temple. Legitimate sentiment devolves into sentimentality precisely when it comes to supersede the call of God.

 

On a biblical reading, the family is, above all, the forum in which both parents and children are able to discern their missions. It is perfectly good, of course, if deep bonds and rich emotions are cultivated within the family, but those relationships and passions must cede to something that is more fundamental, more enduring, more spiritually focused.

 

The paradox is this: precisely in the measure that everyone in the family focuses on God’s call for one another, the family becomes more loving and peaceful.

 

2018-6-10

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣的亲戚声称祂疯了、经师们亵渎祂、说祂身附邪魔。在这种情况中，最根本的问题总是恐惧的自我。沉迷于自我的人心知有时最好的防御是进攻。如果你想保护自我及其特权，你就必须镇压和打击身边的人。

 

明显的方式就是：你攻击、贬低、侮辱和陷害身边的人。这是恃强凌弱。但宗教方式则更隐蔽，因此更不动声色和危机重重。宗教方式动用法律——尤其是道德法律——来谴责和镇压。“我知道对与错；我知道教会对我们的要求；我知道你不合要求。”

 

因此我谴责你、说你坏话、提起你的不足之处。请注意，这不是要谴责合理友好的提点或神父的说教，而是想提醒大家不要成为沉迷于自我的奴隶。我们必须保持警惕，无论如何都要避而远之。

 

Friends, in today’s Gospel, relatives of Jesus claim that he is mad, and scribes blaspheme him, charging that he is possessed by Beelzebul. You know, in cases like this, the basic problem is always the fearful ego. Ego-addicts know that sometimes the best defense is a good offense. If you want to protect the ego and its prerogatives, you must oppress and demoralize those around you.

 

There is a very unsubtle version of this method: you attack, put down, insult, and undermine those around you. This is the method of the bully. But the religious version is much subtler and thus more insidious and dangerous. It takes the Law itself—especially the moral law—and uses it to accuse and oppress. "I know what’s right and wrong; I know what the Church expects of us; and I know that you are not living up to it."

 

And so I accuse you; I gossip about you; I remind you of your inadequacy. Mind you, this is not to condemn the legitimate exercise of fraternal correction or the office of preaching. But it’s a reminder to not be sucked into the slavery of ego addiction. We must stay alert to this and avoid it at all costs.

 

2018-6-11

朋友们，今天的福音是《圣经新约》中最美妙最重要的篇章之一：山中圣训的开始，真福八端。为什么这么重要？因为圣子在告诉我们怎样才能活得快乐。永远不会错的那位在告诉我们每一个人怎样得到自己最想要的东西。还有什么比这更吸引人的？

 

耶稣的训导重点是这两端：“怜悯人的人是有福的”和“缔造和平的人是有福的”。这两端道出了圣训的核心，因为通过这两种方式，我们得以最直接地参与神圣的生活。

 

在《圣经旧约》中，用来形容天主的至关重要的词语是chesed（温和的怜悯）。在《圣经新约》中的同义词可在《若望一书》中找到：天主是agape（爱）。其他关于天主的一切都应被视为这种chesed和agape的一个方面。chesed是怜悯；agape是为别人的利益服务。因此，如果你想活得快乐，就要渴望活得像天主那样。这样做，你就会快乐。

 

Friends, our Gospel for today is one of the most beautiful and important in the New Testament: the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, the eight Beatitudes. Why is it so important? Because it is the Son of God telling us how to be happy. It is the one who can’t be wrong telling us how to achieve that which each of us most basically wants. What could be more compelling?

 

At the heart of Jesus’ program are these Beatitudes: “Blessed are the merciful” and “Blessed are the peacemakers.” These name the very heart of the spiritual program, for they name the ways that we participate most directly in the divine life.

 

One of the most important words to describe God in the Old Testament is chesed (tender mercy). The New Testament version of this is found in the first letter of John: God is agape (love). Everything else we say about God should be seen as an aspect of this chesed and this agape. Chesed is compassion; agape is willing the good of the other. Therefore, if you want to be happy, desire to be like God. Do it and you’ll be happy.

 

2018-6-12

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣用盐和光的意象来说明我们如何为世人带来救赎。在这个十分私人化和个人主义的文化中，我们自然会认为宗教是私事，目的是使我们的生活更丰富多彩。这种想法在某种意义上来说是正确的，然而《圣经》对笃信宗教的定义是盐、光、一座高耸的城市：不为自己，而是为了他人。

 

或者我们可以把两者合二为一地说：我们正是通过把天主的生命力带给他人方能为自己找到救赎。重点是我们基督徒本身就应该是盐，有效地保存和加强身边社会中的至善，并有效地破坏社会文化中的不良之处。

 

我们还是光，使身边的人得以看见值得看的一切。我们以自己生活的质量和完整性来发光发亮，彰显美好，揭露丑恶。其中含义显而易见：若没有活力四射的基督徒，这个世界就更加糟糕。

 

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus uses the images of salt and light to show how we are to bring salvation to the world. In our rather privatized and individualistic culture, we tend naturally to think of religion as something for ourselves designed to make our lives richer or better. Now there is a sense in which that is true, but on the biblical reading, religiosity is like salt, light, and an elevated city: it is meant not for oneself, but for others.

 

Perhaps we can bring these two together by saying that we find salvation for ourselves precisely in the measure that we bring God’s life to others. The point is that we followers of Jesus are meant to be salt, which effectively preserves and enhances what is best in the society around us. We effectively undermine what is dysfunctional in the surrounding culture.

 

We are also light by which people around us come to see what is worth seeing. By the very quality and integrity of our lives, we shed light, illuminating what is beautiful and revealing what is ugly. The clear implication is that, without vibrant Christians, the world is a much worse place.