「一生一世在他面前，以聖善和正義事奉他。」（路1:75）
人性本善。人類是按天主的肖像所造，人的本性理所當然是美好的，我們的生活本來可以反映天主的聖善和正義的。可惜，人類驕傲自大，妄想自己成為天主，犯了原罪，喪失了原始的恩寵。人類的生活不再聖善，不再合乎正義了。我們甚至不知道怎樣的生活纔算是聖善，纔算是合乎正義。若翰洗者的父親充滿了聖神，講述了天主的許諾。天主要把我們從罪惡這個敵人的手中，解救我們，使我們從此可以無恐無懼地，在祂的面前，以聖善和正義事奉祂。（路1:74-75）若翰洗者的任務，就是為默西亞預備道路，讓以色列人認識這救恩，獲得罪赦。（1:76-77）從這段記載，我們對於「聖善和正義的生活」，有了一點兒頭緒。
首先，必需要從新發現天主。第一步是剔除心中的驕傲，不要以「無神論」為榮。再運用理性，從大自然中發現造物主的神妙偉大。不要懶惰，應勤讀聖經，從中領會到天父的慈悲，天主的心意。讓我再說一遍，第二步是讀大自然和聖經這兩部「天書」，認識天主。
從這兩部天書，我們不但認識到天主，我們還認識到人類的罪惡。原來除了聖經談及罪惡之外，大自然被污染，更顯人類的罪孽深重。認識了天主和世間的罪惡之後，如果我們仍驕傲地認為與我們無關的話，我已無話可說了。但願天主憐憫我們，以祂的慈悲感動我們的心吧！
第三步，讓我們謙卑地承認和懺悔我們的罪過，以獲得罪的赦免。這樣，我們可以從新開始，度以天主為中心的生活，按照祂的旨意，謙卑地生活。這樣做，我們便能「一生一世在祂面前，以聖善和正義事奉祂」，以我們的生命，反映天主的聖善和正義了。
天父啊！請開啟我們的眼睛，看見祢的榮耀，對祢敬畏，徹底消除我們心中的驕傲。亞孟。
"Serve him ... in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life." (Luke 1:75)
In the beginning, man was good. He was created in the image of God and his nature should be good. Our life should be able to reflect the holiness and righteousness of God. Unfortunately, men were arrogant and fancied to become God. They lost their Original Grace. We call this loss the Original Sin. Men's life is no longer holy and righteous. We even do not know what makes life holy and righteous.
The father of John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke of God's promise. God promised to deliver us from the hand of our enemies to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him. (Luke 1:74-75) The mission of the Baptist is to prepare the ways of the Messiah, to give knowledge of salvation to Israelites in the forgiveness of their sins. (1:76-77) From this piece of text, we may gather some clues on how to lead a holy and righteous life.
First of all, we need to rediscover God. The first step is to remove the pride in our hearts, not to be proud of being an atheist. Then, make use of our intellect to discover the wonders of the Creator. Don't be lazy. Study diligently the Bible to know God's mercy and will. Let me repeat. The second step is to read the two "holy books" --- the Mother Nature and the Bible --- in order to know God.
From these two "holy books", not only do we get to know God, but also the sins of men. Besides the sins mentioned in the Bible, the pollution of our Mother Nature tells us the gravity of the sins of men. After knowing God and the sinfulness of men, if we are still arrogant and claim that it has nothing to do with us, I have nothing more to say. May God have pity on us and touch our hearts with His mercy!
Thirdly, let us humbly admit and repent our sins in order to receive the forgiveness of our sins. Then, we may turn a new leaf and start all over again to lead a God-centred life. We follow His will and live humbly. Only in this way can we serve him in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life. Only then can our life reflect His holiness and righteousness.
Heavenly Father, open our eyes to see Your glory. Fear You and uproot the pride in our hearts. Amen.
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