Theme: Complacency
Christmas is just around the corner, only seventeen days away. Even though many shopping malls have started playing Christmas carols and putting up decorations in mid-November to arouse people's desire to spend money, many people are still very busy doing their daily routines and do not seem bothered spending time to prepare for the birth of our Saviour. Indeed, Christmas has been commercialized in Hong Kong. For many ordinary people, Christmas only means a holiday to take a rest, to spend money buying, dining and going to parties etc. For some people who are more conscientious, Christmas probably means spending time caring for their loved ones and friends. They send out greeting cards, or buy Christmas gifts for their friends and relatives. Parents would transform into Santa Claus, scratching their heads to think up ideas to stuff their children's Christmas stockings with surprises before Boxing Day. One wonders if this is the right way to prepare for the birth of our Saviour!
John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus. God assigned him the mission to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ. His job was to prepare the Jews to receive the Messiah. Therefore, the Baptist could guide us the right way to prepare for the coming of the Lord. During the Baptist's time, Jews were under the colonial rule of the Roman Empire. They were second class citizens and were unfairly handled. Jews were angry but they did not have the military power to overthrow the colonial rule. God was their only hope. They expected God to send a Messiah, a descendent of David, therefore a king, to drive out the Romans and to liberate them. It was in this socio-political atmosphere that John the Baptist carried out his mission.
When the Baptist says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2), the message he was telling the Jews consisted of two parts. Part one, "to repent". Part two, "the kingdom of heaven is near". Which of these two parts was more attractive to the people, to repent or the kingdom of heaven? Of course, it was the second part, the kingdom of heaven. Why? It was because many people were unhappy. People were unhappy with the government because they were being unfairly treated. The scale of dissatisfaction was reflected in this verse, "Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan were going out to him" (3:5). So people wanted to change for the better. They longed for a better future. The idea of a kingdom of heaven brought hope to the Jews. To be sure, the kingdom of heaven had to be better than the present colonial rule.
What about the first part of the message, "to repent"? What does "to repent" mean? Literally, "to repent" means to turn around because you feel terribly sorry for the wrongs you have done. In Christianity, it means we want to turn around towards God, to return to God because we have done bad things to other people and to God. The gospel of Matthew does not tell us what actions the Baptist advised the people to take to repent. From the gospel of Luke, we know that the Baptist was very pragmatic. He advised different people to act righteously in different ways suitable for their situations. God is righteous. When we act in a righteous manner, we are like God. When we act in a selfish manner and when we take away more than we deserve, we are not acting in a righteous manner. We are fighting against God. Therefore, to repent means we should give up our selfish ways and turn towards God.
Brethren! It is not enough just to be a hardworking people to lead a life above the normal living standard and wrongly presume that accidents will never happen. Nor is it enough just to be a law abiding people and wrongly presume that you will stay out of troubles. Lastly, it is not enough just to get baptized and wrongly presume that you have a place reserved in heaven! Rather, we have to ask ourselves whether our work, our labour, our friends, colleagues and other relationships as well as our daily life etc. bring us any closer to God and love God more. If our work, our labour, our relationships and our daily routines prevent us from praying, from reading the Bible, from going to Church, from receiving the sacraments, from going to confessions, from loving our neighbours and God, then it is high time we repented. It is high time we turned around to seek God. This is what the Baptist meant when he says, "Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance." (3:8)
Last Sunday, Jesus reminded us to stay awake, to be vigilant and to treat each day as our last day on earth. Today is the second Sunday of Advent. The Baptist told us to repent and to turn towards God. What are the good fruit of repentance? It is not enough simply to keep the Ten Commandments. We should study Matthew Chapter 5 to know more about the Beatitudes, which our Pope said is the identity card of Christians. We read the gospel of Matthew in liturgical Year A. Let us study the Beatitudes which are good indicators of good fruit of repentance. 
The problem was that Pharisees and Sadducees were very learned people. They were the elites among the Jews. However, they overestimated their knowledge and achievements in the society. That is why the Baptist warned against their attitude, "Do not presume to say to yourselves that you have Abraham as your father." (3:9) This kind of self-confidence led to self-righteousness and to selfishness and lastly greed. Pharisees were experts in the law. However, their knowledge in the law did not help them know and love God more. Instead, they made use of their expertise to swindle others' money. Later, Jesus tried to correct their mistaken understanding of the laws. Sadducees were priests. Like the Pharisees, their ministries did not bring them any closer to God. Again, they managed the Temple in a corrupt manner, cheating people to fatten themselves. That was the reason why Jesus cleansed the Temple immediately after He entered Jerusalem.
God bless!
Picture Credit: https://spiritofaprogressive.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-part-of-you-brood-of-vipers-dont.html
將臨期第二主日，甲年 主題：因循怠惰
還有17天便是聖誕佳節，雖然很多商場早在十一月中已播放聖誕音樂，掛出聖誕裝飾，鼓動消費者的購物意慾，但很多香港人仍然忙於日常的例行事務，不會浪費時間準備救主的誕辰。的確，在今天的香港，聖誕節變得商業化了。為大部份市民，聖誕節祇是一個可以休息的假日，一個消費、購物、飲食和開舞會等等的日子。為一些較為有心的人，他們或許會花一點時間，關心身邊的親友，送上賀咭或小禮物。父母會搖身一變，成為聖誕老人，攪盡腦汁，為兒女的聖誕襪，塞上驚喜…就是這樣預備救主的誕辰嗎？
若翰洗者比耶穌早半年出生，天主委派他一個任務，成為耶穌基督的先驅，預備猶太人的心靈，迎接默西亞。因此，若翰洗者的言行，可以指教我們，怎樣以正確的態度迎接救主。在洗者的年代，猶太人正處於羅馬帝國的殖民統治，受著二等公民之苦。他們敢怒而不敢言，因為他們沒有軍事力量推翻殖民地統治。天主是他們惟一的希望，他們期望天主派遣默西亞，一位達味的後裔，因此是一個君王，為他們驅逐羅馬人，解放他們。若翰洗者就是在這樣的社會政始氣氛下，履行他的使命。
當洗者宣講說：「你們悔改吧！因為天國臨近了」（瑪3:2）的時候，他的訊息有兩部份：第一，悔改；第二，天國近矣。這兩個訊息之間：悔改和天國，哪一個中聽呢？當然是第二個，天國！為甚麼？因為受到政府不公平的對待，很多人心中不滿。那不滿的程度，在這一節可見一斑：「耶路撒冷、全猶大以及全約但河一帶的人，都出來到他那裡去」（3:5）人民求變，渴望一個更美好的將來。「天國」帶給人民希望，天國肯定比現在殖民地統治好！
那麼，第一部份的訊息：「悔改」又如何呢？「悔改」是甚麼意思？從字面解釋，你做了一些讓你後悔的事，你想改過。從信仰的角度解釋，我們做了對不起近人，對不起天主的事，我們想回頭，返回天主身邊。瑪竇福音沒有記載若翰洗者怎樣教訓群眾悔改，路加福音記載的若翰洗者卻很務實，因材施教，給不同的人不同的忠告，教訓他們如何按公義生活。天主是公義的，當我們行為公義，我們便肖似天主。當我們行為自私，取去我們不應得的東西時，我們有違公義，與天主作對。因此，悔改就是放棄自私的行徑，轉向天主。
但當若翰見到許多法利塞人和撒杜塞人來受他的洗時，為甚麼若翰那麼嚴厲，稱他們為「毒蛇的種類」呢？（3:7）要知道法利塞人和撒杜塞人都是成熟和現實的人。他們有學識，想度一個合理的生活，並不貪圖奢華的日子。他們奉公守法，不敢犯法，侵害近人；不敢犯罪，得罪天主。一個奉公守法的人需要悔改嗎？
各位兄弟姊妹，安居樂業並以為不會有意外發生是不足夠的；同樣，奉公守法並以為不會惹官非也是不足夠的。最後，領洗入教並以為已在天堂留有一席位是絕對不足夠的！我們應該自問，我們的辛勞，朋友，同事，其他關係和我們的日常生活等等，可有令我們更親近天主，更愛天主呢？假如我們的工作，關係和日常生活的例行運作，妨礙了我們的祈禱、讀經、參加堂區活動、領聖事、辦告解、愛主愛人，那正是悔改的時候，是回頭尋覓天主的時候了。這就是洗者所說的：「結出與悔改相稱的果實吧！」（3:8）的意思。
上一個主日，耶穌提醒我們要醒悟，把每一天看成在世的最後一天。今天是將臨期第二主日，若翰洗者告誡我們悔改，轉向天主。甚麼是「與悔改相稱的果實」呢？遵守十誡是不足夠的。我們應該學習瑪竇福音第五章的「真福八端」，我們的教宗說它是基督徒的身份證。在禮儀年的甲年，我們讀瑪竇福音。讓我們細心研讀「真福八端」，認清與悔改相稱的果實是甚麼。
法利塞人和撒杜塞人的問題，出於他們的學問。他們都是猶太人的精英，可是，他們因自己的知識和成就，自視過高。所以洗者反對他們的態度：「你們自己不要思念說：我們有亞巴郎為父。」（3:9）這份自信令他們自以為是，變得自私，最後變成惟利是圖。法利塞人是法律專家，可惜他們的法律知識，並沒有幫助他們更認識，更愛慕天主。反而，他們濫用自己的專業知識，從中取利。撒杜塞人是司祭，和法利塞人一樣，他們的職務沒有使他們更親近天主。在管理聖殿時，瀆職貪污，中飽私囊。為了這個原故，耶穌基督榮進耶路撒冷後做的第一件事，就是清理聖殿。
天主保祐！
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