【福傳系列（五）】
吾未見好德如好色者（瑪5:27-32）
「不可姦淫」（出20:14）是天主頒布的十誡之一，是禁止與婚姻配偶以外的人物發生性行為。禁止的範圍包括婚姻以外的、同性的、自我的或異物的性行為。這誡命的精神是尊重婚姻、尊重身體。尊重婚姻容易明白，因為家庭是社會的基礎，而婚姻就是家庭的基礎。夫妻倆組織一個家庭，先有夫妻關係，然後纔有父母子女兄弟姊妹的關係！家庭擔起了整個社會承先啟後的任務。一個沒有下一代的社會，是一個沒有發展希望的社會，不久便會在歷史中消失了。
所謂「道高一尺，魔高一丈」，犯法的人總可以找到法律條文的破綻和漏洞，逍遙法外！所以耶穌基督從根本入手，教導我們避免「引狼入室」，失足犯姦淫！眼睛是「靈魂之窗」，看美麗的事物使靈魂舒暢，帶來愉快的情緒，原本是一樁美事，而且是一份修煉的功夫。「所謂誠其意者，毋自欺也，如惡惡臭，如好好色，此之謂自謙，故君子慎其獨也！」（禮記‧大學），「慎獨」是修煉的功夫。可惜人性受到了「原罪」的影響，所追求的不再是「好色」，而是私慾偏情；加上缺乏「四樞德」的修煉，結果失去節制，放任自己的淫念，犯上了千奇百怪的姦淫！難怪孔子也感慨地說：「已矣乎！吾未見好德如好色者也。」（論語‧衛靈公）
親愛的讀者，這麼振聾發聵的福音，豈能「藏在地下」（25:25），快快宣揚吧！亞孟。
天主保祐！
生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：businessweekly.com.tw, global.udn.com, grok.com,
[Evangelization Series V]
I’ve Never Seen a Person Enjoying Virtue Like Beauty (Matthew 5:27-32)
“Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery” (Exodus 20:14) is one of the Ten Commandments God gives. It forbids sexual intercourses with someone/something other than our marital spouses. It includes extra-marital, homosexual, solitary or fetishistic sexual behaviours. The spirit of this commandment is to respect marriage as well as to respect body. It is easy to understand why we should respect marriage because family is the foundation of the society and marriage is the foundation of families. Husband and wife build a family. It starts with the spousal relationship. Then comes parents, children and siblings etc. Families take up the sustention mission of the entire society. A society without the next generation loses hope of growth and development. Soon it will vanish in human history.
But why does the body worth respect? Simple! It is because the human body was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Even atheist scientists have not found any conclusive evidence to refute this verse! And yet, the ethics and morality derived from this verse provide the foundation of all sorts of human rights modern people advocate. As long as an agent is a person, he enjoys human rights. Their bodies should be respected! As Christians, St. Paul teaches us that our body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Thus, how can Christians not respect our own bodies and others’, not respect the Holy Spirit in the bodies?
As an aphorism goes, “The outlaws outwit the sheriff”. People will always find cracks and loop-holes in written laws and take advantage! Thus, Jesus Christ goes to the root and teaches us not to invite the devils and fall into adultery! The eye is the window to the soul. Seeing beautiful things soothes the soul and brings joyful emotions. It is good and can be a spiritual exercise. “‘Making the thoughts sincere’ means allowing no self-deception, such as hating a bad smell and enjoying what is beautiful. This is self-humility. Therefore a superior person is watchful over himself when he is alone” (Liji, Da Xue). Watching over oneself when one is alone is self-discipline and is a spiritual exercise. Regrettably, humanity suffers from the “Original Sin”. Instead of desiring what is beautiful, we crave for concupiscence. Furthermore, with a lack of practice of the Cardinal Virtues, we lose temperance, allowing our lust to commit all sorts of queer acts! No wonder Confucius lamented, “It’s all over! I have not seen one who loves virtue as he loves beauty” (Analects, Wei Ling Gong).
Beloved brethren. How can we bury such a gospel that opens the deaf ears in the ground (25:25)? Go and proclaim it quickly! Amen.
God bless!
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