All People Are Called To Martyrdom 眾人皆蒙召作見證

Feast of Holy Martyrs and Blessed of China
Theme: All People Are Called To Martyrdom眾人皆蒙召作見證

In the past few weeks, we have heard of Jesus’ sending the Apostles to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. What Jesus says to the Apostles also applies to us. We have the duty to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven as well. It is because when we were baptized, we partake in the threefold ministry of Jesus the Son of God, namely the ministry as a king to serve, as a priest to offer prayers and sacrifices and lastly as a prophet, a spokesman for God, to proclaim God’s will. Therefore we are also apostles and ambassadors sent forth by Jesus Christ to proclaim the gospel of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Jesus continues to warn us beforehand that evangelization is a challenging mission. Don’t ever think that when God sends you as an ambassador on a mission and therefore life should be as easy as a piece of cake. On the contrary, life with a mission is demanding. It is because God the Father respects our autonomy. He will never impose His good will on us. People are free to accept or to reject their own salvation. Therefore, we should expect to meet oppositions, to stumble upon obstacles and rejections. Don’t lose heart! Our work will never be done in vain. Jesus says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven”(Matthew 5:12a).
Last week Jesus mentions our rewards in an indirect manner. He told us that if people accept our witnesses, they would receive reward according to the capacity in which they receive us. When we were baptized, we vowed to reject Satan to lead a holy and righteous life. Therefore, if people accept our proclamation because we are righteous people to them, then they would receive a righteous person’s reward. As I have mentioned earlier, when we were baptized, we become a spokesman of God. So if people accept our proclamation because we are prophets, then they would receive a prophet’s reward (10:41). Assuming that you were not baptized as an infant but went through catechetical instructions for eighteen months before baptism. Then have you not received a righteous person’s reward and a prophet’s reward in the first place so that you decided to attend catechumen classes? Therefore, when we bear witness to the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are handing out salvation to people. Of course they have the autonomy to accept or to reject. If they accept, they receive a disciple’s reward, which is Jesus Christ Himself (10:42)!

Martyrs are martyrs when they bear witness to the truth such as Socrates; or to some universal values such as liberty, equality and fraternity; or even noble causes such as overthrowing a tyrant. Every people, every nation and every language etc. have their share of martyrs. Not only do we celebrate Chinese martyrs but the Catholic Church also remembers Japanese martyrs, Korean martyrs, Roman martyrs and Vietnamese martyrs etc. I racked my brain to find out what makes Chinese martyrs distinctively Chinese. So far, I can only draw the conclusion that “Chinese” is only a location label. As Christians, the Beatitudes are the truth and universal values we uphold. Whenever and wherever we bear witness to the values enshrined in the Beatitudes, we are martyrs. It is not necessary to shed blood to be martyrs because each of us is unique. Our backgrounds are different. Our life stations are different. Our situations are different. Therefore our paths to sanctification are also different and unique. As long as we bear witness to the Beatitudes by leading a beatific life, we are martyrs and saints.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is eternal. Therefore, the truth He teaches us is universal and eternal. It applies everywhere and in every age. The Beatitudes are a summary of His teachings and we call them the Magna Carta of the Kingdom of Heaven. They apply everywhere and in every age. Don’t ever say that Jesus taught them two thousand years ago in an agricultural society and therefore they have become irrelevant today in post-industrial and post informational societies like Hong Kong nowadays. Wrong. Not only are the Beatitudes still relevant today but practising them in a commercial society is also becoming more challenging!

It is more challenging because how can we live in poverty when there are so many opportunities nowadays to make money easily? Who wants to mourn when life is so stressful everyday? We prefer watching comedies to watching tragedies, drinking red wine to drinking herbal medicine. Who wants to be meek and be pushed around when being assertive makes you a successful person and helps you climb up the social ladder easily? Who wants to spend time and energy to uphold righteousness when you insist on righteousness, you will earn less and most likely will lose your business? Who wants to be merciful to rivals in a cut-throat society where all interactions are zero-sum games and where there can only be one winner? Which project manager in his right mind do not have plan A, plan B and plan C etc. up his sleeves to lead his team-members? When making peace will lose money, who will not bad-mouth, gossip, smear, stab the back of their competitors and stir up troubles etc.? When we uphold righteousness and advocate for the needs of the exploited, we will be fighting against powerful kingpins and even corrupt government officials. Doing so would cost you your lives. Who wants to die and lose everything? Nobody in his right mind will do this.

Brethren! Let’s examine carefully what the Beatitudes are. They are not moral precepts with airtight logics such as utilitarianism. No. We cannot explain the merits of the Beatitudes in terms of cost-benefit analysis. Not only can we not lead a beatific life with our intellect alone, but we also cannot lead such a life with a strong faith alone too. Instead, we need a strong enough love of God and a love of neighbour in order to lead a beatific life. How can we explain the motives of martyrs who are willing to bear witness to their noble causes with their lives, if not for a love of God or a love of their compatriots?

Why are Christians willing to lead a life of poverty? Sustainability is insufficient to explain such a life style. Instead, it is a love of one’s neighbour because by giving up our wealth, we enrich the lives of the needy.
Why are Christians mournful instead of being cheerful? It is because of their loving care of the well-being of the souls of their neighbour! God does not want to see the wicked die. Instead, He wants to see them repent (Ezekiel 18:32). So Christians do not hide behind merriments. Instead, we mourn for the sufferings of our neighbour from evils.
Similarly, we remain meek and gentle when people push us around because St. Paul reminds us that fighting back will only escalate mutual destruction (Galatians 5:15). God says, “Vengeance is mine” (Romans 12:19, Isaiah 63:4). We do not play God. We follow Jesus’ instructions not to resist evil and turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39).
Nowadays, few people care about eternal life but we Christians care. Therefore, we hunger and thirst for the salvation of souls. In Old Testament jargon, God’s righteousness is salvation and He shows righteousness when He delivers us from evil. So on top of earning a livelihood, our priority is the salvation of souls, the righteousness of God.
Nowadays, a culture of complaints pervades the society. People do not forgive and do not give people a second chance. But our God is patient and wants to build us up. Therefore, for the love of our God and His creatures, we too should be merciful. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we should give people seventy times seven chances (18:22).
A Chinese aphorism goes thus, “To calculate is human and to accomplish is divine 謀事在人，成事在天”It captures very well the essence of Christianity: God’s will be done, not ours! Thus, Christians set sight on doing God’s will and it is not necessary to draw up any other insurance plans.
As ambassadors of reconciliation of Jesus Christ, all of us are peacemakers to reconcile sinners with each other and with God. We will become unpopular and handy scapegoats. We will be overwhelmed by fear but John the apostle assures us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love” (1 John 4:18)
Lastly, brethren! With a perfect love of God and our compatriots, let us be ready to lay down our lives to uphold God’s righteousness and become heroic martyrs. God bless!
2017 Reflection
Picture Credit: infoans.org

St. Jerome's Church Silver Jubilee Re-celebration

Silver Jubilee Re-Celebration, October 4, 2020

Good morning, brothers and sisters,
On behalf of all the members of the Parish Pastoral Team and the Pastoral Council of St. Jerome's Church, may I take this opportunity to congratulate you all a very happy and blessed Silver Jubilee. It is such an extraordinary occasion. Last Sunday, in our broadcast on Youtube, Fr. Simon described this as "an already present, but not yet available celebration"! Most of us could only participate on the Internet. It was close at hand enough and yet, so far away and intangible. Fr. Simon reassured us that nothing could be able to separate us from the love of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:35), and from our close relationships with members of our English Community. This is indeed a special and memorable experience which we'll remember and will be eager to share with other people.

Silver Jubilee is a special occasion. It points to the next 25th anniversary, our Golden Jubilee in 2045. Some people like to say that "I'm 25 always." How sweet it sounds. Yes, we want to march forward with our youthfulness, our ambitions, our eagerness and yet, do not remain at the same spot. Golden Jubilee shall be a celebration of tremendous harvest. But first of all, let us be grateful to our Diocese. Proactively she chose this piece of land, Tin Shui Wai, on which to build this Church to provide us with facilities to pray, to shepherd and to evangelize. Let us also be grateful to God for gathering under His wings, you my dear friends to build up this big family. We are also grateful that one of our young men was ordained Fr. Timothy Yan on January 4, 2020. Let us not forget praying for more vocation for our Church. Priests are in short supply and we are not able to sustain sufficient pastoral care for our members, not to mention spreading the gospel to people around us.

Two years ago on eve of the Twenty-Third anniversary, the Pastoral Council designed many innovative projects in preparation for this Silver Jubilee. One of them was to honour our Patron Saint, St. Jerome with a copy of Bible manuscript. St. Jerome spent 23 years in translating the Hebrew and Greek scriptures into one Latin rendition, the Vulgate. What a coincidence. God is amazing! We are not as gifted as St. Jerome but we are still able to copy. Yes, we were able to organized parishioners, teachers and students in our parish to make a copy of handwritten seventy three books in the Bible. Copying the Bible is spiritually uplifting. Copyists are required to be meticulous. One typo-mistake and the whole page of hard work vanished! God is generous. The words we copy on paper are written in our hearts as well. Therefore, Fr. Simon appeals to all of us to make a personal handwritten copy of the Bible for ourselves in the upcoming 25 years. In so doing, we'll able to equip ourselves with sufficient strength to evangelize Tin Shui Wai and Hung Shui Kiu in the years ahead. With a target, an implementation plan and a determined heart we are certain that we can make it. So, let us make good use of God's blessing to accomplish this target!

In the first reading today, we read of the experience of Ezekiel the prophet. God told him to eat the scroll on which was written God's word, "feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you." (Ezekiel 3:3) Ezekiel did as instructed and the scroll "was as sweet as honey in my mouth." So, brethren, the word of God is sweet as honey. Don't just read it speedily. Read it slowly and savour it. Copying it is better still. However, sometimes we don't feel like reading it, not because we don't want to spare our time but because the Bible reveals our own weaknesses, faults and inadequacies. We put it down and do not have the courage to face our own sins. No! God wants to save us. He wants to help us become holy. Therefore, He gave us these words. That is what St. Paul meant when he wrote to Timothy, "The sacred scriptures which are capable of giving you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus, is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction and for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:15-16) Take courage, brethren and make good use of the Bible for our own salvation.

The Internet is like the ocean which is rich in contents and yet not all information is beneficent for us. Jesus Christ taught us in the parable today to select and select wisely. We keep the good stuff in our storeroom and throw away harmful ones. What stuff is good? First of all, the word of God is good in helping us improve our relationship with God. It helps us discern what is good and what is harmful for our life as God's children. Just as what St. Peter says, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68) It follows that those which help us go through adversity and uplift our faith are good. Those which encourage us to discriminate, to hate and to divide are harmful. In this time of social unrest and pandemic, we need the word of God more to help us go through such adversity. The word of God should not be hidden away in storerooms and buried in dust. The power of God's word lies in its action. Thus, we have the duty to "bring from our storeroom both the new and the old" (Matthew 13:52), refresh it and to act upon it in order to build the kingdom of heaven in Tin Shui Wai and Hung Shui Kiu.

Brethren, once again we are grateful to God and to you all for coming back and making this re-celebration come true. May the merciful Lord Jesus Christ continue to sweeten our hearts with His words of wisdom. May St. Jerome our patron saint continues to intercede for us before God so that we may not be ignorant of the scriptures and ignorant of Christ. Amen. God bless you all!

趁白天還可以工作 To Do the Father's Works While It is Day

四旬期第四主日，甲年
主題：趁白天還可以工作

人為萬物之靈，在於能理性地思考。在理想的情況下，人類會觀察那些吸引他注意的事物，作出初步假設，以解釋所見的現象。這些假設可以是來自前人的智慧，可以是自己創新的。在可能的情況下進行反覆驗證，得出判斷，並按此判斷，採取恰當的行動。當然，實際的條件未必容許如此費時費力的運作，例如，沒有可能做到巨細無遺的觀察、不敢質疑前人的權威、沒有充足的科技能滴水不漏地驗證、所作的判斷中立，不受文化或政治考慮所影響等等。所以，對人對事的判斷，應該有所保留，任何合理的疑點，應歸「被告」。雖然耶穌基督教訓我們「不要判斷人」（瑪7:1），但是現實並非如此！

在今天的福音，我們看到當代的猶太人一個根深柢固的思想，把疾病與犯罪掛鉤的一個定論。疾病容易察覺，但除了公開的罪人外，有誰會知道別人犯了罪呢？把犯罪與患病掛鉤是很方便，很容易理解，卻是一個很難驗證的判斷。人總是捨難取易，所以，患病的人一定是犯了些不為人知的罪，所以天主懲罰他，讓其他人知道，警惕所有的人！雖然這種「三級跳」的「犯罪論」並不穩妥，卻因為容易明白而廣為眾人接受！耶穌基督的門徒很聰明，他們發現胎生瞎子是「犯罪論」的一個反例子。既然是胎生，瞎子之所以瞎眼，就有可能不是他自己犯罪所做成了。最有可能的解釋就是父母所犯的罪，遺下的惡果（若9:2）！其實天主藉先知已解答了這疑問：「誰犯罪，誰就該喪亡；兒子不承當父親的罪過，父親不承當兒子的罪過；義人的正義歸於義人自己，惡人的邪惡也歸於惡人自己。」（則18:20）這是舊約的「公義」，也是大部份文化的道德理念，所謂「善惡到頭終有報」。但耶穌基督來了，在祂面前，這些「公義」顯得黯然失色！耶穌基督說：「而是為叫天主的工作在他身上顯揚出來。」（若9:3b）聽來有點逆耳，天主令這個人胎生瞎眼，是為了顯揚祂的工作？這樣的天主，怎可以稱為「善」呢？

可能富裕的生活令我們心硬，忘記了自己有多麼幸運，生活在一個發達的商業社會，起居舒適方便，忘記了比我們不幸的鄰人。我們中，有人生於幸福的家庭，也有生於充滿家暴的家庭；健康的家庭，或者受遺傳病、精神病所困擾的家庭；有聰明伶俐，朝氣勃勃的成員，或者不能自理的弱智、認知障礙的成員。無論天主賦予我們甚麼，我們的任務就是把這天賦發揮得淋漓盡致！聰明的善用其聰明，盲聾的在其限制之內貢獻！我們總算能安居樂業，但我們可曾關心被逼離鄉別井的難民或被拐騙的人呢？今天我們甚至覺得墮胎或者安樂死是一件可以接受的事！我們把正確的判斷遺失在哪？

是的，天主是生命的主宰，當中一切生命的開展，一草一木，將相乞丐，都顯揚著天父的工作！天父如何在不插手干預的條件下工作呢？除了透過我們，還有其他方式嗎？或許是有的，但作為耶穌基督的門徒，你和我是責無旁貸！我們為這些最少的兄弟，做過甚麼（瑪25:40）？耶穌基督使那胎生瞎子復明（若9:7），反觀故事中的法利塞人做了甚麼呢？做了判官，不是冷靜公義的判官，而是濫權的判官！難怪耶穌基督說：「趁著白天，我們應該做派遣我來者的工作，黑夜來到，就沒有人能工作了。當我在世上的時候，我就是世界的光。」（9:4-5）耶穌基督是世界的光，拒絕了祂，何來光明？所以在黑暗中的法利塞人，也祇能繼續濫權。即使那胎生瞎子客觀地指出他們的錯謬，他們仍繼續心盲，冥頑不靈（9:31-34）！奈何！天父賜予眾人不同的天賦，是天父不善嗎？錯！人人天賦不同，纔有分工合作，做出更偉大，更多姿多采的工程，顯揚天父的可能！倘若人人劃一，自給自足，這世界將會多麼呆板！

各位兄弟姊妹，法利塞人的毛病，讓我們不得不注意自己也是否心盲了，以至對天主的工作視而不見，甚至加以對抗！社會的動盪、疫情的肆虐，有沒有幫助我們親近天主，刺激我們從聖經中，找到安慰和信靠；我們的守齋祈禱，有沒有引領我們關心比我們更不幸的人；最後，我們可有伸出天主慈悲之手，幫助有需要的鄰人呢？耶穌基督正臨現在他們身上，等候我們領受祂的光照。
天主保祐！

2017講道
圖片鳴謝：https://stmichaellivermore.com/blog/gift-true-sight

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Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year A
Theme: To Do the Father's Works While It is Day

Humanity is the crown jewel of Creation because they are able to think rationally. In ideal situations, man observes whatever attracts his attention, makes preliminary hypotheses to explain the phenomenon. These hypotheses may come from the wisdom of predecessors or he makes up his own. He would repeatedly verify those hypotheses within what the situation allows and come to a judgment with which he would take appropriate actions. Of course, in reality, he may not be allowed to operate in such a time and energy consuming manner. For example, it is impossible to make meticulous observations from microscopic to astronomic scale; the observer might not dare to challenge the authority of his predecessors; the technology might not be sophisticated enough to remove any doubt in the process of verification and the judgment arrived might not be neutral, untainted by cultural or political considerations etc. Therefore, there should be reservation in passing judgments. The benefit of the doubt should go to the "defendant". Although Jesus Christ exhorts us to stop judging (Matthew 7:1), in reality we seldom follow.

In today's passage, we are able to see a deep-seated prejudice among Jesus' contemporaries. They hooked up sickness with sins. It is easy to see that someone is sick but except for public sinners, who is able to tell which one has sinned? Hooking up sickness and sins is convenient and easy to understand. But it is difficult to verify. Men tend to cut corners. They reason: a sick person must have committed some sins hidden from the public. So God punishes him to alarm the public! This kind of "triple jump" mode of reasoning is shaky but it is easy to understand. Therefore, many people buy this sin-sickness theory. The disciples of Jesus were smart. They saw that this born blind could be a counter example to the sin-sickness theory. Since he was born blind, probably his blindness was not caused by his own sins. The most probable cause might be the sins of his parents (John 9:2)! In fact, God has answered the disciples' question in the Old Testament, "Only the one who sins shall die. The son shall not be charged with the guilt of his father, nor shall the father be charged with the guilt of his son. Justice belongs to the just, and wickedness to the wicked." (Ezekiel 18:20) This is righteousness in the Old Testament. "Justice shall prevail in the end" agrees with moral concepts of most civilizations. But when Jesus Christ comes, this brand of righteousness pales before Him! Jesus says, "That the works of God might be made visible through him." (John 9:3b) It sounds offending. Did God make this man born blind in order to make His works visible? How can such a God be good?

Probably an affluent life has hardened our hearts so that we have forgotten how lucky we have been. Leading a comfortable and convenient life in a developed commercial society, we have forgotten our less fortunate neighbour. Among us, some were born into happy families, others abusive ones; some in healthy families, others in families infested with hereditary or mental illnesses; there are smart and energetic members, or mentally deficient members who cannot take care of themselves. Whatever God bestows on us, our mission is to actualize these potentials to the full! Smart guys make good use of their wits while the blind and the deaf offer their contributions within their limitations! We are stable and prosperous, but do we care about those refugees or victims of human trafficking? Today, we even accept abortion and euthanasia! Where have we deposited our right judgment?

Yes, God is the Author of life. All unfolding lives, a blade of grass, a beggar or a commander make the Father's works visible! How does the Father work in a non-intrusive manner? What else if not through us? Perhaps there are other ways, but as disciples of Jesus Christ, our duty is non-negotiable! What have we done to the least of these brothers of Jesus' (Matthew 25:40)? Jesus Christ made the born blind see (John 9:7). What had the Pharisees done? They passed judgment, not as a sober judge did but an abusive one! No wonder Jesus Christ says, "We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (9:4-5) Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Rejecting Him, where comes the light? Thus, the Pharisees who remained in the dark could only continue to abuse their power. Even though the born blind objectively pointed out their mistakes, they insisted their blindness (9:31-34)! What a pity! The Father gives us different potentials. Is the Father not good? Wrong! We are different so that division of labour is possible. We shall be able to do greater and more magnificent projects to glory the Father! If everyone were uniform and self-sufficient, how bland the world would be!

Brethren! The faults of the Pharisees should remind us of whether our hearts are blind so that we are not able to see God's works and even fight against Him! Have social unrest and pandemic outbreak brought us closer to God, prodded us to seek consolation and trust from His word in the Bible? Have fasting and prayers brought us care for the less advantaged? Lastly, have we extended God's hand of mercy to help our needy neighbour? Jesus Christ is present among them, waiting for us to receive His light.
God bless!