God's family

We are reading an interesting text of 1 John today. We see children, fathers and young men making up the Johannine community. The author addresses them as little children. They and the author form God's family.
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his sake (1 John 2:12).
This is a community of sinners whose sins have been forgiven by God for His sake. It is our Church. We have been redeemed and gather together into God's family. In this community, we lead a redeemed life, a new life abiding in God's light. This new life consists in the knowledge of God, of His love. This new life consists in overcoming evil.
The author continues to encourage them of their jobs well done.
I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father (1 John 2:13).
They know the Father. They have overcome evil. This is what God wants of us. The author repeats to stress his point.
I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one (1 John 2:14).
God wants us to know Him, to be strong, to abide in His word and to overcome evil. As fathers who know God, they should pass on their knowledge to the young men, to the children. They should guide them in their way of life. Young men act out this knowledge, live up to the love of God. In face of adversities, young men should be strong in overcoming evil, equipped with the abiding word of God. Living in a community made up of different people, conflicts and disputes are inevitable. They may get hurt. Therefore, they should overcome the strong urge to hate and show their love by forgiving each other. Only the weak ones hate. With God's word and love, they are strong enough not to be afraid of getting hurt. Then they are able to forgive.
In order not to be weakened, they are advised not to love the world.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If any one loves the world, love for the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15).
The love of the world will displace their love for the Father without which, they will not be able to remain strong in overcoming evil. This is not what God wants to see. The world will pass away. If we love the world, we will pass away as it does. God wants us to do His will and stay with Him forever.
And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides for ever (1 John 2:17). This is God's purpose of our existence on this planet (Rick Warren).

My Father, reveal to me more so that I may live more purposefully and do Your will more. Amen.

Love for God is perfected

Every Christian professes to love God, otherwise he is not qualified to be a Christian. To love God, we observe the first few Commandments --- confess no other God but Yahweh, do not call His name in vain and keep the Sabbath holy. Yet, Moses gave the Israelites and us more Commandments than these. Therefore, we need to love men in order to perfect our love for God. During the Last Supper, Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:34-35).
This is a higher demand than the one stipulated by Moses.
You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him.
You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD (Leviticus 19:17-18).
The statue of Moses is practical. We are told to love our neighbour as ourselves. Therefore, it is a secondary, derived step. It begins with self-love. Moses had made a very natural assumption: First of all, you must love yourself. Otherwise, you will not know how to love others. However, Moses' statue suffers from two weaknesses: We are flawed and we are selfish. Psychologists tell us that our ego is imperfect but it is here to stay because it has been formed from our birth through the interaction of our genes with the environment we have been brought up. So, our love for others would be imperfect if we follow the standard of our self-love. What is worse, our selfishness may hinder our effort to follow this statue. We may only love others up to 62% of our full capacity to love ourselves. Anyhow, the statue still holds good for both parties, for both you and me.
However, the commandment of Jesus is noble. We are told to love each other as Jesus has loved us. Now, we have a perfect model to follow. His love for us is God's love which is perfect. Therefore, the first weak point is eliminated. So, we are left with the second weakness. Now, we cannot put the blame on our past and our imperfect ego for all our failures to love our neighours. We only have ourselves to blame as well as to praise when we are able to reach out to care and love the others as Jesus would have done. Therefore, Jesus' commandment is more demanding than Moses'.
In the reading of John's first epistle, we read of a similar admonition.
He who says "I know him" but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected (1 John 2:4-5a).
Scholars believe that John, or an author writing in the authority of John, was fighting against the Gnostism movement in his community, against those who claimed to possess "secret knowledge" that brought salvation. No. Knowledge alone is of no use. Practise what you preach. It was a very pragmatic criterion to evaluate the truthfulness of one's claim. Even Deng Xiao Ping put up a similar criterion for the economic reforms in mainland China thirty years ago. But what exactly is "his commandments"? The following 2 verses are interesting.
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.
Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining (1 John 2:7-8).
"I am writing you no new commandment ... Yet I am writing you a new commandment ..." Do they sound contradictory? No, only if this "new commandment" is a word play on the "new commandment" Jesus gave in the Last Supper. The community members should have known this commandment well. It is nothing new yet it is the "new commandment" which Jesus gave.
The next two verses betray the Jewish background of the author.
He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness still.
He who loves his brother abides in the light, and in it there is no cause for stumbling (1 John 2:9-10).
The structure is similar to Leviticus 19:17-18. Both of them admonish the people for the hatred of their brothers and encourage them to perfect their love for God ("I am the Lord" & "abides in the light"). Both the negative and the positive sides are covered. In fact, the previous pair of verses follows the same pattern: firstly a negative statement is stated and a positive one follows.

My Lord, help me lead a purposeful life, maturing in perfection day by day. Amen.

Feast of the Holy Family

I was married in 1982. In 1985, Hilary was born. Erminia became a mother and mother instinct took over her role as my wife, my helping hand. Of course, Erminia continues to be my helping hand but naturally, the kids need her more than I do.
These years, when the kids are more or less grown up, Erminia can spend more time with me, giving me more feedback which I have been badly in need. Yesterday (December 27), the St. Marians lost to the DGS in the Annual Inter-School Band Competition organized by the Music Office, I was able to spend two days with Erminia in Macau to make up for her defeat. Otherwise, she would have gone to the Grand Final today. Actually, the result was announced only at 10 p.m. last night. Therefore, our trip today was quite impromptu.

Early in the morning, we attended the Sunday Mass at 8 a.m., had a quick breakfast at the McDonalds and took a bus to Tsim Sha Tsui. We managed to book a ferry at 2p.m. We had nearly 3 hours to spend in Tsim Sha Tsui, as local independent tourists. Erminia was very eager to show me the different dining locations there. Since we had more than ample hour in hand, we spent more than an hour in Tom Lee. When we board the ferry, we had purchased more than $400 of music books and brought them all the way to Macau! What an omen!
When we arrived, we had missed the shuttle bus to our hotel. The man at the enquiry desk advised us to take the shuttle bus of Grand Emperor Casino because our 3-star hotel was just a 3-minute walk away. After checking in, we began our relaxing, aimless trip. We retraced our previous track, with new a twist into the bookshop run by the St. Paul Sisters. They were stock-taking tomorrow, December 29. I picked up a few books on St. Paul and I asked the nun if there were any book on Ethics. She introduced me to the author Rick Warren, a Protestant pastor. I had a good chat with her. She was really inspiring. She assured me that I was gifted and I should share. Married life should consist of 4 rings: engagement, wedding, suffering and sharing. And the last one sustains our married life, A Purpose Driven Life, the book I bought at her advice. What an omen!

We visited the Casa de Lou Kau. A young gentleman was our guide and he did a wonderful task in explaining in great details every characteristic of this age old mansion. It was an eye-opening guided tour and we understood the features of the architecture of this once rich man's house. After dinner, we went window shopping in Yaohan and spent more than one and a half hour with the slot-machines in the Grand Emperor Casino, breaking even. We returned to the hotel and ... The next morning at 9:20 a.m., we woke up. In the morning, we paid a visit to the Cemiterio S. Miguel. The gravestones of husbands and wives erected by their surviving spouses impressed us a lot. In particular, a newly erected gravestone of a wife by her loving husband touched Erminia in particular. An angel embraced the wife with a love ode from her husband who felt her constant presence around him. Erminia, I love you. Your love will always cherish and cheer my depressed heart.
We returned to Hong Kong to our children. Once we landed, Erminia reminded me that my pace had quickened suddenly. Saturnia opened a bottle of red wine to welcome us. Alex is a refreshed and contented old man.

Dear Lord, I have chosen a married life. Bless our family so that we may live up a Holy Family. Amen.

Feast of St. John the Evangelist

"The Evangelist" has a special meaning other than anyone who preaches the good news. Here, it means the author of the gospel. John, one of the Twelve chosen by Jesus, was believed to be the author of the gospel bearing his name. Within this gospel, the name John either refers to John the Baptist (John 1:6), or the father of Simon Peter (John 1:42). However, there is a anonymous figure in the gospel who was never identified by name.
One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus; (John 13:23).
Was he John the Evangelist, the son of Zebedee?
The Church has a long tradition to identify this "beloved disciple" of the Lord as John. Therefore, he leant to the breast of Jesus during the last supper. He also appeared at the crucifixion of Jesus, taking care of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the instruction of the crucified Lord (John 19:26). So, according to Church tradition, Mary spent her last days with John in Ephesus where he wrote 3 epistles to his name. However, some scholars begged to differ. They proposed other candidates. One was Lazarus. Lazarus appears in Luke and John. In Luke, he was a fictitious character appearing in a parable. In John, he was a real person. Therefore, scholars based their speculation on two verses from the gospel of John.
The story of Lazarus appears in John 11. He was the brother of Mary and Martha. Mary was identified as the woman who anointed Jesus (John 11:2). They lived in Bethany. So, this Mary was different from Mary Magdalene who also appears in this gospel. These sisters also appear in the gospel of Luke 10 where they exemplify two different spiritualities.
Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
But Martha was distracted with much serving (Luke 10:39b-40a);
It would be interesting for Luke to turn these sisters' brother into a hero in his parable!
Let's return to the "beloved disciple".
It seemed that when Jesus was preaching around the region, these sisters received and waited on him.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus (John 11:5).
When Jesus came to the tomb of Lazarus, he wept.
So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" (John 11:35).
Scholars would argue that John the Evangelist, has long been actively working along with other apostles in previous chapters. Now, the "beloved disciple" is mentioned only after John 11. Therefore, Lazarus was a highly likely candidate.
In the last chapter of John, the "beloved disciple" is mentioned once more (John 21:20). A few verses below, we found a verse suggesting that the "beloved disciple" and the author of the gospel were two different persons!
This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true (John 21:24).
So, we either assign John to be the Evangelist or to be the "beloved disciple". The Church tradition cannot have both.

Moreover, the Synoptic gospels do not paint a favourable picture of John. He was hot-tempered and Jesus gave him and his brother James a nickname "Boanerges", that is, sons of thunder (Mark 3:17). Their hot temper was shown once they were not received by a Samaritan village. The brothers asked Jesus if they should command fire from heaven to consume them (Luke 9:54). They (or in Matthew, their mother) were ambitious and wanted to sit at Jesus' left and right in the Kingdom (Mark 10:37). In the Passion story, there was no mention of any apostles staying close to the scene of crucifixion. Only the women were watching from afar and Jesus was buried by a member of the Jewish Council! Therefore, judging from the evidence available from the Synoptic gospels, John would be a very unlikely candidate for this "beloved disciple". So, let John be the Evangelist.
But John has not completely lost. The last chapter of John talks about a fishing experience in the Sea of Tiberias.
Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together (John 21:2).
Notice that this is the only reference of "the sons of Zebedee" in the whole gospel. Moreover, "two others of his disciples" fails to mention the "beloved disciple". So, we can safely assume that if this "beloved disciple" was there, he must be one of the named apostles. In fact, he was present.
That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" (John 21:7a).
It was unlikely that Lazarus, who came from Bethany, was a fisherman. But the sons of Zebedee were.
But how are we to handle John 21:24?
One solution, as many scholars agree, is that this last chapter of John was an appendix written by somebody else. (That is why he wrote "the sons of Zebedee".) John, the Evangelist wrote the first 20 chapters ("who has written these things"). He was the "beloved disciple". He was bearing witness and his testamony was true.
Furthermore, John 20 contains the only record of Peter and the beloved disciple checking the tomb. They worked closely together. In Acts, we read of the close partnership between Peter and John in the Jerusalem church.
Why was John the Evangelist so obscure in the gospel of John? I think it was highly likely that he was once a disciple of John the Baptist before he followed Jesus. In chapter 1, two disciples of the Baptist heard him say "This is the Lamb of God" the second time and followed Jesus (John 1:36-37). One of them was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. The other one was never mentioned. I hypothesize that this other one was John, the son of Zebedee. Throughout his gospel, he reported a lot more information about the Baptist than the Synoptic gospels. Therefore, it is highly likely that he had once been the Baptist's disciple.
This is why studying the Bible is fascinating. There can be a lot of detective work and nobody has yet the final say. So, at the end of the world, we can pose one more question to Jesus. Is it true that John is the "beloved disciple"?

My Lord, we thank You for Your passing on the teaching of love to John. Let us keep his teaching in mind and put it into practice. Amen.

Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr

If Christmas is meant to be joyful, why do we celebrate the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr immediately after Christmas, on December 26? Paying a visit to the St. Stephen webpage at Catholic Online did not yield any answer. Nor did a visit to Online Catholic Encyclopaedia.

Fortunately, a patient search on the Internet landed me on a book written in 1955 by Fr. Edward J. Sutfin. The title is called "TRUE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT". It was a book intended to help children make sense of the liturgy and folklore of Christmas. In the Foreword, Fr. Sutfin expressed his wish.

"Children find in folk-lore a natural, unsophisticated outlet of expression. We speak of our children as the hope of our nation. Allow them to profit by liturgy and folk tradition, and they shall integrate a truly American culture which is both contemporary and open-minded to history and to the world at large. The Church always finds old and new treasures of grace in her storehouse of scripture and tradition. We must take every means of helping our children to find them."

In chapter 6 of the book, entitled "THE COURT OF THE KING-SAVIOR", we are able to find out why the feast of St. Stephen is celebrated immediately after Christmas. Christ is our King, our God. He came to us. Among His attendants, St. Stephen was the first and foremost because he was the first to lay down his life for the love of this Great King. In Fr. Sutfin's words.

"ANCIENT tradition tells us that while Advent brought God to man through the Incarnation of the Word, so the twelve days between Christmas and the Epiphany were to bring man to God. On the very first day after Christmas we meet the first member of the suite of the Great King. The Saviour's immediate attendant is St. Stephen of Jerusalem, the first martyr, for there is no greater love for the newborn King than to lay down one's life for Him."

The story of St. Stephen is recorded in Acts 6:1-8:2. Like Jesus, Stephen was a model martyr. He was eloquent and full of the Holy Spirit. Luke describes his death scene in parallel with Jesus' Passion. Stephen saw the heavens opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56), while Jesus promised the repentant thief a place in paradise (Luke 23:43). Stephen asked Jesus to forgive those who killed him (Acts 7:60) while Jesus asked God the Father to forgive (Luke 23:34). Stephen surrendered his soul into Jesus' hand (Acts 7:59) while Jesus committed his spirit to God the Father (Luke 23:46). Therefore, it is no exaggeration to claim that the corpus of Luke is a gospel for the martyrs, in both sense of the word: to bear witness and to lay down one's life for his convictions.

The gospel reading today is very appropriate. Matthew 10 contains the so-called Missionary Discourse. Firstly, Jesus chose the 12 apostles. He then sent them out to preach the good news. Then there follow a series of advice and warnings. Today, we read of Matthew 10:17-22.
Jesus had warned his followers beforehand that there would be persecutions, that there would be betrayals by your closest relations. But these are also golden opportunities to bear witness to the good news. Moreover, martyrs are vessels of God through whom God's Spirit would speak.
When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour;
for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you (Matthew 10:19-20). 

Nowadays, most of the governments and people are civilized. Christians are not facing bloody persecutions. Rather, we are facing different kinds of obstacles --- indifference and scandals. Therefore, we need to develop a different kind of engagement with this world so that the good news of Christ can be heard all over the world.

Lord Jesus, how do I make my students open up to receive Your good news? How do I rebuild the confidence in the Church which has been eroded among my colleagues? Come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen.

2008 Christmas Greeting

SEASON GREETING

In this time of restlessness
When each of us faces different degrees of uncertainty and losses
May the Prince of Peace
Grant us a serenity that is undreamed of
Keep us, our family, friends, benefactors and colleagues
Safe and sound
Financially, physically and spiritually
Until we meet and greet each other again.
Alleluia!

Yours in the Risen Lord
Alex Kwok
Christmas 2008

Christmas Eve

These years, I don't go to mid-night masses. I usually go to an earlier one at 8:00 p.m. for children and the aged. Tonight, Fr. Martin celebrated this mass with us. This mass was for children. So, instructors of the Sunday School produced a Christmas drama for the congregation. The plot was very simple but the actors and actresses, all of whom were children from Sunday School, were able to win the admiration of the audience. The congregation enjoyed it very much. The drama was able to convey a simple but forceful message ---- love reaches out to join everyone, to move everyone.
After the drama, Fr. Martin shared with us the same message but with a much deeper experience. He told us about 2 volunteers who have been working to improve the schooling for children in Qinghai 青海 province. Of course, the volunteers did not have enough resources to renovate the crumbling school premises, furniture nor help pay the salary of the teachers. They were only able to supply them with stationery, school bags, a pair of new shoes or even a new dress. The clothes worn by the children were not thick enough to resist the chilly climate. So, the 2 volunteers went with a group of school children to the market place to buy some new clothes. However, when the children saw the price tag --- 65 yuan, they decided not to buy. The 2 volunteers did not understand. The children told them that way back home, their parents were not able to earn 65 yuan a year! So, they decided to give up this opportunity to improve their situation. They preferred to stay put with whatever they were having then.
From the point of view of us, outsiders, we might think that the children were silly. Opportunity may visit you only once. If you miss it, it may never come back again. However, love links these children with the parents far away at home working hard to earn a meagre living, and to send them to school so that they may have a better future. Love makes these children remember the parents, remember the harsh living environment in which their parents are living. Here, Fr. Martin saw Jesus.
Love joins Jesus with us. Love makes Jesus remember our plights. Therefore, the Son of God gave up the power, the glory and the abundance in heaven to take up our flesh, our limitations and our poverty. He came to live with us and to die for us. This is the message of Christmas.
Returning to our situation, Fr. Martin reminded the young people to join their hearts with their parents. Do not take things for granted.
Before the end of the mass, Fr. Martin showed slides of cribs from different countries. It was a wonderful and eye-opening collection. The cribs were decorated in nationalistic characteristics. Three choices were shown. The children were frantic in putting up their hands. Fr. Martin enjoyed playing Santa Claus.
We walked home after mass. On the way, we met a lot of choirs carolling. People in Hong Kong deserve a moment of peace despite the gathering cloud of worries under this financial tsunami.

Dear King of Peace, You brought us the light of hope. May we find strength this Christmas to combat the upcoming financial crisis. Amen.

The Last Chapter of the Old Testament

The Old Testament of the Christian Bible is NOT just the Hebrew Scripture. First of all, the Old Testament of the Catholic Bible is based upon the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scripture and a few books more, the Septuagint. Even after Martin Luther threw away the few Greek books to form the Protestant Old Testament, it is still different from the Hebrew Scripture because the Septuagint has a different structure.
The Hebrew Scripture consists of 3 parts: the Torah, the Prophets and the Holy Writings.
The Torah is the first five books which were supposed to be written by Moses. The books have no titles. They are identified by the first word of each book.
The Prophets consist of the Former Prophets which include Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings; the Latter Prophets which include the 3 major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and the 12 minor prophets.
The Holy Writings consist of the Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentation, Esther, Daniel and Ezra/Nehemiah.
Therefore, the last book of the Hebrew Scripture is not Malachi, but Nehemiah.
The Septuagint consists of 4 parts: The Pentateuch, Historical books, Wisdom literature and the Prophets
The Pentateuch is the first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These names actually came from the Septuagint.
Historical books consist of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-4 Kings (i.e. 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings), 1&2 Chronicles, 1&2 Esdras, Esther, Judith, Tobit, 1-4 Maccabees.
Wisdom literature consists of 151 Psalms + 14 prayers/songs, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach, Psalms of Solomon.
Prophets consists of 12 minor prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations, Letter of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Susanna, Daniel, Bel & Dragon.
Therefore, the last book of the Septuagint is not Malachi, but Bel & Dragon.
The Catholic Old Testament basically follow the Septuagint. However it moves Judith after Tobit, Esther after Judith, 12 minor prophets after Daniel; Job before the Psalms, Lamentations before Baruch; drops 3&4 Maccabees, Psalm 151, Psalm of Solomon, appends Letter of Jeremiah to Baruch and; Susanna, Bel & Dragon to Daniel.
The Protestant Old Testament drops the 7 Greek books from the Catholic Old Testament, viz. Tobit, Judith, 1&2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Sirach and Baruch.
So, the last book of the Christian Old Testament, both Catholic and Protestant, is Malachi.
The last chapter of Malachi is an appropriate link to the New Testament, which was a Christian invention.
Behold, I send my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts (Malachi 3:1).
Nobody knows when the Lord would come because His time-frame is different from ours. He would suddenly come to you and to be fair to you, He sent His messenger to prepare the way. How?
For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap;
he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the LORD.
Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years (Malachi 3:2b-4).
Christians found that John the Baptist matched this description as a refiner, a purifier. He appeared in the wilderness to proclaim repentance and a baptism to forgive sins.
The last verses of the Old Testament are a reminder for Christians of their roots: the Commandments and statues laid down by Moses and the messages of the prophets, represented by Elijah.
"Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.
"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse." (Malachi 3:22-24)

In the gospel, we have already read of Gabriel's prediction on the life of John the Baptist. It was an affirmation of the prophecy of Malachi.
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared (Luke 1:17).
When John the Baptist was born, Zechariah sang another song of praise. The following Latin version is just for reference.

benedictus Deus Israhel quia visitavit et fecit redemptionem plebi suae

et erexit cornu salutis nobis in domo David pueri sui

sicut locutus est per os sanctorum qui a saeculo sunt prophetarum eius

salutem ex inimicis nostris et de manu omnium qui oderunt nos

ad faciendam misericordiam cum patribus nostris et memorari testamenti sui sancti

iusiurandum quod iuravit ad Abraham patrem nostrum

daturum se nobis ut sine timore de manu inimicorum nostrorum liberati serviamus illi

in sanctitate et iustitia coram ipso omnibus diebus nostris

et tu puer propheta Altissimi vocaberis praeibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias eius

ad dandam scientiam salutis plebi eius in remissionem peccatorum eorum

per viscera misericordiae Dei nostri in quibus visitavit nos oriens ex alto

inluminare his qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedent ad dirigendos pedes nostros in viam pacis (Luke 1:68-79)
The mission of John the Baptist was understood in a different way. He would go before the Lord. This has become a sort of consensus among the authors. Yet, what he did had been interpreted in different way. Malachi saw him as a purifier. Gabriel saw him as turning the disobedient to wisdom (i.e. fear of God). Zechariah saw his son cleaning people of their sins.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins (Luke 1:76-77)
Now, which is nearest to the truth? It doesn't matter. Each of us is a baptist. Our life situations may be different. Yet, the one common core is still there ---- to prepare the way for the Lord.

Dear Lord, Your second coming is near. We are sure that Your parousia is not far away from us. May we work harder to prepare the way for Your coming among the people. Amen.

The Magnificat

The gospel of Luke has collected a number of prayers in the first 2 chapters. There are the Ave Maria (Luke 1:28) by angel Gabriel; the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) by Our Lady; the Benedictus Deus (Luke 1:68-79) by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist; the Gloria (Luke 2:14) by the angelic host; the Nunc Dimittis (Luke 2:29-35) by Simeon. Those names are in Latin. They are the first one or two words of the songs. Today, we come to the Magnificat. I was struck by the similarity between this prayer/song with that of Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Before we proceed to reflect on the messages of the Magnificat, let me copy the Latin Vulgate version in full for my reference.
magnificat anima mea Dominum
et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo
quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes
quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est et sanctum nomen eius
et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum
fecit potentiam in brachio suo dispersit superbos mente cordis sui
deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles
esurientes implevit bonis et divites dimisit inanes
suscepit Israhel puerum suum memorari misericordiae
sicut locutus est ad patres nostros Abraham et semini eius in saecula (Luke 1:46-55).
Mary praised the Lord because He had done great things for her.
for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name (Luke 1:49).
This Lord definitely works for the poor and the humble against the rich and the powerful. This is the key message of the Magnificat.
In the first book of Samuel, we have a similar song by Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Here it is.
"My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation.
"There is none holy like the LORD, there is none besides thee; there is no rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and on them he has set the world.
"He will guard the feet of his faithful ones; but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might shall a man prevail. The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed (1 Samuel 2:1-10).
In the prayer of Hannah, the Lord did not favour the poor and the needy as much as the Magnificat did. The Lord was neutral in the sense that He took care of both the rich and the poor in the spirit of Matthew 6. At least, this was how Hannah, or the Israelites at that time understood their God.
The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts (1 Samuel 2:6-7).When the Christians first appeared, their perception of God had evolved. God opted for the poor.
Today, we only have the Greek, Latin, English, Chinese and versions of the Magnificat in different modern languages. But Mary was supposed to speak in Hebrew or Aramaic. I wonder how the prayer was sung in Hebrew/Aramaic.

My Lord, May our souls be filled with Your Holy Spirit and lifted up as Mary did. We are really lucky because of our poverty. You like to show Your mercy and greatness on us, lowly creatures. Let us praise You in Your house, forever and ever. Amen.

The 4th Week of Advent (Year B)

Four days remain before Christmas. You must have been very busy sending Christmas greetings and preparing gifts for your relatives and friends. Yes, Christmas is a season of giving. First of all, God gives generously Himself to us to be crucified. We follow His example and give out gifts to those we care. These years, to be environmentally friendly, I sent out electronic greeting messages through emails to my friends and my students, telling them that I am still alive and kicking.
Today, we read of two important texts in the Bible: the Nathan Oracle and the Annunciation.
David intended to build a Temple to house the Ark of Covenant. But God did not need a house because heaven is His throne and the earth is His stool, what else can we build for God? Instead, God promised to build an everlasting house, an everlasting dynasty for David. Nathan passed on God's message to David as follow.
When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. When he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men;
but I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.
And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever (2 Samuel 7:12-16).
This is the famous Nathan's Oracle. Solomon, David's son would build the Temple and God promised David that his dynasty would be established forever.
In reality, Judah was conquered by Babylon in 586 B.C. The Temple was burned down. But it is impossible that God told lies. Therefore, the Jews tried to understand the Oracle in a more creative way. The Oracle refers to the Messiah, an offspring of David. God would be his father and his throne would be established forever. This became the background for Christians to understand Christ and the eternal dynasty. Christ would be an offspring of David and the Church would be the eternal dynasty promised by God.
In the homily today, Fr. Kwan focused not on the eternal throne Gabriel mentioned, but on the response of Our Lady instead. Everyone of us tries to figure out the will of God. When we are not sure what God's will is, we need to talk to others. When Gabriel told Mary that she would bear a child, Mary was not sure what to do.
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? (Luke 1:31-34)
Mary's question was not meaningful. She was betrothed to Joseph, of the house of David (Luke 1:27). They would live together soon. Naturally, she would have babies. Now, an angel came and foretold that her son in the future would be great and would rule the house of Jacob forever. Great! Wonderful! Wasn't it every girl's dream? What was the problem? Unless she understood the angel's message to take immediate effect. Then, she had a problem because the timing was wrong. Joseph and her had not yet lived together.
Usually, the time frame of God is rather long. When God announced through prophets what He intended to do, He meant generations. Now that the message was conveyed by angel Gabriel, perhaps it meant to be immediate. Otherwise, Mary's question was meaningless. Anyway, Fr. Kwan did not dwell on this point. He wanted to stress the point that when we are not sure about God's will, we should consult. Keeping things to oneself does not help a bit.
Fr. Kwan is the second person to tell me this. The Vicar General was the first when he discovered that I was interested in serving the Church as a perpetual deacon. Perhaps I should make this my 2009 resolution --- besides praying, I should consult.
Fr. Kwan also delineated God's will in general. God intends us to love and to forgive. In fact, loving God is easier than loving man. Man makes mistakes. People around you may offend you unwittingly, however good they intend to be. You don't need to forgive God, but to forgive man is not easy. Loving someone you like is easy. Loving someone offensive to you is difficult and this is the challenge. We are ambassadors of reconciliation. Go and mend fences.

Dear Lord, You are wonderful and adorable. You turn ugliness into beauty, evil to blessing. May we be channel of Your blessings to this world. Amen.

Virgin or Maiden

Today, we read of the famous line which predicts the virgin birth of the Messiah.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14, RSV).
The above RSV translation came from the Hebrew text. The word for "a young woman הָעַלְמָה " in Hebrew has a variety of meanings such as ripe sexually, maid or newly married woman.
Matthew quoted the Septuagint in his gospel. However, the Greek word in LXX is ἡ παρθένος , which means a virgin. Is LXX justified in choosing this word? Therefore, I began a search journey among the books, electronically. Credit should be given to Mr. John Fok who generously supports me which an electronic library. The following table is the result.

LXX Virgins παρθένος	BHS Virgins בְּתוּלָה	BHS maiden עַלְמָה
1. Genesis 24:14
2. Genesis 24:16	1. Genesis 24:16
3. Genesis 24:43		1. Genesis 24:43
4. Genesis 24:55
5. Genesis 34:3
the young woman ἡ νεᾶνις		2. Exodus 2:8
6. Exodus 22:15	2. Exodus 22:16
7. Exodus 22:16	3. Exodus 22:17
8. Leviticus 21:3	4. Leviticus 21:3
9. Leviticus 21:13
10. Leviticus 21:14	5. Leviticus 21:14
11. Deuteronomy 22:19	6. Deuteronomy 22:19
12. Deuteronomy 22:23	7. Deuteronomy 22:23
13. Deuteronomy 22:28	8. Deuteronomy 22:28
14. Deuteronomy 32:25	9. Deuteronomy 32:25
15. Judges 19:24	10. Judges 19:24
16. Judges 21:11
17. Judges 21:12	11. Judges 21:12
18. 2 Samuel 13:2	12. 2 Samuel 13:2
19. 2 Samuel 13:18	13. 2 Samuel 13:18
20. 1 Kings 1:2	14. 1 Kings 1:2
21. 2 Kings 19:21	15. 2 Kings 19:21
22. 2 Chronicles 36:17	16. 2 Chronicles 36:17
skipped	17. Esther 2:2
23. Esther 2:3	18. Esther 2:3
24. Esther 2:17	19. Esther 2:17
skipped	20. Esther 2:19
25. Job 31:1	21. Job 31:1
26. Psalm 44:15	22. Psalm 45:14
of young women νεανίδων		3. Psalm 68:25
27. Psalm 77:63	23. Psalm 78:63
28. Psalm 148:12	24. Psalm 148:12
in youth ἐν νεότητι		4. Proverbs 30:19
the young women τοῦτο νεάνιδες		5. Song of Solomon 1:3
young women νεάνιδες		6. Song of Solomon 6:8
29. Isaiah 7:14		7. Isaiah 7:14
30. Isaiah 23:4	25. Isaiah 23:4
skipped	26. Isaiah 23:12
31. Isaiah 37:22	27. Isaiah 37:22
32. Isaiah 47:1	28. Isaiah 47:1
33. Isaiah 62:5	29. Isaiah 62:5
34. Jeremiah 2:32	30. Jeremiah 2:32
skipped	31. Jeremiah 14:17
35. Jeremiah 18:13	32. Jeremiah 18:13
36. Jeremiah 26:11	36. Jeremiah 46:11
37. Jeremiah 28:22	37. Jeremiah 51:22
38. Jeremiah 38:4	33. Jeremiah 31:4
39. Jeremiah 38:13	34. Jeremiah 31:13
40. Jeremiah 38:21	35. Jeremiah 31:21
41. Lamentations 1:4	38. Lamentations 1:4
42. Lamentations 1:15	39. Lamentations 1:15
43. Lamentations 1:18	40. Lamentations 1:18
44. Lamentations 2:10	41. Lamentations 2:10
45. Lamentations 2:13	42. Lamentations 2:13
46. Lamentations 2:21	43. Lamentations 2:21
47. Lamentations 5:11	44. Lamentations 5:11
48. Ezekiel 9:6	45. Ezekiel 9:6
49. Ezekiel 44:22	46. Ezekiel 44:22
a bride νύμφην	47. Joel 1:8
50. Amos 5:2	48. Amos 5:2
51. Amos 8:13	49. Amos 8:13
52. Zechariah 9:17	50. Zechariah 9:17

We see that most of the 50 "virgin" entries in Hebrew were translated into ἡ παρθένος in LXX, though there are a few exceptions. Those "skipped" entries mean, for some reasons, LXX did not translate them.
There are only 7 "maid" entries in Hebrew. Therefore, we can look at them case by case.
Genesis has one "maid" entry and one "virgin" entry. Both entries were translated into virgin.
Both entries refer to Rebekah. The servant of Abraham met her beside a well (Genesis 24). Therefore, it is reasonable to translate both entries into "virgin".
Exodus has one "maid" entry and 2 "virgin" entries. They were translated accordingly.
Psalm has one "maid" entry and 3 "virgin" entries. They were translated accordingly.
Proverbs has one "maid" entry and was translated accordingly.
Songs of Solomon has two "maid" entries and was translated accordingly.
Isaiah has one "maid" entry and 5 "virgin" entries. They were all translated into "virgin" except one.
Books of prophets are not narratives but collections of oracles proclaimed in different times. What is worse, the collections may not necessarily be chronological. We have no clue why the LXX translator decided to translate the "young woman" into "virgin". The context was Ahaz facing a hostile northern alliance between Israel and Syria to force him to join them to fight against Assyria. God gave him a sign. A young woman would bear a child.
He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good.
For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted (Isaiah 7:15-16).
Most likely, this young woman was the queen, the wife of Ahaz. Therefore, it is indeed a mystery why the LXX translator could have translated this "young woman" into a "virgin".
Of all the 7 "maid" entries in Hebrew, there are 2 exceptions, one in Genesis and the other in Isaiah. The one in Genesis is explicable while the one in Isaiah is truly the outcome of an inspiration from God. Only God knows why.

My God, it has been an enriching soul-searching exercise. I humbly praise You for Your wonders and wisdom. Amen.

The Birth of Samson

The story of Samson is one of my favourites. Though his is a tragic but heroic story, Samson is very close to our hearts. He was a man of flesh and blood, with a flawed personality, like most of us. We tend to fantasize heroes to be virtuous. Yet, God Almighty is able to deliver His people with a questionable person. Therefore, let us try to be less arrogant and to tolerate imperfections.
Judges 13-16 tell of his story. When the Israelites were able to enjoy a relatively peaceful time, they again did what was evil in God's eyes and God allowed the Philistines to defeat them for 40 years. Then Samson appeared and become the Judge for Israel for 20 years. Like many legendary heroes, Samson's mother was barren. One day, an angel appeared to her and told her that she would have a child who was to be a Nazirite and he would deliver the Israelites from the Philistines. He should refrain from wine and his power grew along with his hair. His story is typical. When he grew up, he broke nearly all the restrictions. He fell in love with a Philistine woman who wished to make a fortune. This woman, Delilah, betrayed him to a number of lords of the Philistines each of whom promised to give Delilah eleven hundred pieces of silver (Judges 16:5). Samson cheated Delilah twice and the third time, Samson revealed the secret of his power. Delilah put Samson to sleep, shaved off his hair and called in the Philistines. Samson had lost all his power and was not able to put up any resistance. The Philistines caught him, gouged out his eyes and made him a slave. Gradually, his hair grew again. When the Philistines gathered in the temple of Dagon to offer sacrifice, they brought forth Samson in order to make fun of him. Samson was standing between the pillars that supported the house. He prayed to God for the last time, grasped the two pillars with his arms and tore down the house. He died with many Philistines. The story of Samson is very dramatic and entertaining. Probably the story evolved from local folklore. It gained popularity and was embellished all the way when it found its way into the Scripture.
Today, we read of the birth of Samson. The Bible recorded the name of his father, Manoah, but not his mother who was barren. God removed her shame by giving her a son. An angel, who remained nameless throughout the story, appeared to the woman to inform her of the good news. She did not know that what she met was an angel. She came to inform her husband, Manoah, who prayed to God for further revelation. They still thought that the angel was just a man of God. Manoah wanted to keep this angel for a few more days. The angel suggested Manoah offered a sacrifice to God.
And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground (Judges 13:20).
Only then did they know that they had met an angel.
Today, we also read of the story of Gabriel appearing to Zechariah whose wife had a name, Elizabeth.
But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years (Luke 1:7).
When Gabriel informed Zechariah of the birth of John, Zechariah did not dare to believe it.
And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." (Luke 1:18)
Zechariah's doubt was highly reasonable. He was actually old. Yet, he had forgotten their ancestor Abraham, who at the age of 100, had a son by Sarah. Sarah was also a barren old woman. Zechariah should know this Abraham story. He might also be familiar with the story of Samson. So, it became unreasonable for Zechariah to doubt the word from Gabriel. What prevented Zechariah from believing, even an angel?
We have read many stories and enjoyed them a lot. Yet, we seldom believe the story would happen to us! This "not-me" psychology is very common. Furthermore, the news was too good to believe in. Combining these, it was reasonable for Zechariah to doubt the word of Archangel Gabriel.

My God, I pray that You open our hearts, our minds and our eyes to experience Your presence. May we happily receive Your blessings of love and sharing. Amen.

Why does the Catholic Church insist on the perpetual virginity of Mary

Things highly valued are enshrined in customs and tradition. Customs and tradition make us what we are. We are Catholics, not just Christians. We are a special brand of Christians.
The Catholic Church administers 7 sacraments, including Reconciliation. Their priests, representing the Church and God, hear the confessions of the faithful and absolve their sins. This absolution of sins is a service rather than an execution of authority. The Church sees herself an ambassador of reconciliation between God and sinners and among sinners. These priests, unlike Protestant pastors, are celibate. Why? The Catholic Church sees her priests as representatives of Jesus. Therefore, the Catholic Church consistently denies women the opportunity of ordination because Jesus is a man. Moreover, Jesus was single and devoted his whole life to evangelization. Therefore, the Catholic Church demands priests to be celibate, though the apostles, bishops and overseers of the early church were mostly married. It is unimaginable, or even offensive to think of Jesus having married to a woman.
Indeed, it is advantageous to have a celibate Jesus. Had Jesus married to a woman, part of his life would have belonged to that woman. He would not totally belong to the believers. Similarly, it is important for the Blessed Virgin Mary to remain perpetually a virgin, despite contrary evidence found in the gospels. The Church wants a total ownership of Mary. The Church will not allow a husband to claim any right over Mary. The Church wants to claim an exclusive right herself. Our Lady is the Mother of the Church. If somebody fathers the Church, that somebody can only be God and not any ordinary mortals. Therefore, St. Joseph can only be the husband of Mary in name, be her protector and the legal guardian of Jesus. Therefore, St. Joseph could not have any sexual relation with Mary. The gospel says otherwise.
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife,
but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus (Matthew 1:24-25).
"knew her" is an implicit way to say "had sex with her". The word until is a faithful translation from Greek. The text says Joseph did not have sex with Mary until she had given birth to Jesus. This suggests that Joseph did have sex with Mary after the birth of Jesus. Of course, you can argue that the text does not affirmatively say that Joseph had sex with Mary after she gave birth to Jesus. But was there any better way for Matthew to articulate his ideas? Could Matthew write "he took his wife, but never knew her, not even after she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus."? Impossible. How could Matthew know even if Joseph really never had sex with Mary? Therefore, the text probably describes the usual, common Jewish practice: a husband abstains from sex with his pregnant wife. Whatever the husband did afterwards was none of the author's business. In such a case, it is impossible to derive any clue about the virginity of Mary from this verse.
Some priests suggest that Joseph did not dare to have sex with Mary because she was God's. This sounds reasonable. But again, we are speculating on the psychology of a man living 2000 years ago. It is rather shaky. Returning to my hypothesis: that the Catholic Church enshrines certain values in her customs, tradition and theology. Virginity is highly valued by the Catholic Church because there is a hierarchy of celibate priests and nuns. The Church demands 100% devotion from them. They are needed for the growth and development of the Church and the trust from outsiders. Who else would be the best candidate? Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The discussion above is only a sociological reflection on the need to make Mary a perpetual virgin. There is no theological ground nor substance. I hope the dogmaticists would not be offended.

My God, virginity is a highly prized virtue. The world needs it to heal its evils. Strengthen priests and nuns to live up their chastity vow, to shine forth the angelic virtue of this particular way of life. Amen.

The Genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew

Most people find the beginning of Matthew very boring. It is the genealogy of Jesus. Obviously it is not genetical but theological.
First of all, the list is rather artificial. It consists of three groups of 14 generations. 14 is the sum of the Hebrew alphabets of the name of David (D=4, V=6, D=4). Matthew claims that there are 14 generations in each period. In fact, there are only 13 generations in the last period.
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations (Matthew 1:17). Let's look at them in greater details.

Abraham	Isaac	Jacob	Judah + Tamar	Perez
Hezron	Ram	Amminadab	Nahshon	Salmon + Rahab
Boaz + Ruth	Obed	Jesse	David + the wife of Uriah
from 2000 B.C. to 1000 B.C.
Solomon	Rehoboam	Abijah	Asa	Jehoshaphat
Joram	Uzziah	Jotham	Ahaz	Hezekiah
Manasseh	Amos	Josiah	Jechoniah and his brothers
From 1000 B.C. to 586 B.C.
Shealtiel	Zerubbabel	Abiud	Eliakim	Azor
Zadok	Achim	Eliud	Eleazar	Matthan
Jacob	Joseph	Jesus
From 586 B.C. to 1 A.D.

The first 14 generations span 1000 years, averaging 71.4 years per generation, while the remaining 28 (27) generations span another thousand years. Though people in the Old Testament lived notoriously a long life, it did not follow that their sons were all born in old age, except for Abraham.
So, let us take away 100 years from Abraham to whom Isaac was born when he was 100 (Genesis 21:5). Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah (Genesis 25:20) who gave birth to Jacob. Jacob settled in Egypt when he was 130 years old, a grandfather (Genesis 47:9). Jacob and his children settled in Egypt and became slaves for 400 years (Genesis 15:13). Moses delivered the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before Joshua led them into Canaan. There Rahab the prostitute saved 2 Israelite spies. Assuming this Rahab to be the Rahab at generation 10, we still need to account for roughly 300 years in the remaining 4 generations, i.e. roughly 80 years per generation in average!! I think some generations have been skipped. Only Abraham reached 100 before Isaac was born to him. The others would most likely father a son before 40. The 28 (27) generations that span one thousand years is a good indicator. Its average is roughly 35.7 years per generation. It is more reasonable.
There was a time gap of 480 years between the time the Israelites left Egypt to Solomon's building of the Temple (1 Kings 6:1) Only 6 generations (from Salmon to Solomon) were mentioned, again an average of 80 years per generation. Salmon belonged to the Joshua era while Boaz and Ruth in the age of the Judges. Boaz was the grandfather of Jesse, the father of David. Therefore, it is very likely that a few generations before Boaz had been skipped by Matthew to make up 14 generations.
The second group of 14 generations were kings. This could be cross checked with Chronicles I and II or some king lists. The last group of 13 generations came most likely from Jewish folklores. We don't have any more genealogy lists in the Bible after the Kings or Chronicles. We cannot cross check them accurately within the Bible.
In fact, St. Paul warned against spending too much energy in the study of genealogies (1 Timothy 1:4, Titus 3:9). Therefore, I will proceed no further.
That said, it is still interesting and worth meditating the role of the 4 women who appear in the genealogy. Each of them has an extraordinary story to tell: Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah; Rahab a prostitute; Ruth a Moabite widow and Bathsabeth was involved in adultery with David. God really works mysteriously.

My God, there is only one week to go before Christmas. Let us open our heart and prepare it to welcome the glorious light of Your Son, Jesus. Amen.

The parable of two sons

Some parables of Jesus, for example the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son in Luke; the vineyard workers, the Talents in Matthew, are immortal. They provide a large latitude for people to reflect, to imagine and to meditate. Some, however, are rather restrictive. The evangelists have already interpreted them so that there is little room for further elaboration. The parable we read today in Matthew belongs to the latter category --- the parable of two sons.
A man has two sons. He told the first son to work in the vineyard, but the son refused. Later, the son changed his mind and went. The man, probably thought that nobody would be working in his vineyard or that he wanted to provide equal opportunities for both sons, asked the second son to go. The second son consented but actually did not go. Jesus asked the Jewish authority.
Which of the two did the will of his father? (Matthew 21:31a)
The answer was obvious. It was the first son. Then Matthew interpreted the parable as follow:
Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.
For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him; and even when you saw it, you did not afterward repent and believe him (Matthew 21:31b-32).
The conclusion was drawn and there is not much we can say about the parable. Tax collectors and prostitutes were sinners. They said no to God. Yet they repented and did the will of God. Therefore, they go into the kingdom of God before the Jewish authority who said yes to God but did not do His will. They were jealous of God's mercy towards sinners and refused to repent.
What if the father were not as all-knowing as God? He did not know the first son had repented. At the end of the day when he went to the vineyard to inspect, the work had been done. The father might think that the second son had done it and rewarded him accordingly. What would the first son do? What would you do if you were the first son?
Would you complain and explain to your father?
Would you give up and refuse to do the will of your father any more?
Would you "suffer" silently and continue to do the will of your father because you discovered that doing his will was good?
I have no answer. You had better decide it for yourself. Of course, if you come up with other answers, feel free to follow your own view.
Now if you were the second son. Your father suddenly rewarded you for no good reason. What would you do?
Would you explain to your father that you did not deserve the merit and returned the reward?
Would you feel so "touched" by the love of your father that you repented and do the will of your father in the future?
Would you continue to enjoy the reward silently without rocking the boat, until your father discovered it himself?
I have no right answer. If you come up with other alternatives, let me know.
I suppose God is the father. He definitely knows all things and will reward accordingly. And all because He is all-knowing, we may sometimes find Him rewarding the wicked! Probably, we are wrong in our judgment or they are predestined to be saved in the future.
From the point of view of a Gentile, God really shows favouritism towards the Israelites who have been very wicked. All the prophets, without exception, criticized her. Yet, in order to turn this rebellious people away from sins, from idolatry, God spared no other nations.
I have cut off nations; their battlements are in ruins;
I have laid waste their streets so that none walks in them;
their cities have been made desolate, without a man, without an inhabitant.
I said, "Surely she will fear me, she will accept correction;
she will not lose sight of all that I have enjoined upon her." (Zephaniah 3:6-7)
Yet, how would God treat the Israelites, this rebellious nation? He would purify them, remove the proud and haughty from their midst. Even if they had rebelled against God, God would not put them to shame!
"On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me;
for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones,
and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.
For I will leave in the midst of you a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the LORD, those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no wrong and utter no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue.
For they shall pasture and lie down, and none shall make them afraid." (Zephaniah 3:11-13)
What else can you say about God? Remember, be humble and lowly. Learn patiently from God.

My God, You are fearfully mighty. I pray that we may not be the target of Your wrath. Amen.

The Story of Balaam

This is the first time I spent time reading the book of Numbers. I read the story of Balaam (Numbers 22-24). Probably only Numbers 24:17 is related to the Christmas story. It reads.
I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not nigh:
a star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the forehead of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth (Numbers 24:17).
Matthew tries to prove that the birth of Jesus has fulfilled 5 prophecies from the Prophets:

1. Born of a virgin --- Isaiah 7:14;
2. Born in Bethlehem --- Micah 5:1
3. Return from Egypt --- Hosea 11:1
4. Massacre of the Holy Innocents --- Jeremiah 31:15
5. Grow up in Nazareth --- (a despised, suffering servant) Isaiah 53 (???)

Either Matthew was not aware of the reference to a star in Numbers, or he confined his proof-texts to the Prophets, he had missed an important piece of evidence to show that Jesus was the Messiah. Anyway, today I am attracted by the lovely Balaam story. It has all the elements of fables, legends and theophany.
It all began when the Israelites were campaigning against the Moabites.
Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time, (Numbers 22:4)
As for the background of Balaam, Numbers is not very informative.
Balaam was the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River, in the land of Amaw (Numbers 22:5)
Balak sent for Balaam to help him curse the Israelites because, in Balak's words
"for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed." (Numbers 22:6)
Balaam reported to God and God told him not to go.
God said to Balaam, "You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed."  (Numbers 22:12)
Therefore Balaam declined the invitation (Numbers 22:13).
Balak sent more honour and money. This time, God told Balaam to go.
If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only what I bid you, that shall you do (Numbers 22:20).
When Balaam began his journey, God's anger was kindled because he went! (Numbers 22:22)
This was really mind-boggling. Didn't God tell Balaam to go with the princes sent by Balak? Why was God angry when Balaam followed His instruction? Did Balaam forget something? Should he wait for more explicit instruction from God? Men, we had better be careful when we are dealing with Yahweh. It seems that God does not want to see us taking things in our hands.
God sent an angel as an adversary against Balaam on the road. The ass Balaam rode was able to see the angel holding a drawn sword in his hand. The ass turned aside the road and walked onto a field. Balaam struck the ass to turn it back to the road. He was not able to see the angel.
Then they came to a narrow path between the vineyards. There were walls on both sides. The ass saw the angel again and she pushed against the wall, pressing Balaam's foot against the wall, probably to warn him. Again, Balaam struck the ass.

The angel jumped ahead of them. The ass refused to go further and Balaam was impatient and struck the ass with his staff for the third time. Now, the ass opened her mouth and started speaking to Balaam!
And the ass said to Balaam, "Am I not your ass, upon which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Was I ever accustomed to do so to you?" And he said, "No." (Numbers 22:30)
What amazed me was not only the ass that spoke, but also Balaam who engaged in a dialogue with the ass as a person! Suddenly, the whole story sounds very much like a fable.
Now God opened the eyes of Balaam so that he was able to see the angel. Balaam bowed and fell on his face (Numbers 22:31). After all, God was not truly angry with Balaam. He only had a further message to pass on to him.
And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak (Numbers 22:35).
The stage was set. God would bless the Israelites through the mouth of Balaam.
For three times, Balak moved to three different places, at each of which, Balaam told him to set up 7 pillars and sacrificed 7 bulls and 7 rams to appease Yahweh. Each time, instead of cursing Israel as Balak intended, Balaam blessed Israel. Balak asked Balaam he did such things to him, Balaam answered.
And he answered, "Must I not take heed to speak what the LORD puts in my mouth?" (Numbers 23:12)
But Balaam answered Balak, "Did I not tell you, `All that the LORD says, that I must do'?" (Numbers 23:26)
And Balaam said to Balak, "Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me,
'If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own will; what the LORD speaks, that will I speak'? (Numbers 24:12-13)
Balaam was a true prophet. He spoke what Yahweh put in his mouth. He did what Yahweh told him to do. He surrendered his own will, doing neither good nor bad of his own will but God's. This is possible only when you have established a direct line with God. Then, how do we build up such a line? I think it is through prayers and through reading the Bible.

My God, I tend to argue. I am too subjective. I still have a long way to go before I will be able to give up my own will. Help me, Lord. Amen.

Third Week of Advent (Year B)

By this time of the season, there are around ten days before Christmas. This Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday (Gaudete means Rejoice). It is the Sunday of Gladness because the Lord is near and close at hand.
Christians of the early church expected Jesus to return soon. When St. Paul wrote his first epistles, e.g. the first epistle to the Thessalonians, parousia was his major theme. Some members in the Thessalonian community took a wrong attitude in life. Since the Lord would return soon, there would not be any more meaningful things to do. They became idlers. Yet, it was boring and they turned nosy. Therefore, St. Paul wrote the following.
And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
Rejoice always,
pray constantly,
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:14-18).
These are good pieces of advice, even for non-Christians. Be cheerful and the sun shines brighter. Be thankful all the times and our hearts will be always cheerful.
In the last few days, I have been pondering on the status of John the Baptist. I made the hypothesis that the early Christians were trying to grow out of the influence of the Baptist movement. They saw the Baptist as Elijah who was supposed to come before the Day of the Lord to prepare the people. This was proclaimed by the prophet Malachi. This prediction makes up the last two verses of the Old Testament.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6 RSV, 3:23-24 MT).
The role of the Baptist was first raised in Mark who recorded the disciples' question after the Transfiguration.
And they asked him, "Why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?"
And he said to them, "Elijah does come first to restore all things; and how is it written of the Son of man, that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt?
But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him." (Mark 9:11-13)
Mark was ambiguous. He recorded Jesus saying Elijah had come but not saying who it was. Matthew clarifies it.
And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?"
He replied, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands."
Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).
Though in both versions, Jesus did not state explicitly that the Baptist was Elijah, Matthew made it clear that at least this was how the Christians understood Baptist.
In the Lucan version, the disciples did not raise this question. Rather, the whole thing has been settled at the beginning of the gospel when angel Gabriel announced the Baptist's birth to his father Zachariah in the Temple. Gabriel even quoted Malachi.
And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God,
and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah,
to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just,
to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. (Luke 1:16-17)
Therefore, for the three communities of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the role of the Baptist has been defined as Elijah to prepare a people for the coming of the Messiah.
The Johannine community had a different understanding. The Baptist explicitly DENIED that he was Elijah!
And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?"
He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ."
And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No." (John 1:19-21)
The Baptist could not be a liar. The evangelist says that "this is the testimony of John". The Baptist confessed that he was not the Christ. Fair enough, Jesus was. Further pressed, he continued to deny that he was Elijah. Of course not, he was John. At last, he even denied that he was "the prophet", understood in the Malachian sense and whatever name he would be known. Now, how do we harmonize the Synoptic gospels with John's?
There is one point agreed upon by the four gospels. All of them agree that the Baptist is the voice crying in the wilderness prophesized by Isaiah.
They said to him then, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?"
He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said." (John 1:22-23)
The four gospels differ, or rather John differs from the Synoptics, in whether the Baptist is Elijah. The Synoptics understand his actions and mission as that of Elijah on the day of the Lord. The Baptist in the gospel of John denied. I would make the following hypothesis.
The Baptist was aware of his role as a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the coming of the Messiah. He was thinking more in line with Isaiah than with Malachi. The Baptist might not think that the day of the Lord had come. Therefore, he did not think himself Elijah. Jesus and Jesus' disciples thought otherwise. They saw Jesus as the inauguration of the end time. The Day of the Lord has begun. Therefore, the Baptist was Elijah.
This hypothesis is not satisfactory because nobody can tell for sure what was running inside the Baptist's head. So, I can only keep on praying and giving thanks to God for keeping my biblical quest going.

My sweet Lord, I do not have any elaborate decoration in my heart. I simply long for Your arrival. Amen.

Feast of St. Lucy

Today, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of St. Lucy (283-303). The churches both east and west have begun her veneration very early in their history because of her legendary bravery in bearing witness to her faith. Legends of miracles grew around her life. For example, Diocletian had her eyes plucked out, but God restored them. Therefore, we have sacred pictures depicting a virgin martyr holding a dish on which there are two eyeballs. St. Lucy is made the patron saint for the blind. Indeed, her name means 'light'. Giving light to the blind is really meaningful. We Christians are supposed to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Therefore, it is very appropriate to ask St. Lucy to pray for us so that we may bear witness to God's love courageously like her.
We bear witness to God's love in our different stations of life. John the Baptist did it in a dramatic way. He led a life of poverty in the wilderness, eating locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed the advent of the Messiah, preached repentance and baptized the Jews in River Jordan. Before his arrest and martyrdom, he baptized Jesus. He died a true prophet, beheaded by Herod Antipas. His followers were not disbanded and continued to spread. According to Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul found some disciples of the Baptist in Ephesus and baptized them in the name of Jesus (Acts 19:3-4). Probably, the Baptist movement was absorbed into Christianity. They never gained independent existence and did not leave us any written document mentioning their whereabouts. Their status has been defined by others.
Christians found a role suitable for the Baptist --- Elijah who was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. Part of the book Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach (aka Ben Sirach), retells the history of Israel. Though the Hebrew version of this book has not been found and therefore Martin Luther did not include it into the canon, the Catholic Church has never questioned its canonicity. In chapter 48, eleven verses are devoted to the story of Elijah (Sirach 48:1-11). They included the miraculous drought, the calling down of fire from heaven, the raising of the dead, the theophany at Mount Horeb, the anointment of a king to inflict punishment as well as a successor prophet and his assumption into heaven in a whirlwind. Then Ben Sirach tells of the future.
you who are ready at the appointed time, it is written, to calm the wrath of God before it breaks out in fury,
to turn the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob (Sirach 48:10).
Indeed, this line is a paraphrase, an interpretation of the last 2 verses of the Old Testament.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD comes.
And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6, 3:23-24 MT)
Malachi carried out his prophetic mission around 400 years before Christ. He prophesized the coming of Elijah before the Messiah to prepare the hearts of the people so as to avoid being cursed by God. Therefore, 200 years before the birth of Christ, the people continued to understand the coming of Elijah as a calming of the wrath of God. However, they added a new element which was lacking in Malachi --- the restoration of the tribes of Jacob. They were entertaining a nationalistic idea under the Greek Empire. This was understandable especially when the Jews suffered under the process of Hellenization.
Let's come back to the Christian treatment of the Baptist. They could not deny the fact that Jesus was baptized by the Baptist. Therefore, the Baptist was the master of their Master. Naturally, the Christ movement should be led by the Baptist movement. This posed an embarrassing situation for the Christians. However, Jesus offered a utopia which the Baptist movement lacked --- the Kingdom of Heaven. As far as the written records go, Christianity has been more superior than the Baptist movement which did not survive. Christians restored the limited Elijah role to the Baptist according to Malachi, not the expanded one according to Ben Sirach. The mission of the Baptist was seen as a preparatory one, not as a nationalistic liberating one.
And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?"
He replied, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things;
but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of man will suffer at their hands."
Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13).
The Baptist could not be a perfect match of Elijah who had worked many miracles. The Baptist did not work even one. God delivered Elijah from the hand of the evil Jezebel but did not save the Baptist from being murdered by Herodias.

My sweet Lord, You have given us St. Lucy, a model martyr. May her prayer help us bear witness to the great love of our Father in heaven. Amen.

When your words have fallen on deaf ears

Shung Tak is an EMI school. She has used English as the Medium of Instruction ever since her establishment 50 years ago. Her colleagues had fought a hard battle to earn this EMI label in 1997 when the Hong Kong SAR government decided to implement the policy of using mother tongue, that is Chinese, as the medium of instruction throughout the territory. Of course, the government met opposition from elite schools and in the end, only 100 schools were allowed to retain their practice of using English as an instruction medium. Among them are many government schools! How hypocritical! Government schools do not implement government policy! What a laughing stock!
Shung Tak was left out. She was caught unprepared because, paradoxically her principal, Mr. Malcolm Long is a native English speaker. Therefore, the district education officers of Yuen Long did not get along well with him because of the language barrier. So, nobody told him anything about this shift of policy and if the in-take of your school falls below a certain level, your school is not suitable to teach in English. Shung Tak failed to obtain this license to teach in English in the first round. By that time, Mr. Long had retired and Mrs. Mary Poon, a retired civil servant from Curriculum Development Council, became our new principal. She was our godsend. Under her leadership, we fought back in an appeal and regained the EMI label until today.
In order to provide our students with an authentic English environment for their immersion, many different activities have been organized and have established a tradition. For example, there are two "English for All Day"s a week on Mondays and Wednesdays. Students are supposed to conduct every intercourse in English except, of course, for Chinese subjects such as Chinese Literature and Chinese History. This is easier said than done. Shung Tak is fighting a losing battle because the use of English within Hong Kong society as a whole is diminishing. Though the Government has implemented a Native English Teacher (NET) scheme for every school in Hong Kong for more than 10 years, to make money, more and more gweilo (foreigners) appear in Chinese drama series speaking fluent Cantonese instead. Our students spend most of their time at home, travelling in public transport or chatting with their classmates and friends, speaking in Cantonese. It is admittedly difficult for them to switch channel in school no matter how much you emphasize the importance, the utility and the joy of using English. Your advice, plea and coercion all fall on deaf ears. When you are around, they switch channel and speak in English. When you turn around, they switch back. It is really frustrating and I can appreciate the same frustration experienced by Isaiah, Jesus and Yahweh.
Isaiah aired the frustration of Yahweh when he declared the following.
Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,
I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you (Isaiah 48:4-5a)
Israel was stubborn. Therefore, Yahweh patiently taught time long long time ago. However, it did not work. Therefore, Yahweh changed tactics. He performed some new tricks, hopefully Israel would respond.
From this time forth I make you hear new things, hidden things which you have not known.
They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them,
lest you should say, `Behold, I knew them.'
You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously, and that from birth you were called a rebel (Isaiah 48:6b-8).
Furthermore, He came to them in person in order to teach them.
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
"I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go.
O that you had hearkened to my commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;
your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains;
their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me." (Isaiah 48:17-19)
Like the teachers who work so much in order that our students may profit, our students are like the Jews who did not repent. They just did not listen to you. Jesus had the same frustration when he said the following.
But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates,
"We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn." (Matthew 11:16-17)
As a teacher, I worry much more about their performance. That explains why we give tests and exams to force them to work hard. Beyond that, there is not much we can do. Of course, it is our mission and we cannot give up easily.

My sweet Lord, when will they ever learn? When will they appreciate our effort and work for their own salvation? We pray for their repentance. Amen.

The position John the Baptist occupies in the Kingdom of God

In the gospel reading today, Jesus was praising John the Baptist, saying that he was the greatest among men born of women. Jesus did not explain why John the Baptist was the greatest. According to the gospel of Luke, when Mary greeted Elizabeth, John the Baptist leapt in his mother's womb and his mother was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41). That can be a probable explanation.
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:11).
Therefore, those in the kingdom of heaven were not born of women because all of them are greater than John the Baptist. How can that be? If they were not born of women, where did they come from?
Well, people are not born into the kingdom of heaven. That is to say, the kingdom of heaven is not organized along blood kinship. Ordinary people usually think along such line. Therefore, they will be easily attracted, or more accurately, cheated by books claiming to uncover the wife of Jesus, their children and descendants etc. These are sensational topics, but the kingdom of heaven would have none of these. Even if there were children left on earth by Jesus, they would not have any advantage in gaining entry into the kingdom of heaven.
Well then, how is the kingdom organized? By a living faith.
Later in the gospel, Jesus had a chance to clarify his point. In the kingdom of heaven, we are brothers and sisters with Jesus. People gain entry into this community, not through kinship, but through faith and action.
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew 12:50; Mark 3:35; Luke 8:21).
Jesus spoke highly of this community of faithful, saying that they were greater than John the Baptist.

The problem is: Did not John the Baptist do God's will? Then, John the Baptist should also be a member of the kingdom of heaven, albeit the least one. I do not envy his position. In the kingdom of heaven, logic is often anti-logic.
He who is greatest among you shall be your servant (Matthew 23:11)
Therefore, though John the Baptist is the least in the kingdom of heaven, he is indeed one of the greatest there.
Today, we came across an ambiguous verse in Matthew 11. Guess what it is. Here you are:
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force (Matthew 11:12 RSV).
由洗者若翰的日子直到如今，天國是以猛力奪取的，以猛力奪取的人，就攫取了它。【瑪11：12，思高】
The two translations are two different interpretations of the Greek original. 
ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ἕως ἄρτι ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται, καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν.
The Greek words in red are ambiguous. They can be interpreted in both a positive and a negative way. RSV took the negative rendering while 思高 chose a positive rendering.
RSV suggests that the kingdom of heaven, i.e. the faithful community, had been suffering persecution. This was a description of the living situation of the Matthew community.
思高 suggests that we must put in great effort in order to gain entry into the kingdom of heaven. Life, especially eternal life, does not come easily.

My sweet Lord, great or small we are, we will be contented when we are able to sing praises to You in Your glorious kingdom. Amen.