When I delivered my homily on widows this morning, I was hesitant because a friend of mine was widowed recently. Among the audience, I recognized one or two more widows. God helps me.
常年期第十主日（丙年）
主題：教會把耶穌的救恩帶給眾人
當聖經提到「寡婦」的時候， 大家一定會想起那個將她全部所有的兩個銅錢都奉獻了的「窮寡婦」。於是在不知不覺中，以為聖經中提及的寡婦一定是很窮，很可憐的。其實不一定這樣的。所以，今天想同大家一齊初步探討一下「寡婦」在聖經中的角色。
舊約的倫理道德，首推「十誡」。「十誡」是天主賜下的法律，但過於空泛，實行起來有太多破綻。於是梅瑟按環境的需要，訂立了613條法律。其中，就有一條很有名的「為兄立嗣」的法律。假如已婚的兄長去世，沒有兒子，弟弟有責任依法娶嫂，為兄立嗣（申25:5-7）。所以古代雖然沒有社會福利署的綜援，一樣可以照顧無依的寡婦。而且法律規定收割時不可割盡，要留下一些農作物讓孤兒寡婦和外人收集，使他們得以糊口，以解燃眉之急 (肋19:9-10)。在【馬爾谷福音】記載了耶穌和門徒在安息日掐食麥穗的故事，就是同這些充滿愛德的法律有關。
以色列的寡婦大致可分三類：第一類的寡婦最不幸，她們沒有兒子，亡夫沒有兄弟，或者有兄弟但她們過了生育年齡，亡夫的兄弟無法依照梅瑟的法律娶她們。於是她們孓然一身，無兒無女、無田無地、一無所有，可謂「Ｎ無人士」。惟有投靠外家，或者倚靠梅瑟的法律，君王的救濟，繼續生存下去。福音中慷慨的窮寡婦可能屬於這一類。以色列和猶大先後亡國，充軍亞述和巴比倫，沒有子民，沒有土地，變成名副其實，無依無靠的「寡婦」，等待天主的救贖。在舊約聖經中，「寡婦」成為了「等待救贖的人」的代表。例如一些賣身為奴的以色列人，他們沒有能力還債，惟有等待同鄉為他們贖身(肋25：25-27)，他們都是等待救贖者的例子。
第二類的寡婦沒有兒子，但仍有生育能力，亡夫的兄弟便可以娶她們，為兄立嗣，照顧她們。在某程度上，她們得到救贖。【盧德傳】的主角就是一個例子，後來盧德下嫁波亞次，成為達味的曾祖母，出現在耶穌的族譜中。
第三類的寡婦有兒子，她們「母憑子貴」，可以繼承丈夫的產業，直到兒子長大成人，繼承父業。納因城中的獨子的寡婦應該屬於這一類。厄里亞先知故事中的寡婦雖然是外邦人，未必有「為兄立嗣」的法律。不過【列王紀上】已交代過她的家勢。她們的生計暫時沒有問題。
第二及第三類的寡婦沒有丈夫保護，又要管理產業，是最容易受欺負的人。耶穌在【馬爾谷福音】中，曾批評那些利用自己專業知識來侵吞寡婦家產的經師，而【路加福音】亦有一個「寡婦與不義法官」的比喻，寡婦可能受了經師欺負，想找法官為她出頭。作為一個寡婦的不幸，可想而知。而且好景不常，一旦兒子死了，又過了生育的年齡，亡夫的兄弟可能會上門追討遺產，那時她們便會變成第一類「Ｎ無寡婦」，唯有等待天主的救贖。福音中「一大夥人陪著她」的人當中，可能就有那些虎視眈眈的亡夫兄弟，準備追討遺產。就在這時候，耶穌來了。
當時耶穌會想甚麽呢？
耶穌一看見她，自然會想到自己的母親瑪利亞。聖若瑟已經過身，聖母就是獨子的寡婦。自然耶穌便有同病相憐的感受，對納因城寡婦動了憐憫的心，安慰她不要哭。耶穌知道自己要復活，救贖人類，於是復活了寡婦的獨生子，救贖了納因城的寡婦。
今天的社會，女性多數能獨立生活，而且又沒有「貞節牌坊」的壓力，寡婦已很少見了。那麽，納因城寡婦的故事在今天的香港社會，又有甚麽意義呢？寡婦既然象徵「等待天主救贖的人」，那麽教會在香港又怎樣繼承耶穌的使命，救贖那些「等待天主救贖的人」呢？ 教會自從1891年，教宗良十三世頒布「新事物通諭」起，開始放眼世界，探索如何在世上建設天國，實踐正義與和平，對社會問題發表了有很多指示。或者你會覺得教宗的通諭，社會訓導，在世上建設天國，實踐正義與和平等高不可攀，不是我們這些平信徒可以做到的事。
我認為「認識」是行動的第一步，我們有責任認識教會的社會訓導，並且關心時事，在我們的生活中將耶穌的救恩帶給那些「等待天主救贖的人」。
如果大家覺得自己力有不逮，耶穌會幫助你。大家不妨翻開【瑪竇福音】第廿五章，最後審判一段，找到耶穌吩咐我們照顧哪六種人？就是那些饑餓、口渴、無家可歸、衣不蔽體、患病和被囚的人。這些都是古今中外都有，不用費多大氣力就可以找到的人，除非我們已變得鐵石心腸、麻木不仁。否則，總可以在我們的身邊見到他們，去服侍他們。
天主保祐。
10th Ordinary Sunday, Year C
Theme: The Church brings Jesus’ salvation to all
When we hear the mention of widows in the Bible, the image of the generous poor widow who offered all that she had, viz. 2 bronze coins, will come up in our mind. Imperceptibly, we come to think that widows in the Bible must be poor and pitiful. This is not necessarily true. Today, let us tentatively explore the role widows play in the Bible.
When we come to the morality of the Old Testament, the “Ten Commandments” are the undisputed champion. The Ten Commandments were given by God but they are too general. When they are put into practice, many loopholes appear. To meet the needs of real life situations, Moses made up 613 laws and regulations. One of them is the famous Levirate law. When a man died without a male heir, the brother of the dead man would marry the widow to keep the lineage of the dead man (Deuteronomy 25:5-7). Though there was no Social Welfare Department, nor comprehensive social security assistance in ancient Israel, the widows, who would otherwise live without any support, were taken care of. Furthermore, there were laws which forbade the Israelites from wholly reaping the corners of the field, leaving some produce for the poor and strangers (Leviticus 19:9-10) to sustain their lives. In the gospel of Mark, the story of Jesus’ disciples plucking corns on Sabbath was related to this charitable law.
Because of this law of levirate marriage, three types of widows could be found in Israel. Type I was the most unfortunate. They had no child. The deceased man had no brothers or there were brothers but the widow had passed her childbearing age. The brothers could not follow Moses’ law to marry her. These widows had nothing: no child, no land and nobody to support them. They could return to their patrilineal family, or relied on the charitable laws of Moses or humanitarian aid from the kings in order to survive. The generous poor widow in the gospel probably belongs to this type. Israel and Judah were conquered and exiled by Assyria and Babylon respectively. They had no subjects and no land. Literally, they had become widows waiting for the redemption of God. Thus, in the Old Testament, widows became the representative of those who waited for redemption. One more example, when an Israelite could not repay his debt and was sold as a slave, he could only wait for his kinsmen to redeem him (Leviticus 25:25-27).
Type II widows had no child but they still were able to bear children. In this case, the brothers of the deceased men would marry them to beget heir for their brothers. The widows were taken care of and to a certain extent, they were redeemed. Ruth was such an example. Boaz married her to become the great grandmother of King David. Her name appears in the genealogy of Jesus.
Type III widows had sons. They could inherit the estate of the deceased husbands until the sons grew up to take over the estate. The widow of Nain belonged to this type. Though the widow in the Elijah story was a Gentile and there might not be levirate law, 1 Kings mentions the household of the widow. Therefore, so far, their livelihood was not a problem.
Widows of Type II and III did not have husbands to protect them. They had to manage the estates of their deceased husbands and would easily fall prey to greedy people. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus criticizes the teachers of the law who made use of their professional knowledge to devour the houses of widows. There is also a parable of the widow and an unrighteous judge in the gospel of Luke. The widow was probably exploited by teachers of the law and so sought help from the unrighteous judge. The plight of these widows could be imagined. However, good days do not last forever. Once the son died and the widow had passed her childbearing age, the brothers of the deceased husband would appear to take back the estate. Then, the widows would become Type I widows, waiting for the redemption of God. Within the large crowd from the town might be predatory brothers of the deceased husband waiting to devour her estate. At this moment, Jesus came.
What was on Jesus’ mind at that moment?
When Jesus saw the widow, naturally he would think of his mother Mary. St. Joseph was dead and the BVM was a widow with an only son. Jesus must have empathy with the widow and had compassion on her. Jesus consoled her and told her not to weep. Jesus knew he would rise to life to redeem mankind. So, he raised the only son of the widow of Nain and redeemed her.
In the society nowadays, most women can lead an independent life. There is no more pressure of “chastity plaques”. Widows are rare. So, what meaning can be found in the story of the widow of Nain for Hong Kong today? Widows symbolize “people waiting for the redemption of God”. How does the Church in Hong Kong continue to carry out the mission of Jesus to redeem these people? Since 1891 when Pope Leo XIII promulgated Rerum Noravum, the Church began to address social injustice, to explore ways to build the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, to promote justice and peace and build up a body of social teachings. Perhaps you might feel that these papal encyclicals, social teachings, building Kingdom of Heaven on earth and promoting justice and peace are too lofty to be accessible. These are not stuff for us ordinary faithful.
I believe that knowledge is the first step of action. We have the duty to know the social teachings of the Church and care about current affairs so as to bring Jesus salvation to those who wait for the redemption of God in our daily life. If you feel you are not capable of doing so, Jesus will help you. Turn to Matthew 25, the section on the Last Judgment to find out the six types of people Jesus commands us to take care of. They are the hungry, the thirsty, the homeless, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. They were, are and will always be with us anywhere we go. We don’t need much energy to locate them. Unless our hearts are hardened, we will always find them around us and serve them.
God bless.
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