向洗者若翰學習

將臨期第二主日（甲年）
主題：向洗者若翰學習

讓我們來想像下，門徒向群眾宣講耶穌復活的初期是怎樣的。當時無聖經，更沒有梵二的4大憲章，有的祗是舊約的46部書。當時無彌撒，在耶路撒冷的門徒祗有在聖殿祈禱、祭獻並在家中舉行擘餅。當時福音並未成書，有的祗是門徒憑記憶宣講耶穌的言行。當時無聖洗聖事，有的祗是沿用猶太人的洗禮。可以說當時是沒有系統，沒有組織的。當一班人信從了你的宣講，再接受你的洗禮之後，就成為了你的門徒，而不是天主教徒。格林多前書1章告訴我們教會一開始就陷入了分裂的危機。因為當時洗禮未曾統一，各施各法。計有保祿的洗禮、阿頗羅的洗禮、伯多祿的洗禮和基督的洗禮。可能還有其他教派的洗禮，例如洗者若翰的洗禮。

洗者若翰的一派是不容忽視的。首先，耶穌曾受洗者的洗禮。其次，根據若望福音的記載，伯多祿的哥哥安德肋原本是洗者的門徒，後來改為跟隨耶穌。洗者若翰被黑落德殺死之後，他的門徒開始離開約旦河一帶逃避迫害，他們比基督徒至小早三至四年到達厄弗所，他們有起步早的優勢。大家試想一想，當基督徒遇上洗者若翰的門徒時，會發生甚麽事？
首先，基督徒要如何回應一個不爭的事實，就是耶穌曾受洗者若翰的洗禮呢？耶豈不是洗者若翰的門徒，洗者豈不是基督徒的老祖宗嗎？基督徒要稱呼洗者的門徒為「大師伯」了。在傳福音的初期，基督徒如何處理這個尷尬的局面呢？
還有，基督徒的洗禮與洗者的洗禮有何不同，有何優勢？如果可以選擇，為甚麽要選擇基督徒的洗禮而不是洗者的洗禮呢？

宗徒大事錄19章記載了保祿在厄弗所遇到一些門徒。保祿詢問他們領受了聖神沒有，他們說連聖神也沒有聽過。保祿再進一步問清楚他們接受了甚麽洗禮。原來他們受的是洗者若翰的洗禮。於是，保祿向他們解釋了若翰洗者是耶穌的前驅。之後，這些門徒奉耶穌的名再一次受洗。當保祿為他們覆手的時候，聖神便降臨到這些門徒身上，他們就開始講各種語言和先知話。
宗徒大事錄19章，一次過解決了上述的兩個困難。根據舊約的傳統，默西亞來臨之前，厄里亞先知會首先出現，作為默西亞的前驅，為他鋪路。耶穌是默西亞，而洗者就自然成為了耶穌的前驅了。前驅的地位又豈能與默西亞的地位媲美呢？而且，就算洗者悔改的洗禮可以赦罪，都不及基督徒賦予聖神的洗禮。
時至今日，天主教的洗禮，已發展成為很有系統的「入門聖事」。成年人在復活節前夕，領受洗禮，堅振與及聖體聖事。其中，接受完洗禮的人，藉堅振聖事領受聖神，得到「聖神七恩」。今天所讀的依撒意亞先知書，就提到這聖神的七個恩典了。讓我們重溫這七樣神恩如何幫助我們做一個名副其實的基督徒。

智慧之恩幫助我們生活在這花花世界之中，仍能愛慕靈性的事物。
生活在這充滿錯謬的世俗世界之中，聰敏幫助我們發現真理，明白如何正確地處世待人。
超見之恩幫助我們明辨是非，獲得正確的判斷。
獲得正確判斷之後，我們還需要剛毅之恩，鼓起道德勇氣，不怕困難去力行正義。
明達是知識，幫助我們了解天主的心意，掌握行善避惡的途徑。
擁有了上述的超人力量，更加需要虔敬與敬畏天主之心的約束，纔不會狂妄自大，濫用天主的恩賜。耶穌三退魔誘就是最好的榜樣了。

其實，洗者若翰也是基督徒的好榜樣。他在聖母探訪依撒伯爾時，在母胎中已領受了耶穌帶給他的聖神，令他手舞足蹈。在他身上，我們可以見到聖神七恩運作的點滴。
他蒙智慧之恩，愛慕天主，放棄繼承父親的司祭之職，而接受了做先知的聖召。聰敏之恩令他知所進退，明白耶穌的出現，就是他引退之時。超見之恩，幫助他正確判斷法利塞人、撒杜塞人和黑落德的錯謬。剛毅之恩令他不懼強權，直斥黑落德的不是，連黑落德亦佩服他、想保護他。明達之恩幫助他選擇了在曠野過清貧的生活，體會天主的心意，避開都市的繁華去履行其先知之職，成為曠野中的呼號者的聲音，默西亞的前驅。虔敬和敬畏天主就不用多說了。

擺在我們眼前的洗者若翰就是一個基督徒的好榜樣。做基督徒就有責任好像洗者一樣，做耶穌的前驅，向身邊的人傳福音。今天，我們的聽眾的教育水平高了，所以，我們不能停滯在教會初期沒有組織、沒有系統的狀況。否則，我們不但被聽眾辯駁到每言以對，而且還成了耶穌基督的反見証。
在信德年結束的時候，教區宣佈未來一年是「學習年」，去認識梵二的精神。所以，我請大家每日讀經，祈禱，深入認識我們信仰的根源。其次留意並參加堂區及教區在未來一年所安排的學習活動，使我們這個二千年的古老信仰，不致與時代脫節。

天主保祐。

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2^nd Advent Sunday, Year A
Theme: Learn from John the Baptist

Let us exercise our imagination and try to envision what it would be like when the disciples proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus. There were no Bible or Vatican II constitutions. There were only the 46 books of the Old Testament**. There was no mass. Disciples in Jerusalem prayed at the Temple and broke bread at homes. There was no gospel. The disciples recalled the words and deeds of Jesus from memory. There was no sacrament of Baptism. The first disciples made use of the Jewish customs of cleansing available. At that time, there was no system or organization. When people believed in your proclamation and received baptism from you, they became your disciples and not Catholics. The First Epistle to the Corinthians informs us how at the start, the church fell into the crisis of division. At that time, baptism was not unified. There were baptisms of Paul, of Apollo, of Peter and of Christ. There were probably baptisms of other sects such as the baptism of the Baptist.

The followers of the Baptists formed a movement which Christians could not ignore. First of all, Jesus received baptism from the Baptist. According to the gospel of John, Andrew, the brother of Peter, was at first a disciple of the Baptist. Later, the Baptist told him to follow Jesus. After the death of the Baptist at the hand of Herod, the followers of the Baptist left the area around River Jordan to run away from persecution. They must have reached Ephesus at least three to four years before the Christians. They enjoyed the advantages of early starters. Let us imagine what would happen when a Christian met a follower of the Baptist?
Firstly, how would the Christian respond to the undisputed fact that Jesus was baptized by the Baptist? This made Jesus one of the disciples of the Baptist who would be the Patriarch of all Christians. Christians had to greet the followers of the Baptists as seniors. How would early Christians handle such an embarrassing situation in their preaching? Moreover, what did Christian baptism offer which the Baptist’s baptism could not offer? If there was a choice, why should people choose Christian baptism instead of the Baptist’s baptism?

Acts 19 tells us that Paul met some disciples in Ephesus. Paul asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit which they replied they had never heard of. Paul further asked them what baptism they had received and it was the Baptist’s. Paul then explained to them that the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus. So, they received baptism once more in the name of Jesus. When Paul lay hands on them, the Holy Spirit came down to them and they began to speak in tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:1-7). This passage solves the two previously mentioned embarrassments once and for all. According to the Old Testament tradition, before the coming of the Messiah, Elijah appeared first as the forerunner to prepare his way. Jesus is the Messiah and naturally the Baptist his forerunner. How can the status of a forerunner compare to that of the Messiah? Even if the baptism of repentance of the Baptist can forgive sins, it is incomparable to the Christian baptism that gives the Holy Spirit.
Nowadays, the Catholic baptism has developed into the systematic Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Adults are baptised on the eve of Easter. They receive Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist. In Confirmation, they receive the Holy Spirit and its seven gifts. In the passage taken from Isaiah today, we find the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Let us revise how these seven gifts help us lead a truly Christian life.

The gift of wisdom helps us love spiritual things in this materialistic world which is full of false and competing views. The gift of understanding helps us grasp the truth and know how to deal with people in the right ways. The gift of counsel helps us discern right from wrong and make the right judgment. After making the right judgment, we need the gift of fortitude to act according to justice with moral courage. The gift of knowledge helps us know the will of God and ways to do good and avoid evil. Gifted with these supernatural powers, we need piety and the fear of the Lord to discipline ourselves, to prevent us from becoming arrogant and abuse God’s gifts. Jesus’ struggle with the Devil’s temptations is a good model.

In fact, John the Baptist is also a good model for Christians. When the Blessed Virgin Mary visited Elizabeth, the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit and leapt in his mother’s womb. In him, we can glimpse the working of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.
With the gift of wisdom and the love of God, the Baptist gave up the priestly office inherited from his father and accepted God’s call to be a prophet. The gift of understanding made him know that it was time for him to “retire” with the rise of Jesus. With the gift of counsel, he was able to judge the errors of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herod Antipas. The gift of fortitude made him fearless of the cruelty of Herod who admired him and even wanted to protect him. The gift of knowledge helped him choose to lead a life of poverty in the wilderness to discern the will of God and to avoid the vanity of city life to carry out his prophetic office. The Baptist became the voice in the wilderness and the forerunner of the Messiah. Piety and the fear of the Lord need no further elaboration.

Placed before our eyes is John the Baptist, a good model for Christians. Like the Baptist, Christians have the duty to be forerunners in this world to proclaim the gospel. Today, the education level of our audience is high. Therefore, we cannot afford to remain unsystematic and unorganized. Otherwise, not only will we be confounded speechless, but we will also become a counter-witness for Christ.
With the closing of the Year of Faith, the Diocese announces that the coming year shall be the Year of Learning for us to deepen our understanding of the spirit of Vatican II. Here, I invite all of you to read the scripture everyday. Pray and know more deeply the roots of our faith. Pay attention and participate in the learning activities organized by our parish and the Diocese so that our 2000-year old faith will not become irrelevant in modern time.
God bless.

** To be more precise, the canon of the Old Testament was not yet fixed. The first Christians were probably using parts of the Septuagint.