Doing good things can be a TEMPTATION

Doing good things can be a TEMPTATION

Many of us receive many forward messages in WhatsApp groups. These messages used to be forward emails circulating for years on the Internet. Some are hoaxes while many more are outdated events. The same email came back in a span of more than four years. Had the plea be authentic, the baby would have died within 6 months but the junk kept circulating for years because of the good intention of people. Now, WhatsApp has become a new dumping ground for these good-intention junks. A week ago, I received a plea for prayers for Christians in Quaragosh because "ISIS has just captured it"! It was August 2014. Another message asked us to pray for 3 Chinese priests who were seriously injured in a car crash in Herbin. The car crash was supposed to take place in December 2013 or even a few years earlier. Nobody can be verify because it took place in mainland China. The idiom is really true: "The path to hell is littered with good intentions." Good intentions need the support of prudence which seems to be in short supply among believers.

In the last Spirituality Formation Programme, I understand myself a little bit better. I have known that being a perfectionist is not a good thing to myself and to my partners. Even though I try not to be demanding, I am aware that my body language has betrayed me. Again, the pride to get things done can distract me from doing more important things. Therefore, doing good things can be a temptation. This applies as least to me.
During this Lunar New Year holidays, the Lent Season begins. I should be more disciplined in my prayers and repentance. Yet, these couple of days, I have been struggling with dual booting my netbook, running Windows and Android on the same machine. That was the easiest part. The most challenging part is to mount a Windows drive in Android so that I don't have to copy another set of files into Android. So far, I have not overcome the hurdle. Yet, I have spent more than 4 days and it still comes to nothing. This blog is already 3 days overdue, though I still set it to Sunday (Feb 22). Much of my prayer time has been wasted on this fruitless pursuit which is a thorn in my heart. It is no use telling myself to let go because it will not go away until I can successfully mount my Windows drive in Android.

Dear Jesus, deliver me from this temptation. Amen.

The Need of Confession

"Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered." (Psalm 32:1)
The fact is, many of us are not willing to confront our own sins. It is easy to pinpoint the faults of the others. It is easy to see the speck in our brother's eys but forget the log in our own (Matthew 7:3-5) However, it is unacceptable to many that they have flaws. It is a matter of self-image, self-esteem. The more flaws a person has, the lower his self-image is, the harder he will repress this unacceptable thing. When people point our his flaws, it is only natural for him to deny and to defend. Worse still, it is a vicious spiral.

Mostly of the time, we are blind to our own mistakes like the self-righteous Pharisees. They did not think they were wrong in pointing out the mistakes of Jesus. Perhaps they were thinking of saving the soul of Jesus. Perhaps they wanted to protect the multitude from following a strayed Rabbi. Therefore, the leper in today's reading was blessed indeed (Mark 1:40-45). He knew his shortcomings, his flaws and his sins. He acknowledged his need of Christ's salvation. He took concrete steps to obtain his salvation. Woe to the Pharisees. Only a handful of them accepted Jesus such as Jairus, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.  Most of the rest were diehard opponents of Jesus. When they denied their sins, they denied themselves of God's salvation.

We should also pay attention to the courage this leper had. It was against the law for him to approach, to get close to healthy clean people because he was physically and ritually unclean. He had been ostracized by the law which tried to protect the majority of healthy people. The intention of the law is not bad at all. Lepers are harmful to the community. It is not wrong for the law to ostracize them. However, God is greater than the law. The needs of the sinners whom God loves, are greater than the law. Therefore, sometimes when the situation demands, we need to break the law in order to obtain our own salvation. Do we have the prudence to see the differences between upholding the law and breaching the law?

My situation is not the same. I know my flaws. I know God is always there to forgive me. But I still do not have the guts to confess my sins.
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord", then thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. (Psalm 32:5)
Lord, I confess that I have not be chaste. Forgive me. Amen.

如何回答世界主教代表會議問卷 Briefing on the Synodic Consultation Questionnaire

常年期第五主日（乙年）
主題：解釋如何回答世界主教代表會議問卷


從今天的讀經，我們知道耶穌在傳揚天國福音的同時，亦關心民間疾苦，「治好了許多患各種病症的人，驅逐了許多魔鬼。」（谷1：34a）其實「各種病症、魔鬼」又何止是身體上的病症或心靈上的心魔呢？更嚴重，更需要耶穌醫治的，是關係上的病症，關係上的魔鬼。人生活在各式各樣的關係中。關係生病了，人又怎能健康快樂地生活呢？

我們所相信的天主是一個三位一體的天主，是一個有內在關係的團體。所以當天主創造了人之後，認為「人單獨不好，我要給他造個與他相稱的助手。」（創2：18）於是天主造了女人，與人結合，生兒育女，確立了婚姻和家庭制度。主耶穌在世時，為了糾正當代偏差了的婚姻觀，就重新肯定天主對婚姻原本意願和婚姻的不可拆散，因為在天主眼中，所有正當的婚姻，無論是基督徒的婚姻，混合的婚姻抑或是純民事的婚姻，都是神聖的。基督徒的婚姻是神聖的，因為是七件聖事之一，是天主祝福的場合，是信徒成聖的訓練營。混合的婚姻，即夫婦倆祗有一個是信主的又如何呢？這個問題聖保祿宗徒已作出指示。他說「不信主的丈夫因妻子而成了聖潔的，不信主的妻子也因兄弟而成了聖潔的。」（格前7:14）相信總有混合婚姻升級成為婚配聖事的一日。純民事的婚姻雖不及婚配聖事的神聖，並缺乏了天主的祝福，但甘苦與共，白頭到老的盟約，始終是令人肅然起敬，非常莊嚴神聖的。所以，天主是願意所有婚姻都是神聖的，祂願望所有的人都能在家庭生活中成聖。


天主教是從宗徒傳下來的教會。二千年來她保存並運用著很多信仰的寶藏，去聖化這個世界。天主教為世界是一件聖事。但天主教亦是一個極龐大的組織，根據梵蒂岡所公佈的數字，在2012年年底，全世界有超過12億天主教徒。所以，天主教會有自己一套的法律，幫助教友，神職人員，修道團體等度一個合乎身份的神聖生活。七件聖事的施行，當然是教會法律所包括的內容。為了配合梵二大公會議推出的現代化政策，教廷用了18年的時間去修訂1917年版，有2414條法例的【聖教法典】。在1983年1月25日，教宗聖若望保祿二世在任期間，公佈並推行精簡了，祗有1752條法例的【新聖教法典】。但天主教現代化的速度，始終難及現今世界的變化速度，所以天主教始終給世人一個保守，落後，有很多繁文縟節的教會的印象。

例如：有關家庭計劃的問題，教宗真福保祿六世於1968年發表了【人類生命】通諭，力排眾議，堅持教會祗容許「自然家庭計劃」，曾一度惹來教會內外公開並廣泛的批評。在牧民層面上，令很多教友在良心上的產生不安。其實，現代教友所面對的婚姻及家庭生活問題，又何止計劃生育那麼簡單？根據香港教區的統計數字，截至2013年8月底的年度，結婚時兩個都是天主教徒的不足18%。從聖保祿宗徒的角度看，感謝天主，我們增多了1100名慕道者。但從社會科學角度看，我們不得不憂慮教會內亦增多了550宗潛伏著的離婚個案。今天樓價高企，青年人想買樓結婚，談何容易。教會內的青年人能倖免嗎？在經濟掛帥，生活指數高的香港社會，大部份人的工作時間長，家庭生活的時間被剝削，大家都染上了我開始時提及的「關係貧窮病」。天主教徒想按天主的意願，透過家庭生活成聖，如果沒有耶穌的醫治，一如聖母領報時所說的，「此事怎能成就呢？」（路1:34）

梵二的另一個現代化政策，就是加強主教團與教宗的合作，提昇本地主教在普世教會的領導地位。梵二以來，已舉行過13次全球主教代表會議。例如，1980第五屆全球主教代表會議，曾以「基督徒家庭」作為反省的主題。今年十月舉行的第14屆全球主教代表會議，將以「家庭在教會及當代世界上的聖召與使命」為主題。這一屆全球主教會議足足用了兩年的籌備時間。去年十月舉行了非常務主教會議，討論「在福傳背景下家庭牧民面對的挑戰」。會後按「總結報告」製作了上星期派發的問卷，收集大家的意見，表示教會的領導層不再閉門造車，不再單憑真理作教訓的依據，而是願意跟隨耶穌，關心民間疾苦，去尋求醫治這些關係上的病症的方法。這的確是教會決策上一次意義深長的突破。在沒有任何宣傳的情況下，超過300份的問卷和300份的公教報，在上星期十一點彌撒後已派完賣完，大家的熱烈反應，值得一讚。

這問卷不是我們見慣的封閉式問卷，即是從既定答案中挑選。今次的問卷是開放式的，沒有預設的答案，而且，設問者希望發掘到他們想也沒有想過的答案。這是這份問卷難答的第一個原因。其次，問卷首先以意大利文發表，中文版是香港教區按英文譯本再譯，所以不容易讀。為了幫助大家填寫這份問卷，我有以下五點提示。

1. 我們是第五組別，（個別的家庭或個人）所以不用答足46條問題，只要答沒有灰色格的27條問題就可以。
2. 從最後一條，即第46題做起。問卷的設問者是典型的神學家，先抽象後具體。我們作答者先答具體問題，領會到設問者的心意，纔有能力答那些抽象的問題。所以由第46題做起。
3. 以祈禱的心態作答。這一次是我們與全世界的主教共同合作的機會，他們需要我們的具體經驗。這一次也是我們幫助那些婚姻失敗或受盡種種家庭生活拆磨的朋友的機會，希望透過今次問卷的反映，教會的領導層能作出更適合時代需要的牧民指引，幫助到有困難的兄弟姊妹度聖善的生活。因為截止日期是月尾，我建議大家每日只答兩題就足夠了。
4. 因為是開放式的問卷，而且是給世界各地通用的問卷，因此，難免有些問題是不適合香港的環境的，或者是你所不熟識的。所以，不用做足27題。
5. 最後，堂區的神父、執事會非常樂意解答大家的疑問。教區的網頁亦會不停更新，提供清晰扼要的指引。

請大家為自己的成聖，為他人的成聖而努力。
天主保佑。

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Fifth Ordinary Sunday (Year B)
Theme: Briefing on the Synodic Consultation Questionnaire


From today’s reading, we learn that while Jesus was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, he cared as much the sufferings of the people, “and he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons;” (Mark 1:34a). Indeed, how would “various diseases, many demons” be confined to physical ailments and psychological obsessions? People are more desperately in need of Jesus’ cure of relational sicknesses and demons. People live in all sorts of relations. When relations are sick, how can people live happily?

The God we believe in is a trinite God. It is a community with interior relationships. When God created man, the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18). So God made a woman who worked together with the man and gave birth to children. Thus God established the institution of marriage and family for humanity. During his public ministry, the Lord Jesus wanted to correct some erroneous views on marriage of the contemporary people. He reaffirmed God’s original intention for marriage and its indissolubility. It is because in God’s eye, all proper marriages, whether they are Christian, mixed or civil, are sacred. Catholic marriage is sacred because it is one of the seven sacraments. It is an occasion of God’s blessing, a training field for Christian sanctification. When it comes to mixed marriage where only one party is Christian, St. Paul has already made a clear indication. He said, “For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:14). I am sure one day, God will upgrade a mixed marriage into a sacrament. Although a civilly celebrated marriage is not as holy as the Sacrament of Matrimony and lacks the blessings from God, it is a covenant of total commitment till death. It is awe inspiring, solemn and sacred as well. Thus, God wishes all marriages to be sacred and all people to be sanctified in family life.

The Catholic Church is an apostolic church. She preserves and makes use of 2000 years of deposits of faith to sanctify the world. To the world, the Catholic Church is a sacrament. On the other hand, the Catholic Church is also a huge institution. According to figures released by the Vatican, at the end of 2012, there were more than 1.2 billion Catholics all over the world. So, the Catholic Church has a set of Canon Law to help the faithful, the clergy and the religious orders etc. to lead a holy life compatible with their roles. The administration of the 7 Sacraments is included. Following the modernization policy of Vatican II, the Roman Curia spent 18 years to revise the 1917 edition of the extant Canon Law which had 2414 articles. On January 25, 1983, Pope St. John Paul II promulgated the new Canon Law we are using today. There are only 1752 articles. However, the modernization speed of the Catholic Church can never catch up with the changes of the modern world. So, the Catholic Church always gives people a conservative, backward and ritualistic image.

For example, on the issue of “family planning”, Pope Blessed Paul VI promulgated Humanæ Vitæ in 1968. He did not follow the recommendations of the majority of theologians and insisted that the Church only allows “Natural Family Planning”. It raised a storm of open and extensive oppositions within and without the Church. On the pastoral level, it brings much unease in the conscience of many faithful. Indeed, how would the problems faced by Catholics in modern times be confined to family planning only? According to the statistics of the Hong Kong Diocese, at the end of August 2013, less than 18% of contracted marriages were between two Catholics. From the perspective of St. Paul, we have, thank God, 1100 catechumens more. But from the perspective of social sciences, we have 550 potential divorces cases more within the Church. Today, the price of the flats in Hong Kong keeps soaring. It is not easy for young people to build a new family. Can young people in the Church be spared? To stay afloat in the high living standard of the commercialized Hong Kong city, many people have to work long hours. Their family life is sacrificed. Many have contracted the sickness of “relational poverty” which I mentioned at the beginning. Catholics want to be sanctified in married life according to God’s will. Without the healing of Jesus, we can only ask, like the BVM did during the Annunciation, “how shall this be?” (Luke 1:34)

Another modernization policy of Vatican II is to foster greater collegiality, to elevate the leading roles of local bishops in the universal church. Since Vatican II, 13 general assemblies of the Synod of Bishops have been held. For example, in the 5^th General Assembly, the representatives of bishops from all over the world came together to reflect on the theme of “Christian families”. This October, the 14^th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops will deliberate on “The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world”. This Assembly has been doing its preparation for 2 years. Last October, an Extraordinary General Assembly was held to discuss “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the context of Evangelization”. At the end of the assembly, a questionnaire, which was distributed last Sunday, was designed according to the Relatio Synodi of the Extraordinary General Assembly in order to collect your views. This indicates that the Church hierarchy no longer makes up teachings from the abstract truth, but following the footsteps of Jesus, she goes into the crowd to know their sufferings and find ways to heal these relational sicknesses. This is a far-reaching breakthrough in the decision making process of the Church. Without any promotion or publicity, more than 300 questionnaires and 300 more that came with Kung Kau Pao was sought/sold out after the 11 am mass last week. Your enthusiasm is highly appreciated.


This questionnaire is not a close-end questionnaire we are so used to doing. This questionnaire is open-ended. There are no prepared answers to choose from and the designers would like to dig up answers they have never dreamt of. This is the first difficulty in answering this questionnaire. Moreover, it was first published in Italian. The Chinese version we have is translated from the English translation. So, the Chinese is not easy to read. In order to help you answer this questionnaire, I would like to offer the following 5 pieces of advice.

1. We belong to Category 5, i.e. Individuals / Individual Families. We don’t have to answer all 46 questions. We only need to answer 27 questions which are without any grey boxes.
2. Start from the last question, i.e. question#46. The designers of the consultation questionnaire are typical theologians. They start with the abstract and then the concrete. We answer the concrete ones first so as to get a gist of the ideas of the designers. Only then are we able to answer the more abstract questions. So start from question#46.
3. Treat this as a spiritual exercise. This time, we are working together with the Synod Fathers. They need our concrete experiences. This time, we help those whose marriages have failed, or those who are suffering in different ways in their family life. Through answering this questionnaire, we hope to help the people in the hierarchy to make more appropriate pastoral directives to help brethren in distress to lead a sanctified life. Since the deadline is the end of this month, I suggest doing 2 questions a day is good enough.
4. Since this is an open-end questionnaire which is designed for all the churches throughout the world to use, it is inevitable that some questions do not apply to Hong Kong or you know nothing about them. Therefore, no need to answer all 27 questions.
5. Lastly, the clergy in the parish is all the more happy to help answer your queries. The webpage of the Diocese will continue to update to give you clearer directives.

Please work hard for our own sanctification and the sanctification of others.
God bless.

笑話一則：這世界，真大！

話說郭Sir的龔姓中學同窗丁母憂，遠渡重洋從加拿大返港奔喪，席開紅磡萬國大酒店。
郭Sir到了紅磡火車總站，發現至愛的嘜記裝修，有點兒失望。遂漫無目的地落紅磡遊蕩，踫踫運氣。未幾見到一所24小時嘜記，霎時心花怒放，實行大快朵頤。食完嘜記，從容不迫地向萬國大酒店進發。


首先到達世界大酒店，姓龍的辦喪事，人多，花牌多，中英文都有，人聲鼎沸，好不風光。
從隔離的門口進入萬國，豈料找遍牌版都找不到龔姓亡者。莫非消息有誤，日期或地點搞錯了?
於是折返隔離的世界大酒店。唔好彩，仍找不到。惟有WhatsApp求助，同時上網查看萬國大酒店的出殯名單。未幾WhatsApp回覆是301室。
趕回隔離，再望一次。明明姓何，不是姓龔。

不久，電話響起，問我為甚麼仲未到。眼前所見的是何姓，莫非...我跌落了另一個時空?
於是郭Sir氣急敗壞，逃離這所詭異的大酒店。可幸能順利逃出門外，沒有遇到任何阻撓。於是東張西望，找個有血肉的人確定自己的時空座標...舉到一望，但見世界大酒店，不覺抽一口涼氣，嘆句這個世界，真大。

The evil spirits within

I prefer staying cerebral because it is safe. Being rational is safe and comfortable. When you are able to crack a lock, solve a puzzle and even if you lose in a game of chess, it is safe and predictable. Yet it is only scuba diving. Deep down below the coral reef, there is a dark world of wonders where our sight cannot lend us anymore support. So is spirituality. I have to admit that I have not been brave enough to dive deeper in my prayers. Though my brain tells me that Jesus is waiting behind the darkness, I do not have the guts to penetrate it. The 11-week Spirituality Formation Programme for the Deacons is a challenge which I have to tender my unconditional surrender. I am defeated. Though my pride is wounded, I understand myself a little more than before.


I attended an interview with the Diaconate Commission. I was among the 4 candidates elected to be ordained this June. The Commission is sending us to a 7-day discernment retreat, a sort of final preparation before ordination. At the start of the interview, the Chairman lay bare my Archille's heel --- my arrogance and how I dealt with others' criticisms. Simon, another member gave me an adjective, "abrasive". Louise humbled me with a theological question which I don't have the slightest memory of having learned it in the Seminary: how did St. Thomas Aquinas explain the Blessed Trinity in analogy? (The interview took place on the Feast Day of St. Aquinas.) Jennie, one of the Spiritual Formation team members, asked gently but piercingly into my soft spot --- when my buddy was not included among the 4 finalists, he was deeply upset. How did I help him through spiritually? Bernard, the baby sitter of the deacons, told me point blank that I offended too many people ... Deacon Edwin remained silent. His silence spoke volumes. In the end, I gave myself the final fatal stab. I told the Board that there were two good things before me which I had difficulty in making my choice --- ordination in June and finishing my DSE teaching in the next academic year in the capacity of a part time teacher. Though the school should have known this two years ago when they assigned me to teach a 3-year examination course, I do not owe my students any obligations. Rationally speaking yes, but the emotional bond we built up in the last two years is difficult to sever.
After the interview, it dawns to me that I was not referring to my students. It was my buddy. His present situation makes it difficult for him to be ordained in the near future. We have already lost one buddy who failed to be elected a candidate. I cannot afford to lose another buddy. I strongly desire to support him as much as I can, even delaying my own ordination. At the interview, I was not able to articulate it. In short, I was beside myself during the interview in which I was put in a defensive position, not just cerebrally, but also emotionally. Should I blame my repressions or what not?


It is deemed unscientific to believe in the existence of evil spirits nowadays. People choose to deal with such phenomena with more acceptable languages such as the subconscious and the repressed impulses etc. Such a language puts everybody at risk. Nobody is immune to the influence of "evil spirits" anymore. It makes sense in the gospel reading today.
"... there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit." (Mark 1:23)
How could the Jews allow a possessed person to enter their synagogue? Did he burst in just like some scenes in a movie? Very unlikely. He was most likely either to be locked up by the town folks or he roamed about in the wilderness outside the town. Therefore, the possession must have been a hidden case, very much like our subconscious or repressed libido.


People like to ask why God allows evil and sufferings to exist. Recently, Pope Francis was confronted with a similar question in the Philippines. He did not try to answer it rationally. He transcended it by appealing all of us to mourn in view of sins and sufferings (Matthew 5:4).
To me, the answer is that their existence within us bends our arrogance and abrasiveness. The unclean spirits, our subconsciousness and libido know better than our rationality that Jesus is God, a loving God. My fears of uncertainty and desires are perhaps a better and stronger guide than my braininess in reaching to Jesus.


Dear Lord, I have been evading my fears but I know that when I reach you in my prayers, you will cleanse me of my evil spirits and satisify my desires. Amen.