伯多祿不一定是磐石 Peter is not necessarily a Rock

天主教崇德英文書院主保瞻禮彌撒

包神父、校長、各位老師、各位同學：
現在我不是以Mr. Kwok的身份，而是以終身執事的身份與大家分享天主的說話。如果以Mr. Kwok的身份，好像今天的早會一樣，我會用英文與大家分享。但以終身執事的身份，大家現在所見的，是天主教神職人員中最低級的公務員，所聽的是香港天主教教區的語文政策，縱使我不認同，但我會服從用中文與大家分享。

甚麼是終身執事呢？執事在新約的【宗徒大事錄】第六章與及一些保祿宗徒的書信中都有提及過，已有二千年的歷史。在服式上，大家可以見到，終身執事的聖帶是斜揹的，表示他們是僕人。神父的聖帶是直的，表示他們是祭司。所以雖然大家都是神職人員，但大家的工作範圍不同。執事是為了愛德服務，類似大家熟悉的社會福利工作；神父是做祭獻，教訓和管理的工作。在教會的歷史中，執事聖職曾一度被司鐸聖職所吸納，成為晉鐸的過渡階段。直到五十年前，天主教在梵蒂岡舉行第二屆全球主教的大公會議，落實天主教的現代化計劃。天主教因應世界的需要與及教會的內部的需要，恢復了終身執事的聖職，使福音能更有效的世上傳播。有別於過渡性的執事，終身執事是不會晉鐸成為神父、主教的。

人類經過文藝復興、啟蒙運動、法國大革命、美國獨立等事件的洗禮，以人為本的人權的思想逐漸抬頭。可惜，人心變得更自私、更邪惡，今日的世界變得更弱肉強食，有錢有權勢的一少撮人剝削，貧窮和弱勢的大多數。例如，今天在早會中與大家分享過的保護環境的問題，就是其中一個有財有勢的人，有財有勢的國家剝削貧窮和弱勢的人和國家的例子。美國最高法院上星期剛作出裁決，全國五十個州必須承認同性婚姻。世界各國馬首是瞻，香港的平機會主席也不甘後人。試問尊重同性戀者的人權的同時，有沒有尊重不能為自己爭取人權的嬰兒的人權呢？無論科技如何先進，嬰兒始終都是由異性結合所生的。現代化的天主教就要代表這些貧窮的人，貧窮的國家，未來世代的人和而現在沒有機會沒能力為自己發聲的人，本著福音的精神向強勢大國發出勸諭，「人在做，天在看。」

今天的福音講述伯多祿的故事。聖伯多祿原名是西滿。伯多祿Πέτρος是耶穌給西滿改的名字，是石頭rock的意思。中文翻譯為磐石，希臘文原文、拉丁文和英文的翻譯都祗是石頭，有聖經學者甚至認為它是一塊碎石pebble。無論翻譯成磐石還是碎石，耶穌的意思是在這塊石頭之上建立祂的教會。
的確，西滿祗不過是一個未有接受過教育而且性格衝動的漁夫，而且在人面前為了保命，三次否認自己的師父，犯下欺師滅祖的大罪。他的確是一塊微不足道的碎石；而且在歷史上，他的265個繼任人之中，大奸大惡的壞人，大有人在。但耶穌仍滿懷信心，把教會交託給這些卑微軟弱的人去管理，天主的智慧和恩寵是何其偉大，彌補了人性的軟弱和不足。

同學們，不要低估天主的救恩，天主的智慧。為天主是沒有不可能的事的。以Mr. Kwok為例。他祗不過是一個在廉租屋邨長大，和你們一樣在教區中學就讀的學生，父母沒有能力供我到外國升學，我祗是靠政府免息貸款讀完大學，就立刻到社會找工作，供養父母，成家立室的一個普普通通的香港人。四份一個世紀之前，因為好性、沉迷拆解電腦軟件的鎖，結果引發糖尿病，每日要靠注射胰島素來保命。但天主仍揀選我做終身執事，為香港社會的弱勢社群做僕人。 所以各位同學，各位老師，向天主保持一個開放的心。因為天主在您們的身上，懷有慈愛的計劃，要求您們本著福音的精神，保衛香港，保衛這艘太空船。
天主保佑。

---

Homily at Patron Saints’ Mass in STC

Supervisor, Principal, Teachers and students,
I am now sharing with you the Word of God, not in the capacity as Mr. Kwok but the capacity of a permanent deacon. If I were to speak as Mr. Kwok, like what I did this morning, I would be using English. But as a permanent deacon, as you now can see, a clergy of the lowest rank in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, I have to follow the language policy of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese even though I personally do not agree with it.

So, what is a permanent deacon? Acts 6 and several letters of St. Paul in the New Testament mention the works of deacons. So, they have been in existence for about 2000 years. As you can see from our vestments, the stole I wear runs diagonally across the chest, showing that deacons are servants. The stole worn by priests hangs vertically, showing that they are sacerdos. Though all of us are clergy, our ministries are different. Deacons do charity works, very much like social welfare nowadays. Sacerdos offer sacrifices, teach and govern. In the long history of the Catholic Church, the ministry of deacons was once incorporated by the priests, becoming a stepping stone to priesthood. Half a century ago, the Catholic Church convened the Second Vatican Council. More than 2000 bishops from all over the world came together to discuss and implement the modernization of the Catholic Church. In order to meet the needs of the modern world and her internal needs, the bishops decided to reinstall the ministry of permanent deacons so as to evangelize better. Unlike transient deacons, permanent deacons will remain deacons forever and will not be ordained priests or consecrated bishops.

Ever since the baptism of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and the American Independence, the idea of humanistic human rights began to emerge. Unfortunately, men became more selfish and evil. The world today has become more jungle-like. The rich and powerful minority exploits the poor and disadvantaged majority. For example, the problem of environmental problem I shared with you in the morning assembly today. It is a prime example of how the rich and powerful people and the rich and powerful countries are exploiting the poor and disadvantaged. Last week, the US Supreme Court ruled that all US states must recognize same-sex marriage. Countries all over the world are expected to follow. The Chairman of our Equal Opportunity Commission has already voiced his view. Ask yourself, when we respect the human rights of homosexuals, have we honoured the human rights of babies who cannot defend their own rights? No matter how advanced technology is, babies can only be born of heterosexual parents. The modernized Catholic Church chooses to stand by the poor people, poor countries, the future generation and those whose opportunities as well as abilities to voice out their plights have been denied. Following the spirit of the Gospel, the Church exhorts the powerful that “God is watching your acts.”

The gospel story today talks about one of our patron saints, St. Peter. Simon was his original name. Jesus gave Simon a new name Πέτρος, meaning a rock. It was translated into bedrock in Chinese. However, some scholars disagree and think that it is only a pebble. No matter how the word is rendered, Jesus wants to build his Church on this rock, bedrock, pebble or whatever.
Indeed, Simon was only a fisherman. He had not received any formal education and his temper was impulsive. In order to save his own skin, he had even denied his master 3 times in front of all people. This is truly unforgivable and he is truly a meagre pebble. Throughout history, there have been many scalawags and devils among his 256 successors. But Jesus still has faith to allow them to govern the Church. How great God’s wisdom and grace is! He can make up the weaknesses and inadequacies of human nature.

Shungtakians, do not underestimate God’s salvation and God’s wisdom. There is nothing impossible for God. Take me for an example. I was only a nobody grown up in a low-cost housing estate. Like all of you, I studied in one of the Catholic diocesan secondary schools. My parents could not afford to send me abroad to further my studies. I graduated from a local university on interest-free government loan. Like any other ordinary citizens of Hong Kong, I found a job after graduation to support my parents, got married to start my own family. More than a quarter of a century ago, I concentrated too much on cracking protected computer software that diabetes erupted. Consequently, I have to inject insulin daily to sustain my life. But God calls me to become a permanent deacon to serve the disadvantaged people of Hong Kong. Students and teachers, keep your hearts open to God. God has a loving plan in you, asking you to follow the spirit of the Gospel to protect Hong Kong, to protect this spaceship --- the Earth.
God bless.

耶穌守護我們 Jesus is guarding us

常年期十三主日（乙年）
主題：耶穌守護我們

彌撒是天主教徒最著重的禮儀。在彌撒中我們向天主祭獻，我們與天主結合。出於愛，天主渴望與我們分享祂的永恆生命。在彌撒中，天主透過聖體聖事與我們合一。就算是未領洗的慕道者，或者未能領聖體的教友，天主一樣有辦法與他們合一。耶穌就是透過聖言，進入我們的內心，我們的靈魂。所以能夠每個主日，甚至每天參加彌撒，就算領不到聖體，都是非常幸福的。

教會把聖經中最重要的章節，編作三年的循環，讓我們體會天主對我們的大愛。今年我們集中默想【馬爾谷福音】。上星期我們聽了耶穌平息風浪的神蹟，這神蹟表達出耶穌既是真天主，因為祂是大自然的主宰；耶穌又是真人，因為他和我們一樣，工作了一整天之後，感覺到疲倦睡著了。上星期我們默想如何喚醒我們心中睡著了的耶穌。這個星期我們繼續默想喚醒了的耶穌所行的神蹟，對我們今天的生活有何意義。

馬爾谷講故事十分動聽，例如今天我們所聽到的故事。它的結構有如一份三文治。故事主線是耶穌復活會堂長雅依洛的十二歲女兒(谷5:22)。而中間加插了另一個治病的故事，就是治好患了血漏病十二年的婦人(vv. 5:25-34)。兩個故事放在一起，相得益彰。
首先，我們要明白會堂長是甚麼人。猶太人祗有一座聖殿在耶路撒冷，在那裡祭獻天主，十二歲起就要每年到聖殿一次祭獻天主。那麼安息日就做怎樣呢？在安息日，猶太人就聚集到本鄉的會堂，祈禱、聽「辣比」講解梅瑟的法律和先知的教訓。主理一所會堂的通常都是一些長老或有學問的經師，這些經師、法學士大都是「法利塞黨」的成員。而在福音之中，法利塞人與耶穌在教義上就經常發生爭論，以致在他們的眼中，耶穌成為頭號敵人。雅依洛是會堂長，有很大的機會是法利塞黨的成員。且看他「跪伏在耶穌腳前，求耶穌救他的小女兒。」(vv. 22-23) 可見雅依洛是何等的山窮水盡，走投無路，甚至要放下成見、放下對政黨的忠誠、放下尊嚴來求法利塞黨的頭號敵人，耶穌，可見父愛的偉大，親情的重要。
在途中，就發生了醫治血漏病婦人的事蹟，亦因為這個女人延誤了耶穌，以至雅依洛的女兒失救死了。當僕人傳來噩耗，雅依洛固然晴天霹靂，心中免不了會咒罵婦人間接害死他的女兒。且看，耶穌立刻守護著雅依洛的心神，說了句名言：「不要怕，祗管信。」(5:36) 雅依洛會怕甚麼呢？

雅依洛是會堂長，應該是社會上中上階層的人，衣食無憂。雖然他不是司祭，雅依洛也應該有相當的宗教地位，所以他不會怕落地獄。那麼雅依洛怕甚麼呢？怕心愛的女兒死去。與其他可怕的事物相比，死亡實在是最難過的一關。
在治好血漏病的事蹟中，接觸到耶穌的衣服或耶穌肢體的，大有人在，難道他們沒有病，沒有困難嗎？惟獨血漏病婦人的信德，使耶穌的能量祗在她一人身上生效。其他接觸到耶穌的人也祗是「如入寶山空手回，捉到鹿也不懂脫角。」
雅依洛沒有信德嗎？當然有，否則也不會放下尊嚴去求耶穌。那麼，耶穌為甚麼要立刻守護著他呢？雅依洛固然有信德，血漏病婦人有信德，但死去的女兒如何發信德呢？所以耶穌要鼓勵雅依洛，父母的信德足以令子女，甚至是已死的子女得救。這真是天大的福音。所以，嬰兒是憑藉父母的信德洗禮，以獲得永生。

二千年後的今天，雅依洛的故事有意義嗎？有。
今天的香港人怕甚麼呢？怕沒有普選？怕洗腦？怕大陸同胞搶高物價？怕新沙士？都不是。是怕失業。所以有工開的，會相盡辦法保住飯碗，做到有開工無收工，對剝削的老闆忍氣吞聲，不敢作出半句怨言。結果，犧牲了自己的健康，犧牲了家庭生活，與妻子兒女變得疏離。耶穌說：「不要怕，祗管信。」對您有意義嗎？
今天香港的生活指數高，兩夫妻都要忙於工作，為的是想兒女的生活舒適些，想把最好的東西留給子女。卻付出很大的代價，沒有時間與子女溝通，與他們幾乎隔絕，根本不知道發生在他們身上的事。他們有誤交損友去濫藥嗎？他們有參與童黨欺凌嗎？他們有去佔中嗎？不單在英國，連南韓，印度也有失蹤的青年人，懷疑去了敘利亞，加入ISIS。您們的兒女憤世疾俗嗎？美國最高法院剛作出判決，全美五十個州都要認可同性婚姻。您們的兒女有同性戀傾向嗎？耶穌說：「不要怕，祗管信。」對您有意義嗎？

我們相信耶穌是天主子。宇宙間的一切全在祂的掌握之中。祂的計劃是愛的計劃，祂願意與我們分享祂的永恆生命。我們知道雖然我們暫時不完全明白我們的際遇，但耶穌會為我們作出最好的安排。在上星期的福音中，門徒在生死關頭，叫醒耶穌拯救他們。您叫醒了心中的耶穌未呢？不要等到生死關頭纔「臨急抱耶穌的腳」，其實平時，您應該用您的方法，多與心中的耶穌保存聯系。您失業嗎？信靠祂吧，祂會為您安排一份更適合您，為您的家庭更有益處的任務。您的妻子兒女拒絕和您溝通嗎？信靠耶穌吧，祂既能連死去的女孩也喚醒，耶穌一定可以為您打通與家人溝通的渠道。
天主保祐。

---

Thirteenth Ordinary Sunday (Year B)
Theme: Jesus is guarding us

Mass is the most important rite for Catholics. In mass, we offer sacrifice to God, in communion with God. Out of love, God wants us to partake in his eternal life. In mass, we become one with God through the sacrament of the Holy Communion. Even for the catechumens who are not baptized, or for those who, for whatever reasons, are not able to receive the Communion, God is able to unite with them. In the Liturgy of the Word, Jesus enters into our hearts, our souls. Therefore, it is a blessing to be able to join mass on Sundays, and even on weekdays. All of us are blessed indeed even though we cannot receive the Communion.

The Church arranges the most important Bible passages into readings within a 3-year cycle for us to relish the great love of God. In Year B, we meditate the gospel of Mark. Last Sunday, we read Jesus’ miracle of calming the storm. This miracle demonstrated the divinity of Jesus because he can lord over the elements. It also showed his humanity. Like us, after the hard work of the whole day, Jesus felt tired and fell asleep. Last week, we meditated on how to wake up the sleeping Jesus in our hearts. This week, we continue to meditate the miracles worked by an awaken Jesus and what these miracles may mean for us today.

Mark is an excellent story-teller. For example, the story we hear today has a sandwich structure. The main plot is the resurrection of the 12-year old daughter of Jairus, one of the rulers of the synagogue (Mark 5:22). In between is another healing story, the cure of a bleeding woman who had suffered for 12 years (vv. 5:25-34). Putting the two stories together enhances the teachings of each other.

First of all, let us understand what a ruler of the synagogue was. The Jews had only one Temple in Jerusalem where and there only could they offer sacrifice to God yearly ever since they were twelve years old. On Sabbaths, the Jews gathered at local synagogues to pray, to listen to rabbis teaching about the Torah and the Prophets. The rulers of the synagogues were usually elders or learned scribes, teachers of the Law who were usually Pharisees. In the gospels, the Pharisees always clashed with Jesus on doctrines so severely that in their eyes, Jesus was their nemesis. Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue. Most likely he was also a Pharisee. See how he fell at Jesus’ feet to beseech Jesus to save his little daughter (vv. 22-23). It showed how desperate Jairus must have been. He had to put down his prejudice against Jesus, put down his loyalty to the party and his dignity to beg the archenemy of the Pharisees. We can see how great a father’s love can be, how important familial bond is.

The cure of the bleeding woman took place while they were on the way to cure the little daughter. And it was all because of this woman that the cure had been delayed and Jairus’ daughter died. When the servant brought the bad news, the heart of Jairus sank. He must have cursed the woman for killing his daughter indirectly. Immediately, Jesus guarded the heart of Jairus with the famous line, “Do not fear, only believe.” (5:36). What did Jairus fear?

Jairus was a ruler of the synagogue. He occupied the upper middle class of the society and should have no worry about daily living. Even though he was not a priest, he should be able to command a certain amount of religious status and be safe from hell. So what did Jairus fear? The death of his daughter. Compared with other things, death is the most difficult to overcome. In the story of the bleeding woman, many people came into physical contact with Jesus. Did they not suffer from illnesses or other difficulties in life? However, only this bleeding woman had faith which made Jesus’ power effective in her alone. The others in touch with Jesus would only go away empty-handed.
Did Jairus not have faith? Of course he had. Otherwise, he would not have condescended to beg Jesus. Then, why did Jesus guard him immediately? Of course Jairus had faith. So did the bleeding woman. But how could a dead girl show her faith? Therefore, Jesus had to cheer Jairus up. The faith of parents enables their children, even dead ones to receive salvation. This is truly good news. Therefore, by the faith of parents, infants are baptized to gain eternal life.

Today, 2000 years after Jairus, is his story still meaningful? Affirmative.
What do citizens of Hong Kong fear most today? No universal suffrage? Brainwashing national education? Mainlanders' arrival to beat up living prices or MERS? No. HongKongers fear unemployment. If you have a job, you try your best to keep it so much so that you keep working far beyond your working hours. You dare not murmur a sound of complaint to your exploitative boss. Consequently, you ruin your health, your family life and alienate your spouse and children. Jesus says, “Do not fear, only believe.” Does it make sense to you? The living standard is high in Hong Kong. Both parents have to work in order to make life a bit more comfortable, to give the best to their children. However a high price has to be paid. There is no time to communicate with the children. Parents are cut off, knowing nothing about what is happening to the children. Do they abuse substances with their peers? Have they joined others to bully the weaklings? Did they go occupying Central? Not only Britain, there are youngsters reported missing in South Korea and India, suspected to have fled to Syria to join ISIS. Are your children antisocial? Last week, the US Supreme Court ruled that all US states must recognize same sex marriages. Do your children display any homosexual traits? Jesus says, “Do not fear, only believe.” Does it make sense to you?

We believe that Jesus is the Son of God. He has dominion over all things in the cosmos. His plan is a loving plan. He wishes us to share his eternal life. We know that we may not totally understand our present situation. But we trust that Jesus has the best in store for us. Last week, the disciples woke Jesus up to save them from death. Have you awaken the Jesus in your hearts? Do you need to wait till the last minute to beseech help? In fact, we should keep Jesus online in our own ways every day. Are you unemployed? Believe in Jesus. He will assign a more appropriate mission for you and for the good of your family. Do your spouse and children refuse to talk with you? Trust in Jesus who was able to wake up the dead girl. He will clear up all the obstacles in your communication channel with your family.
God bless.

喚醒心中的耶穌 Wake up Jesus in your heart

常年期第十二主日（乙年）
主題：喚醒心中的耶穌

今天所聽到的是二千年前，耶穌在加里肋亞湖平息風浪的事蹟。這個事蹟，為二千年後的我們有甚麼意義呢？其實，這個問題是每一個時代的教友都要回答的。聖經記載了有關我們賴以得救的全部真理。如果我們不認識聖經，或者有讀聖經但是不明白它的教訓，我們的信仰便失去憑據，流於迷信和功利。那麼我們與那些去黃大仙或者昂平大佛參拜的善信，又有甚麼分別呢？

今日所聽到的事蹟，三部「對觀福音」也有記載，而以【馬爾谷福音】最為詳盡。【馬爾谷福音】的結構很簡單，大致按耶穌生平事蹟的先後次序編寫，中間祗加插兩章有關天國和末日的教訓，並沒有長篇大論的道理。故事性強，可讀性高，是送給慕道者，讓他們初步認識耶穌的首選入門書。今天福音所記載的事蹟，就是耶穌在加里肋亞湖邊，花了一整天對群眾講述天國的比喻之後，在傍晚乘船過對岸休息的時候發生的。

耶穌的門徒之中，最少有兩對兄弟是漁夫。所以他們應該是見慣風浪的人。可想而知，當晚他們所遇上的風浪，一定非同小可。當時的門徒跟隨了耶穌不久，對耶穌的認識有限，最多見聽過耶穌講天國的道理，見過耶穌治好痲瘋病人、癱子、枯手人或者驅魔。經過這次平息風浪，他們對這個向大自然發號司令的師父，有一種說不出的敬畏：「這人到底是誰？連風和海也聽從祂！」

十二宗徒與耶穌一起生活了三年，在耶穌升天前一刻，還問祂有關以色列復國的問題。可想而知，他們對耶穌和祂的使命，仍一知半解，有待聖神降臨後纔得到完全的明白。那麼我們呢？讓我們反省一下自己與天主子耶穌有的關係多深刻。究竟在我們心目中，耶穌是有求必應的黃大仙嗎？耶穌是救苦救難的觀世音嗎？抑或祂是恩寵銀行的提款機，當我們平時唸經，領聖事，行愛德就把恩寵儲蓄起來，以備不時之需，到有危難時就要提取恩寵呢？

當我領受執事職不久，便有朋友請我為她的朋友同事祈禱，他們不是受癌病煎熬，就是被抑鬱所擾。其實執事的祈禱並不比平信徒的祈禱更有效力，所以我們不應低估自己的祈禱力量。問題在於我們與耶穌的關係有多深刻？我們的代禱能否發揮威力？可能在我們心中的耶穌睡著了，我們須要喚醒心中的耶穌。
誰的人生沒有風浪？受病苦煎熬，受焦慮困擾的又豈止我們的朋友呢？我們何必等到生死關頭的時候纔去喚醒耶穌呢?平時我們也應與耶穌多作交談，遇到困難的時候，就不會慌忙失措了。
天主保祐。

---

Twelfth Ordinary Sunday (Year B)
Theme: Wake up Jesus in your heart

Today, we hear the story of Jesus calming a storm in Lake Galilee two thousand years ago. How do we make this 2000-year old story relevant to us today? In fact, this question has to be answered by Christians of all generations. The Bible contains all the salvific truths we need to know. If we do not know the Bible, or do not understand the message of the biblical texts we read, our faith will lose its foundation and become superstitious and utilitarian. How would we be different from those worshippers of Wong Tai Sin or the Tian Tan Buddha at Ngong Ping?

The story we read today can be found in all three Synoptic gospels and Mark’s is the most detailed. The structure of Mark is very simple. It roughly follows a chronological order of the life of Jesus. There are only two chapters on the Kingdom of Heaven and eschatology and no long passages of theology. It is highly narrative and readable, a perfect introductory biography for catechumens. In today’s story, Jesus had been preaching the Kingdom of Heaven in parables for the whole day at the shore of Lake Galilee. In the evening, he and the disciples were crossing the Lake to the opposite shore to take a break.

Among the disciples, there were at least two pairs of fishermen brothers. They should be familiar with storms on Lake Galilee. Thus, the storm they met that evening must have been extremely severe. The disciples had followed Jesus for some time but their knowledge of Jesus was rather limited. At most, they had heard him talk about the Kingdom. They had seen him cure lepers, the paralyzed, a man with a withered hand and even some exorcism. After this calming of the storm incident, they had an unspeakable awe of this master who was able to command the Mother Nature, “Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41)

The Twelve had been living with Jesus for three years. However, even on the day of Ascension of Jesus, they still asked him about the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel. From this, we can see that their understanding of Jesus and his mission was rather incomplete. They had to wait for the Descent of the Holy Spirit to have a fuller understanding. What about us? Let us reflect how profound our relationship with Jesus is. What is Jesus in our heart? Is he an all-granting Wong Tai Sin? Or is he a benevolent Avalokiteśvara? Or is he an ATM of a bank of grace in which we deposit our prayers, sacraments and charitable acts for our withdrawals during our emergencies?

Immediately after my ordination, friends called me to pray for their colleagues and friends who are suffering from cancer and/or depression. In fact, the prayer of a deacon is no more powerful than the prayers of the laity. So, do not underestimate the effectiveness of your prayers. The problem is how deep our relationships with Jesus. How powerful our intercession can be. Perhaps Jesus has fallen asleep in our heart. It is high time we woke him up.

Who have not gone through stormy experiences in their life? Who have not suffered from afflictions of illness and frustrated by depressions but only friends? Do we have to wait until life and death situations to wake up Jesus? We should maintain our dialogues with Jesus so that we will not lose heart in times of distress.
God bless.

Videos of my Deacon Ordination

Ordination to Permanent Diaconate on June 13, 2015


Sharing after Ordination

聆聽天主的話 Listening to the word of God

主題：聆聽天主的話
進入常年期，禮儀所見的都是綠色，正值炎炎夏日，萬物欣欣向榮，正好提醒我們也要繼續成長，在靈性上要長進，要默想體會救主耶穌的心意。
今年是禮儀年的乙年，主要選讀【馬爾谷福音】。福音的結構十分簡單，以敘述耶穌的生平行實為主，並沒有長篇大論的道理，故事性強，可讀性相當高，是認識耶穌的入門書。
馬爾谷把耶穌的講道集中在第四章的天國比喻和第十三章有關世界末日的言論。今天所聽到的是有關天國的其中兩個比喻。耶穌是非常明白我們的需要，所以祂把深奧的道理，用故事的形式告訴我們。試問您記得上個月第二個主日，我/神父所講的那篇道理嗎？就算我講故事，您們也未必記得，因為有太多其他的電影、電視的故事充斥著大家的心。為了我們的蒙召成聖，我們必需為自己的靈魂騰出一些私人空間，與耶穌傾談。現在讓我們默想芥子比喻為我們有甚麼意義吧。
首先，「天國」是甚麼意思呢？二千年前的門徒所理解天國，可能有別於我們今天的理解。但是我們相信，耶穌在二千年前對門徒所說的話，也是對我們說的。有聖神的啟迪和助佑，我們可以放心大膽地演繹「天國」的意義。
對二千年前的門徒，芥子的比喻鼓舞著他們對天國的希望。耶穌說，在開始的時候，不要擔心天國是微不足道的，因為它發展起來是很有潛力的，很茂盛的。如果我們把天國理解成為教會，耶穌即是說，在開始的時候，教會是微不足道的，祗有120個信徒。經過三百年的教難、中世紀的腐敗、啟蒙時代世俗化和無神論的沖擊，今天的教會仍然是茂盛的。根據2013年的數字，全球約有七十二億人，其中十二億是天主教徒，另外十二億是其他的基督宗教例如東正教、聖公會等，即全球人口的三分一。既然基督徒的「市場佔有率」這麼高，我們還需要對天國、對教會懷有希望嗎？答案是肯定的。我們仍需要對天國、對教會懷有希望，不能掉以輕心。經過了二千年的努力，人數是增加了，但質素呢？所以，現代的著眼點已不再是每年有多少人領洗入教，而是提高教友的信仰質素，改善每個人與主耶穌的關係，即幾位教宗所呼籲的「新福傳」。
但無論神職人員如何大聲疾呼，呼籲大家多讀經祈禱、領聖事、求大赦等；或者攪攪新意思，安排明供聖體、公唸玫瑰經、泰澤祈禱、行山拜苦路、酵母行動等，倘若教友接收不到，或不接受，神職人員的努力是徒勞無功的。問題可能出現在宣傳方面，又或教友本身的困難。種子自長的比喻正好告訴傳教士和神職人員，當有很多人參加活動時，不要驕傲自滿；當很少人回應時亦不要灰心，因為福傳的成敗不是與我們的努力成正比的，我們要承認不知道種子是如何生長的。我們儘管做好傳福音的工作，其他的天主自會照顧。是天主使傳播的渠道暢通，是天主開啟聽眾的心靈耳朵。
不過，我們沒有理由甚麼也不做，等待天主來開啟我們心靈的耳朵。這種態度是不正確的，因為天主送給我們的心靈耳朵，我們是有責任好好保養這個接收器的。如果保養得不好，不能接收到天主的指示，又怎能接收到天主為我們預備了很多的恩寵。我們知道到那裡找嗎？倘若我們不留心聆聽天主的指示，我們知道怎樣取得天主的恩寵嗎？
首先，我們做教友應有成聖的意向。如果我們祗滿足於到美麗的天主教教堂舉行婚禮，進入天主教名校讀書，或者安貧小姊妹會的安老院、又或者充足的骨灰龕等，我們太看不起天主的恩寵了。天主為祂揀選的人所預備的恩寵，是何等的高貴偉大，何祗名校、安老院和骨灰龕呢？祂邀請我們成聖，分享祂超性的生命。
其次，我們必須讓自己靜下來。在這商業化的大都會外面有太多噪音了，就算戴了耳塞，仍然聽到坐在旁邊的兄台由上車大大聲講電話講到落車。總算返到聖堂，可以寧靜下來。可是，我相信大家都有這個經驗，就是靜下來的時候，內裡的噪音開始抬頭了，思潮起伏，各種各樣的念頭在爭奪您的注意。這些就是所謂「祈禱時的分心」了。總無法靜下來，如何是好？答案是我們需要時間。不是站在聖母像前兩三分鐘唸三次聖母經可以做到的。唸經不是不好，但當您說話的時候，您可以同時聽到對方的說話嗎？您祈禱是與天主交談，您不斷唸經、求恩、謝恩、為其他人轉求的話，您聽到天主對您說話嗎？讓心中的各種念頭浮動一會兒，不用壓抑它，它會自然沉寂下來的。倘若它不斷重覆浮現，這表示你需要處理的問題了。除了把它交托給天主的慈悲之外，你需要找神職人員指導了。這個指導人就是所謂的「神師」了。
有沒有更有效的辦法處理分心的現象呢？有。例如運用聖經作為默想祈禱的材料。這就是天主教傳統的寶庫之一，行之有效的「本篤靈修」和「依納爵靈修」了。為甚麼有這麼多的靈修方法呢？其實就好像中國功夫一樣，有不同的派別，迎合不同人的需要。不過，它們都採用「神聖誦讀Lectio Divina」的基本功，去聆聽天主，親近天主。
如果持之以恆，保養得好，有朝一日，我們的接收器的功率便會大大提高。當我們領會到耶穌的心意時，我們就到達天國的境界了。 天主保佑。

The Eleventh Sunday (Year B)
Theme: Listening to the word of God
On Ordinary Sundays, the liturgical colour is green. It is summer time and all living things are thriving. It reminds us of our need to grow continually. We also need to grow spiritually, to understand the heart of Jesus our Saviour.
It is Year B according to the liturgical calendar. Gospel readings are mostly chosen from Mark whose structure is rather simple. It mainly tells the life of Jesus without long proses of teachings. It is narrative and highly readable, a good introductory biography to help us know Jesus.
Mark collects the teachings of the Kingdom of Heaven in Chapter 4 and eschatology in Chapter 13. In the reading today, we heard of 2 parables about the Kingdom. Jesus knows our needs very well. So, he tells us sophisticated theology in simple stories. Ask yourself, do you remember what the priest preached in his homily on the second Sunday last month? Even if he used stories, we might not remember because there are too many stories from movies and TV competing for our attention. For our vocation to sainthood, we need to spare some private space for our soul to enter into a dialogue with Jesus. So, let us meditate the meanings of the parable of Mustard Seed first.
First of all, what does “Kingdom of Heaven” mean? Two thousand years ago, the understanding of the disciples about the Kingdom might be different from our understanding today. But we believe that what Jesus told the disciples 2000 years ago was also meant to tell us. With the inspiration and help from the Holy Spirit, we may boldly speculate the meanings of the Kingdom.
For the disciples 2000 years ago, the parable of mustard seed cheered them up, boosted their hope in the Kingdom. Jesus told us not to worry about the meagre beginning of the Kingdom because it had great potential to grow and prosper. If we understand the Kingdom as the Church, Jesus was actually saying that at the beginning, the Church was meagre. There were only 120 disciples. After 3 centuries of persecutions, the corruptions in the Middle Ages and the secularization and onslaught of atheism since Enlightenment, the Church is still thriving. According to the data in 2013, the world population stood at 7.2 billion. Among them there were 1.2 billion Catholics and another 1.2 billion Christians including Orthodox and Anglicans etc. That is to say, Christianity occupies one third of world population. Now that our “market share” is high, do we still need to put our hope in the Church, in the Kingdom? The answer is affirmative. We still need to hope for the Church and cannot afford to be complacent. After the effort of 2 millennia, the number is increased, but what of the quality? Therefore, the focus today is not the number of people baptized each year, but the raising of quality of faith and improving the relationship of each individual with Jesus. This is the “new evangelization” which several popes have been advocating.
But no matter how loudly the clergy appeal to you to pray, to read the Bible, to receive sacraments and to obtain indulgences; or rack their brains for some new ideas such as Eucharistic adoration, saying the rosary, Taizé prayers, outdoor Stations of the Cross and Yeast Movement etc., if you fail to receive the message or refuse to accept it, the effort of the clergy is futile. The problem may arise from promotion works, or the personal difficulties of the parishioners. The parable of the Growing Seed tells the missionaries and clergy that when many people turn up in their evangelization programs, don’t get proud and self-contented; when very few people respond, don’t be crestfallen. It is because the success of evangelization is not directly proportional to human efforts. We need to admit our ignorance of how the seed grows. We do our part and God will take care of the rest. It is God who clears up the obstacles in the communication channel and opens up the spiritual ears of men.
However, there is no reason for us not to do anything, waiting for God to open up our spiritual ears. This attitude is wrong because God has given us a spiritual ear. We have the duty to maintain the proper functioning of this “receiver”. If it is not working and failing to receive God’s instruction, how can we receive the many graces God has in store for us? Do we know where to look for? If we do not pay attention to God’s instructions, how do we know that we have obtained God’s grace?
First of all, as a Catholic, we should harbour an intention to sainthood. If we are contented with the beautiful church buildings in which we marry, the elite Catholic schools, the homes for the aged run by the nuns and the ossuaries, how much do we look down upon the grace of God! How much greater and nobler the grace God has prepared for His chosen ones than elite schools, homes for the aged and ossuaries! He invites us to become saints, to share his supernatural life.
Secondly, we need to enter tranquillity. There are too many external noises in this commercial cosmopolitan city. Even if we put on ear-plugs, we can still hear the man sitting next to us, yelling over the phone from the moment he gets onto the coach to the moment he alights. At last, we reach the Church and quiet down. However, and I believe this is the experience of all of us, the moment we quiet down, many internal noises begin to pop up. Many thoughts and volitions are fighting for our attention. These are the so called “distractions in prayer”. What should we do? There seems to be no way to quiet down. The answer is, we need time. This cannot be achieved by reciting 3 Hail Marys in front of the Madonna in three minutes. It is not bad to recite prayers, but when you speak, you are not able to listen to the other party. We engage in a dialogue when we pray to God. When we recite prayers, petitions, thanksgivings and intercessions for the others, can we hear what God has to say to us? Let all distractions float for a while. There is no need to suppress them. They will die down naturally. If they keep on popping up, it means it is something you need to deal with. Besides offering them to the mercy of God, you need to look for a clergy to help you. This is your ‘Spiritual Director’.
Is there any other effective ways to deal with distractions? There are. For example, we can make use of the Scripture as our material for prayer. There are many schools of effective spirituality in the Catholic tradition such as Benedictine Spirituality and Ignatius Spirituality. Why are there so many schools of spirituality? Like Chinese kung-fu, in order to meet the needs of individual physique and stamina, there are different schools of Chinese kung-fu. However, all schools of spirituality make use of Lectio Divina as a fundamental way to listen to God, to draw near to God.
With perseverance and good maintenance, one day, the efficiency of our “receiver” will be highly raised. When we are able to understand the heart of Jesus, we attain the Kingdom of Heaven.
God bless.

Eating Jesus' body and be saved

With my limited knowledge of Chinese history and legends, I am able to locate a story in which eating the flesh of a son and his father was saved.
The son was called 伯邑考, the first born of 姬昌, a feudal lord in the west serving the last emperor, the notorious tyrant紂王of the Shang商Dynasty. The tyrant was suspicious of the loyalty of 姬昌 and had him imprisoned. Perhaps one of the reasons was that 姬昌 was a famous oracle. During his imprisonment, he was accredited for finalizing the Chinese classic I-Ching易經. In order to save his father. 伯邑考 brought along treasures and offered himself as a hostage. The tyrant made him a charioteer. Later, in order to test the oracle skills and loyalty of the father, the tyrant boiled the son and gave the soup to the father. The tyrant reasoned that if 姬昌were such a reputed holy man, he would not eat the soup made of his son. Out of fear, 姬昌 ate the soup and regained his freedom. Upon his return, 姬昌was more determined to overthrow the insane tyrant. His second son 姬發 succeeded him and united 800 feudal lords to finally overthrow the tyrant and built up the Zhou周Dynasty which lasted for more than 800 years in Chinese history. 《史記正義·殷本紀》

If you think the story gruesome, think about the Holy Eucharist of Christianity. Catholics believe that the Sunday and daily mass is more than a remembrance of the Last Supper. The mass is a celebration, a re-enactment Jesus' sacrifice on Mount Calvary in a non-bloody way. During the Last Supper, Jesus took up the bread, broke it and announced that it is his body which would be broken on the cross for the redemption of mankind. Catholics and some other Christians believe in the real presence of Jesus in the consecrated bread because Jesus said so. Eating his body, we partake in his redemption. We become a part of his Mystical Body and we are assured of our salvation and ascension etc. Looking back, the theology is not that bizarre after all when we have heard about the Chinese story. Of course they are not the same because Jesus is God while伯邑考was only a mortal. However, the theme of sacrificing oneself so that others may live runs through human history in many heroic stories.

Contemplation before the Eucharist teaches us one important mystery, the incarnation. If it is difficult to grasp the wonder of God being made flesh, of divinity "downgrading" into humanity, think about how Jesus becomes immobile within a piece of wafer, waiting for our consumption. After receiving the Holy Communion, we absorb Jesus into our bloodstream. We are animated and strengthened to bear witness and work charity. So is Jesus who has been imprisoned and immobilized in the wafer after consecration, reminiscent of the Son of God taking up humanity. What a mystery of love!

Dear Lord, strengthen me to carry out your will, to make your presence felt in the world. Amen.

Australian Same Sex Marriage, Part 3

"I myself as a believer and a mother, if one day my son tells me, 'I have found someone whom we love each other. We intend to get married to spend the rest of our life. But it is a he. Will you come to our marriage to give us your blessing?' I will say yes. This is the love of a mother towards her son. Among faith, hope and love, love is the greatest.  When you learn that sexual orientation is inborn, you will understand the wishes of homosexuals are based on love."

"When you learn that sexual orientation is inborn, you will understand the wishes of homosexuals are based on love."
Let me narrow down the sexual orientation to gay orientation. Human beings are the product of the interaction between nature and nurture. Human beings are born immaturely and they take years to interact with their environment to become what they are. Assuming that there are gay genes. Men born with gay genes have the potential to become fully blown gay. Some will successfully develop their gay potential while others do not, depending on the environment. A study of identical twins in 2000 yielded only a 20% concordance rate. That is to say, only one out of five pairs of identical twins are gay together. That is to say, there are many more factors during their formative years which determine the outcomes of inborn gay. (Interested readers can refer to a webpage I made and updated in 2014 on "Controversies over Same Sex Marriages", slide #21.) 
That is the reason why I strongly oppose gay couples adopting children, especially male children. Gay couples themselves are products of their gay potential with the environment. Men are known to modify their environment for their survival. Therefore gay people will modify their environment so that their gay potential may be actualized with the least hindrance. Even today, we do not have any screening tests to determine the sexual orientation of a baby. (Such a screening test is ethically questionable. Heterosexual parents cannot abandon their children born with gay potential, can they?) We believe that most babies are born heterosexual because we estimate that only 2% of the general population are gay. There is a 98% chance for gay couples to have adopted a heterosexual baby to be raised in a gay environment. No matter how much the gay couple love the heterosexual baby, the gay environment they create to live in will hinder the normal realization of the heterosexual orientation of the baby. That is my worry.

"I myself as a believer and a mother, ... , I will say yes. This is the love of a mother towards her son. Among faith, hope and love, love is the greatest."
I have no doubt about the love of my sister-in-love towards her son. I am sure her heart will ache when she says yes to her son. Erich Fromm named 4 basic elements in true love: care, responsibility, respect and knowledge. We have to admit that most of us are only successful in varying degrees of care, responsibility, respect and knowledge. Of course we care and carry out our parental responsibilities as much as we can. We respect the autonomy of our grown up children but not when they were young. Responsibility overwrote respect in their formative years. During their adolescence, parents knew less and less about their children when the generation gap widened. Therefore, it will not surprise me if one day, my son invites me to attend his wedding with a man. But our relationship must have been dysfunctional for a long time and I am responsible for that. I will attend the wedding but my heart bleeds. I am a failure for I have failed my son. How can I fail to know his gay orientation and fail to provide him with proper guidance when he was young? 
Respect does not forbid me from telling him the truth about human sexuality. The truth is that sex is not just for personal enjoyment, for making money and for building up relations etc. Sex is for procreation. There are different types of relationships. Relationship among basket team members is brotherhood. So are gay couples. NBA team members do not give birth to new human beings. So don't gay couples. Only heterosexual couples do. 
As a believer in Christ, I profess that love is the greatest among the three theological virtues. But love must be practised in truth. Otherwise, tragedies will catch us up.

p.s.
As a Catholic, I have developed a habit of reading the Bible reading of daily masses. On these couple of days we are reading Tobis which the Protestants treat as apographa because this book does not have a Hebrew version in the Old Testament. I would like to quote the prayer of Tobia and his wife Sarah, his kinswoman, on their wedding night.
Sarah had been married to 7 men before. A demon killed these 7 men before they could approach Sarah. She was cursed. The story of Tobia has a happy ending. With God's help, Tobia was able to free Sarah from the curse of the demon. Tobia redeemed Sarah. In a Christian marriage, husband and wife redeem each other. I am not sure how this may work out in gay unions.
"And now, O Lord, I am not taking this sister of mine because of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that I may find mercy and grow old together with her. And she said with him, 'Amen.'" (Tobia 8:7-8)
The Greek original for "sincerity" is ἀληϑείας, in Latin veritate, both of which mean "truth".

Australian Same Sex Marriage, Part 2

"I myself as a believer and a mother, if one day my son tells me, ' I have found someone whom we love each other. We intend to get married to spend the rest of our life. But it is a he. Will you come to our marriage to give us your blessing?' I will say yes. This is the love of a mother towards her son. Among faith, hope and love, love is the greatest.  When you learn that sexual orientation is inborn, you will understand the wishes of homosexuals are based on love. The world is changing everyday because human beings are changing. There were matriarchal societies, polygamy (nowadays, some religions and local customs still allow polygamy). Now, same sex marriage is part of human history."

Last time, I did not have enough time to deal with this last part of my sister-in-law's message. I bluntly said that it was full of fallacies and I owe her an explanation.

Let me begin with "The world is changing everyday because human beings are changing."
This is obvious but a lot of things have been oversimplified. 
Many things remain unchanged. For example, Men are mortal. Human beings are born immaturely. They need a relatively stable community to grow up and it takes years for them to develop their full potentials. Moreover, only women can give birth to children. Men cannot. They need to work together to bring forth new human beings. That is why a social institution called marriage is established to provide such a stable community. 

"There were matriarchal societies, polygamy (nowadays, some religions and local customs still allow polygamy)."
There are different forms of marriage, e.g. monogamy, bigamy and polygamy. All of them involve the pairing up men and women. There are two types of polygamy: polyandry in which a woman has several husbands at the same time; and polygyny in which a man has several wives at the same time. One thing remains unchanged. Polygamy is heterosexual. It involves joining men and women together.
It is easy to imagine human society to begin with matriarchy because a mother-child relationship was easier to recognize while it was more difficult to see the link of a baby with its biological father. Furthermore, it is easy to imagine a matriarchal society to practice polyandry. It is supposed to be a manifestation of women power over men. But anthropologists tell us that power actually fall into the hand of the brother of the matriarch, the uncle of the offspring, a man. When women were busy giving birth to babies and nursing them, it is easy to imagine a coup d'etat in which men overthrew matriarchy to set up patriarchal societies. Furthermore, men began to take advantage of the reproductive capacity of women and enslave them. Polygyny arose. Such arrangements cannot arise without appropriate social-economical environment to support them. A man cannot support several wives unless he has enough physical, psychological and financial strength as well as favourable social factors to enable him. A king can afford 3000 concubines while a beggar can have at most one. At most, the so called analysis above can only be wild guesses and is not scientific at all. Yet, many people believe that human society did go through such an evolution. The next step? Same sex marriage.

"Now, same sex marriage is part of human history."
Same sex unions cannot be called marriages. First of all, there are two different types of same sex unions: gay union and lesbian union. They cannot be the same because gay unions cannot give birth to children without involving a surrogate woman while lesbian unions can, ignoring the immorality of IVF. Here is a dilemma. If we only pass laws sanctioning lesbian marriage, gay couples will cry discrimination. If we pass laws sanctioning same sex marriage, gay couples will enjoy a greater share of advantages over lesbian couples. Thus same sex marriage law is unfair to lesbian couples. The Australians are debating about equality of marriages. This is wrongheaded because part of the reasons of the institution of marriage is to provide for the needs of children. The world needs new human beings. A society needs babies otherwise it will age quickly. Women need babies. It is part of their mother instinct. Men need babies. They need inheritors of their empires. 
Heterosexual unions are open to new life and carry greater burden of raising up new human beings. Therefore it is right to provide greater benefits for heterosexual unions. On the other hand, gay unions are sterile and have given up the responsibility of raising new human lives. It is unfair to enjoy benefits while refusing to shoulder responsibilities. I have no authority to stop homosexuals from living together, but don't call it marriage please. Such a union does not deserve the title "marriage".

I will deal with the question of sexual orientation and parenting tomorrow.

Australian Same Sex Marriage

Our debate started in WhatsApp which is not a good platform for lengthy texts. Therefore, I invited my friends to come over here to exchange our views.
Moreover, I want to know more about the situation in Australia because many Hong Kong ordinances have been inspired by similar laws in UK and Australia. When I teach my students sexual ethics and when I deal with similar issues in the future in the capacity of a permanent deacon, I need to have a broader perspective.

The debate started when a lady friend urged us to vote against Australia passing same-sex marriage in an online poll by 9news.com.au. I oppose same-sex marriage, but I do not like meddling with the affairs of other countries. The lady, perhaps shocked like me about the outcome of the recent Irish referendum on same-sex marriage, a defeat of the Irish Catholic Church, thought we should fight the battle on all fronts.
Then, my sister-in-law in Australia told us about the tolerant atmosphere in Australia where same-sex civil unions have been endorsed. She said not many same-sex couples raise kids and she has homosexual friends and colleagues. A few of them have kids who are good classmates of her son. "Their families are full of love", she said in WhatsApp. The lady friend in WhatsApp thought that it was too dangerous.

Out of curiosity, I asked my sister-in-law.
"Same-sex couples cannot give birth to children which must be adopted." (I was proven wrong later.)
"Australian government respects the adoption right of homosexuals, but children must have been born of heterosexuals. Does the Australian government respect the right of children to be raised by heterosexual parents?"
Here is the reply of my sister-in-law.
"The children of homosexuals I know of were born of their mothers. (i.e. lesbian couples) Their children study in the Catholic boy school in which my son studies and they are good friends. Thanks the school for offering Study of Religions as a compulsory subject. The kids know different religions and learn of love and tolerance. I myself have taught me son love, respect and compassion. If I cannot do this to the family members of his friends, how can I set up a model for my son, to make my son trust his mother, to keep always love and compassion?"
Though I claim to be an opponent of same-sex marriage, I have less objection against lesbian couples because men and women are different in many ways. To be more exact, I oppose gay marriage more than lesbian marriage. As for the part on love and compassion, it is commendable. However, one crucial point is missing. Truth. There is no doubt about love and compassion. However, when we love in the wrong ways, tragedy arises. Love must be practised within truth. And what is the truth? This is a big question. To be tolerant means I should not impose my understanding of the truth on you. But I still have the duty to tell you the truth as I understand it.

My sister-in-law continued.
"Most of the children of same-sex couples came from IVF. Mothers gave birth to their own children while men sought surrogate mothers who are friends or voluntary surrogates. In order to protect children and surrogate mothers, NSW forbids commercial dealings, only altruistic. Exploitation of women and children through adoption and surrogacy should be condoned and penalised. However, not just same sex couples will adopt children or use commercial surrogate service. Heterosexual couples exploit too."
With the advance of technology, we are able to do a lot of things. However, should we do what we can do? This is another big question. Ethics. Human beings are more than animals because we are rational. We are able to tell the difference between good and bad. We are able to foresee the consequences of actions. Are they contradictory? Are they virtuous? Human beings uphold values. Technology extents our ability. But technology can be very selfish and unethical. For example, we enjoy comfort and convenience at the expense of our future generations. It is blatant injustice. Therefore, we have environmental ethics.
All ethical schools of thought condemn IVF. It is unethical because we treat other human persons as an object to satisfy our need. I dare anyone to tell her IVF son the truth, "Son, we made you in a tube to satisfy our needs! You are not the fruit of our love."
Surrogacy is even worse. It is a power relationship in which the rich male exploit the reproductive capacity of the poor female. Michael Sandel's "What money cannot buy" and "Outsourcing Pregnancy to India" speak loudly against such unethical dealings. The path to hell is littered with good intentions. Good intentions cannot turn what is unethical ethical.
Lastly, unethical is unethical no matter who does it, be it heterosexual or homosexual. The wrongs done by heterosexuals cannot right the wrongs done by homosexuals. Exploitation is exploitation. Exploitation done by heterosexual couples cannot justify the exploitation done by homosexual couples.

"I myself as a believer and a mother, if one day my son tells me, ' I have found someone whom we love each other. We intend to get married to spend the rest of our life. But it is a he. Will you come to our marriage to give us your blessing?' I will say yes. This is the love of a mother towards her son. Among faith, hope and love, love is the greatest.  When you learn that sexual orientation is inborn, you will understand the wishes of homosexuals are based on love. The world is changing everyday because human beings are changing. There were matriarchal societies, polygamy (nowadays, some religions and local customs still allow polygamy). Now, same sex marriage is part of human history."
The above section is full of fallacies and I hope I can talk more about it tomorrow. Sorry for my bluntness because I am an Ethics and Religious Studies teacher.