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.