主題：是甚麼使耶穌感到詫異？
今天讓我們來處理一些經文與信理之間的矛盾問題。
當總領天使加俾額爾向童貞瑪利亞傳達天主的旨意，邀請瑪利亞做救世主的母親的時候，瑪利亞曾表達過她希望以童貞的身份，服事天主（路1:34）。最後，她並沒有堅持自己的願望，並且願意放棄了做童貞女的念頭而跟隨天主的旨意，按照天使的說話在她身上成就(1:38)。於是瑪利亞成為了耶穌基督的母親。
在兩個星期前的福音中，我們聽過耶穌平息風浪的神蹟；在上星期的福音中，又聽過祂復活會堂長雅依洛的女兒的故事。這些神蹟，表達出耶穌基督是天主，是大自然的主宰，又是生命的主宰。耶穌既是天主，祂當然是全知的，祂不但知道古往今來的一切，連每個人心中的思慮，理論上祂也是一清二楚的，例如在治好癱子的故事中，當在場的人心中忖度為何耶穌膽敢褻瀆天主，以人的身份赦罪時，福音說，耶穌憑祂的神力，認透他們的心思（谷2:8）。那麼，為甚麼今次在納匝肋，耶穌對同鄉的無信，會感到詫異呢？「詫異」一詞在馬爾谷福音中一共出現過六次，全部都有「意料之外」的意思。耶穌為甚麼對同鄉的無信，會感到意外呢？我相信耶穌是有意不運用祂的神力去認透同鄉的心，保留一份驚喜。
今天的第一篇讀經提供了一些線索。讀經取自厄則克耳先知書。厄則克耳原本是聖殿的一個祭司，在猶大亡國時充軍巴比倫，不能做祭司，失業了。但天主召叫他，照顧他，為他安排一個更好的出路，他轉行做了先知。天主賜他神視的能力，看見很多的異像。例如聖堂的大閘上的四個活物。在今天的讀經中，我們可以體會到天主對猶太人，不離不棄的大愛。雖然猶太人一而再，再而三的破壞盟約，壞事做盡，但出於對人類的大愛，天主仍信守盟約，無論他們聽或不聽，天主依然派遣先知，作為天主臨在的標記。即是說，天主對冥頑不靈的人，始終不離不棄。天主對人是有要求的，但當人未能做到天主的要求時，天主不會怪責，甚至放棄他們。天主仍不斷給人類改過自身的機會，直到有朝一日，人類懂得回頭為止。
反觀耶穌的同鄉，自小看著耶穌成長，對他的身世，瞭如指掌，對於耶穌，他們已有一個既定的見解，有一個偏見。他們一方面承認耶穌的大能，但另一方面，又鄙視他的身份地位，對耶穌起了反感，拒絕耶穌帶來的福音，天主的慈愛。一如天主藉厄則克耳先知所說，無論人類聽抑或不聽，接受或拒絕天主，天主依然以耶穌作為先知，標誌著對人類不離不棄的愛。結果呢？
耶穌本來能夠預先知道一切，知道有自稱基督徒的人對童貞聖母瑪利亞不敬，但祂在十字架上時，仍把瑪利亞交給信徒作他們的母親；知道有奉基督宗教為國教的國家承認同性婚姻，而且其他國家會跟風，但祂在為男人造一個相稱的助手時，仍給他造了一個女性，建立婚姻制度。
但天主怎會讓瑪利亞的善意落空呢？既做母親，又做童貞女為世人是不可能的。但正如天使所說，在天主前是沒有不可能的事(1:37)。所以，天主令瑪利亞兩全其美，既做救世主的母親，並永遠保存她的童貞，她的完美。所以在天主的所有受造物之中，童貞聖母瑪利亞是最完美的了，是堪受讚美的。
天主教從一開始就相信聖母瑪利亞是卒世童貞，即懷孕耶穌之前，在生產耶穌的過程中與及生產耶穌之後，天主一直保守著她的童貞。教會相信聖母瑪利亞祗生了耶穌基督一個兒子，這是天主的旨意；她再沒有生其他子女了，這是她做童貞女的意願。但有人就引用今天的福音，想否定聖母祗生了耶穌一個兒子的事實。這樣便推翻了聖母卒世童貞的道理。再引申的話，便會質疑耶穌基督是聖神降孕，亦即質疑耶穌基督的天主性。本堂的主保聖葉理諾與其他的教父例如聖奧思定都有份捍衛聖母卒世童貞的信念。早在公元382年，聖葉理諾就回答了經文中的人物，不是耶穌的親兄弟姊妹妹，而是堂兄弟姊姐，甚至是表兄弟姊妹。請大家注意，聖母瑪利亞和耶穌基督不祗是血脈相連這麼簡單，在神學上，捍衛有關聖母的道理的時候，同時都是捍衛耶穌基督是真人真天主的道理。基督徒之所以是基督徒，不祗是相信有一個天主，而且是相信耶穌基督是真人真天主。
耶穌感到詫異。耶穌以為他們是亞巴郎子孫，本來有獲得救贖的優先權，結果他們放棄了這優勢。耶穌以為行神蹟沒有甚麼困難，結果納匝肋人的無信令祂英雄無用武之地。
當然，天主寧願冒險，寧願感受到詫異，也不願剝奪人類的自由。縱使人濫用了自由不斷地闖禍，天主仍不離不棄。當然受到損失的是那些硬心腸的我們。
我們不是耶穌，沒有天主全知的能力。但在待人接物方面，最少我們也可以對不斷令我們失望的人，懷有希望，懷有愛。縱使他們會自食其果，天主對他們的慈愛是永遠長存的。
天主保佑。
Fourteenth Sunday (Year B)
Theme: What amazed Jesus? Today, let us handle some contradictions between the scripture and articles of faith.
When Archangel Gabriel conveyed God’s message to the Blessed Virgin Mary, inviting her to be the mother of the Saviour, Mary had expressed her wish to serve God as a virgin (Luke 1:34). At last, she did not insist but gave up her ambition to follow God’s will. Let it be done to her according to the word of the angel (1:38). Thus Mary became the mother of Jesus Christ.
But how would God allow Mary’s good will to fall to the ground? In man, it is impossible to be a virgin and at the same time a mother. But just as what the angel said, with God nothing would be impossible (1:37). So, God made Mary enjoy the best of both worlds, to be the mother of the Saviour and at the same time to preserve her virginity, her perfection forever. Therefore, among all the creatures of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary is the most perfect, the most blessed.
Since early time, the Catholic Church has always held the perpetual virginity of Mary, i.e. before pregnancy, during delivery and after giving birth to Jesus, God guarded her virginity. The Church believes that Mary has given birth to Jesus, her only child. It is the will of God that she does not give birth to any other children. This is also Mary’s wish to remain a virgin. However, some people want to make use of the gospel reading today to deny the fact that Mary had given birth to only one son, Jesus. This would refute the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of the BVM. Extrapolate from this, people can query the incarnation of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit, and thus the divinity of Christ. The patron saint of our parish, St. Jerome and other Church Fathers such as St. Augustine had actively defended this doctrine of the perpetual virginity of the BVM. As early as 382 A.D., St. Jerome answered that the brothers and sisters mentioned in the text were cousins. Please take note that Our Lady’s link with Jesus Christ is more than a maternal-filial bond. Theologically, in defending Marian doctrines, we are at the time defending the divinity and humanity of Jesus. What makes Christians Christians is not just their belief in the oneness of God, but the dual natures of Jesus Christ.
Two weeks ago, we heard of the miracle of the calming of a storm. Last Sunday, we heard of the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue. These miracles show the divinity of Jesus Christ who is the Lord of the cosmos and the Lord of life. Since Jesus is God, he should be omniscient. Not only does he know everything in the past, of the present and all that will happen in the future, but he also knows clearly what is passing through the mind of everybody. For example, in the story of the healing of the paralytic, when people were questioning in their hearts how dared Jesus to blaspheme by forgiving sins as a man, the gospel says that perceiving in his spirit, Jesus was able to read their minds (Mark 2:8). So, why was Jesus amazed because of the unbelief of his fellow countrymen? The word “amazed” appears six times in the gospel, all meaning “unexpected”. Why did Jesus not anticipate the unbelief of the people of Nazareth? I think Jesus did not make use of his power to read the minds of his fellow countrymen. He would like to reserve a surprise for himself.
Today, the first reading which is taken from the book of Ezekiel may provide us with some clues. Ezekiel had been a priest serving the Temple. When Judah was conquered by Babylon, he was exiled and lost his job as a priest. But God called him and took care of him to take up a new career as a prophet. God gave him visionary powers. For example, the Four Living Things, which you can see on our main gate, were his. From the reading today, we may appreciate God’s great love for the Jews. The Jews repeatedly breached the Covenant and had done a lot of abominations. But out of love, God remained faithful to the Covenant. It didn’t matter whether the Jews listened or not, God still sent prophets as a sign of His presence among them. That is to say, God would never give up even the most stubborn people. Of course God has expectations on men, but when men fail to meet God’s expectations, God does not blame them or abandon them. Unceasingly, God gives us chances to repent until one day, we know we should return.
Take a look at Jesus’ fellow countrymen. They had known Jesus since his birth. They knew him like the back of their hands. They had an unchangeable perception, a prejudice of him. On one hand, they acknowledged his powers, but on the other, they despised his status and took offence at him, rejecting the gospel, God’s mercy brought by Jesus. Whether they listened or not, whether they accepted or rejected, God still sent Jesus as a prophet to signify his unfailing love, just as it was proclaimed by Ezekiel. Then what happened? Jesus was amazed. He thought that they were the children of Abraham. Therefore they would take the advantage of this priority to receive redemption. However, they forsook this privilege. Jesus thought it easy to work miracles but the unbelief of the people of Nazareth made him unable to exercise his authority.
Jesus should have known everything beforehand, knowing in advance some self-styled Christians would not respect the BVM. But on the cross, he still made Mary the mother of all believers. He should have known that some Christian countries would legalize same-sex marriage and other countries would follow, but when he made man a helper fit for him, God made a woman to set up the institution of marriage.
Of course, God prefers taking risk, feeling amazed to stripping men of his liberty. Even though men wreak havoc with their freedom, God will never abandon. Of course, the stubborn ones will eventually suffer.
We are not Jesus. We do not possess omniscience. But at least, we should remain forever hopeful and merciful to those who keep disappointing us because even though they would eat the cake they bake, God’s mercy towards them remains forever.
God bless.
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