主題：捨易行難
經過了五個星期默想若望福音所記載的「五餅二魚」的神蹟及「生命之糧」的教訓後，今天我們返回馬爾谷福音，親會耶穌的心意。今天的福音，描述了法利塞人對耶穌的挑剔。那麼，法利塞人是甚麼？
法利塞人的起源是很好的，為甚麼到了耶穌時代，他們經常與耶穌作對呢？其實與耶穌作對的還有其他黨派的人，他們有各自的理由反對耶穌。今天我們就集中認識法利塞黨吧。
法利塞人的例子提醒我們做基督徒的，不要像他們一樣走歪路。歪路實在太多了，今天的福音亦已羅列了不少。在場的各位當然不會犯這些毛病，所以我想同大家分享另外一條並不那麼明顯的的歪路。這條歪路叫「捨難行易」。
的確，建立好的習慣並不容易。我們用兩條腿行路。祗領聖事而不讀聖經，猶如一個祗得一條腿行路的人，要在天國成聖路上前進，非常困難。在今天的第二篇讀經，雅各伯宗徒指醒我們不能忽略「聖言」的重要性。所以大家不要怕難，要努力讀福音，勤領聖事，雙管齊下，向天國邁進。
在耶穌時代，猶太人有幾個黨派。福音裡提及過的有黑落德黨，法利塞黨，撒杜塞黨和熱誠黨。他們有如今天的政黨，有些是建制派的，例如黑落德黨，撒杜塞黨；有些是在野的、激進的而且不惜使用暴力的，例如熱誠黨；有些是中產知識份子所組成的，例如法利塞黨。
在未亡國之前，猶太人的宗教主要是圍繞著遵守梅瑟的法律，好像第一篇讀經所提及的，他們要完全遵行天主所有的誡命。據梅瑟五書的記載，一共613條法律。梅瑟的法律對祭獻有很嚴格的規定。所以在節日到耶路撒冷的聖殿祭獻是每個猶太成年人每年要做的事。亡國前，司祭享有很高的權威，聖殿是最高的權力中心。亡國後，聖殿被毀，司祭不但暫時失業，充軍巴比倫，他們的權威亦大打折扣。另一方面，猶太人不希望被外族同化，而且又失去了聖殿的宗教生活，惟有努力學習祖先的經典，以保存猶太人的身份。就是這個機緣，經師，法學士的重要性提高了。沒有聖殿，就出現了會堂給人民聚集，祈禱，學習梅瑟法律等。這就是法利塞人的崛起。
後來，波斯王居魯士滅了巴比倫，准許猶太人回國重建聖殿，司祭的地位恢復了，便結集成撒杜塞黨，抗衡法利塞黨的勢力。到羅馬帝國時代，羅馬人扶植大黑落德做一個傀儡王帝，代表羅馬人作殖民統治，便出現了一群支持羅馬統治的既得利益者─黑落德黨。當然，亦有一群熱血的「反清復明」人士，他們不惜以暗殺暴亂，去對拒羅馬人及黑落德黨人的統治。他們就是熱誠黨了。
所以不要以為政治與宗教可以分家，宗教人士就不應參與政治運動。其實，不是宗教人士自己想參與政治角力，而是避無可避地政治敲門，找你麻煩。正如聖經中的訓道篇所說，「在太陽之下無新事物。」（訓1:9）二千年前耶穌是這樣，今天也是一樣。
法利塞人是由法學士，經師所組成，精通梅瑟的法律，素來享有崇高的教導地位，常被尊稱為「辣彼」，即中個人所尊稱的「夫子，師傅」。為了保証教義的純潔性，不受外來文化的污染，所以他們教訓的模式，經常是引用祖先的規矩、或者傳統的權威，少有深入了解法律的本意和精神。忽然從北方來了個出身為木匠的「辣彼」，他的教訓不但合理，並且帶有救世主的權威，經常與他們的教訓相左。他們與耶穌爭辯，一方面他們認為耶穌離經背道，另一方面為了挽回自己的地位和面子。今天的福音提到法利塞人和從耶路撒冷來的經師，可以想像，這一群從中央政府派來的督學，山長水遠來到北方觀課，很有「考牌」的氣氛。因此，挑剔耶穌是在所難免的了。
在西方文化，法利塞人成了「偽善」的代表，是有理由的。且看今天福音中的例子。他們質問耶穌，為甚麼他的門徒不按傳統洗手吃飯。試問法利塞人是關心耶穌和他的門徒的健康嗎？當然不是，他們的目的在於找些口實來攻擊耶穌。法律的設立是為了人的益處，但法利塞人卻利用法律去找人的錯處，完全違反法律的精神和原意。他們的善不是真心的善，所以成了偽善。
可能是人類的惰性，我們傾向先做一些容易的，熟悉的事。在座之中的學生，在邁長的暑假一定要做暑期作業。做的時候通常都是做了容易的，留下難的遲些做。這種做法無可厚非，做容易的事來熱身是對的。但停留在容易的事物，避過困難的事物就出問題了。如果您永遠祗做熱身運動而不出場比賽，那又有甚麼意義呢？做父母教導子女的時候，通常是一個做好人，一個做醜人，彼此輪流做。人人都想在別人面前做好人。如果永遠都是媽媽做好人，爸爸做醜人，不但有欠公允，所謂「慈母出敗兒」，對子女的成長反為有害。
且看，法利塞人如何生活？引述傳統和權威容易，自己思考出背後的理據困難，還是依書直說算了吧。按法律一字不漏地遵守容易，用它來挑剔別人容易，用它來在別人面前炫耀自己的虔誠容易，但掌握法律精神來應用到不同的處境難，還是按法律的字面執行算了吧。我們比法利塞人好多少？唸經容易，自己默想和祈禱難，還是唸玫瑰經算了吧。主日參彌撒時聽聖經容易，平日抽時間閱讀聖經難，還是主日聽福音算了吧。領聖體容易，活出基督，顯示出基督慈悲的面，按福音的教訓寛恕人七十個七次難，還是領聖體算了吧！耶穌在瑪竇福音第七章曾說過，進入永生的門是狹窄的，耶穌勸勉我們捨易行難，辛苦些也不要走捷徑，行歪路。
天主保祐。
Twenty-second Sunday, (Year B)
Theme: Forsake the easy path and take the hard one
After spending five weeks meditating on the five loaves two fish miracle and the Living Bread discourse in John, we return to meditating on Jesus’ mind in Mark. In the gospel today, Jesus was pitched against the Pharisees. Then what were the Pharisees?
The Pharisees started well. Why then did they attack Jesus in his time? In fact, other parties also attacked Jesus, for different reasons. Today, we focus on the Pharisees.
The examples of the Pharisees remind us not to go down the wrong path. There are too many wrong paths. The gospel lists many of them today. I am sure all of you sitting here will not make these mistakes. Thus I want to share with you a wrong path that is less obvious. This wrong path is called “taking the easy instead of the difficult way”.
Indeed, it is not easy to build up good habits. We walk with two feet. If we receive the sacraments without reading the Bible, it is just like somebody limping on one foot only. It would be extremely difficult to proceed in sanctification. The second reading from James today reminds us not to neglect the importance of the Word. Therefore, do not back off in face of difficulty. Put efforts in reading the gospel, receive sacraments frequently. Let us move ahead towards the Kingdom of Heaven with a two pronged approach.
In Jesus’ time, there were several Jewish factions. The gospels have mentioned the Herodians, Pharisees, Sadducees and Zealots. They were like the political parties we have today. Some were pro-establishment such as the Herodians and Sadducees. Some were radical and even resorted to violence such as the Zealots. Some were ‘middle-class’ intelligentsia such as the Pharisees.
Before they were conquered, the Jews led their religious life around the Torah. For example, from the first reading today, we read that the Israelites were supposed to keep all the statues of the Lord, 613 statues and precepts in all. The Mosaic Law takes pains to stipulate all kinds of sacrifices. Therefore, every Jewish adult had to offer sacrifice once a year in the Jerusalem Temple in one of the feasts. Before captivity, priests enjoyed great authority and the Temple was the power centre. After being conquered, the Temple was destroyed. Priests lost their job and were exiled to Babylon. Their authority was greatly diminished. On the other hand, the Jews did not want to be assimilated and there was no more temple worships. Thus they worked hard to study their Scriptures in order to retain their Jewish identity. With this opportunity, scribes and teachers of the law became more important. Without Temple, synagogues were built instead to assemble, pray and learn the Torah. This was the rise of the Pharisees.
Later, the Persian king Cyrus defeated the Babylonians and released the Jews, sent them back home to rebuild their Temple. The status of priests was restored. They formed into a political group of Sadducees to counteract the Pharisees. When the Romans came, they put forth a puppet king, Herod the Great to implement colonial rule. Herodians arose as supporters of Roman rule. Of course, there were hot-blooded rebels who refused to be ruled by colonists and their running dogs and did not hesitate to use violence and terrorist tactics. These were the Zealots.
Therefore, do not be so naïve as to believe that religion and politics should be separated and that religious people should not take part in politics. In fact, religious people do not want to get involved in political struggles. Rather inevitably, politics knock at your door and give you trouble. Just as what the Preacher said, “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiasticus 1:9) What happened to Jesus two thousand years ago happens to us today.
Pharisees were made up of scribes and teachers of the law. They knew the Mosaic Law thoroughly. They used to enjoying high teaching authority and were called Rabbi. In order to protect the purity of their teachings from being contaminated by alien cultures, their teaching mode was to follow the precepts of ancestors or traditional authority. They seldom delved into the intentions and spirit of the law. Suddenly, a carpenter Rabbi appeared in the north. Not only was his teaching reasonable, but he taught with an authority of a saviour. He taught differently from the Pharisees. So, they quarrelled with Jesus because on one hand, they thought Jesus’ teachings were deviant and on the other, they wanted to save their faces and status. Today, the gospel mentions that the Pharisees ganged up with teachers of the law coming from Jerusalem. With imagination, we could feel an atmosphere of scrutiny surrounding this bunch of central government inspectorate. Finding fault with Jesus was to be expected.
In Western culture, Pharisees were synonymous with ‘hypocrisy’. From the example in the gospel today, you will find this reasonable. The Pharisees interrogated Jesus to find out why his disciples did not follow the traditional ways to clean their hands before meal. Did they care about the health of Jesus and his disciples? Certainly not. They were looking for a pretext to attack Jesus. Laws are set up for the good of men. But these Pharisees made use of the law to find faults. This went against the intention and the spirit of the law. Their good was not sincerely good. This made them hypocritical.
Perhaps it is a human inertia. We tend to do easy things or familiar things. Among you are students who have summer assignments to do during the long summer vacation. You usually do the easier parts first, leaving the more difficult sections to be done later. This is not a bad thing because doing the easier ones can be a kind of warm up. But it would be wrong if we always stop at doing difficult stuffs and only do the easy ones. If you always stick to doing warm up exercises without entering into competitions, what is the point? In teaching children, usually one parent plays the good guy and the other bad and takes turns. People always prefer to play the good guy in front of the others. If the mother always plays the good guy and the father bad, not only is it unfair, but it is also detrimental to the development of children. One Chinese idiom says, “beneficent mothers give birth to rotten sons”.
Take a look at the Pharisees. It was easy to quote tradition and invoke authority. It was difficult to figure out the intention behind by oneself. Obviously the right thing to do was to follow the books. It was easy to follow the letters of the law, to make use of them to criticize the others, to show off their piety in front of the others. It was difficult to apply the spirit of the law in different situations. Therefore, they would rather follow the letters of the law. How better are we Catholics than the Pharisees? Saying set prayers is easy. Doing meditation ourselves is difficult. You would rather say the rosary. Listening to Bible passages during Sunday mass is easy. Taking time to read the Bible every day is difficult. You would rather listen to the gospel on Sundays. Receiving the Holy Communion is easy. Living out Christ, showing his merciful countenance and forgiving others seventy times seven is difficult. You would rather receive the Holy Communion only. Jesus says in Matthew 7 that the way leading to eternal life is narrow. Jesus encourages us not to take an easy way out, not to take shortcuts even though the right way is difficult.
God bless.
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