主題：信德的奧蹟
這幾個星期我們連續反省五餅二魚的故事，從神蹟默想到聖體聖事。而在七件聖事中，聖體聖事堪稱是「信德的奧蹟」。它既表達出耶穌對我們毫無保留的愛，它又包含著整個救贖工程。首先，讓我們回顧何謂「信德」。
天主是造物主，人類是受造物。我們的存在是完全倚賴天主的照顧。人為萬物之靈，得天獨厚，天主在所有的受造物之中選擇了與人建立獨特的關係，把自己啟示給人類。以人類的能力，又怎能明白天主呢？而天主卻完全通透地明瞭我們。天主大可君臨天下，以雷霆萬鈞之勢，逼令所有的受造物，包括人類臣服。但天主是自由的，倘若祂不尊重人類的自由，強迫人類信服，祂豈不自相矛盾。所以天主選擇經常隱而不現，讓人類自由地尋找祂，自由地選擇愛慕祂。關係是雙方面的。就算天主願意，也要人類的配合。試想一想，在天主前，我們一無所有，我們有甚麼方法來配合並且維持這段關係呢？就是靠信德。
讓我說一個比喻，幫助大家領會信德的意義。
耶穌基督不能永遠留在世上，祂必需升天，離開我們，否則，我們便喪失了相信或者不相信祂的自由了。倘若耶穌今天仍在世上行走，治病驅魔，世人可以不相信他嗎？祂升天了，那麼後世的人就不會被迫相信祂了。但是，祂離開了，我們又憑甚麼相信祂呢？曾與祂一起生活過的宗徒及見證過祂復活的人都會死去的。所以為了後世的人的益處，耶穌建立了教會，並且透過教會，以另外一種形態，真實地存留在世上。這是耶穌升天前所許下的承諾，記載在瑪竇福音的最後一節。耶穌承諾天天與我們同在一起，直到今世的終結（瑪28:20）。我們相信耶穌是天主，天主許下諾言是不會反悔的。為了實踐這個諾言，耶穌留給信仰祂的人聖體聖事。讓我們默想這個「信德的奧蹟」吧。
我們的信仰包括兩個主要的奧蹟，就是天主子降生成人的奧蹟，和天主子受難復活的奧蹟。每年教會分別以聖誕節和復活節慶祝這兩個人類賴以得救的偉大奧蹟。而一件聖體聖事，就包含並滿足了降生和受難復活的雙重意義。這件聖事不斷地表達出天主對我們的慈愛，亦不斷地挑戰我們的信德。
首先，「降生奧蹟」是指天主藉聖神奇妙地蔭庇童貞聖母瑪利亞，使天主聖子取得肉軀而成為人類的一份子。剛纔我們曾反省過，如果天主願意，祂會變成螞蟻去拯救瀕臨絕種的螞蟻。如果出於愛，天主能紓尊降貴降生成人，我們能找到甚麼理由，可以制止天主子為了實踐承諾，二千年來不斷地降生到無酵餅和葡萄酒裡，成為滋養我們邁向永生的活生生的食糧呢？
其次，聖體聖事是從一個無酵餅分擘出來的，是把天主聖子的身體撕裂出來的。是不流血地重現加爾瓦略山的祭獻。但聖體聖事不能永遠停留在麵餅的形態，它必須由信徒領受，消化了，吸收了，完全融合在信徒的身上，讓信徒身上也是流著天主聖子的血。耶穌基督渴望領受了聖體聖事的信徒，與天主聖子結合後，活出基督，使基督又一次在信徒身上復活。這樣，聖體聖事就實現了耶穌基督受難復活的奧蹟。如果我們祗領受聖體聖事而不活出基督，基督就不能復活了。
所以聖體聖事是一個偉大的「信德的奧蹟」。領聖體是很大的挑戰。它不但挑戰我們的信德，要求我們相信這塊無酵餅就是耶穌基督真實的肉，這杯葡萄酒是耶穌基督真實的血，而不是精神上的一個紀念；而且，它挑戰我們的愛德和望德，去活出基督。各位兄弟姊妹，您們準備好接受這個挑戰嗎？
為了培育您的兒子的慈悲之心，透過一個國際志願組織，您和太太與他三人合力每個月捐港幣$300，助養一個索馬利的兒童，並且由兒子間中寫信給他。當然，這個兒童沒有受教育的機會，亦祗有靠這個國際志願組織作翻譯了；在過節時，媽媽會造些小禮物送給他。透過這個志願組織，您們當然可以對該助養兒童的一切，瞭如指掌。但是，本著施恩莫望報的思想，您並不打算給這小朋友寄上全家福合照或錄影帶或視像會議等。試想想那個小朋友又如何認識您們呢？他全憑這個國際志願組織和間中的一些書信和小禮物，纔知道世上某個地方有一個善長人翁的存在，怎至他未必知道這個善長人翁是「三位一體」的。後來，您們想更徹底地幫助這個小朋友，決定把他從索馬利領養過來。您便派您的兒子前往索馬利辦手續，並與他生活三年，教他中文，讓他將來能適應這裡的生活。現在轉換角色，您是這個小朋友，您憑甚麼會跟這個站在您面前的黃皮膚的人去亞洲某一個城市生活呢？您是出於信任，出於對那國際志願組織的信任和對這位善長人翁的信任。
這祗能是一個有限的比喻，因為天主與人類的距離又豈止香港與索馬利的距離呢？我們不妨再進一步，想像一個保護螞蟻的環保組織。某一群螞蟻的蟻穴被污染了，您想保護物種，而且不忍心看見這群螞蟻慢慢中毒而死，您便想辦法遷徙它們，但是您不能強迫它們，否則它們仍會千山萬水，走回污染了的故居。您如何引導它們離開這被污染的巢穴呢？您要想辦法和這群螞蟻建立關係，令它們信任您。您會願意變成一隻蟻去警告它們，帶領它們脫離險境嗎？您不會，但天主會。
耶穌基督不願意祗是在精神上存在信徒的心目中，祂是非常渴望具體實在地存在，可以見到，可以觸摸到地與信徒同在，與信徒結合，並使所有領受的人合而為一。如果您覺得很難相信耶穌臨在於餅酒之中，那麼，除了餅和酒，我們有更好的形態建議給天主嗎？
天主保祐。
Twentieth Ordinary Sunday (Year B)
Theme: The Mystery of Faith
In these few weeks, we reflect upon the story of five loaves and two fish. We meditate from the miracle to the Sacrament of Eucharist. Among the seven sacraments, it is right to call the Eucharist “the mystery of faith”. It expresses the unreserved love of Jesus for us and embeds the whole redemption. First of all, let us take a look at “faith”.
God is the Creator and human beings are creatures. Our existence totally depends on God’s providence. Among the Creation, we are favoured and chosen by God to build up a special relation with Him. God reveals Himself to us. With our limited capability, how can we know and understand God while God knows us through and through? God could have lorded over us and imposed domination over all the Creation, including us. But God is free. If He did not respect our freedom, forcing us to worship Him, He would be contradicting Himself. Therefore, God chooses to be elusive so that we may freely seek Him, freely choose to love Him. A relation is built up by at least two parties. Even if God wills, it requires men to cooperate. Try to think about it, we are nothing before God. What can we do to maintain this relationship? It is through faith.
Let me tell you a parable to illustrate the meaning of faith.
This is only a limited parable because the distance between God and man is far greater than that between Somali and Hong Kong. Let us go one step further. Imagine an environmental protection NGO specializing in ants protection. The colony of an ant population is seriously contaminated. You want to protect the species and would not like to see the ants slowly poisoned to death. You want to resettle them but you cannot do so by force. Otherwise, they would stubbornly return to their poisoned colony. How would you build up a relation with them, to make them trust you? Who wants to become an ant to warn them and deliver them from evil? You wouldn’t but God would.
Jesus Christ will not stay on earth forever. He must ascend to heaven and leave us. Otherwise, we would lose the freedom to believe him or not. If Jesus still walked around today, healing diseases and casting out demons, could human not believe in him? Now that he has returned to heaven, the posterity will not be forced to believe in him. But Jesus Christ has left. By what can we believe in him? The Apostles who have lived with him and those who have witnessed his resurrection would all die. For the sake of the posterity, Jesus established the Church and through the Church become present with us in another form. This is a promise Jesus made before he ascended into heaven. It is recorded in the last verse of Matthew. Jesus promised to be with us always to the close of the age (Matthew 28:20). We believe that Jesus Christ is God and when God promises, He will not repent. To honour His promise, Jesus left behind for his believers the sacrament of Eucharist. Let us meditate on this mystery of faith.
Our faith consists of two major mysteries, the mystery of Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery. Every year, the Church celebrates these two mysteries, on which our salvation depends, with Christmas and Easter. And this single sacrament of Eucharist embeds and fulfils the double meaning of incarnation and Passover. This sacrament unceasingly expresses God’s mercy for us and continuously challenges our faith.
Firstly, the mystery of incarnation means God the Holy Spirit overshadows the Blessed Virgin Mary so that the Son of God became flesh and a member of humanity. A moment ago, we reached the conclusion that if God so wished, He would become an ant to deliver an endangered species of ants. Out of love, God condescended to become man. What logic can we find to stop the Son of God from honouring his promise, to incarnate unceasingly into bread and wine as the bread of life to nourish us towards eternal life?
Jesus does not want to exist spiritually in the hearts of the believers. He desires to exist concretely, visible and touchable, to stay with us, to merge with us so that all who receive him may become one. If you find it difficult to believe the real presence of Jesus in bread and wine, then, other than bread and wine, do we have a better proposal to God?
Secondly, the sacrament of Eucharist is the breaking of bread from one loaf, is the breaking of the body of the Son of God, a reenactment of the Calvary sacrifice in an unbloody manner. But the sacrament can never remain in the form of bread. It must be received, digested, absorbed and completely merged into the body of believers so that the blood flowing in our body is the blood of the Son of God. Jesus desires us to live out Christ after we receive the sacrament, to make Christ resurrect once more in us. Then, the sacrament of Eucharist fulfils the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. If we receive the sacrament but do not live out Christ, Christ will not resurrect.
The sacrament of Eucharist is truly a great mystery of faith. Receiving the sacrament is a big challenge. Not only does it challenge our faith, demanding us to believe that the piece of unleavened bread is the real body of Jesus Christ, the cup of wine is the real blood of Jesus Christ and is not a spiritual remembrance, but it is also a challenge of our charity and hope to live out Christ. Brethren, are you ready to accept this challenge?
In order to build up a compassionate heart of your son, you, your wife and your son sponsor a Somalian boy through an international voluntary organization for HK$300 a month. Your son would write letters to the boy regularly. Of course, the boy receives no education. The international NGO would do the translation. During festivals, your wife would send him some presents. Through the NGO, you are able to know the boy like the palm of your hand. But you believe in helping people anonymously. You decide not to send any photos, videos or even Skype him. Think about it. How would the boy know you? Relying on the NGO and the seasonal presents, he would conclude that somewhere in this world, there exists a Good Samaritan. He might not even know that this Good Samaritan is a trinite Samaritan. Later, to redeem him out of poverty completely, you decide to adopt him. You send your son over to Somali to complete the procedures and stay there for 3 years to teach him Chinese so that he might better adapt to life in Hong Kong in the future. Now, let us switch role. You are now the Somalian boy. Standing in front of you is a yellow skin Asian. What makes you follow him to live in a city somewhere in Asia? Your trust. Your faith in the NGO and the Good Samaritan.
God bless.
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