主題：天主聖言就是神，就是生命
教會一連五個星期默想五餅二魚神蹟和生命之糧的教訓，今天是總結的時候了。讓我們重溫過去四個星期，福音的重點。
這個星期，在默想耶穌所講述生命之糧的最後教訓之前，讓我們澄清一些問題，為甚麼耶穌的生命之糧的道理是那樣令人難以接受呢？大概因為在我們的心目中，吃人肉是很野蠻，很噁心，祗會在極端的境況，例如戰爭、饑荒或者災難，為了維持生命，纔會發生。至於飲人血，祗會是一些恐怖片例如吸血殭屍的橋段。其實，食人肉飲人血以維持生命的思想，並不是想像中那麼簡單。因為在世界各地的文化之中，我們都可以找到類似的行為，甚至習俗的蛛絲馬跡。讓我介紹三個中國的例子。春秋五霸之一的晉文公重耳在未得位之前，曾在各國流亡了十九年。在他最潦倒和患病的時候，跟隨他的介之推，就曾割自己的肉煮湯給他吃，令他振作。宋朝名將岳飛的【滿江紅】就有「壯志饑餐胡虜肉，笑談喝飲匈奴血」的名句，不但表現出他的豪氣和驅逐敵人的決心，亦可見在戰場上，食敵人的肉，飲敵人的血是平常的事。相信大家一定聽過【西遊記】的故事。故事的其中一條主線，就是環繞著孫悟空如何保護唐三藏，因為各種妖魔鬼怪想捉拿唐僧，吃他的肉，可以長生不老。大家對吃唐僧肉的橋段又有沒有反感呢？為甚麼沒有反感呢？是因為【西遊記】是一部小說，祗是娛樂消閑的故事，不必那麼認真嗎？錯。其實這橋段是反映人類心靈深層共通的渴望，對擺脫死亡的渴望。再加上中醫「以形補形」的理論，我們對「吃聖僧的肉，達到長生不老」的橋段並不抗拒。
耶穌並沒有失望，因為祂知道天國開始的時候是微不足道的，祂知道「蒙召的人多，被選的人少。」所以祂並沒有因眼前的挫折而停止講述生命之糧的道理。為後世人類的益處，耶穌繼續講述生命之糧的精粹。耶穌說：「使人生活的是神，肉一無所用。我對你們所說的話，就是神，就是生命。」（若6:63）
我經常覺得做中國天主教徒是很幸福的，因為我們的文化與福音的教訓經常不謀而合。讓我們從另一個角度看究竟靈芝人參實用，還是耶穌的說話實用。
倘若我們對肉身的健康那麼緊張，我們豈不更緊張我們靈魂的健康嗎？誠然，我們不應厚此薄彼，因為將來是靈魂與肉身一起進入永生的。靈芝人參的確可以補身，那麼，世間有甚麼補品可以補一補我們的靈魂呢？如果我們不滋養補給我們的靈魂，如果我們的靈魂是衰弱的話，無論怎樣強壯的軀殼亦祗會是雙眼無神、死氣沉沉的臭皮囊而已。那麼，我們靈魂的補品是甚麼? 對。就是生命之糧，聖體聖事。不過祗答對了一半。另一半是甚麼？就是天主的說話，天主的聖言，聖經。
第一個星期講述五餅二魚的故事。耶穌的兩個宗徒，斐理伯和安德肋，表現了處理困難的兩種不同反應。斐理伯很客觀地抽離自己，分析計算出問題的艱難程度，但於事無補。安德肋嘗試投入解決困難，但困難比他手上的資源大，他就把僅有的五餅二魚交託給耶穌，把問題解決了。
第二個星期講述群眾找到耶穌，想確實他的默西亞身份。猶太人亡了國，被羅馬人殖民統治，他們期望默西亞來解放全民族。但他們預先設下關卡，篩選一些滿足特定條件的人物纔有資格做默西亞。雖然耶穌行了五餅二魚的神蹟，但他們仍不滿意，要求耶穌行一個來自天上的神蹟。因此，這些猶太人錯過了信主得救的機會。
第三個星期講述猶太人繼續和耶穌爭辯來自天上的神蹟的問題。其實降生成人的天主子耶穌自己本身就是這個他們所要求的神蹟，可惜他們的偏見，阻擋了他們認識真理而得救。耶穌就開始講述生命之糧的道理。生命之糧之所以是生命之糧，就是使領受了的人在末日可以復活並進入天主的永恆生命。如果想生命之糧發揮功效，就要按耶穌的教訓，不再為自己生活，而是為別人生活。
到了上一個星期，耶穌清楚明白地說出祂的血肉就是生命之糧。瑪竇福音的最後一節，記載了耶穌許諾與我們同在，直到今世的終結。耶穌是天主，言出必行。祂當然不會取巧地精神上與我們同在，而是具體實在地與我們同在。所以耶穌基督召選宗徒，建立教會。教會依從耶穌的吩咐，舉行彌撒，在彌撒中再次活出最後晚餐，把無酵餅和酒祝聖成為聖體聖血，履行耶穌基督升天前的承諾。聖體聖事是偉大的「信德的奧蹟」，一件聖事包含了基督宗教的兩大奧蹟。就是降生奧蹟和逾越奧蹟。二千年前天主子降生成人，二千年來，天主子不斷在彌撒聖祭中，降生在餅酒之內。二千年前天主子受難復活，二千年來，信徒不斷領受從同一個餅撕裂出來的聖體，這是天主子受難的部份；信徒在日常生活中不斷活出基督，這是天主子復活的部份。
猶太人就沒有那麼幸運了。他們對於血，十分禁忌，他們的法律除了禁止接觸血和嚴禁吃帶血的肉之外，還有很周詳的步驟處理與流血有關的日常事物。可憐耶穌的門徒，當耶穌對他們說，不吃師父的肉，不喝師父的血，便不能獲得永生時，可想而知他們是多麼的為難！所以，很多門徒因耶穌這番生命之糧的言論，離開了他。耶穌的傳教業蹟，由上萬的追隨者的高峰跌到谷底。
「神」並不虛無飄渺。請大家望一望坐在你身邊四周的教友，望望他們的眼睛。他們有神嗎？相信大家已經明白「使人生活的是神」是甚麼意思，不用贅述。除了充足的休息之外，還有甚麼可以令人有「神」呢？耶穌說，他的話就是神，就是生命。伯多祿也說，惟有耶穌有永生之言。耶穌的說話真是中用的嗎？他的話實際嗎？
今天我們生活在消費主義的社會中，健康產品大行其道，無論任何時段，電視機不停廣播各種各樣，向嬰兒到長者推銷，令他們健康成長，充滿活力或者減慢衰老，恢復青春的產品。你們相信這些廣告嗎？可能你們會說：「執事，某某牌嬰兒奶粉、高鈣低脂奶粉，甚麼營養添加劑、靈芝人參，總比耶穌的說話實在嘛。」
請問在座之中，除了小孩子外，有誰沒有聽過大名鼎鼎的少林寺呢？有沒有聽過少林【易筋經】、【洗髓經】呢？雖然武俠小說把它們浪漫化、神化了，但無可置疑，它們都是一些實實在在的健身手冊。請問，跟隨【易筋經】強身健體有效，還是飲高鈣低脂奶粉，靈芝人參有效呢？你會怎樣選擇呢？我會選擇【易筋經】。
若望福音告訴我們天主子，就是天主聖言。天父是藉著祂創造天地。祂就是操控整個宇宙運行的真道。天主聖言成了血肉，居住在我們當中三十三年，教導我們得救的真理。祂離開前留下聖體聖事，以另外一個形式陪伴我們到末日。不過，祂是天主聖言的本質從來沒有改變過。所以，當我們讀聖經、聆聽聖經、運用聖經祈禱時，我們與天主聖言相遇，與天主聖子相遇，與耶穌基督相遇，從祂的說話中，獲得生命，獲得永恆的生命。
耶穌基督對我們的愛不但偉大，而且非常周全。我們固然可以在聖體聖事中與基督結合，就算我們因種種原因不能領聖體，我們也可藉著默想聖經，與基督相遇，與基督結合，從而獲得生命。我們必須用兩隻腳走路。讓我們不但勤領聖事，還要勤讀福音，以天主的聖言，為我們的靈魂肉身同時進補。
天主保祐。
Twenty First Ordinary Sunday, (Year B)
Theme: The Word of God is spirit, is life
For five consecutive weeks, the Church meditates the miracle of five loaves and two fish as well as the teaching of the Bread of Life. Today is the time to call it a day. Let us review the main points of gospel readings of the past four weeks.
This week, before we meditate the last teaching on the Bread of Life, let us ask ourselves why it is so difficult for people to accept the truth of the Living Bread? Perhaps we find the cannibalistic elements disgusting. We think that cannibalism would only take place in extreme situations such as war times, famine and air crashes etc. Drinking human blood would only be story lines of vampire movies. In fact, the idea of cannibalism is more complicated because its traces can be found in customs and cultures of civilizations all over the world. Let me show you three Chinese examples. Before he was enthroned Duke Wen of Jin晉文公, Chong’er重耳 self-exiled for 19 years among the duchies. When he was most desperate and sick, one of his followers Jie Zhitui介之推cut and boiled a piece of his flesh from his thigh to feed him, to cheer him up. The famous military general Yue Fei岳飛of the Song dynasty宋朝wrote a sonnet Man Jiang Hong滿江紅in which there is a well-remembered couplet which reads, “Great aspiration is the eating of Jurchen flesh in hunger, Jaunty talk is the drinking of Hun blood in thirst.” Not only does this couplet show his heroism and determination to chase away the alien invaders, but it also shows that eating enemy’s flesh, drinking enemy’s blood was a common practice during war times. Lastly, I believe all of you have heard of the classic A Western Odyssey西遊記. One of the story lines is how the Monkey King protected the holy monk of Tang because all kinds of demons and fiends wanted to eat the monk’s flesh to attain immortality. Do you find the idea of eating the flesh of Tang Monk disgusting? Why not? Is it because it is only an entertaining novel, not any serious stuff? Wrong. This plot reflects a deep seated human desire to shake off the grip of death. Moreover, supported by the Chinese herbal medical wisdom of “likes supplement likes”, our sensitivity is not offended by the idea of eating Tang Monk’s flesh to attain immortality.
Jesus was not disappointed because he knew that the Kingdom of Heaven would start off small. He knew that many were called but few would be chosen. Therefore, the current setback would not stop him from telling the truth of the Bread of Life. For the sake of posterity, Jesus continued to teach us the essence of the Bread of Life. He said, “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63)
Spirit is not something ethereal. Look into the eyes of people around you. Are they spirited? So, I don’t need to explain the meaning of “it is the spirit that gives life.” Other than enough rest, what makes a person spirited? Jesus said that his words are spirit and life. Peter also said that Jesus has the words of eternal life. Are the words of Jesus useful? Practicable?
I always feel that being a Chinese Catholic is a blessing because there are many points of agreement between our culture and the messages of the gospels. Let us take a look from another perspective to see if ganoderma lucidum and ginseng are more practical than the words of Jesus.
If we are so anxious about keeping our body healthy, shouldn’t we be more serious about the health of our soul? Frankly speaking, we should not focus on one and ignore the other because in the future, both our body and soul will enter eternal life.
In the first week, we read of the miracle of five loaves and two fish. Philip and Andrew, the two apostles of Jesus, showed two different approaches to handle difficulties. Philip objectively withdrew himself from the situation to analyze and calculate the scale of the situation but that did not help alleviate the problem. Andrew tried to embrace the problem but the difficulty was greater than the available resources. So, he handed over to Jesus what he could find, the 5 loaves and 2 fish, and the problem was solved.
In the second week, the crowd looked for Jesus, trying to verify his Messianic identity. The Jews were conquered and subject to the Roman colonial rule. They expected the Messiah to liberate them. However, they set up criteria to sieve potential candidates. Although Jesus had worked the multiplication of loaves miracle, they were not satisfied and demanded a miracle from heaven. Thus they missed the opportunity to believe in the Lord and be saved.
In fact, Jesus himself was already the miracle from heaven the Jews demanded. They continued to quarrel with Jesus and their prejudice prevented them from seeing the truth and being saved. In third week, Jesus began to teach them the Bread of Life. What makes the Bread of Life the Bread of Life is its capacity to raise the recipients up on the last day to enter eternal life. If we want the Bread of Life to be effective, we need to follow the teaching of Jesus to live for others and not ourselves.
Last week, Jesus told them unambiguously that his flesh and blood is the Bread of Life. In the last verse of Matthew, Jesus promised to stay with us till the end of the age. Jesus is God and will never eat his own words. Of course he would not be so cheeky as to mean that he would stay with us only spiritually. He would stay with us in a concrete manner. So, Jesus chose apostles to build up the Church. The Church follows the teaching of Jesus to celebrate mass to reenact once more what happened in the Last Supper. Unleavened bread and wine are consecrated into the body and blood of Christ to fulfill his promise before his ascension. The sacrament of the Eucharist is the ultimate mystery of faith indeed. This single sacrament embodies two essential Christian mysteries, the Incarnation mystery and Paschal mystery. Two thousand years ago, the Son of God became flesh. In these two thousand years, the Son of God continuously becomes bread and wine in mass. Two thousand years ago, the Son God died on the cross and came back to life. In these two thousand years, believers receive the body of Christ torn from the same bread. This is the passion part of the Paschal mystery. Believers live out Christ in their daily life. This is the resurrection part of the Paschal mystery.
Jews were less fortunate. Blood was an absolute taboo for them. The Torah forbids the touching of blood, eating of meat with blood and there were elaborate procedures to handle blood in daily life. Poor Jesus’ apostles! You can imagine how they were thrown into disarray when Jesus told them that if they did not eat their Master’s flesh, or drink their Master’s blood, they would not attain eternal life. This hard teaching caused many to desert Jesus. His career of evangelization plummeted from the zenith of ten thousand followers to the nadir of a handful of dedicated apostles.
Today, we are living in a commercialistic society. Health food is very popular. During any time slot, we are drowned by all sorts of health products commercials for babies to the elderly. They help babies grow healthily, become energetic or slow down ageing or restore youthfulness. Do you believe in these commercials? Probably you would say, “Deacon, these baby formula, hi-cal lo-fat milk for elderly, ganoderma lucidum and ginseng are more concrete than the words of Jesus.”
Who among you, except children, have not heard of Shaolin Monastery? Have you heard of Yijin Jing易筋經, literally a classic to transform muscle/tendon? Although it has been romanticized by martial art novel, it is doubtlessly a yoga manual. Tell me, which is more effective, following Yijin Jing or taking ganoderma lucidum and ginseng to strengthen our body? What would you choose? I would choose Yijin Jing.
Ganoderma lucidum and ginseng surely can strengthen our body. What on earth can strengthen our soul? If we ignore the health of our soul, if our soul is weak, no matter how strong our body is, it can only be a lifeless walking corpse. So, what is the ginseng of our soul? Yes, the Bread of Life, the sacrament of Eucharist. But you are only half right. What is the other half? The word of God, the Bible.
John tells us that the Son of God is the Word of God. God the Father created the universe through him. He is the controlling principle of the whole universe. The Word of God took flesh, lived among us for 33 years to teach us salvific truth. Before he returned to the Father, he left behind the sacrament of Eucharist, to stay with us in another form until the last day. But his essence as the Word of God has never changed. Therefore, when we read the Bible, listen to the Bible, pray with the Bible, we encounter the Word of God, encounter the Son of God, encounter Jesus Christ. From his words, we obtain life, we attain eternal life.
Not only is the love of Jesus Christ great, but it is also comprehensive. Of course we can unite with Christ in the sacrament of Eucharist. Even if for whatever reasons we cannot receive the Communion, we can still encounter Christ, unite with Christ to attain life when we meditate the Bible. We have to walk on two feet. Let us not only receive the sacraments frequently, we should also read the gospel as frequently to strengthen our body and soul with the holy word of God.
God bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment