主題：耶穌的政綱
在丙年的主日彌撒，我們主要讀【路加福音】。讓我來簡單地介紹這部福音的特色。首先，路加是【路加福音】和【宗徒大事錄】的作者。在保祿的書信中，曾提及過他三次（費1:24，哥4:14，弟後4:11），我們從而得知他是一個醫生，曾加入保祿的第二及第三次傳教旅程。當大部份人在保祿受迫害時離開了，路加醫生仍陪伴著保祿。可見路加是一個對保祿非常忠心的門徒。路加不是猶太人，沒有當代猶太人所背負的復國包袱，他的眼光是普世性的。他接受過高深的教育成為醫生，故寫作的文筆優雅，佈局嚴謹。路加寫福音之前，曾就有關的材料，尤其是與聖母有關的材料，與及聖母有機會見証過的事件，做過一番考據纔落筆，以保証福音內容的正確性。他依照當時的慣例，把福音獻給一位名叫「德敖斐羅」的，在社會上有地位的人士。不過，在希臘文，「德敖」解作「天主」，「斐羅」解作「愛」。所以「德敖斐羅」可能不是真有其人，而是路加把福音獻給「天主所愛的」或者「愛天主的」讀者。
從這細微的特色，我們可以知道路加寫作福音的目的，不但是幫助讀者認識耶穌基督，而且是幫助讀者，愛慕耶穌基督。怎樣加深對耶穌基督的愛慕呢？祈禱靈修是不二法門。因此，路加福音不是一部普通的耶穌傳，而是一部靈修用的耶穌傳。例如，在記載聖誕故事的第一二章之中，路加收集了在初期教會已經採用的祈禱經文：就是聖母經Ave Maria、聖母謝主曲Magnificat、匝加利亞讚主曲Benedictus、光榮頌Gloria和西默盎之歌Nunc Dimittis等。路加又在一些故事的情節上，稍加潤飾，便營造出很好的靈修效果。例如，大家所熟悉「伯多祿三次背主」的故事。三次否認耶穌後，雞啼了，伯多祿便想起耶穌的說話，就放聲大哭。（谷14:72）是雞啼令伯多祿想起耶穌的話而痛哭，這是馬爾谷福音的版本。但路加在情節上加了一個細節。當雞啼的時候，耶穌轉身看了伯多祿一看，他就想起耶穌的話，就悽慘地哭起來。（路22:61-62）是耶穌慈悲的眼神，觸動了處於困獸鬥狀態的伯多祿，令他想起耶穌的話而痛哭。相比之下，路加的靈修，比馬爾谷深厚得多。
以色列人是一個強調祭神的民族，有各色各樣的祭獻。撒羅滿王在耶路撒冷建築了第一座聖殿，統一了全國的宗教活動。後來猶大國被巴比倫帝國所滅，聖殿被完全焚毀，人民充軍巴比倫五十年，沒有聖殿可以祭獻天主了。從那時起，出現了會堂，成為了猶太人祈禱與及學習法律和先知的地方。出現了經師，教授法律和先知書。於是，猶太人開始以一種新的方式表達自己的宗教信仰，表達自己的身份。這就是猶太教。波斯王解放猶太人回國，在耶路撒冷重建第二座聖殿後，各地依然有會堂，與聖殿分庭抗禮。耶穌就是在納匝肋的會堂接受宗教教育，十三歲時在納匝肋會堂舉行成人禮，可以在聚會中朗誦書卷，正如今天的福音所讀到的一樣。
耶穌選讀的，是依撒意亞先知書第六十一章，有關默西亞的預言。在舊約先知之中，依撒意亞曾對默西亞，作出不少預言，包括默西亞由童貞女誕生（依7:14）；默西亞是葉瑟的後裔，即達味的後裔（11:1）；他是充滿聖神的（11:2-3） ；他的任務就是今天所誦讀的預言所說的，把人類從罪惡的奴役中解放出來（61:1-2）等等。值得注意的，在馬爾谷和瑪竇福音，耶穌是在加里肋亞傳福音一段時間後纔回到自己的家鄉納匝肋，安息日在會堂施教，但遭受同鄉鄙視（谷6:3）。兩部福音祗強調耶穌被拒絕，並沒有提到耶穌曾朗讀過的先知書。但路加的鋪排就不同了。路加祗用了兩節，撮要地說了耶穌在加里肋亞省的傳道如何成功，便轉到故鄉納匝肋，在會堂裡宣佈他的政綱，就是依撒意亞先知書第61章的預言，他今天要來應驗這預言，就是因為耶穌這樣說，他的同鄉就拒絕了他。
耶穌的政綱就是這樣清楚明白：「向窮人傳佈喜訊」，告訴他們，生活無論如何困苦，天主總與他們同在，照顧他們物質上、尊嚴上和靈性上的需要；「向俘虜宣告釋放」，告訴那些失手被囚的人，無論是被金錢、美色抑或權勢所俘虜的，天主會寬恕他們，給他們悔改回頭的機會；「向盲者宣告復明」，教導盲了心眼的人，認識清楚天主的慈悲，決心悔改，重投天主懷抱，重見光明。以上三點，都祗是一些承諾，但天主是言出必行的，他要「使受壓迫者獲得自由」，耶穌不但要告訴他們好消息，而且將會以具體的行動，以自己的受難和復活，恢復他們的自由；並留下聖體聖事，維持他們的尊嚴。
這是耶穌的政綱，亦是路加福音的主題：「耶穌基督是受壓迫者的慈悲救主」。無怪乎教宗方濟各以路加福音的金句，「如同天父，滿懷慈悲」作為慈悲禧年的口號；又在慈悲禧年禱文中，大量引入路加福音的材料。讓我在香港，在天水圍，跟隨耶穌的政綱，響應教宗的呼籲，在祈禱讀經中，默觀耶穌的慈悲面容；在生活中履行各種神形哀矜，向社區內受壓迫的人，展示天主的慈悲。
天主保祐。
Third Ordinary Sunday (Year C)
Theme: The Agenda of Jesus
We mainly read the gospel of Luke on Sundays of Year C. Let me briefly describe the characteristics of this gospel.
From this tiny detail, we may know the purpose of the gospel of Luke. Not only does Luke want to help readers know Jesus Christ, but he also wants to help readers love Jesus Christ. How do we deepen our love of Jesus Christ? Nothing but prayer and spirituality. For example, in the Nativity story found in chapters 1 and 2, Luke collected prayers used in the early Church: Ave Maria, Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria and Nunc Dimittis etc. Furthermore, Luke embellishes some details to improve the spirituality effect. For example, the famous story of Peter's three denials. After the three denials, the cock crowed and Peter remembered Jesus' words. He broke down and wept (Mark 14:72). It was the cock crow that made Peter remember Jesus' words and weep. This is the Marcan version. But Luke adds a tiny detail. When the cock crowed, Jesus turned and looked at Peter. He remembered Jesus' words and went out weeping bitterly (Luke 22:61-62). It was the merciful gaze of Jesus, not the cock crow that touched the heart of Peter, who was locked in a mortal combat, and made him remember Jesus' words and weep. In comparison, Luke's spirituality is more profound than Mark's.
The Israelites put a lot of emphasis on offering sacrifices. There were many types of offerings. King Solomon built the first Temple and centralized the sacrificial rites. When Babylon conquered Judah, the Temple was burnt down and the Jews went into exile for fifty years. There was no more Temple to offer sacrifice to God. Then, synagogues arose to become gathering places for prayers as well as Torah and Prophets studies. Then Rabbi of the Law arose to teach Torah and the Prophets. A new way to express their religious beliefs and their national identity arose. This is Judaism. When the Persian king released them home to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, synagogues were established wherever there were Jews. They commanded equal importance with the Jerusalem Temple in Jewish life. Jesus must have received religious training in the synagogue of Nazareth. When he was thirteen, Jesus underwent the rite of passage which enables him to read the Scriptures in the synagogue, like what he did in the gospel reading today.
Jesus read Isaiah 61, a prophecy about the Messiah. Among the prophets in the Old Testament, Isaiah foretold many things about the Messiah, including his virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), his being a descendant of Jesse, i.e. a descendant of David (11:1), that he would be full of the Holy Spirit (11:2-3) and his mission of setting humanity free from the captivity of sins (61:1-2). I would like to bring to your attention that in the gospels of Mark and Matthew, Jesus had spent quite some time preaching in Galilee before returning to Nazareth. On Sabbath, Jesus preached in the synagogue and was rejected by his people (Mark 6:3). The two gospels focus on the rejection of Jesus and do not mention what Jesus read. But the plot of Luke is different. Luke spends only two verses to summarize Jesus' successful preaching in Galilee. Immediately Luke switched to Nazareth where Jesus proclaims his agenda in the synagogue. Isaiah 61 is the agenda. Jesus claimed that he had come to fulfil the prophecy and because of that his people rejected him.
The agenda of Jesus is very crystal clear: "to preach good news to the poor", telling them that no matter how hard life is, God would stand by them, taking care of their material, dignity and spiritual needs; "to proclaim release to the captives", assuring those who are captives to money, lust and power that God would forgive them giving them opportunities to repent; "to proclaim recovering of sight to the blind", teaching the blind to see clearly the mercy of God, encouraging them to repent, to return to the bosom of God and to see light again. The three points above are only pledges. But God is always faithful. He will "set at liberty those who are oppressed". Not only did Jesus tell them the good news, he would honour the pledges with concrete actions. He would restore their freedom with his Passion and Resurrection. He would leave them his body and blood to sustain their dignity.
This is the agenda of Jesus and is also the theme of the gospel of Luke: Jesus Christ is a merciful Saviour for the oppressed. No wonder Pope Francis made this Lucan verse, "Merciful as the Father", the slogan of the Jubilee of Mercy and put in a lot of Lucan materials in the Prayer of Jubilee. Let us follow Jesus' instruction and the appeal of the Pope to meditate the merciful face of Jesus in our prayers and scripture readings; to carry out corporal and spiritual works of mercy in our daily life so as to show the mercy of God to the oppressed in our community in Tin Shui Wai and in Hong Kong.
Firstly, Luke is the author of the Lucan corpus --- Luke and Acts. The Pauline epistles mention him three times (Philemon 1:24, Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11). From these we know that Luke was a physician and took part in the Second and Third Missionary Journeys of Paul. When most people had deserted Paul during persecutions, Luke stood by him. Thus we can see that Luke was a loyal disciple of Paul. Luke was not a Jew and free from the political burden of Jews. Thus his perspective is universal. He was well educated as a physician. Thus his wording is elegant and his plot is unassailable. Before committing to writing, Luke did research on the materials, especially those related to Our Lady herself and events in which she might be present, in order to ensure the authenticity of the contents. Luke followed the custom of the time to dedicate the gospel to a certain Theophilus, somebody important in the society. But in Greek, 'theo' means God and 'philus' means love. Thus Theophilus might be fictitious and Luke actually dedicates this gospel to readers who love God or whom God loves.
God bless.
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