主題：天主的光榮和我們的光榮
在今天所聽，短短祗有五節的福音中，出現最多的，不是「愛」，祗有四次。而是「光榮」，一共出現了五次。今天資訊科技發達，把聖經數碼化，研究起來就方便得多了。讓我們看看「光榮」一辭，在四部福音的分佈的統計數字：馬爾谷（四次）；瑪竇（七次）；路加（十五次）；若望（四十二次）。雖然在數目上，「光榮」一辭在若望福音出現次數最多，而且「光榮」的確是若望福音的重要主題之一，不竟，若望福音是一本比較長的書，按全書節數的比例，「光榮」祗有4.8%，不及伯多祿前書，在105節中，出現了14次，即13.33%，按比例是新約之首。無論如何，「光榮」是一個不可忽略的課題。
首先，「光榮」是可以看見的，是視覺上的，例如：鑲滿寶石的冠冕，所謂「衣錦榮歸」。聖經有很多地方提及「天主的榮耀」，通常是非常令人害怕，心生敬畏的。例如，【出谷紀】第33章，梅瑟要求天主，把祂的榮耀顯示給他。天主回答說，祂要把自己的一切美善從梅瑟面前經過，但是人類是不能看見天主的面容，因為凡見到天主面容的，就不能再活了。（出33:20）在天主顯現的過程中，祂先把梅瑟放入石縫，再用手遮掩著他，然後經過。結果，梅瑟祗看到天主的背後。很奇怪，天主既然要展示的是自己的美善，但為甚麼惟獨見到天主的面容會死呢？
若望是猶太人，他對神聖的天主有著與其他同胞一樣的錯誤理解。他與耶穌一起生活了三年，耶穌復活升天後，若望獲得聖神的啟迪，經過數十年的反省，得到一句結論：「天主是愛」。出於愛，天主創造了天地萬物和人類；出於愛，天主沒有放棄叛逆的人類，反而降生成人，拯救人類。從那位降生成人的天主，那位耶穌基督身上，我們可以看到從前那不可見，看見了便會死的天主。看到了以後，不但不死，反而獲得永生。有如「慈悲禧年禱文」所說的。
若望除了從耶穌的神蹟看到他的光榮之外，他更從耶穌基督為人類的受難復活，看到天主的榮耀。若望得到一個十分簡單的結論：從真人真天主的耶穌基督所作的示範，我們知道人必須透過苦難，纔能獲得光榮；必須置於死地而後生。藉著信靠耶穌基督，我們在末日復活之後，就能分享天主的永生，分享天主的榮耀。基督徒相信我們復活後的肉身，有如耶穌基督復活後的身體一樣，即是他在顯聖容時所預先展示的一樣，光芒四射，是光榮復活的肉身。
我們都是按天主的肖像所造，所以我們有天主的自由，天主的創造能力和天主的慈悲。今天，當我們生活如同天父一樣慈悲，善用天主所給予的自由，選擇寬恕修和，或者相反選擇懷恨在心；選擇解決有需要的兄弟的困苦，或者相反選擇方便安逸、為富不仁；選擇為基督的真理作証，或者相反選擇搬弄是非，散播謠言，阿諛奉承；選擇無懼目前的困難，忍耐堅信天主的許諾，或者相反選擇改變初衷，放棄對天主的信靠…
無論如何，從此之後，任何一個與天主面對面接觸的先知，都要蒙頭，免得意外地見到天主的面容而死。例如，【列王紀上】第19章記載有關天主在曷勒布山上顯現給厄里亞先知的事蹟。天主非常有排場，在祂正式現身之前，先有暴風，然後地震，然後大火。最後，天主在輕微細弱的風聲出現。厄里亞立刻蒙著頭，走出山洞見天主。又例如有名的依撒意亞先知，他蒙召的時候，是在神視中看見自己身在天庭，天主坐在崇高的御座之上，「崇高」即是抬頭看也看不到頂的寶座。寶座左右有色辣芬天使，很奇怪，有六個翅膀的天使，竟然用兩個蓋住臉。換句話說，連天使也不敢看天主的面容。天庭裡充滿煙霧。依撒意亞先知的第一個反應是：「我有禍了！我完了…我竟親眼見了君王─萬軍的上主！」（依6:5）
結論：在以色列人，猶太人的心目中，天主是神聖而不可直接親近的，人頂多祗能間接地看見祂的榮耀。凡直接看見天主臉容的，都會死。這種對天主的恐懼症，感謝耶穌基督，是祂醫治好了我們。耶穌基督的弟子就是很好的見証。
不過，這是復活後的事。現在又如何呢？現在的生活和將來的復活有甚麼關係呢？耶穌在若望福音是這樣說的：「行過善的，復活進入生命；作過惡的，復活而受審判。」（若5:29）因此，所有的人，包括行善和作惡的人都要復活，而他們生前的所作所為，決定了他們復活後的去向。
當我們每天作出這一切的抉擇時，我們在決定將來復活後，我們有多少的光芒與榮耀，或者有多少的審判。若望宗徒在福音裡這樣說：「因為天主沒有派遣子到世界上來審判世界，而是為叫世界藉著衪而獲救。那信從衪的，不受審判；那不信的，已受了審判，因為他沒有信從天主獨生子的名字。」（若3:17-18）
天主保祐。
The Fifth Easter Sunday (Year C)
Theme: The Glory of God and our glory
Within the five verses of gospel we read today, "love" is not the most frequently heard. It appears four times only. "Glory" which appears five times is. Digitizing the bible with the help of Information Technology makes it easier to do biblical research. Let us take a look at a simple statistic of the counts of the word "glory" or its derivatives among the four canonical gospels. There are four in Mark, seven in Matthew, fifteen in Luke and forty-two in John. Numerically, the word "glory" appears most in John and "glory" is also one of the main topics of John. Nevertheless, John is a long book. The ratio of the word "glory" to the total number of verses in the gospel is only 4.8%, lower than the First Letter of Peter, which has 105 verses and 14 "glory", i.e. 13.33%. No matter what, "glory" is not a topic you may ignore.
First of all, "glory" is visible, is visual. For example, a crown full of jewellery. One might find many references to the "glory of God" in the Bible. Usually they are terrifying and awe-inspiring. For example, Moses asked God to show him His glory in Exodus 33. God answered that He would make all His goodness pass before Moses but he could not see His face because man could not see Him and live. (Exodus 33:20) So, while God's glory passed by, God put Moses in a cleft of the clock, covered him with His hand until He had passed by. Consequently, Moses could only see God's back. Strange indeed, God showed all His goodness, but why would man die seeing God's face?
John was a Jew. He had the same misunderstanding of the holiness of God. He lived with Jesus for three years. After Jesus' resurrection and ascension, John received the inspiration from the Holy Spirit. After reflecting on his experiences for decades, John came to a one-liner conclusion: "God is love". Out of love, God created the universe and human beings. Out of love, God did not abandon the rebellious humanity. On the contrary, He incarnated to become a man to redeem mankind. From this incarnated God, this Jesus Christ, we are able to see what used to be invisible, mortal to catch sight of. Now, not only do we not die seeing him, but we also attain eternal life. This is what we pray for and believe in the Jubilee Year of Mercy Prayer.
John saw glory not only in the miracles which Jesus had worked but he also saw God's glory more in his Passion and Resurrection. John came to a very simple conclusion: from the example demonstrated by Jesus Christ who is truly God and man, we understand that in order to attain glory, we must suffer first; in order to attain life, die first. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we will come back to life on the Judgment Day to partake in God's eternal life and share His glory. Christians believe that the gloried resurrected body is similar to that of Jesus Christ's, i.e. the radiant risen body he showed during Transfiguration.
We were created in the image of God. Therefore, we possess God's freedom, God's creativity and God's mercy. Today, when we lead our life mercifully like the Father, make good use of the freedom given by God to choose freely either to forgive and reconcile, or to choose in an opposite way to bear grudges in our hearts; to choose to relieve the plights of our needy brethren, or to choose to be complacent, convenient and numbed; to choose to bear witness to Christ's truth, or to choose to sow discord, to spread rumours and to flatter; to choose not to be afraid of the present difficulties, to firmly trust in God's promises, or to choose to change course, to forsake the trust in God ...
No matter what, from then on, all the prophets who came into contact with God had to cover their own heads lest they died seeing God's face accidentally. For example, 1 Kings 19 talks about how God appeared to Elijah in Horeb. His apparition was full of pomp and ceremony. Before God appeared, there were gusts, earthquakes and big fires. At last, God appeared in a still small voice. Elijah immediately wrapped his face and emerged from his cave to meet God. Let us take a look at one more famous example, the call of Isaiah. In a vision, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a "high and lifted up" throne. "High and lifted up" means it reached beyond one's gaze. On both sides of the throne were seraphim, each had six wings, two of which covered his face. In other words, even angels dare not to look at God's face. The court was filled with smoke. The first reaction of Isaiah was, "Woe is me! For I am lost ... for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:5)
Conclusion: For the Israelites and the Jews, God is holy and not approachable. Man could only see His glory indirectly. Whoever saw God's face would die. This "theophobia", thanks Jesus Christ, he cures us. The disciples of Jesus Christ were good witnesses.
All right, this is a matter after resurrection. What about now? Is there any relation between our present life and the resurrection in the future? Jesus once said in the gospel of John, "those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." (John 5:29) Therefore, everybody, including both good and evil people, will come back to life. What they have done in life determines where they will go after resurrection.
When we make these daily choices, we determine how much radiance and glory we enjoy or how much judgment after resurrection. John the Apostle wrote in his gospel, "For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God." (John 3:17-18)
God bless.
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