主題：逾越節的影子
「主顯節」，顧名思義是指天主把自己顯示給我們。不可見的天主怎樣把自己啟示給我們呢？神妙莫測的天主聖父，派遣天主聖子降生，取了人性，成為可見的耶穌基督，在耶穌基督的言行之中，顯示出不可見的天主的真貎。馬爾谷福音沒有耶穌聖誕的記載，它以耶穌在約旦河受洗的事蹟，向全人類啟示了天主是三位一體的真理。當耶穌從水裡上來的時候，天裂開了，聖神有如鴿子降在耶穌上面，有聖父的聲音向世人宣佈耶穌基督是祂鍾愛的兒子。（谷1:10-11）
瑪竇福音是十二宗徒之一的瑪竇寫的，雖然不是最早成書，但是出於宗徒之手，它被編排成為第一部福音。瑪竇寫福音給猶太基督徒，他們有猶太教的背景，對舊約有所認識，對默西亞的預言略有所聞。猶太教最重要的人物是帶領以色列人出埃及的梅瑟。梅瑟不但解放了以色列人，並且從天主手上接過十誡和法律，管理十二支派，使他們得以團結成為一個民族，後來發展成為一個國家。在這種背景之下，瑪竇向猶太基督徒，証明耶穌基督就是比梅瑟更偉大的導師，因為耶穌基督就是他們期待已久的默西亞。
為了証明耶穌就是默西亞，瑪竇版的聖誕故事，是默西亞誕生的故事，所以很有皇者的氣勢。首先，默西亞的出生，經天動地，天上出現了一顆奇異的星體。這顆星的出現，應驗了梅瑟五書中戶籍紀的預言：「由雅各伯將出現一顆星，由以色列將興起一權杖。」（戶24：17）這顆星吸引了東方的賢士，帶了寶貴的禮物來朝覲。在舊約之中，祗有一個君王曾經有過這樣的榮譽，他就是憑智慧馳名中外的撒羅滿王。不過，新生的君王，比撒羅滿王更偉大，因為祂是天主子，擁有天主的智慧，比撒羅滿的智慧更高，祂的教訓將會帶來更大的益處。
自從公元前586年，巴比倫征服猶大之後，猶太人輾轉亡國在多個帝國手上，包括波斯、希臘及羅馬帝國，當中祗有約100年的瑪加伯王朝的獨立自主。他們受外族的統治和壓迫，極度渴望天主派遣默西亞來『驅逐韃虜』，解放他們。可是，瑪竇卻在聖誕故事中，加入了默西亞受難的元素。因為新生的君王威脅到當權者的既得利益，所以招致殺身之禍。將來，歷史要重演，耶穌基督要為了不單是自己的民族，更是全人類，死在十字架上。不過，默西亞不會這樣簡單地死去的，天主要從死亡中召回祂的兒子，一如當年天主從埃及召回祂的兒子一樣。大約公元前一千七百年，雅各伯一家七十口，逃避飢荒的威脅而進入埃及；四百多年之後，天主從埃及召回了六十萬以色列人。這一切，盡在天主的掌握之中。
所以，天主的顯現，不但是以奇異的星象，把救世主的「降生奧蹟」，啟示給外邦人；更藉聖家逃難往埃及和後來返回天主所應許的福地的事蹟，把默西亞以受難和復活，拯救世人的「逾越奧蹟」，預先啟示給全人類。所以，教會在「主顯節」，會宣告與逾越節有關的慶節日期，使信友明白，天主聖子的降生與祂的逾越，即祂的受難復活，是有極其密切的關係。
各位兄弟姊妹，在慶祝聖子降生成人的奧蹟的時候，我們除了感謝天主紆尊降貴，取了人性，厄瑪奴耳，與我們同在之餘；不要忘記天主聖子為救贖人類所作出的犧牲和逾越。在生活中，讓我們效法天主子的謙遜，樂意承行天父的旨意，為人靈的得救，慷慨地作出適當的犧牲。
瑪竇和路加的福音，徇眾要求，把耶穌的出現推得更早，採用不同的重點，講述耶穌的誕生。把天主的啟示，推前到耶穌出生的時候。今年我們主要讀瑪竇福音，讓我們回顧瑪竇福音的寫作特色。
賢士跟隨異星的引路，來到耶路撒冷。他們的出現，驚動了大黑落德。他們道明來意之後，大黑落德命令經師查考典籍，得知默西亞誕生在白冷城，就是達味王的故鄉！這樣，耶穌基督的誕生，既顯示出他是達味王的後裔，又應驗多一個先知的預言了。為了逃避大黑落德的追殺，聖家逃往埃及避難，待大黑落德死後纔返回猶大。在瑪竇的眼中，耶穌的際遇，又應驗多一個先知的預言了。但更重要的，瑪竇要修訂猶太人對默西亞的期望。
現在執事要宣告逾越節慶期的日子，請大家起立。
The Feast of Epiphany
Theme: The shadow of Passover
Epiphany means "God reveals Himself to us". How does the invisible God reveal Himself to us? The ineffable Father sent His Son to take up humanity, to become the visible Jesus Christ. The words and deeds of Jesus Christ show the true face of the invisible God. The gospel of Mark does not contain any Nativity story. It makes use of the Baptism of Jesus in River Jordan to reveal to human beings the truth of the Blessed Trinity. When Jesus came out of the water, the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit came down upon him like a dove. The voice of the Father proclaimed that Jesus was His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased. (Mark 1:10-11)
The gospel according to Matthew was attributed to Matthew, one of the Twelve. Though it was not the first gospel written, it was arranged to be the first gospel in the New Testament because it was written by an apostle. Matthew wrote for Jewish Christians who had Jewish background. They knew something about the Old Testament, the prophecies about the Messiah. The most important person in Judaism was Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt. Not only did Moses liberate the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, he also received the Ten Commandments and the Torah from God to govern the twelve tribes, building them up into a people and later a kingdom. With this background, Matthew wrote to Jewish Christians, proving to them that Jesus Christ was a greater teacher than Moses because he was the Messiah whom they had long been waiting for.
To prove that Jesus was the Messiah, the Matthean version of Nativity story is a nativity story of a Messiah infused with royal dignity. First of all, the birth of the Messiah was ground breaking and heaven shaking. A star suddenly appeared in heavens. This star fulfilled a prophecy in the book of Numbers, one of the Pentateuch: "A star shall come forth out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel." (Numbers 24:17) This star attracted the Magi from the east. They brought along precious gifts to adore him. Only one king in the Old Testament enjoyed similar honour. He was King Solomon who was famous worldwide for his wisdom. But this newly born king is greater than King Solomon because he is the Son of God. He possesses God's wisdom which is greater than Solomon's. His teachings would bring greater benefits.
The Magi followed the star and arrived at Jerusalem. Their appearance brought trouble to Herod the Great. After hearing their intention, Herod the Great ordered the scribes to search the Scriptures. They found that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, the city of King David! Thus, the birth of Jesus Christ shows that he was an offspring of King David, fulfilling another prophecy. To evade the murder of Herod the Great, the Holy Family fled to Egypt, waited there until his death to return to Judah. In the eyes of Matthew, this incident fulfilled yet another prophecy. More importantly, Matthew wanted to modify the Messianic expectation of the Jews.
After Babylon conquered Judah in 586 B.C., Judah had been ruled by different empires, including the Persian, Greek and Roman. The Jews could only enjoy a century's independence under the Maccabean Dynasty. Under foreign rules and oppressions, they deeply desired the God-sent Messiah to chase the aliens away, to liberate them. However, Matthew included some Passion elements in his Nativity story. Since the newly born king threatened the status quo of the people in power, his own life was in turn threatened. In the future, history would repeat and Jesus Christ would die on the cross not only for his own people but for all humanity. But the Messiah would not die as such. God would recall His Son from death just as God would recall His Son from Egypt years back. About 1700 B.C., some seventy members of the house of Jacob settled in Egypt to flee the threat of famine. Some 400 years later, God recalled 600,000 Israelites from Egypt. All these are totally controlled in God's hand.
Thus, not only did God reveal Himself with a star to manifest the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Saviour to Gentiles, but with the fleeing of the Holy Family to Egypt and their return to the Promised Land, God revealed beforehand the Mystery of Passover of the Saviour, i.e. his Passion and Resurrection, to all humanity. Thus the Church proclaims the dates related to Easter on the Feast of Epiphany to help the faithful understand that the Incarnation and Passover of the Messiah, i.e. his Passion and Resurrection, are intimately related.
Brethren, when we celebrate the Mystery of Incarnation, besides thanking God for His condescension, taking up humanity and Emmanuel, i.e. living among us, let us not forget the sacrifice and Passover the Son of God has done for the redemption of humanity. In our daily life, let us follow the humility of the Son of God, gladly obey the will of the Father to do appropriate sacrifices for the salvation of souls.
Now, the Deacon is going to proclaim the feast days of Passover. Please stand.
To meet the demands from the readers, the gospels of Matthew and Luke push the appearance of Jesus earlier. They chose different details to tell the Nativity stories. In effect, they push the revelation of God forwards to the birth of Jesus. In this liturgical year, we read the gospel of Matthew. Let us review some of its characteristics.
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