主題：耶穌教我們平安
兩日前，讀夜神的舊同學打電話向我哭訴。事緣她的女兒星期六將會飛往加拿大結婚。但她到聖堂為女兒領取領洗紙時，很不順利。堂區秘書說：「對不起，電腦沒有令嬡的領堅振紀錄，請妳通知她領堅振的聖堂，麻煩他們輸入資料吧。」跑到女兒領堅振的聖堂，堂區秘書跟堂區神父朝聖去了，下星期五纔返港，當值的義工不敢自作主張，建議她跑去主教座堂，找陳志明副主教幫忙…
耶穌在福音中說：「你們心裡不要煩亂；你們要信賴天主，也要信賴我。」（若14:1）我們心裡煩亂，因為我們把焦點放在自己身上。雖然表面上我們要呈現一個堅強的模樣，但是內裡是多麼軟弱，多麼需要有人呵護。難怪我們時常被外界事物和內裡的情緒，令自己心裡煩亂，失去方寸。耶穌教訓我們信賴天主，以天主的眼光看世界，以天主的旨意作為生命的依歸。以天主為後盾，還有甚麼可以動搖我們，亂了我們的陣腳，使我們的心煩亂呢？
我的同學心煩意亂，原來她想趕快辦妥，讓女兒帶著領洗紙登機，做母親的便可以心安理得。為甚麼不可以拿到領洗紙後，寄往加拿大呢？她恐怕會寄失…這樣想，合理嗎？她的心太煩亂了，忘記了事物的緩急輕重。
小心，很多人樂意幫助他人，甚至是忘我地幫助別人，可能他們是在逃避現實，不願面對家中的親人和配偶，不願與同事和好，甚至不願意寬恕自己，以做善事來懲罰自己。這是多麼可憐啊！因為所做的一切，缺乏了愛。缺乏了對自己的愛、對家人的愛和對天主的愛。保祿宗徒在格林多前書第十三章，細說愛的特徵之前，首先指出，如果沒有愛，一切都是無益的。他說：「我若能說人間的語言，和能說天使的語言，但我若沒有愛，我就成了個發聲的鑼，或發響的鈸。我若有先知之恩，又明白一切奧秘和各種知識；我若有全備的信心，甚至能移山，但我若沒有愛，我甚麼也不算。我若把我所有的財產全施捨了，我若捨身投火被焚；但我若沒有愛，為我毫無益處。」（格前13:1-3）
耶穌基督教訓我們信賴天主，因為天主是愛。所以我們要信賴愛，信賴天父對我們無微不至的愛。我們要信賴耶穌基督，因為祂具體地愛我們，甚至為赦免我們的罪而自作犧牲，指示出回歸父家的道路，顯現出天父愛我們的真理。最後，祂留下聖體聖事，並以自己的復活，賜給我們生命。試問世上還有甚麼事物，還可以令我們心煩意亂呢？
主內的兄弟姊妹，讓我們仰望復活的基督，信賴祂的受難復活，祈求祂賜予平安，在生活中像祂一樣去愛，去為天主的光榮作見證。
生活中，有不少事物會令人煩亂，沒有平安。例如以上的情況，在你趕時間的時候，對方偏偏慢條斯理。或者我們在健康上出了毛病，睡得不好，導致日間心情煩燥；或者在經濟上失了預算，突然需要大筆金錢應急；或者在工作上遇到不合作的同事、受老闆的氣、捲入辦公室政治鬥爭等；或者在關係上與女朋友／配偶冷戰，又或者您所關心的人生病／遠行，令你牽腸掛肚…遇到這些事情，你會怎麼辦呢？
有病應該要求醫，但很奇怪，很多人不知為了甚麼原因，總是諱疾忌醫，拖延時間，結果錯過治病的黃金機會，健康反而惡化。若以天主的眼光看自己，自己是按天主的肖像所造，我們有責任保養好這個身體，為天主服務，光榮天主。
治病可能對家人造成沉重的經濟負擔。難道信賴天主，天主會從天上掉下金錢給你治病嗎？會。天主會藉著我們的親友恩人，接濟我們。問題是我們能否放下自我，謙遜地接受朋友的幫助，抑或祗願意接受全能天主的幫助呢？
我們放棄治療，可能是因為經濟負擔，又或者所患的是不治之症，試過了最新最貴的藥，也不見效。這時候，我們可能會怪責天主不好好照顧我們。既然這樣，信賴天主又有甚麼用處呢？有！我們可以運用這病苦，做有意義的事。
在人際關係方面，無論在工作上、在家庭裡，著眼在自己身上，永遠是產生問題的根源。基督宗教的核心教訓在於愛，在於關懷他人的需要。天主願意我們把眼光，從自我轉移到別人身上；不是在別人身上找出缺點來提高自己的地位，而是找出別人的需要，伸出援手，助人解困。這樣做，我們還有時間心裡煩亂嗎？或者你會投訴，我們的疾病、我們的經濟困難、我們的人際關係問題，誰來為我們解決呢？
天主保祐！
The Fifth Easter Sunday (Year A)
Theme: Jesus teaches us Peace
Two days ago on Friday, a Religious Sciences classmate of mine called and grumbled. Her daughter would fly to Canada to get married on Saturday. But it was all hell when she went to the church to get the baptismal certificate of her daughter. The Parish Secretary told her, "I am sorry. The computer has no record of her Confirmation. Would you inform the parish where she was confirmed to enter the data?" Then my classmate rushed to the said parish, only to find that the Parish Secretary and the Parish Priest went pilgrimage. The volunteer on duty dared not to take the responsibility and suggested her going to the Cathedral to seek the help of the Vicar General, Rev. Fr. Dominic Chan etc.
Jesus says, "Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me." (John 14:1) Our hearts are troubled because we focus on ourselves! Although superficially we need to put up a brave face, we are weak inside and in need of care. No wonder we are easily troubled by external events or internal moods and lose directions. Jesus teaches us to believe in God, use the gaze of God to see the world, and make God's will the core of our life. With God as our shield and our rock, can there be things that are able to shake our ground, trouble our hearts?
My classmate was troubled because she wanted to get things done quickly so that her daughter could board the plane with the baptismal certificate. Then the mother would find peace in her heart. Why would she not mail the certificate to Canada later? She worried that it would be lost ... Was this reasonable? She had lost orientation and priorities because her heart was troubled.
Beware, many people are happy to help others, even selflessly. Perhaps they are running away from reality, from their family members and spouses, from reconciliation with their colleagues. They may even be reluctant to forgive themselves, punishing themselves by doing a lot of good works. How pitiful because there is no love in all these endeavours! There is a lack of love for oneself, for his family members and for God. Before describing the characteristics of love in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul points out that without love, one gains nothing. He says, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
Jesus Christ teaches us to believe in God because God is love. Thus, we should believe in love, believe in the meticulous love the Father has for us. We should believe in Jesus Christ because He loves us concretely, even to sacrifice himself on the cross to forgive our sins. He shows us the Way home to the Father, manifests the Truth of the Father's love for us. Lastly, he leaves behind the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist and he came back to life to give us Life. What on earth can trouble our hearts anymore?
Brethren, let us look up to the Risen Christ, believe in His Passion and Resurrection, beseech Him to grant us peace so that we may love like Him and bear witness to God's glory in our daily life.
There are many such things in our daily life which trouble our hearts, leaving us no peace. For the example above, when you are in a hurry, the other side proceeds like a tortoise! Or perhaps you toss and turn the whole night because of illness, making you irritable the next day; or suddenly you are badly in need of cash beyond your budget; or you have started a cold-war with your girlfriend/spouse; or you have terrible butterflies in your stomach because the one you care falls sick or goes abroad etc. In such situations, what would you do?
We should consult physicians when we get sick. But curiously for some unknown reasons, many people are reluctant to seek medical help. Procrastination costs them to miss the golden opportunity to get cured. Consequently their health deteriorates. If we look at ourselves in God's gaze, we see that we were created in the image of God. We have the responsibility to take good care of our body to serve God, to glorify Him.
Treating diseases may put heavy financial burdens on our family members. Would God drop money from heavens if we believed in Him? Affirmative! God would send us relief through our relatives, friends and even benefactors. The problem is whether we are able to let go our pride, humbly accept others' help or insist on accepting help only from our Almighty God?
Perhaps financial burden is one reason to give up treatment. Or perhaps the disease is incurable even after trying the most expensive and the latest drug. At that moment, we might blame God for not taking good care of us. Then, what's the point of believing in God anymore? Affirmative! We may make good use of the suffering to do meaningful things.
Focusing on ourselves is always the source of troubles in relations, whether it be work or family. The core of Christianity is love, is the care of others' deficiency. God wants us to direct our sight away from ourselves to others, not to find faults with them to elevate our station but to discover their needs, to extend a helping hand. In doing so, do we have the time and the mood to be troubled? Perhaps you may complain, "Who will solve our health, finance and relationship problems?"
God bless!
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