Theme: How to Love God?
The gospel message today is extremely important for all of us. What the rich man asked Jesus is also what all of us want to know. Deep down at the bottom of all of our hearts, there is some emptiness. There are needs which we cannot meet in this life. Yes, all of us desire eternal life. Do not dismiss the question the rich man asked and say that he was unrealistic. No! His question is totally legitimate and far-sighted. Without a future, what's the point of working hard in this life?
I am sure all of you are familiar with the Ten Commandments. Now, let us take a look at what commandments Jesus asked the rich man to keep in order to inherit eternal life: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud and honour our parents etc. (Mark 10:19) Something is missing, right? What is missing? Yes, the first three commandments which spell out our duties towards God: that we shall have no other gods but Yahweh, that we shall not invoke the name of Yahweh in vain and keep the Sabbath day holy. (Exodus 20:3-11) How can we inherit eternal life without observing these three commandments towards God, without a good relationship with God? It is impossible! Did Jesus forget anything?
Of course Jesus did not forget. The commandments he mentioned are the minimum requirements each human being must fulfil, whether you believe in God or not. In order to live like a human being and not like an animal, all of us should honour our parents, should respect human life, should safeguard families, protect private property and be honest in all our dealings with each other. Doing all these makes us a human being, a noble man. Men are mortal. Sooner or later, we all die. However, God promises us eternal life. Therefore, we should build up a good relationship with God in order to receive eternal life from Him. That is why there are three commandments to help us establish this good relationship with God. It was Moses who told the Israelites to keep these Ten Commandments. Never was it mentioned in the gospel that Jesus told us to keep those three commandments. Rather, many times, Jesus himself breached the third Commandment. He always performed healing miracles on Sabbath! So, are Christians exempted from keeping the first three Commandments? Shall we follow Jesus' example not to keep the Sabbath and the other 2 commandments?
Of course not! Jesus teaches us to obey the first three commandments in a different, but perfectly legitimate way. It may even be better than the original way! What did Jesus tell the rich man to do? "Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21) How does this replace the first three Commandments?
First of all, God is invisible. You cannot see God, touch God or smell His presence. But love needs a recipient. How can we love an invisible person, an invisible other? God understands our limitations. So, God sent His beloved Son to incarnate in a human form to teach us. In a human form, God becomes visible. That was Jesus Christ. So, loving Jesus Christ is equivalent to loving God. But Jesus Christ has already returned to the Father! What can we do? To make Himself more accessible, Jesus Christ teaches us how to find him in two different ways. One, in prayer meetings and liturgy like the mass we are celebrating now. Jesus says, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20) At this moment, Jesus is in our midst but he is still invisible. Later in our celebration, he becomes visible in the form of the Holy Communion. Yes, it is a mystery of faith and it requires strong faith to be able to see Jesus Christ in the Holy Communion. Don't worry! There is a second more accessible way. Jesus says, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." (25:40) To help us get close to him more easily, Jesus lives among the poor and the needy. When we serve the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the homeless, the sick and the imprisoned, we get in touch with Jesus Christ.
Now, let us take a look at what Jesus asked the rich man to do.
When we do what Jesus tells us to do, not only do we fulfil those three Commandments, but we also do better and do more. None of those three Commandments, not even the remaining seven, tells us to preach the good news of salvation. The Israelites believe that keeping the Ten Commandments would guarantee them a place in heaven. But the Ten Commandments do not tell the Israelites to help other people attain salvation, in particular the non-Jews. To a certain extent, the Jews prejudice against Gentiles. They don't like non-Jews because they have suffered much in the hands of the Gentiles, the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and even the Samaritans. The Jews believe that they are the Chosen People of God. Other nations should serve them. Thus, they have no intention to preach repentance and salvation to other peoples. As Christians, we understand that all of us were created in the image of God. All of us are God's children and thus we are brothers and sisters because Jesus Christ is our big brother. We have a duty towards the well-being of our brothers and sisters. Therefore, following Jesus means not only that we go to mass on Sundays, but it also means that we should go and share our experience of redemption and liberation with all the people we meet. We follow Jesus and Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God. Thus we should also proclaim the Kingdom of God in our daily life.
Brethren, the Pope tells us that the Church is under attack from Satan. He summons all of us to say the Rosary daily and ask Archangel Michael to protect us. Thus, in this month of the Rosary, let us follow the Pope's instruction to pray for the protection of the Church.
God bless!
常年期第廿八主日，乙年
主題：怎樣愛天主？
今天福音的訊息，對所有人都很重要。所有人都想知道，那富少年問耶穌的問題的答案。因為在我們眾人心底裡，都有一份空虛，有一些現世生命不能滿足的需要。對，人人都渴望得到永生。不要以為富少年的問題太理想化而漠視它。這問題絕對問得好。倘若沒有將來，今世的勞苦還有意義嗎？
相信各位很熟悉「十誡」。現在，讓我們看看耶穌要求富少年守甚麼誡命，纔可以得到永生：「不可殺人，不可姦淫，不可偷盜，不可做假見証，不可欺詐，應孝敬你的父母。」（谷10:19）好像遺漏了甚麼？對！十誡中敬拜天主開頭的三條誡命：除雅威以外，不可有別的神；不可妄呼上主的名；守安息日為聖日。（出20:3-11）倘若我們不遵守與天主建立良好關係的誡命，我們怎可能承受永生呢？耶穌是否忘記了甚麼？
耶穌當然沒有忘記任何事物。不論你信天主與否，上述的誡命是做人的最低要求。要活得像個人而不像禽獸，我們應孝敬父母，尊重生命，保障家庭，保護私有財產，誠實地與別人交往。這樣做纔算是人，一個高尚的人。人皆有死，但天主許諾我們可以獲得永生。所以我們有三條誡命，幫助我們與天主建立良好的關係。是梅瑟教導以色列人遵守十誡，在福音中，耶穌卻從來沒有吩咐我們遵守開頭的三條誡命。而且，耶穌經常違反第三誡，他時常在安息日治病！那麼，基督徒不用遵守這三條誡命嗎？我們可否跟隨耶穌的榜樣，不用守安息日及其他兩條誡命呢？
當然不可！耶穌教我們用另一個方式，一個更好的方式守這三條誡命！耶穌對富少年說：「你去，變賣你所有的一切，施捨給窮人…然後來…跟隨我！」（谷10:21）這命令如何取代那三條誡命呢？
首先，天主是不可見的。你看不見天主，摸不到天主，嗅不到祂的臨在。但愛必需有一個「接受者」。我們怎能愛一個看不見的人，一個看不見的祂呢？天主明白我們的局限，於是派遣祂心愛的兒子，降生成人來教導我們。以人的形態出現，天主成為可見的。祂就是耶穌基督。因此，愛耶穌就等同愛天主了。但耶穌基督已經返回天父的身邊，我們可以怎樣做呢？耶穌基督教導了我們兩個不同的方法，讓我們能夠親近祂。第一，在祈禱聚會中，又或者在參加感恩祭中。耶穌說：「那裡有兩個或三個人，因我的名字聚在一起，我就在他們中間。」（瑪18:20）現在耶穌就在我們中間，但我們仍看不見祂。稍後，祂臨現在聖體內。對，這是一個「信德的奧蹟」，要求強大的信德纔可以體會到耶穌基督臨現在聖體中。不用擔心，還有第二個更容易的方法。耶穌說：「我實在告訴你們：凡你們對我這些最小兄弟中的一個所做的，就是對我做的。」（25:40）為了幫助我們更容易找到祂，耶穌居住在窮困的人之中。當我們服事饑餓的，口渴的，無衣的，無家可歸的，患病的和在囚的，我們可以接觸到耶穌基督。
現在，讓我們看看耶穌要求富少年做甚麼。
當我們按耶穌吩咐去做的時候，我們不但遵守了三條誡命，而且還做得更多和更好。十誡並沒有命令我們傳揚救恩的喜訊。以色列人相信守十誡可以升天堂，但十誡並沒有命令以色列人幫助別人獲得救恩，尤其是外邦人。在某程度上，猶太人歧視外邦人，不喜歡外邦人，因為猶太人曾在外邦人的手上，包括巴比倫人、波斯人、希臘人、羅馬人甚至撒瑪黎雅人，吃過不少苦頭。猶太人相信自己是天主的選民，外邦人應臣服他們。所以，他們沒有向外邦人宣講悔改得救的意圖。作為基督徒，我們相信所有人都是按天主的肖像所造，我們都是天主的子女。我們都是兄弟姊妹，耶穌基督是我們的兄長。我們對兄弟姊妹的生死存亡，有一份責任。因此，跟隨耶穌不單要在主日參加彌撒，更要與所接觸到的人，分享得救解放的經驗。我們跟隨耶穌，而耶穌宣講天主的國，所以我們也要在日常生活中，宣講天主的國。
各位兄弟姊妹，教宗告訴我們，教會正遭受撒殫的攻擊。他號召我們每天唸玫瑰經，並請求聖彌額爾總領天使保護我們。在此玫瑰月，讓我們依從教宗的指示，祈禱教會獲得保護。
天主保祐！
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