Sunday of Divine Mercy, Year B
Theme: Meditate God’s Mercy in the Stigmata
To be candid, I enjoy Sci-Fi movies a lot, e.g. Spiderman, Superman, Transformers, E.T., Godziller, Aliens and Avengers etc. Not only do I enjoy the special effects which makes the genre entertaining, but I also enjoy the religious messages conveyed in the story lines and images. I often make use of them in my religious classes, hoping to open up my students’ eyes to find God in everything. Recently, I watched again a TV series called “HEROES” which was aired in 2006. It talks about a group of people who have special abilities: one was able to fly, another to read mind, yet another to become invisible, to paint the future and to bend the space-time continuum etc. The series was inclusive in that actors of different ethnic backgrounds play different heroes. One of the heroes makes me meditate during this Easter season. Let me share what I learnt from her.
Yes, the hero was a beautiful teenager girl called Claire who is able to self-regenerate herself, meaning she is able heal herself of any cuts and wounds, even mortal wounds! She was able to enter a fire scene to pull out a fireman trapped inside, herself unharmed without using any protective gears. Isn’t it wonderful? Not necessarily. In one episode, she was attacked and killed by an abuser who dumped her body in the river. She regenerated and came back to life, leaving no wounds and no evidence of being attacked! She could not bring the attacker to justice. After learning that she was not the only victim, Claire was furious and took justice into her hand. She lured the abuser into a sport car, deliberately crashed the car in high speed, wounding both of them. Of course, Claire regenerated and the attacker, even if he ever recovered, would be paralyzed for the rest of his life. Fully recovered and seeing the miseries of the attacker lying immobile next to her, Claire realized that she had abused her own special power. Now she understood better what it meant to be special and forgave the attacker. I said earlier that Claire made me meditate during this Easter season. Not only because Claire leaves no wounds on her body but also because she forgives. What about Jesus Christ?
Stigmata, the five wounds the risen Lord retain on His body are always fascinating to me. Are these wounds still painful after resurrection? No matter whether they are still painful or not, the question remains why the risen Lord keeps these wounds. To be sure, they are signs and signs convey messages. What messages does the Lord want to convey to us through these wounds?
First of all, these wounds confirm that the Son of God is truly divine and truly human. Throughout history, there have been heretics who doubt the human nature of Jesus Christ. These heretics are very pious. They firmly believe that Jesus Christ is God, but at the expense of the humanity of Jesus Christ. For them, the passion, the crucifixion and the death of Jesus Christ are only appearances. God does not die. If He dies, He is not qualified to be God! These heretics sound reasonable enough but they are wrong. God is omnipotent. With God, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). Why can’t He die? Death is nothing to Him. Jesus says, “I have the power to lay it (my life) down, and power to take it up again” (John 10:18) Of course Jesus has the power to regenerate and leave no wounds behind. But Claire’s story shows that it’s a bad idea. Why? Let us think about a basic question. What do these wounds show? The justice and superiority of the Roman legal system? No. It was political compromise! The piety of Jewish Council to preserve the purity of their faith and to stamp out heretics? No. It was jealousy. The dignity and glory of Jews to fight for independence? No. It was herd mentality. Rather, these wounds were the combined consequences of the sinfulness of these parties. The wounds show the brutality of human frailty and sinfulness.
When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume, Judas complained about the waste. Jesus told all the people present that “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me” (12:8) Poverty is an evil. It is the result of human greed. Nowadays human greed has evolved into a structural sin. We have contractors making use of the laws to exploit defenceless workers. Jesus understands well. He keeps the wounds to remind us of not just the brutality of sins but also the longevity of sins. I suppose these wounds would disappear only when all the sins on earth are totally wiped out. Does it mean these wounds would disappear after the Last Judgment? Perhaps not. Why not?
It is because these wounds also convey the Divine Mercy of God towards sinners. If these wounds are signs of God’s divine mercy, they would never vanish because God’s mercy will endure forever. In previous generations, the Church advocated the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Do you remember those images in which Jesus’ pierced heart is surround by a crown of thorns? It shows the love of Jesus towards all sinners. The Church encouraged the faithful to do reparation for the sins committed by the world against the love of Jesus and set up a Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost, a Friday. Nowadays, we celebrate the Sunday of Divine Mercy. To a certain extent, it is similar to the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This celebration on Sunday instead of Friday suits modern urban people more. The focus is a slightly greater emphasis on God’s mercy instead of reparation which emphasizes more God’s justice.
Nowadays, we have a better understanding of the relation between God’s mercy and God’s justice. They are not contradictory. Mercy is not a sign of weakness. Instead, mercy is more powerful than brute strength. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us to be meek, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the land” (Matthew 5:5) Don’t the powerful inherit the land? This is common sense but common sense can be wrong. Jesus has always been meek and He has conquered the world. Jesus demonstrates the power of meekness. With meekness, you are able to build up people. Being merciful and forgiving your enemies is the most effective way to win a rival and to truly defeat your enemy. Remember Claire’s story? She learnt that being more powerful, she has the responsibility to be more merciful, instead of abusing her power to punish in the name of justice! God is almighty and therefore His divine mercy is infinite. Through the prophets, He says, “Do I find pleasure in the death of the wicked? Do I not rejoice when they turn from their evil way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23)
In the second reading today, John confidently claims that we “who believe that Jesus is the Son of God are victors over the world” (1 John 5:5). Then how do we conquer the world? In the gospel, Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit and sent them out to be merciful, to forgive the world (John 20:22-23). With mercy, we conquer the world. With mercy, we forgive and give the abusers another chance. With mercy, we allow people to repent and turn to the better. We build up better people and a better world. This is how we conquer the world with mercy.
Thomas is a good example. He was realistic and demanding in his faith. Perhaps he took his faith far more seriously than the other apostles. Jesus shows His mercy to Thomas. Jesus did not scold Thomas for his unbelief. Instead, Jesus invited Thomas to touch His wounds and to hide himself inside His wounds! How blessed Thomas was!
Brethren! Perhaps you don’t have the ambition to conquer the world because you don’t have Claire’s super power. But at least, all of us should work to improve our living environment. It is not enough to have clean air and water. We need a more uplifting world so that we may fully actualize our potential. Thus, we need to be merciful like the Father. Let’s pray to the merciful Lord to grant us the Holy Spirit. Moreover, beg the Lord to have mercy on us and hide us inside His sacred wounds.
God bless!
2018 Homily
Photo Credit:Wikipedia
慈悲主日，乙年
主題：默想五傷所展現的慈悲
執事我喜歡看科幻片，例如「蜘蛛俠」、「超人」、「變形金剛」、「E.T.外星人」、「哥斯拉」、「異形」和「復仇者聯盟」等。我不但喜歡它們娛樂性豐富的特技，我更喜歡電影中的圖像和橋段所傳達的宗教元素。我經常在宗教堂上使用這些材料，希望能開啟同學們的心目，在一切事物中找到天主。最近我重看2006年播出的電視片集HEROES。它講述一群身懷特異功能的人：一個能飛、另一個能讀心、一個能隱形、一個能繪出未來，另一個能扭曲時空等… 這片集很融和，請來不同種族的演員擔任不同的英雄角色。在復活節期間，其中一位主角引起我的默想。
復活的主在祂身上保留著的五傷，素來引人入勝。復活後，這些傷口痛嗎？無論是痛與否，為何復活的主要保留這些傷口呢？這些傷痕肯定是一些標記，而標記是用來傳達訊息的。那麼，主想透過五傷傳達甚麼訊息呢？
首先，這些傷痕肯定了天主子是真人真天主。歷代有不少異端，懷疑耶穌基督的人性。這些異端份子非常虔誠，他們深信耶穌基督是天主，卻放棄了祂的人性。為他們而言，耶穌基督的受難、釘十字架和死亡祇是表面現象而已。天主是不會死的，會死的，就沒有資格做天主！這些異端份子看來有理，卻大錯特錯！天主是全能的，「在天主前沒有不能的事」（路1:37）為甚麼祂不能死？為祂死亡有甚麼大不了？耶穌說：「我有權捨掉它（我的性命），我也有權再取回它來。」（若10:18）當然耶穌有能力再生，不留半點傷痕，但佳蘭的故事告訴我們這是一個壞主意。為甚麼？讓我們考慮一個基本的問題。這些傷痕顯示了甚麼？羅馬法律制度的公義和優越嗎？不，是政治妥協。是猶太公議會為了信仰純正的虔誠而剷除異端嗎？不，是嫉妒。是猶太人爭取獨立的尊嚴和光榮嗎？不，是羊群心態。這些傷痕是各個組織的罪惡聯手的成果，它們顯示了人類的脆弱和罪性所帶來的暴戾。
當瑪利亞以珍貴的香料傅抹耶穌的腳時，猶達斯埋怨她浪費。耶穌告訴在場的人說：「你們常有窮人和你們在一起；至於我，你們卻不常有。」（12:8）貧窮是罪惡之一，它是人性貪婪的結果。今天，人性的貪婪已進化成為一種制度性的罪，我們中的承包商就是按法律去剝削毫無保障的工人。耶穌明白這一切，祂保留這些傷痕，不但提醒我們罪惡的凶猛，並且告訴我們罪惡如何揮之不去。這些傷痕恐怕要掃除所有罪惡後，纔會消失。那麼，在末日審判後會嗎？未必會。為甚麼呢？
因為這些傷痕同時顯示了天主對罪人的慈悲。倘若這些傷痕是天主慈悲的標記，它們永不消失，因為天主的慈愛，永遠長存。在以往的年代，教會提倡耶穌聖心的敬禮，大家記得耶穌聖心的圖像嗎？那顆為茨冠圍著被刺透的心，它展現了耶穌對所有罪人的憐愛。教會鼓勵信眾為世界傷害耶穌的愛做賠補，並訂立了耶穌聖心節，在五旬節後十九日的星期五舉行。今天我們慶祝慈悲主日，與慶祝耶穌聖心節有點相似。在星期日慶祝更適合現代的都市人，而重點聚焦更多在天主的慈悲上，而不是強調天主公義的賠補上。
今天我們對天主的慈悲和天主的公義之間的關係，有更好的理解。它們並不矛盾。慈悲並非示弱，相反，慈悲比暴力有更大的威力。在山中聖訓中，耶穌教導我們溫良，祂說：「溫良的人是有福的，因為他們要承受土地。」（瑪5:5）不是有勢力的人承受土地嗎？這是常識，但常識可以是錯的。耶穌從來都是溫良的，祂征服了全世界。耶穌示範了溫良的威力。憑著溫良，我們可以造就人。慈悲和寬恕是贏取對手和擊敗敵人最有效的途徑。記得佳蘭的故事嗎？她學習了擁有更大的能力，便有更大的責任去慈悲，而不是濫用能力，因公義之名去懲罰！天主是全能的，所以祂的慈悲是無限的。祂曾藉先知說：「我豈能喜歡惡人的喪亡？我豈不更喜歡他離開舊道而得生存？」（則18:23）
在今天的第二篇讀經，若望很有信心地說：「誰是得勝世界的呢？不是那信耶穌為天主子的人嗎？」（若一5:5）那麼，我們怎樣得勝世界呢？在福音中，耶穌賜給門徒聖神，派遣他們去慈悲，去寬恕世界（若20:22-23）。憑著慈悲，我們征服世界。憑著慈悲，我們寬恕，給予施暴者再次機會。憑著慈悲，我們讓人悔改遷善。我們造就更好的人，更好的世界。我們就是這樣征服這個世界。
多默就是一個好例子。他現實，對信仰有要求。可能他對自己的信仰，比其他的宗徒還要認真。耶穌向多默展示慈悲，祂並沒有責怪多默，而是邀請他觸摸祂的傷痕，把他自己躲藏在祂的傷痕內！多默真是有福！
各位兄弟姊妹！或者你沒有征服世界的雄心，因為你沒有佳蘭的特異功能。但最少我們也應該改善我們的生活環境。祇有清潔的水和空氣是不足夠的，我們需要一個更能鼓舞人心的世界，讓我們的潛能得以發揮。因此，我們必須如同天父慈悲。求慈悲的主賜下聖神。更求主慈悲，把我們收藏在祂的聖傷之內。
天主保祐。
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