復活期第五主日，乙年
主題：信天主便放棄了自由嗎？
天主子耶穌基督是「道路、真理和生命」。雖然真理可以解放我們，使我們獲得自由（若8:32），但因為種種原因，有部份真理是很難接受的。以中國人為例，他們很強調孝順父母。因此，向中國人傳教，不可能按聖經順序，述說有關婚姻的教義，「為此人應離開自己的父母，依附自己的妻子，二人成為一體」（創2:24）。今天的福音，也有一些現代人拒絕接受的真理：「…你們若不住在我內，也一無所能…因為離了我，你們甚麼也不能作。」（若15:4-5）現代人經歷啟蒙時代，見證著科技的突飛猛進，對人的自我完善能力，滿有信心。崇尚自由和政治上的自主，是完全合符聖經教義的。因為天主按自己的肖像創造了人類（創1:26），所以人類創意無限；沒有自由，天主的肖像便不能圓滿地發揮發展。可是信仰耶穌基督，與祂建立密切的主僕關係，強調的卻是依賴和服從。「離了我，你們甚麼也不能作。」這與現世的價值觀，與人能夠自我完善的信念，背道而馳，很難說服世人接受。
其實世人對耶穌基督的真理，感到生硬，難以接受，已經不是第一次了。在五餅二魚神蹟後，耶穌基督趁機講論「生命之糧」的道理，說甚麼：「誰吃我的肉，並喝我的血，必得永生…誰吃我的肉，並喝我的血，便住在我內，我也住在他內。」（6:54，56）大部份人都覺得生硬，聽不下去（6:60），「從此，他的門徒中有許多人退去了，不再同他往來。」（6:66）後來這些人有沒有見過復活的基督，與其他見證人，組成教會，為主的復活作見證，不得而知。但可以肯定的，從來真理是得來不易，而宣揚真理，必定是滿途荊棘！
首先，讓我們界定「自由」是甚麼？消極地，就是不受外力的限制。例如，我們沒有擺脫地心吸力約束的能力，我們沒有升天的自由。積極地，就是能隨心所欲地做一些對自己，甚至對別人有益的事。例如，我們有擇業的自由，既可發展潛能，又可養妻活兒，建設社會。 其次，從上面的定義可見，自由是不可以憑空抽像地思考的，必須與另一個觀念連在一起討論。例如「擇業的自由」、「養寵物的自由」、「出入境自由」、「結社自由」和「創作自由」等等。「不自由、毋寧死」祇是一個口號；「純粹的自由」恐怕祇是哲學家腦袋裡的一個念頭而已，在可見的宇宙中並不存在！當人失去了自由，我們一般把它理解為失去了行動的自由，例如坐牢或被軟禁。同理，說「自由不是絕對的」也是非常含糊的詭辯，應該說「擇業自由不是絕對的」，可以說「當人失去了擇業的自由，與奴隸有甚麼分別呢？」
再其次，不得不承認，對某些自由，必須在大環境的許可下纔會出現。例如在經濟水平低，溫飽不保的環境下，可以說甚麼「飲酒自由」、「養寵物自由」和「同性婚姻自由」嗎？在極權統治的社會中，可以有「選舉自由」和「創作自由」嗎？在全球一體化下，還可以空談「反對外國勢力干預內政」，難道自己國家的一舉一動，不會對外國構成任何影響嗎？
近代歷史見證著人權的觀念，逐漸抬頭。經歷過不少暴君為所欲為的統治，人類醒覺到享用個人的自由時，不應該造成其他人的傷害。所以法律出現了，用來制衡暴君的放肆，保障人民的性命財產，保護人民應有的權利。從前，君王的說話就是法律；今天的法律，是要經過嚴格的程序纔通過和執行。法律的目標其實很謙卑，祇是為了人與人之間的交往，趨於公平；天子與庶民，能自由地發揮所長，不被剝削。在享受文化和宗教的自由下，人的生活質素，更為豐富。
在這樣的大環境下，信仰天主，完全服從耶穌的教訓，有沒有削減人類的自由呢？
沒有。首先，雖然是完全的服從，不是選擇性的服從；可是，這服從是出於自由的。服從與自由看來矛盾，但天主本身是自由的，祂的肖像也是自由的。天主是至高無上的，絕不希罕被迫的服從。天主要求的，是甘心情願的服從。當年諸葛亮七擒七縱孟獲，為的是要孟獲心悅誠服，諸葛亮纔無後顧之憂。
其次，天主要求的服從，與軍人的服從不同。那是為了整體的利益，甚至不惜犧牲個體的利益。但天主邀請我們服從耶穌基督的教訓，兼顧了個體和整體的益處。在服從天父的旨意時，我們既能發揮自身的潛質，實現天主心眼中的肖像，並能建樹社會及教會團體。
我們生活在被罪惡污染了的世界，這是不爭的事實。在罪惡的影響之下，運用自由經常會做出損人利己的行為。就這樣，我們濫用了天賦的自由，反而成為了罪惡的奴隸。罪惡已經從個別的事件，演化成結構性，制度性的罪惡，令不少人成為剝削機器的一部份，使更多人失去自由。
到了這個地步，我們不得不承認人類的不足。二十世紀的兩次世界大戰，迫我們重新檢視，人類的自我完善能力有多大。但今天仍有不少野心家，迷信科技，運用手上的一切科技及政治工具，維持自己的權力和利益！天主教徒又可以憑甚麼，達到解放和圓滿呢？權力嗎？科技嗎？法律嗎？都不是！是信德，是對天父的愛，懷有信心。相信祂派遣到世上來，為人捨命的天主子的愛；最後，以自由的服從，彼此相愛，回報天父的慈愛。當我們越服從，越與天主合作的時候，我們越能活出天主的肖像，越能生活得像一個有天主肖像尊嚴的人。換句話說，我們越服從，越能活出天主心意中的肖像！
各位兄弟姊妹，耶穌基督所啟示的真理，無疑是生硬的，難接受的。求天主聖神的幫助吧，憑著聖神的助佑，我們必定可以自由地按真理生活，活出天主的肖像。
天主保祐！
圖片鳴謝：Wikipedia
Fifth Easter Sunday, Year B
Theme: Is Belief in God Incompatible with Freedom?
Jesus Christ the Son of God is “the Way, and the Truth and the Life”. Although the truth liberates us and sets us free (John 8:32), for various reasons, parts of the truth are difficult to accept. For example, the Chinese take filial piety seriously. Thus, when we preach Christianity to Chinese, we cannot follow the sequence of the Bible and tell them those doctrines about marriage. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” (Genesis 2:24) The gospel passage today also teaches some truth which modern people reject. “…so neither can you (bear fruit) unless you remain in me … because without me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5) After going through the Age of Enlightenment and witnessing tremendous advancements in sciences and technologies, men are confident of their self-perfection ability. Advocating liberty and political autonomy actually agrees with biblical teachings. It is because God created mankind in His own image (Genesis 1:26). Thus humanity is creative. Without freedom, the image of God cannot be fully developed. However, believing in Jesus Christ, and building up an intimate master-disciple relationship stresses trust and obedience. “Without me you can do nothing”. This goes against the modern worldview and the conviction of self-perfection. It is difficult to convince modern people.
Indeed, it’s not the first time people reject the truth of Jesus Christ because it is hard. After the miracle of five loaves and two fish, Jesus took the opportunity to teach them “the bread of life”, saying “Whoever easts my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life … Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (6:54, 56) Most people found the saying hard and nobody could accept (6:60) “As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him” (6:66) We do not know whether those disciples had seen the risen Christ and joined other witnesses to form the Church to bear witness for the resurrection of the Lord. But one thing is certain. Truth is not easy to grasp and proclaiming the truth is hazardous!
Let us draw our baseline first. Since we believe that God is our Creator, the Author of our life, there is no autonomy on our part in relation to God. Thus, we will focus on whether believing in Jesus Christ shall reduce our freedom.
First of all, let us define what freedom is. In a negative manner, freedom is the absence of external restrains. For example, we are not able to get away from the restrain of gravity. We do not have the freedom of ascension. In a positive manner, freedom is the liberty to do good for ourselves and for others. For example, the freedom of choosing a career enables us to develop our potentials, to feed our family and to build up the society.
Secondly, from the definition above, freedom is not something abstract but it has to be linked with another concept, e.g. the freedom of choosing a career, freedom of keeping pets, freedom of travel, freedom of association and freedom of expression etc. “Give me freedom or death” can only be a slogan. Freedom per se can only be an idea in the head of philosophers and does not exist in the known universe! When a person loses his freedom, we usually take this as a loss of mobility e.g. being imprisoned or under house arrest. Similarly, claiming “freedom is not absolute” is ambiguous. We should say, “The freedom of choosing a career is not absolute”, or “When a person loses the freedom of choosing his career, how does he differ from a slave?”
Thirdly, we have to admit that some freedoms can only appear under certain circumstances. For example, when the economy is poor, can we talk about the freedom of drinking wine, of keeping pets or even of same-sex marriage? Living in a totalitarian state, can people enjoy the freedom of election or expression? Under globalization, “opposing external interferences on internal affairs” can only be empty talks. Doesn’t every internal move of our country influence other countries?
Modern history sees the emergence of the concept of human rights. Suffering from the tyranny of many monarchs, men began to realize that when one enjoys one’s liberty, one should not do harm to others. Human-right legislations appear to counterbalance the whims of tyrants, to protect the life and property of the people, the rights they deserve. Previously, kings’ words were laws. Today, laws are passed and implemented through strict procedures. The aim of laws is very humble. They help interpersonal interactions become fairer. Princes and paupers are able to freely exercise their abilities and nobody is exploited. Enjoying cultural and religious freedoms, people’s quality of life is enriched. In such an environment, does the belief in God and the total obedience to the teachings of Jesus Christ reduce human liberty?
No. First of all, although the obedience God demands is total and not selective, this obedience comes out of freedom. Obedience and freedom seem contradictory, but God Himself is free. His images are free as well. God is supreme. He dislikes obedience out of duress. God demands a total surrender of hearts. Likewise, in Chinese history, Zhuge Liang captured and released Meng Huo seven times in order to ensure that Meng Huo genuinely surrender so that Zhuge didn’t have to worry about being stabbed at the back when he turned east.
Secondly, the demand of obedience from God is different from military obedience which aims at achieving a greater cause even at the expense of individual interests. But when God invites us to obey the teachings of Jesus Christ, it takes care of both the individual good and the common good. When we obey the will of the Father, not only do we manifest our potentials and actualize the image in God’s mind, but we also build up the society and the church community.
Nobody disputes that all of us are living in a world contaminated by sins. Under the influence of sins, we exercise our freedoms at the expenses of others most of the time. We abuse the freedoms God gave us and we become slaves of sins. Sin has evolved from individual events to structural and institutionalized evils, making many people parts of an exploitation engine and many more people lose their freedom.
At this stage, we must admit our inadequacy. The two world wars in the last century force us to evaluate again how capable humanity is of self-perfection. Yet today, many ambitious power brokers are still superstitious of sciences and technologies. They make use of all the scientific and political instruments in hand to secure their power and benefits! What do Catholics have in hand to achieve liberation and fulfilment? Power? Technology? Laws? None of them! It is faith. It is the trust in the love of the Father and the love of the Son whom He sent to die for humanity. Consequently, we return our love to the Father by freely obeying the commandment to love each other. When we obey more and cooperate with God more, we are able to live out the image of God more, more like a man with the dignity of the image of God. In other words, the more we obey, the more we are able to live up the image God has in mind!
Brethren, the truth revealed by Jesus Christ can be hard and difficult to accept. Pray to the Holy Spirit for help with which we shall be able to freely lead a life of truth and live up the image of God.
God bless!
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