若望憑甚麼作見證 With What Did John Bear Witness

【見證系列（二）】
若望憑甚麼作見證（若1:1-18）

從三部「對觀福音」可見，雅各伯和若望原本是一對不好惹的「熱血青年」，耶穌給他們起了一個「雷霆之子」的綽號（谷3:17）。有一次他們路過一個撒瑪黎雅村莊，村民拒絕接待他們。這對「雷霆之子」便對耶穌說：「主，你願意我們叫火自天降下，焚毀他們嗎？」（路9:54）結果被耶穌轉身斥責了。經歷過基督的顯聖容、逾越、升天、聖神降臨、福傳、教難等等的操練和反省之後，若望已長大成熟，對主耶穌的愛刻骨銘心，成為在最後晚餐斜倚在耶穌懷裡的（若13:23）和後來站在十字架下（19:26）「主所愛的門徒」。

在他所寫的福音中，「父」字共用過140次，其中123次是指天主聖三中的「聖父」。當猶太人自恃為亞巴郎的後裔時，耶穌教訓他們說：「我如果光榮我自己，我的光榮算不了甚麼；那光榮我的， 是我的父，就是你們所稱的『我們的天主』」（若8:54）。這一句話不但明顯地啟示了耶穌基督是天主聖子的身份，而且還回應了在福音的第一章，天主聖子在創造過程中的角色。

若望刻意地運用【創世紀】第一章的詩歌體裁，開始他所寫的福音。他甚至以【創世紀】開頭的三個字，作為【若望福音】開頭的三個字。天主是全能的，是言出必行的（則17:24）。按【創世紀】的敘述，天主說了便造成了。若望的貢獻，在於指示出這「聖言」就是「天主子」。倘若天主子祇是「聖言」，天主未免太抽象了。若望在他寫給教會的書信中，開宗明義說：「論到那從起初就有的生命的聖言，就是我們聽見過，我們親眼看見過，以及我們親手摸過的生命的聖言」（若一1:1）。若望與讀者分享他實實在在的經驗和反省，「為使你們也同我們相通；原我們是同父和祂的子耶穌基督相通的」（1:3），藉著他的作證，讀者也能分享天主的永恆生命。這生命源於天主的本質，是若望指出天主的本質就是愛（4:8）。

親愛的讀者，過了晚上就是新的一年。祝願大家來年多愛耶穌一些，好能更實在地與人分享天父的永恆生命。亞孟。
天主保祐！

---

生命恩泉
Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

[Mission Series II]
With What Did John Bear Witness (John 1:1-18)

From the Synoptic gospels, we know that James and John were a pair of hot-blooded brothers. Jesus gave them a nickname, Boanerges, sons of thunder (Mark 3:17). Once they entered a Samaritan village but the villagers would not welcome them. The Boanerges asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” (Luke 9:54). Jesus turned and rebuked them. After going through Christ’s Transfiguration, Passover, Ascension, the Decent of the Holy Spirit, evangelization and persecutions etc., John had grown up and had become mature through meditations. His love for Lord Jesus had been deeply craved in his soul. He became the beloved disciple who reclined at Jesus’ side during the Last Supper (John 13:23) and stood next to the cross during His crucifixion (19:26).

In the gospel of his name, he used the word “father” 140 times, among which 123 times refer to the “Father” in the Blessed Trinity. When the Jews boosted of being Abraham’s descendants, Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’” (8:54). Not only does this verse manifest Jesus Christ’s identity as the Son of God, but it also echoes His role in Creation mentioned in chapter one.

John deliberately deployed the hymnal genre of Genesis 1 to begin his gospel. He even made use of the first three words of Genesis to start his writing. God is almighty. He speaks and will do (Ezekiel 17:24). In the narrative of Genesis, God spoke and things were created. John’s contribution was his personification of God’s Word into the Son of God. However, if the Son of God were only God’s Word, God would be too abstract. When John wrote to the Church, he made it clear from the start, “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have ween with our eyes, what we looked up and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life” (1 John 1:1). John shares with his readers his concrete experiences and meditations, “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ” (1:3). With his witness, readers are able to partake in God’s eternal life. This life flows from the essence of God. It is John who points out that God’s essence is love (4:8).

Beloved brethren! After this evening, it will be a new year. May all of us love Jesus more so that we may bear witness more concretely to the eternal life of the Father. Amen.
God bless!

亞納憑甚麼當女先知 What Qualified Anna To Be A Prophetess

【見證系列（一）】
亞納憑甚麼當女先知 （路2:36-40）

離開埃及，過了紅海的第一代以色列人，已經沒有和天主交往四百多年，對雅威十分陌生。到了西乃山與天主立約時，「眾百姓看見打雷、打閃、吹角、冒煙的山，都戰兢害怕，遠遠站著，對梅瑟說：你同我們說話罷！我們定要聽從，不要天主同我們說話，免得我們死亡。」（出20:18-19）這位天主太可怕了，以色列百姓害怕聽到天主親自發言，天主惟有派先知作為祂的代言人。歷代的天主代言人，來自不同背景，有司祭：例如厄則克耳、有牧羊人：例如亞毛斯等等。天主藉著這些先知，在不同時代發言，針對時弊、宣告審判、指出上主的要求、應許和安慰等。可惜以色列是一個執拗的民族（申9:6），屢勸不改，以至遭受亡國的苦。所以在以色列履行先知職務，的確是一件苦差！

在古代作為女性，米黎盎（出15:20）和德波辣（民4:4），一個是梅瑟的姊姊，一個是民長，自有她們獨特的身份，作為女先知。但作為一個寡婦，亞納憑甚麼擔任先知的角色呢？近期在Netflix播放中的電影 Mary中的亞納，擁有一股神秘的權威，不可取！從《路加福音》的內容推算，我們大概可以估計到亞納的權威來自何方。假設她十四歲出閣，二十一歲守寡，八十四歲在聖殿，向一切希望耶路撒冷得救贖的人，講論出生滿四十天的耶穌（路2:38）。即是說，她在公元前六十三年，開始了她在聖殿事奉天主的歲月。要知道在古代醫學並未發達，五十歲可能已經是猶太人的人生大限。一個猶太人從十二歲開始，每年要到聖殿朝聖一次。見過亞納三十八次的人未必多。所以，當八十四歲高齡的亞納向群眾講論聖嬰耶穌的時候，聽眾怎可以不尊重！

親愛的兄弟姊妹，祝願大家在八十四歲時，還可以講論主耶穌基督的言行。亞孟。
天主保祐。

---

生命恩泉
Picture Credit: wikipedia.com, creator.nightcafe.studio

[Witness Series: I]
What Qualified Anna To Be A Prophetess (Luke 2:36-40)

The first generation Israelites who fled Egypt and crossed the Red Sea had not walked with God for more than four hundred years. To them, Yahweh was an alien being. When they reached Mount Sinai to establish covenant with Him, “All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blast of the shofar and the mountain smoking, they became afraid and trembled. So they took up a position farther away and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we shall die.’” (Exodus 20:18-19) This God was too terrifying. The Israelites were afraid to hear God speak. Therefore, God chose prophets to be His spokespersons. Throughout the ages, God chose spokespersons from different backgrounds. There were priests, such as Ezekiel; shepherds such as Amos etc. Through them God spoke in different ages to reprimand, to announce judgment, to convey instructions, promises and consolations. Regrettably, Israel was a stiff-necked people (Deuteronomy 9:6). They refused to repent despite repeated exhortations. In the end, their kingdom was conquered and the people were exiled. It was a harsh mission to discharge the prophetic ministry in Israel!

As women in ancient times, Miriam (Exodus 15:20) and Deborah (Judges 4:4), the former was the elder sister of Moses and the latter a Judge, had their special identities to work as prophetesses. But as a widow, what qualified Anna to take up the role as a prophetess? Recently, Netflix shows the movie “Mary” in which the Anna possessed a mysterious authority. It is inappropriate. From the narratives of Luke, we are able to speculate where Anna’s authority came from. Assuming that she was married at 14, widowed at 21 and when she was 84-year old, she spoke about the 40-day old infant Jesus “to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). That is to say, since 63 B.C., Anna had started serving God in the Temple. Know that medical technology was still not advanced at that time, the life expectancy of Jews might be less than 50. A Jew was obliged to visit the Temple annually since twelve-year old. Not many of them would have seen Anna 38 times. Thus, when the 84-year-old Anna spoke about the Holy Infant to the crowd, how could they not respect!

Beloved brethren! I pray that when we are 84, we are still able to speak about the words and deeds of Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
God bless!

Honour Your Parents 孝敬父母

Feast of the Holy Family, Year C
Theme: Honour Your Parents 孝敬父母

In Year C, we meditate the story of boy Jesus in the Temple. In the past few weeks, I was talking about the Ten Commandments in my catechumen class. Naturally, my meditation gravitates towards the fourth Commandment, viz. “Honour Thy Parents”. In ancient times, this Commandment was unidirectional, viz. what children had to do as well as what not to do towards their parents. By extension, this Commandment also included what obligations commoners had to observe towards the states. In modern times when people in general demand greater respect of their human rights from the sovereignty, this Commandment becomes bi-directional. Parents as well as governments must also do their parts towards their children and their subjects as well. Let us examine today’s gospel text.

Luke’s narrative continues from the story of Presentation where Joseph and Mary presented the 40-day old infant Jesus, Mary’s first born to the Temple as prescribed by the Law of the Moses (Luke 2:22). Notice that immediately in the next verse, Luke describes the law as “the law of the Lord” (2:23) to highlight the importance of Mosaic Law/Torah for the salvation of humankind. Luke is truly a disciple of St. Paul the Pharisee, who was also an expert of the Jewish laws. Paul’s contributions to Christianity are undeniable and Christ did not choose him in vain. In fact, had Jews been more faithful and less stiff-necked, the Torah would have sufficed to save them; and through them the whole world. In harmony with Paul’s position, Matthew records Jesus’ saying that “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17). The Son of God affirms the importance of the Mosaic Law. Luke also records, “… that everything written about me [Jesus] in the Law of Moses and in the prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44b). John puts it in another way, “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the Law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth’” (John 1:45). The Law and the Prophets lead people to believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. With the revelations from the Law and the Prophets, people believe in Jesus Christ and obtain redemption. At the end of the Presentation narrative, Luke writes, “The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him” (Luke 2:40).

The gospel of Luke shows us that Joseph and Mary follow the laws to the letters and you cannot find faults with them. He begins today’s text with, “Each year his parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover” (2:41). It is obvious that in order to pass on their faith to children, parents must be practising themselves. Formation of the faith of children is the duty of parents as caretakers of the wellbeing of their children’s souls. This duty lasts until their children reach adulthood. Parents cannot relent their duty and let their children grow on their own; or rely on God’s interventions. When Jesus reaches twelve, he becomes a Jewish adult and is responsible for his own actions. He began going up to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover with his parents (2:42), who continue to perform faithfully their duties in the formation of the soul of their child. It is not enough for parents to be practising themselves. Catholic parents have the duty to raise their children in the Catholic tradition just as Moses has instructed the Jews. In the instruction of daily recitation of “Shema Israel”, Moses finishes with, “Keep repeating them to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:7a). Therefore, not only should parents practise themselves, but they also teach their children to practise. No schooling can replace the teaching role of parents. They are the first instructors of faith of their children! Of course, parents without faith is another story because they do not have any belief system to pass on to their children. In such cases, God will provide.

Yet, no instructors or teachers are able to dictate what their subjects learn. All children are unique. They will pick up different messages from the same instruction of teachers because their attention spans are different. Even if they are able to pick up 100% of the one instruction, they may form different versions of actions to take in the future because of their different learning histories! Therefore, it is silly to dictate children and disciples to follow our teaching syllabus! Therefore, children and students may come up with learnings that surprise us. The boy Jesus demonstrates this in the Temple. “After three days they [Joseph and Mary] found him in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:46-47). Of course, boy Jesus is special because He is the Son of God. This narrative shows the spiritual awakening of boy Jesus. His divine nature began to take a more prominent portion of his life on earth. In short, Jesus began to sense his relationship with God the Father. He calls God “my Father” (2:49b)!

Indeed, children do not belong to parents nor students their teachers. Parents and teachers are only guardians/stewards of their children and disciples entrusted to them by God. Ultimately, children and students belong to God. Alas! Parents and teachers know this reality. They understand that eventually, they must let go of their children. Otherwise, their children will never be able to grow up, gain independence and will rely on their parents to baby-sit forever! Yet it is difficult for parents to negate the emotional bonds established throughout the years they have spent together. Parents and teachers usually love their children and students so much so that they feel that their children and students belong to them. Parents and teachers expect their children and students to obey them!

Let us look at Mary’s response when they found Jesus in the Temple, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety” (2:48b). Here, the Mosaic Law is of no help because the Torah defines the minimum requirements on the behaviours of a Jew. In order to cultivate higher virtues in an adult, Jews rely on the Wisdom Literature, such as Psalms and Proverbs etc. instead of the Torah. As for the law of honouring parents, the Mosaic Law only lays down the conditions under which a “stubborn and rebellious son” should be stoned to death: who strike parents (Exodus 21:15) , curse parents (21:17) and who does not listen to his parents even though they discipline him (Deuteronomy 21:18). On one hand, Mary’s question could at most be a very mild discipline. She did not threaten to punish Jesus. On the other hand, Jesus’ staying in the Temple did not breach any Mosaic Law though it caused great anxiety on Joseph and Mary. This anxiety, which was proportional to the amount of love they have towards boy Jesus, is relieved! However, love may not reciprocate immediately. Jesus’ answer puzzles them (Luke 2:50) and may cause new anxieties. Nevertheless, I am sure Jesus loves and honours them. In the end, Luke writes, “He [Jesus] went down with them [Joseph and Mary] and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them” (2:51a). Notice that with a spiritual awakening, Jesus is confronting an issue of divided loyalty! It becomes more challenging for Jesus to obey two of His creations! It takes children and disciples a greater love to obey their parents and teachers after they become adults than when they were small. In a similar way, it takes the Son of God an even greater love to obey Joseph and Mary after He reached twelve in the Temple, His Father’s house where He began to know more and more clearly that He is the Son of God!

Beloved brethren! Love is not an exact science. There is no hard and fast rule that is universally applicable to honour parents. All depend on which culture we are living in. When you are able to read up to here, it means that your parents must have aged. For sure, loving aged parents is more demanding than loving them when they were young. Place your hope in God. He will provide. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

In God We Hope 把希望放在天主

Fourth Advent Sunday, Year C
Theme: In God We Hope 把希望放在天主

As a Chinese aphorism goes, 「人無遠慮，必有近憂 A person without long-term worries must have short-term ones」. Worries are parts and parcels of our daily lives and they prevent us from enjoying life fully. When we fail to see any way out, worries turn into despair which leads easily to suicides when the people concerned feel lonesome. Human psyche is hardwired to lead a collective life. “The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him” (Genesis 2:18).
Loneliness can kill! In pre-industrial societies where people lived in extended families, the emotional support for individuals was stronger. People were better able to undergo psychological stresses and thus there were fewer suicides. Modern people live in nuclear families and even hostels. Emotional support wears thin and they seek support elsewhere. The handiest source comes from social media which bloom inevitably. Avalanches of information keep bombarding modern people. Suddenly, many more things take toll on their physical, psychological and social health. People have more things to worry about, for example their health, career, self-image, finance, local and global politics, the environment etc. Such continuous stimuli strain their mental stamina, exhaust them and make them vulnerable to despair. Modern people need a greater hope to sustain a bearable life in a commercial society.

Christmas is just three days away. Prosperity in the society has diluted its spiritual significance with consumerism. Instead of celebrating the joy the Incarnation Mystery brings to humanity, people find happiness in spending money. Instead of getting connected or re-establishing connections with our relatives and friends during the Christmas season, people go to parties to release their lust and desires. Instead of declaring traditional truces in war zones all over the world during Christmas, countries refuse to give their enemies any breathing space and a gleam of hope to humanity. Despite all the convenience and comfort attained by advancements in sciences and technologies, modern people are literally living in hell instead. Can we make Christmas relevant again nowadays?

The opening prayer of the mass today is enlightening and worth deeper meditation. It reads, “Pour forth, we beseech you, O LORD, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection …”. What has the Passion and Cross of Jesus Christ to do with the Joy of Incarnation? Why does joy and pain go hand in hand? In fact, this prayer puts our daily life in sharp focus! Joy and pain are in fact two sides of the same coin. I was wrong when, in the first paragraph, I said, “Worries … prevent us from enjoying life fully”. On the contrary, without worries, life is incomplete and thus not full! We have lost this wisdom since the Age of Enlightenment in which Sir Francis Bacon’s aphorism, namely “Knowledge is Power”, started taking root in human mind. We have become “control freaks” and we want joy without pain! However, can we? With the mind-set of “control-freaks”, we disagree with God’s salvation plan. Since God is almighty. He can simply wipe out Satan and save all humanity with a snap of His fingers. Why did the Son of God take the trouble of becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:14) instead? Is there no better and more effective way to save humanity than Passion and Crucifixion?

In the first reading today, Micah foretells the birth place of the Messiah, “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah least among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; whose origin is from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:1). This is one of the five prophecies Matthew quoted in his Nativity narratives to prove that Jesus Christ is the long anticipated Messiah (Matthew 2:6). With these words, “whose origin is from of old, from ancient times”, Micah has already hinted that the Messiah is God Himself. God makes no secret His intention to save humanity in person. However, without the theology of the “Blessed Trinity” as well as the dual natures of Jesus Christ, it is impossible for people in general and Jews in particular to understand how a Creator God would suffer death and how the death of one single person suffices the salvation for all humanity! Whatever the theology, the most crucial thing for humanity is God’s active intervention in human destiny. Yahweh is not a God who created us and leaves us to fend for ourselves. Instead, He cares and helps us realize our full potentials because we were created in His image (Genesis 1:26) and that He finds no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies (Ezekiel 18:32). He loves and cherishes every image He created no matter how rotten it has become.

The gospel reading today continues from the Annunciation of the birth of the Saviour by Archangel Gabriel. It is curious that we do not find a word spoken by the BVM in today’s excerpt. Elizabeth does all the talking and the text skips the Magnificat! Scholars have spilt a lot of ink on Mary’s setting out and travelling “in haste” to visit Elizabeth. As for me, a common sense understanding would suffice to explain everything and it is not necessary to resort to theology. The haste only shows the youthfulness of the BVM who was most likely to be 14 year-old maiden only. She was too young to understand Gabriel’s message and wanted to ascertain whether Elizabeth had been pregnant for six months (Luke 1:36). If Elizabeth was, the BVM had to take the words of the Archangel seriously. Which means, she would conceive and bear a son (1:31) before marrying Joseph! After meeting Elizabeth, mixed feelings surged up in the heart of the BVM. On one hand, she sensed the danger of getting pregnant before marriage. She would be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:24) when her pregnancy was getting more and more conspicuous. On the other hand, the Archangel’s word was true and she would be the mother of a king to rule over Israel (Luke 1:32) and the Mother of the Son of God (1:35)! As a virgin, Mary did not have any experience of pregnancy. She was unable to tell whether she was pregnant or not at that moment. It was only through Elizabeth’s report, namely the leaping of John the Baptist in her womb, that the truthfulness of Gabriel’s word was confirmed (1:44). Mary’s bodily changes in the following months would further confirm the archangel’s message and would worsen her worries. Though the BVM was conceived without Original Sin, she was not exempted from worries.
There is still an enigma to crack in Elizabeth’s words. Elizabeth says, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my LORD should come to me?” (1:43). How was she able to confess the Lordship of Jesus? It involves some theology, which I am sure the BVM did not understand. Thus, there is no harm skipping this enigma for the time being.

The last sentence Elizabeth spoke is relevant to us nowadays. She says, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the LORD would be fulfilled” (1:45) Not only is Mary blessed for her faith in God, but we are also blessed. This faith in the LORD gives us the hope modern people need to confront the onslaughts of despair nowadays. With this faith, we may be able to hope for the impossible and wait patiently for its fulfillment, such as the repentance of evil people and that there shall be peace on earth.

Beloved brethren! Let us put our faith in Gabriel’s word during the Annunciation too, “Nothing will be impossible for God” (1:37). We are carriers of this Christian hope. Let us enkindle hope in the people we meet and the people we serve. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

Whose Joy? 誰的喜樂？

Third Advent Sunday, Year C
Theme: Whose Joy? 誰的喜樂？

We have lived many Gaudete Sundays before, but today I asked “Whose Joy?” for the first time. “Of course our joy”, many would say. Correct, but not totally! You are right when you do not say “my joy” because this answer is too egocentric. The joy of a single person does not last. For example, the joy of a champion in annual sport events does not last longer than a year. The joy of the champion and that of a first-born will not be confined to the parents but all family members will share it. Of course, the joy would last until the birth of the second and the third child/medal etc. following the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility! In short, when we “pool” our joy together, the joy will be greater and will last longer. One more example, we see from the news, how Syrian citizens took to the streets to celebrate the collapse of the Assad government and their joy is great and wide. Moreover, I am sure the Syrians are not the only people who rejoice. There must be other people elsewhere in the world who also rejoice but we know not. Knowing who they are may give us a greater understanding of global politics. Therefore, the “whose joy?” is a relevant question. Furthermore, if this joy is shared by all humanity and for all ages, it must be the greatest joy in the world.

The first reading of today sheds some light on the question. It talks about the restoration of Jerusalem/Israel. Naturally, the Jews would be joyful. However, there comes a verse, “The LORD, your God is in your midst, a mighty saviour, who will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, who will sing joyfully because of you” (Zephaniah 3:17). Not only Jews but God also rejoices in the restoration of Jerusalem/Israel too! How can we not recognize this! God has chosen a most stiff-necked people (Deuteronomy 9:6) to be His inheritance (Psalms 33:12; Isaiah 63:17; Jeremiah 10:16; Ezekiel 22:16; Zechariah 2:16; Malachi 3:17). Therefore, God rejoices when He sees Israel prosper! Of course, Israel is only a symbol, a representative of all humanity. What does God rejoice in humanity? Elsewhere God told us what He does not find joy in, “For I find no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies --- oracle of the LORD. Turn back and live!” (Ezekiel 18:32) But God also hints and tells us that He rejoices in our being alive because “He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive” (Luke 20:38). When we repent and turn back to Him, we become alive. Jesus makes this clear in His parables of the Lost Sheep/Coin/Son saying, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance” (15:7; 10); and “But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (15:32). Therefore, in this Gaudete Sunday, we should be joyful. How can we be joyful? We should repent and turn back to God, each of us in our personal ways.

In the gospel reading today, we read of the teachings of John the Baptist who proclaimed “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (3:3b). His teachings on repentance are very pragmatic and agree with the Catholic Social Teachings nowadays. So when the crowds asked him what they should do, the Baptist replied, “Whoever has two tunics should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise” (3:11). This is exactly the “option for the poor” teaching which the Catholic Church advocates. Many parishes in Hong Kong are visiting the homeless and parishioners are generous in donating supplies to help the needy. Indeed, parishes are becoming logistic centres of charity to help the socially marginalized in Hong Kong. When tax collectors came and asked what they should do, the Baptist replied, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed” (3:13). Tax collectors were doing their jobs in the full view of the people. They were not cheating but working through an unfair social structure/institution. So, it is a matter of social justice that John the Baptist was preaching. As public figures, be they civil servants or corporation executives, they should not abuse their public power to fatten their own pockets. These two groups of people had the intention to get baptized but Luke is silent on the intention of the last group. Nevertheless, this last group, who were “soldiers”, also asked what they should do. It was extremely unlikely for them to be Roman soldiers who were the oppressors. They would not welcome the coming Messiah. The “soldiers” were more likely to be soldiers of Herod Antipas the tetrarch or Temple guards who would take part in the arrest of Jesus in the future (22:52). The Baptist replied, “Do not practise extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages” (3:14b). It was and still is easy for soldiers/police to abuse the weapons they have in hand. There were/are not many differences between bandits and soldiers in ancient times and nowadays. Sometimes they even worked/work together. The Baptist was telling them not to abuse the physical power they possess to satisfy their own desires. In fact, each one of us has the tendency to impose our own will on others. With the backing of more powerful technology, we are more able to force others to satisfy our desires or punish them if they don’t! Frustrated, we would bully people into doing our will! Suicides because of internet bullying are not unheard of in the present age of Information Technology. With the advent of AI, the situation might be even worse without proper regulation on the use of AI. The Baptist denounced it. All of us have a certain amount of authority in our tuft. John the Baptist warns us against power abuses.

Beloved brethren. All these structural abuses stem from greed, which in turn stems from egocentrism. We have learnt that such joy does not last. In particular, when we build our joy upon the sufferings and pains of the others, it is morally wrong. As Christians, we cannot do that. Our joy must come from elsewhere. That is why we opt for the poor and fight for their rights. In so doing, we show God’s care for the socially marginalized and we partake in God’s joy because He finds pleasure in our turning back to Him and do His will. Earlier I mentioned the Church has become a logistic centre of charity. However, it is a pity to see some parishioners dump the things they find no use to the Church and hope that the Church will channel their rubbish to the homeless and the socially marginalized. How regrettable that they trample on the dignity of the homeless and socially marginalized in doing so! I wonder if they are able to find joy in their donations. Beloved brethren. I hope you are able to find joy on Gaudete Sunday. God bless!

---

Picture Credit: globalnation.inquirer.net, wikipedia.org

Place Our Hope in the LORD 上主是我們的希望

Second Advent Sunday, Year C
Theme: Place Our Hope in the LORD 上主是我們的希望

The Jews are an intelligent people but they are also extremely stiff-necked (Exodus 32:9, Deuteronomy 9:13 and Acts 7:51 etc.) Despite their chequered history, many Jews have contributed to different areas of human civilizations: philosophy, science, music, literature and banking etc. It proves that they are truly intelligent! When I was young and naive, I wondered why Jesus was not a Chinese but a Jew. I was confident that Chinese are as good as if not better than Jews. Nowadays, I am satisfied to be able to unearth traces of revelation the Lord God has left in the Chinese civilization. To a certain extent, Jews are a difficult, if not the most difficult people to deal with among humanity. If God is able to unfold His mercy, His salvation project through them, what other peoples is God unable to work with?

The first reading today is taken from the book of Baruch who was the secretary of Jeremiah the prophet. The text was a piece of consolation for the Jews during Babylonian Captivity as well as other times of persecutions in the future. The writing style was very Jewish. It made use of “Jerusalem” as a symbol of Israel. The glory of Jerusalem, viz. the First Temple which was built by King Solomon was burnt down and many Jews were exiled to Babylon which was in the East of Judah. But the text we read today already prophesizes the conquerors from the West! “Rise up, Jerusalem! Stand upon the heights; look to the east and see your children gathered from east to west at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that they are remembered by God” (Baruch 5:5). Of course, you may argue that the Jews were conquered by Babylon in the east. Many Jews were exiled to Babylon but some were dispersed to the west. When time came, they returned to Jerusalem from east and west. But in history, Persia conquered Babylon, then Greece in the west conquered Persia and later the Roman Empire replaced the Greek one. Jews were truly dispersed, not necessarily exiled as before. You may argue that history is only repeating itself. But I have the freedom to read Baruch’s text as a piece of prophecy too! The LORD God speaks through Baruch to console Jews in captivity as well as future believers, be they Jews or not, that Yahweh shall not give up humanity. He shall deliver them from the bondage of sin. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome were but manifestations of human greed and pride.

Actually, Baruch’s message is in harmony with Isaiah’s which we will hear again later. “For God has commanded that every lofty mountain and the age-old hills be made low, that the valleys be filled to make level ground, that Israel may advance securely in the glory of God” (5:7). Sounds familiar, right? Yes, you have heard a similar message in Isaiah! “Every valley shall be lifted up, every mountain and hill made low; the rugged land shall be a plain, the rough country, a broad valley” (Isaiah 40:4, Luke 3:5). When the prophets were talking about mountains and valleys, they were using these images to symbolize the pride and depression in our hearts. Fast forward to Jesus’ time. When John the Baptist began his mission, he attracted many Jews who were expecting the promised Messiah to liberate them. Such a huge following alerted the attention of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council, in Jerusalem. They needed to ascertain whether the Baptist was the Messiah and took action if necessary. Of course, the Baptist knew what God had sent him to do. He was only “A voice of one crying out in the desert” (Luke 3:4). His mission was to prepare the hearts of the Jews to receive the Messiah properly. It was an essential step because “And all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (3:6)! God intends to save all but humanity need to prepare their hearts properly in order to receive God’s salvation.

We know that pride prevents us from approaching God in humility which is essential for our salvation. But how would autism, depression, inferiority, introverts, low self-esteem, and slave mentality etc. prevent people from obtaining God’s mercy? Indeed, the LORD God is the embodiment of the truth and “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The LORD God is free and we, as images of God, should also be free from any form of slavery. Yet, freedom carries with it a moral burden that can be hard for people, namely that we are accountable for whatever we do. Without freedom, we can ignore the small voices of conscience within. That is how Erich Fromm explains in his book “The Fear of Freedom”, which was published in 1952, the rise of Nazism in Germany. On one hand, freedom is essential for us to fulfil our potentials but it can cause fear, anxiety and alienation. On the other, without freedom people would commit unimaginable atrocities without qualm! Though it sounds paradoxical, many people all over the world welcome authoritarian governments out of a fear of civil wars! No wonder many Israelites demanded Aaron to build them a golden calf to lead them back to Egypt, to the land of slavery instead of venturing into the Promised Land (Exodus 32:1-6)! They had accustomed to and were comfortable with slavery whereas the Promised Land was an uncertainty, and would cause a lot of anxiety in their hearts. Thus, not only do “mountains” in our hearts prevent us from approaching God, but “valleys” in our hearts also block us from turning back to the Father! How do we jump out of this plight?

Among the churches St. Paul set up, the Philippians had been the most successful. Despite a lot of hardship, Paul found consolations and joy in this church. He wrote to them in such words, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Paul was admirable because he acknowledged God’s work while many people would take credit of whatever insignificant so-called achievements they have attained. In fact, no man is able to guarantee that his achievements would last. Only God is able to. Therefore, in order to jump out of the plights of “valleys” in our hearts, we need to invoke God’s mercy and help. We place our hope on Him because He is almighty and faithful. Yahweh honours His pledges. Paul reminds us that God will guarantee the completion of what He has started in us. What work did God begin in us? To start a new life in Jesus Christ. Why is this work, namely leading a new life in Jesus Christ, good? It is good because leading a new life in Jesus Christ, we become a source of blessing for all the people we meet. Hopefully when people see our love and our good deeds, they will glorify our heavenly Father (Matthew 5:16). When they do, they will surely receive the Father’s blessing! In other words, we have become a source, a channel of blessings for the others.

Now we know that God is happy to show us mercy. But how often does God answer our prayers? I am sure everybody is familiar with this God-not-answering-prayers experience. How then can we be so certain that the Father will do something to alleviate our pitiful situation? The gospel reading today sheds light on this issue of God’s absence in the world! In fact, God is actively participating in our daily lives. Unfortunately, we are living in a world of information explosion. We bathe and submerge ourselves in a sea of information for relaxation and communication with people. The situation has become worse with the rise of Artificial Intelligence. The content providers on the Internet deploy AI to compute our likes and dislikes to push contents through the social media to us. We are constantly bombarded by filtered information which we have shown interests in. Our attention is saturated and the background noises are making God’s voice inaudible. In the gospel reading today, we heard of “During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert” (Luke 3:2). Indeed, there are too many noises in the city: commercials, political propagandas, fake news, gossips and video shorts etc. to drain out God’s voices. We need to find our own wilderness where there is no WiFi and no electricity in order to listen to what God is speaking to us. Only then can we invoke His mercy to deliver us and to strengthen us so that we may become a genuine channel of God’s blessing to the world. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: christianpublishinghouse.co

The Lord Is Our Justice 上主是我們的正義

First Advent Sunday, Year C
Theme: The Lord Is Our Justice 上主是我們的正義

Today Catholics begin a new liturgical year, Year C in which most of the Sunday gospel readings are taken from the gospel according to Luke. We have entered the Advent Season in which we anticipate and celebrate the advent, the coming of Christ who came two millennia ago. From December 17 on, we shall celebrate this. Before that, we anticipate His second coming at the end of the world. For the last two millennia, the world has never been peaceful. Injustice is rampant at all levels and love is in short supply. Consider the injustice of slavery. In ancient times, slaves did not rest and worked until they died. Thus, the third Commandment, namely that we should rest on Sabbath/the Lord’s Day, was revolutionary in celebrating the dignity of humanity and their entitled freedom. Nowadays, labourers rest on statutory holidays so that after rest, they will produce more! It is common nowadays for both parents to work, leaving their children to the care of grandparents or domestic helpers. Many salesmen have to meet their monthly quota. The major works of teachers serving schools with a shrinking in-take are to do cross-border promotions in order to keep their schools afloat. Many highly paid middle managers die abruptly out of exhaustion at their work-desks … It is slavery nonetheless in new forms. Thus, we Catholics welcome the end of the present world order, the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that He will come again in glory, as He has promised to clean up the mess humanity has created.

In the first reading today, we read of the prophecy proclaimed by Jeremiah. Through him, God says, “The days are coming --- oracle of the LORD --- when I will fulfil the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 33:14). But what promise did God refer to? It is better to search from the source, not Israel nor Isaac but Abraham. What has God promised Abraham?
God spoke to Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All families of the earth will find blessing in you” (Genesis 12:2-3). God promised Abraham that he would become a great nation! A nation consists of at least two components: people and land. But at that time, Abraham was 75 and because his wife Sarah was barren, they did not have a son. The second part of the promise made Abraham the source of blessing for all the families on earth. Thus, this promise carries with it a mission: to be a source of blessings for the others! God reveals His plan step by step. It was vague at first and He clarifies later. So some time later after Abraham had settled in Canaan, God reveals more clearly when Abraham complained that he had no son, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a servant of my household will be my heir” (15:3). Then, God clarified His earlier promise, saying “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if you can. Just so … will your descendants be” (15:5). Abraham put his faith in the LORD who continued to affirm, “I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession” (15:7). Lastly, God promised, “I will make you exceedingly fertile; I will make nations of you; kings will stem from you” (17:7). In fact, Israel is not the only nation made up of descendants of Abraham. Abraham also fathered Ishmael, the ancestor of the Arabians, from Hagar. Now that God has honoured His promises to Abraham with nations in Canaan. But it is not the end of the story. How shall Abraham and his descendants become a source of blessing to all humanity? So, God guaranteed Abraham saying, “I will maintain my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting covenant, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you” (17:7). Human beings are unable to honour their pledges completely but God is able to because He is eternal while men are mortal. For example, the LORD God renewed His promise to Abraham with his grandson Jacob at Bethel in his dream of the ladder, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham you father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying I will give to you and your descendants. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and through them you will spread to the west and the east, to the north and the south. In you and your descendants all the families of the earth will find blessing.” (28:13-14) Here, we find a renewal of God’s pledges of land, descendants and blessing to Abraham and his descendants.

With my poverty of Islamic knowledge, I am not able to comment on the blessings Islam has brought to the families of the earth. Now, how does God honour His pledge of blessing, at least through the branch of Israel? In human history, after Babylonian Captivity, Israel has only been an independent nation briefly during the Hasmonean Dynasty during the Greek Empire and became a puppet state during the Roman Empire. After the Second Jewish Revolt in 132-135 AD, all Jews were banished from the Roman Empire until the modern Israel nation established in 1948. At the moment, Israel has engaged in bitter battles with the Arabian nations. So, we need to look for God’s blessings to humanity elsewhere!

The prophecy text of Jeremiah ends with this verse, “This is the name they shall call her [Jerusalem]: ‘The LORD our justice’” (Jeremiah 33:16b). Don’t interpret God’s justice in human terms: fairness, impartiality, equality, an eye for an eye and tit for tat etc. In prophets and wisdom literature, we always find “justice” and “salvation” spoken in the same breath: “My mouth shall proclaim your just deeds, day after day your acts of deliverance, though I cannot number them all” (Psalms 71:15). “The LORD has made known His salvation: His righteousness has he openly showed in the sight of the nations” (98:2). “…My righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation” (Isaiah 51:8b). That is to say, God’s justice is His salvation! Out of love, God created us. God’s justice lies in His helping us to attaining the target He set individually and personally for us. Regrettably, we failed Him and missed the target He set for us as His images. It would be unjust of God to leave us alone to fend for ourselves, struggling and suffering in the slavery of sins. His justice lies in saving us, delivering us from the bondage of sin and attaining in fullness the image He set for us. In the gospel reading today, Jesus speaks directly God’s redemption without confusing the audience with the flowery language of justice and salvation. Instead, Jesus conjures up the image of the Kingdom of God to fulfil God’s promise to Abraham. Jesus says, “But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand” (Luke 21:28). Then the redeemed will become the People of God and together they form the Kingdom of God, visibly the Church. “In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near” (21:31). This is how the LORD honours the promise He made to Abraham and the house of Israel and Judah namely, that Abraham and his descendants would be a source of blessing for the families on earth.

Of course, as the People of God, we should not fold our hands and do nothing, passively waiting for the LORD to deliver us. What should we do? St. Paul sets us a target. In the second reading today, Paul sets us some milestones: namely, “love one another” (1 Thessalonians 3:12) and “be blameless in holiness” (3:13). Loving one another and being blameless in holiness are easier said than done. Consider the case of love. Indeed, many people fail in their love because they know what they themselves like but don’t consider what is good for the others. I am a diabetic. My friends give me chocolates because they are tasty and enjoyable. They don’t know what is good for me! Paul knows that practising love and holiness is difficult. Therefore, he reminds the audience to rely on God. Thus, Paul writes, “May the LORD make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all … so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones” (3:12-13).

Beloved brethren! Do not just desire to love but to know and understand the other parties in order to love them better. At last, the good LORD advises us, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life” (Luke 21:34). It is because when our hearts are full of anxieties, drunkenness and drowsiness, it would be difficult for us to know and understand the people whom God gives us to love. Similarly, when Jesus advises us to “Be vigilant at all times”, He is not telling us to keep watch on when the end of the world will arrive. Instead, we should be vigilant to see who need help and find the best way to love them. Be vigilant at all times to surrender your seats to the elderly, the disabled and the pregnant. Don’t bury your heads in your mobile when you travel on public transport. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: wikiart.org, tofugu.com

Who Wants To Be Such A King? 有誰願意為王呢？

Solemnity of Christ the Universal King, Year B
Theme: Who Wants To Be Such A King? 有誰願意為王呢？

With a Chinese background, my understanding of kingship would not be identical with the biblical one, if there be such a “biblical kingship” concept. Like most civilizations, the Chinese society has also gone through the evolutionary stage of feudalism. There were kingdoms occupying regions of land/resources as well as subjects under the governance of a mandarin hierarchy headed by a king. Such a structure is necessary in order to handle building projects proportional to the occupied land mass and military campaigns for defence or expansion. Of course, the efficiency and effectiveness of such a structure depends on its designs as well as how the civil servants managed corruptions and power abuses. The Chinese concept of kingship is rather loose. For example, the most powerful players in whatever fields, be it chess and herbal medicine etc., even a horse that has won most races, are entitled kings. With more diversified fields such as poetry, where a “king” title is insufficient to honour all the top players, people would call them “saint”, “fairy” or even “buddha”. In short, when there are players in a field, the most outstanding player would be entitled “king”.

When Yahweh decides not to give up humanity that He created in His own image, He has in mind a long lasting salvation project. Firstly, He befriended some human beings, such as Noah and Abraham, to prepare a path for His only begotten Son to incarnate. He multiplied the descendants of Abraham in Egypt and liberated his 600,000 offspring with earth shaking miracles. Moses was His appointed frontman to execute this project that is a component of a much bigger venture. Then the Israelites, the Chosen People had settled in the Promised Land of Canaan. In the early stage, the 12 tribes were loosely united. In the tradition of Moses, “Judges” arose to unite them to fight against oppressors neighbour. Samuel was the last Judge to unite and settle disputes among the 12 tribes. However, time had changed. The Israelites wanted to follow the examples of other nations. They demanded a king to lead them. Samuel prayed to the Lord who says, “Listen to whatever the people say. You are not the one they are rejecting. They are rejecting me as their king” (1 Samuel 8:7). Samuel explained to the people the privileges of a king and warned them that they would regret and by then the Lord would not answer them (8:11-18)! Perhaps the privileges were too attractive, namely to lord over all his subjects, to take away from his subjects whatever fancies him for his own pleasure. In short, all subjects would become his slaves. The people refused to listen to Samuel’s advice and persisted. At last, Samuel anointed Saul, “a handsome young man. There was no other Israelite more handsome than Saul; he stood head and shoulders above the people” (9:2) to be the first king of Israel. Scrutinizing the history of the Israel kingdom, we find that all Israelite kings were flawed. Saul was disobedient. David was after God’s heart (13:14) but committed adultery and murder. God gave Solomon wisdom (1 Kings 3:12) and he built the first Temple which he populated with idols brought along by his pagan wives and concubines. King Josiah renewed the Covenant with the Lord and started religious reformation (2 Kings 23:1-14) which lasted only 13 years because of his premature death in a military compaign against Egypt (23:29) … Sadly, honourable kingship would only exist in the minds of Plato and Confucius!

Human kingship is doomed from the beginning because human beings do not live longer than 120 years. “The LORD said: My spirit shall not remain in human beings forever, because they are only flesh. Their days shall comprise one hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3). Since no human king would live forever, finding a legitimate successor constantly occupies the minds of kings. Naturally, kings want to retain sovereignty in order to protect their extended families as well as the wealth and privileges they have accumulated. Besides successors, kingmakers are also another major headache for kings. Kingmakers also have their interests to protect. If they were able to put a man on the throne, they would have no qualm in toppling the present occupant who threatened to remove them in order to install a new one in their favour on the throne. If a government is totalitarian, succession is usually bloody and overthrowing emperors usually involves revolutions/rebellions or civil wars. Democratic governments are better only in this respect. Succession through voting is not bloody. Yet, it does not guarantee true liberty, justice and fraternity because the actual rulers of the country are those wealthy corporations behind the powerbrokers. Alas! The hearts and minds of kings/presidents are divided. Where could we find kings who would dedicate their whole beings for the benefits of the subjects under their rules? I am afraid we couldn’t find any in this world.

The Great Depression followed the First World War. The world was becoming the stage of the two most powerful players: The USA, which represents capitalism, and the USSR, which represents socialism. Alas! Both ideologies trample upon the autonomy and dignity of humanity, the image of God. Both of them are elitist in which a minority access, control and consume more than 90% of the resources of this planet, no worse than the privileges described in the First Book of Samuel above. The majority of humanity are like the beggar Lazarus, “who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:21a). Two major power blocs emerged to enslave the majority of humanity. It is a form of modern day slavery, which love and justice are in short supply and God forbids! The Church has the obligation to tell the world what sort of kings she needs. In 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted the Solemnity of Christ the Universal King to remind us that while governments come and go, Christ reigns as King forever. However, what kind of kingship Christ is teaching the world?

In the gospel reading today, we may take a glimpse of Christ’s kingship. Interrogated by Pilate whether He was the King of the Jews (John 18:33) and after a few exchanges, Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world … But as it is, my kingdom is not here” (18:36). That is to say, Christ declines to enslave humanity. Translated in modern jargon, Christ respects our autonomy and our right to private property. Of course, the Son of God has no need of slaves. As for state mandarins and CEO’s of multi-national corporations, are you willing to pocket less and share the fruits of production with the labourers? If you are secular and reject religious spirituality as irrelevant, at least a Chinese aphorism might be more palatable to you. Here is ancient wisdom, namely 「藏富於民to stockpile wealth among the commoners」. While you fatten yourselves, forget not to keep your lambs fat! For the sake of sustainable development for future generations, refrain from 「竭澤而漁fishing by draining the swamps」. Christ is the Universal King whose crown is a crown of thorns and whose throne is the cross.

Beloved brethren! Who wants to be such a king, except the Son of Man prophesized in the books of Daniel and Revelation? “He [the Son of Man] received dominion, splendor, and kingship; all nations, peoples and tongues will serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, his kingship, one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:14). “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, who has made us into a kingdom, priests for his God and Father, to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6). This is the kingdom that Jesus refers, a kingdom of priests for the Father, when He replied Pilate (John 18:36). Christ is the supreme High Priest who offers Himself to the Father for the world. Christ the Universal King has made us into a kingdom of priests to offer to the Father for the world. Beloved brethren! Are you ready to join Christ the Universal King?
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: young-catholics.com

Lend Support For Those Who Have Lost their Child

Lend Support For Those Who Have Lost their Child

by Deacon Alex

Men are mortal. Death is a certainty everybody has to stare at face to face sooner or later. The life expectancy of this city is eighty plus. Thus, for senior citizens over eighty-five, every single day is already a bonus. Despite our advances in medical technologies, senior citizens do not generally desire longevity due to their physical frailties as well as loneliness. Imagine your relatives and friends are passing away one by one; your beloved ones as well as your soulmates are leaving you behind on earth … Living in such loneliness is unbearable for most of us. Still, in Chinese culture, funerals of octogenarians are “joyous funerals”!

On the other hand, funerals of youngsters and infants cause greater sorrows. The deceased possessed a lot of unfulfilled potentials extinguished by their untimely deaths. They could have broken a lot of new grounds in unsolved problems in mathematics, natural sciences and medical technologies etc. to leave behind a legacy beneficent to all humanity. They could have contributed to the prosperity, stability and a better governance of societies for the future generations. They could have helped build a more harmonious and peaceful world where liberty, equality and fraternity would be a reality ... It is pitiful to see that they no longer have the opportunity to share their sweetness and their joy with their (intended) spouses to weave their dreams. Together with their comrades, they could have set honourable exemplars for the younger generations who would come after them … Their untimely deaths turn all these eventualities to null.

Pity those white-haired seniors who have lost their inheritors. It took decades to groom capable successors and now outsiders would take over. Perhaps they don’t need our sympathy because they have already resigned to fate, knowing that their days are numbered and there is no hope to reclaim the loss. They have accepted and contained the loss. Pity the would-be retirees who have lost their young adult child who would have a promising future and be capable of providing his/her parents a secure retirement. It would have been too late to give birth to a second child to carry on the mission. There is no hope to reclaim the loss. Compared with the octogenarians, who are more painful? I guess the longer parents have spent their lives with their lost children, the more painful the loss will be, unless you have surrendered to fate! Pity the young couples who have lost their firstborn’s. But unlike the two categories of people mentioned before, their pains are proportionally less traumatic because they still have hope even though they are less capable to manage their pains and losses!

Indeed, hope is something which sustains us in painful times which are part and parcels of a genuine life. Without hope, life is extremely unbearable. Where can we place our hope, if not in God? The Psalter says it well, “Put no trust in princes, in children of Adam powerless to save. Who breathing his last, returns to the earth; that day all his planning comes to nothing” (Psalms 146:3-4). Yahweh is eternal and thus more trustworthy than mortals. Moreover, He is merciful. He too has lost His only begotten Son on the cross in order to save humanity. He knows far better than anybody the pains of losing a child and He saves!

Beloved brethren! God is our authentic hope. Others won’t last. In November, let us pray together with the Pope that all parents who mourn the loss of a son or daughter find support in their community, and may receive peace of heart from the Spirit of Consolation. Amen.
God bless!

---

Photo Credit: euromedmonitor.org

Bet Our Hope On Jesus’ Words 把希望押在耶穌的話上

Thirty-third Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Bet Our Hope On Jesus’ Words 把希望押在耶穌的話上

Human beings rely on languages to communicate, be they mathematical languages, musical languages, natural languages, scientific languages and sign languages etc. Yet on a macro level, languages change in time and without exception languages that fail to adapt to changing environments go extinct. Think about ourselves. On a personal level, nobody is able to honour all his pledges. Somehow, there are factors he can blame on for his failing to honour the pledges he made even to his most loved ones. Divorce rates, even among Catholics, point to such a stark reality. Imagine how lovely you once were as infants and the happiness and hope you gave your parents. Where has your loveliness gone nowadays? Whether we like it or not, being human, we grow, develop, mature, age, pass away and cannot arrest the process. Alas! Many ambitious people have been able to gather a large crowd of followers with sweet talks. With a huge following, those charismatic leaders were able to flex mighty political muscles to challenge the ruling class and even overthrow them. However, very few revolutionary coups were able to last long in human history because leaders inevitably die and their successors have other thoughts. Therefore, Jesus was truly bold when He claims in today’s gospel, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mark 13:31). How can a man make such a claim, unless Jesus is more than just a mortal man? Indeed, this is one of the two basic articles of faith in Christianity: namely, that Jesus is both human and divine! Thus, He is eternal. With sufficient time, He is able to achieve anything. Moreover, the Church He builds shall be able to withstand volleys of attack from hell without crumbling (Matthew 16:18)!

Then, what are Jesus’ words? What did He say about Himself, His mission and His relations with us? Before we proceed, we should bear in mind the limitations of our understandings because of the finite knowledge we possessed and the prejudices we have developed over the years. The only certainty we can have is that we do not possess all the knowledge we need to understand. Nevertheless, let us move ahead and pray that the merciful Lord will enlighten our finitude.

First of all, while His contemporaries anticipated Him to be their Messiah, a descendant of King David and a military liberator of Jews, Jesus has never claimed Himself to be the Anointed One. He preferred calling Himself a less conspicuous title: the Son of Man (Mark 13:26). However, in the gospel of John, the beloved disciple, we find Him claiming, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus was claiming to be the channel through whom humanity may gain access to God the Father. Previously He told the Jews who believed in Him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (8:31-32). From this we see that there would be two groups of people: those who believe in Him and those who don’t. Moreover, it is important “to remain in His word”. Otherwise, we will not be true disciples. What does it mean? Let’s assume that “to remain in His word” means to believe and practise Jesus’ teachings. To believe is never sufficient because like any study, one will not attain any knowledge without practising and sooner or later one will even lose their attained knowledge when they don’t put their knowledge into practice. Thus, true Christians are not those who were enrolled into Christianity through baptism but those who obey Jesus’ instructions. Jesus the Son of God promises that we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. To a certain extent, Jesus is the anticipated liberator, the Messiah but on a totally different dimension. Instead of fighting a political-military battle against the powerful Roman Empire, Jesus is leading His disciples to fight a spiritual warfare against evil! Due to our limitations, it takes time for us to know the truth. Of course, by “truth” Jesus meant Himself during the revelation in the Last Supper. It takes time for us to know Jesus and thus to build up a meaningful relationship with the Son of God. Once such a relationship is secured, we will be able to attain life because Jesus Himself is the author of life. If we are able to build up a meaningful relationship with Jesus, we will be able to partake in His life which is eternal.

The Son of God took up humanity and became man. He spoke human languages so that we would be able to know and understand God’s will. Of course, some of His instructions are next to impossible to practise. For example the Beatitudes. They go against the mentality of modern people who need to be assertive and aggressive in order to stay afloat in a modern commercial society. They need to prepare several contingency plans to play safe … But who wants to be poor? Who doesn’t want to be assertive? Who doesn’t enjoy imposing his own will on his subordinates? But Jesus respects the free will of humanity. He refrains from imposing His good will on us but offers us a choice. So, our salvation depends on our personal choice. When people choose to believe in Him and obey His instructions, they find the truth and the truth will free them from the bondage of sin, from all sorts of hell we create for ourselves and for others throughout our lives on earth. Coincidentally, a recent box-office hit entitled “The Last Dance” treats the theme of breaking down “hells” in our hearts. The title in Chinese “Hell-break” is a more literal rendition of its theme. The popularity of this movie indicates that deep down the souls of the citizens, there is a hunger for genuine liberation.

Is it really that difficult to break hell? Surprisingly it is not at all! Once again, it depends on whether you choose to believe in Jesus or not. On the social media, we find many posts offering model answers and tips to questions asked by big companies such as Amazon and Google during their employment interviews. In fact, Jesus has done this two millennia ago in one of His parables. In the Parable of Sheep and Goats, He leaks six “examination questions” He shall ask in the Final Judgment! “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:35-36). These examination questions are fair because if He had asked whether you had attended masses on Sundays, it would have been unfair for people living thousands of years before the establishment of the Church! Moreover, these examination questions are practical and are not difficult to perform. Even the physically disabled are capable of doing. Then why do some people reject Jesus’ teaching?

To answer the first question I posed in the second paragraph above, namely what are Jesus’ words? Simply put, His words are words of love. When He answered the challenge of locating the first commandment among the 631 laws, He quoted the Shema Israel (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). Knowing that it is unfair to Gentiles of old and new, Jesus immediately quoted the “love thy neighbour as thyself” commandment (Leviticus 19:18) to put it on a par with the Shema Israel. The beloved disciple makes it clear when he writes, “Whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). The Bible tells us that God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26) and God is love (1 John 4:8). Then who is born without the capability to love? However, some people have picked up a wrong type of value-system so that they have buried/stored away their talent to love (Matthew 25:25; Luke 19:20). Had God asked us to do Herculean endeavours, I am sure many of us would have done it without a second thought. Why do so many people hesitate and even refuse when God simply asks us to love?

Beloved brethren! Secular wisdom refuses to put all eggs in one basket. I beg to differ. Here I am not encouraging you to gamble but the stakes are so advantageous to us! I find it disrespectful in declining God’s offer. Instead, we should bet on Jesus’ words, putting all our hopes in one basket of Jesus’ words. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: runningscience.co.za, stheadline.com

The Lord Will Multiply A Million Fold 主會百萬倍增加恩寵

Thirty-Second Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: The Lord Will Multiply A Million Fold 主會百萬倍增加恩寵

There were different types of widows in the Old Testament. Thus, we must understand their stories together with their backgrounds. Unlike many other societies in which superstitious people thought that somehow, widows caused the death of their husbands and thus widows were accursed and the general public had better avoided them, the fates of Jewish widows depended very much on their fertility or whether they had children. It was because with a male child, the relatives of the deceased husband had to take care of the child and thus the widow mother. There was also a custom of Levirate marriage in which the brother of a deceased man was obligated to marry his brother’s widow to give birth to a son for the deceased brother in order to continue the lineage of the deceased man. If the widow were not too old to bear children, this would be her second safety net! All these rules were charitable and equivalent to modern day social security measures to take care of the poor and the disadvantaged. In Genesis 38, we find the famous story of the widow Tamar whose father-in-law failed to do her justice through Levirate marriage.

We usually have a wrong impression that widows must be poor like the widow of Zarephath who was collecting a few sticks to prepare the last cake for herself and her son and then waited for starvation (1 Kings 17:12). Not necessarily so! Indeed, in today’s gospel reading, we hear of Jesus’ criticism of the evils of scribes, “They devour the houses of widows …” (Mark 12:40a) In fact, widows could be widows whose deceased husbands were rich! In the Old Testament, there was a beautiful and rich widow called Judith who was able to charm an enemy general Holofernes with her beauty and beheaded him (Judith 13:8), a femme fatale indeed! From the nativity story of Jesus in the gospel of Luke, we know of a widow prophetess Anna who spent more than 63 years in the Temple “worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer” (Luke 2:37b). Somehow, the Temple took care of some widows at least in the early years of Jesus. Time had really changed. Instead of the Temple taking care of widows, like what she had done during the early years of Jesus, some thirty years later, the poor widow was obliged to offer her two brass coins in the Temple treasury! The story of this poor widow has immortalized the concept of poor widows throughout the ages when the Church carries the baton of the Temple to take care of widows. Paul wrote about widows in his epistles to the churches (1 Corinthians 7:8, 1 Timothy 5:5). The Acts recorded the incident of establishing deacons to take care of the distributions of provisions to the poor and the widows within the early Church (Acts 6:1). The stories of poor widows are worth telling because they manifest the mercy of God (Psalms 146:9). Before God, who is not a poor widow?

Twelve years ago, I was elected a deacon candidate. I could not remember the gospel reading of the rite of election because during the whole celebration, the story of the poor widow who offered two brass coins filled my head. I was very much elated because despite all my shortcomings, the Lord accepted my poverty. “For they [the rich] have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (Mark 12:44). The Lord does not measure our performance by quantity: namely the amount of money or the length of service etc., but by the quality of our heart: namely our sincerity and loving-care. My 7-day pre-ordination retreat further confirmed this. I wept for seven days for the deeply repressed shortcomings in my soul in contrast to Jesus’ mercy. Wounds were uncovered but there was not sufficient time to nurse and to heal. In the end, the image of Jesus’ Stigmata told me that I had to live with my shortcomings, to carry them forever without healing in order to become a wounded-healer! I learnt that it is the heart that counts, not the quantity. As for the quantity, I have no doubt that the Lord would multiply the widow’s brass coins as He did with the five loaves and two fish. He is more than capable to provide for our needs. Moreover, He would also transform the hearts of the donors like He did with the water in the Cana banquet. If the merciful Lord was able to transform water into wine, would it be impossible for Him to transform the vanity of the wealthy people into genuine piety and charity? Meditate deeper, hadn’t Jesus transformed one of the Boanerges (3:17) into an apostle who always wrote on the topic of love? Had not Jesus transformed the Christians-hunter Saul into the apostle Paul, the Christianity founder? Jesus’ multiplicative and transformative powers inspire great hope in all of us. Meanwhile, we should not despise the insignificant services of the others, and only see the importance of our own contributions because the Lord may multiply the graces of the insignificant services of insignificant people a million-fold!

Some people have a more realistic temperance. They question how the poor widow would survive her days ahead! The kind-hearted and realistic readers worry that when she had no more money, she would be starved to death in the days to come. There was no mention of her child. She might be too old to get married again or if she had a child, it would only be a daughter not counted by the deceased husband’s relatives. Then her burden would be greater! I posed the same question to my legionaries and they told me that the worry was unnecessary. Unlike modern people who lock themselves up in their own flats and rooms without knowing their neighbour, it was not so in ancient times when the community was more closely knitted. People in a village knew each other well. In contrast, it is not uncommon today for people to call the police to break into flats when they smell of the stench of rotting corpse of home alone neighbour next door! In short, the widow’s neighbour would take care of her daily needs and in return, she might do some house chores for her neighbour. That might also account for the source of her two brass coins! Not long afterwards, when the early Church came into existence on the Pentecost, this poor widow might be among the first 3000 converts and started the trend of widow membership, making the Church a more conspicuous sign of God’s mercy on earth! Thus, the Church is on her right path nowadays in upholding the “preferential option for the poor”. “Love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind is as essential as the ministry of sacraments and preaching of the Gospel” (Pope Benedict XVI, “Deus Caritas Est”, §22, 2005).

Beloved brethren! Representing God on earth, the People of God should take care of widows and orphans until the social services departments of a state are able to take over the mission. Then the Church shall move on to feed the hunger of other disadvantaged. We don’t have to worry about the resources because God will provide (Genesis 22:8) and multiply. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: reddit.com/r/AncientCoins

Listen and You’ll Find Hope 聆聽就有希望

Thirty-First Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Listen and You’ll Find Hope 聆聽就有希望

Christians and Jews share a high percentage of their scriptures. We know that the Christian Bible is made up of two Testaments, namely the Old Testament and the New Testament. Most of the books of the Old Testament came from the Jewish Scriptures. In the book of Jeremiah, we find “See, days are coming --- oracle of the LORD --- when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). Therefore, Christians are justified in creating another collection of books written after the establishment of the early Church; and calling the collection, the New Testament! So, it is not wrong to view Christianity as an outgrowth from Judaism. The Jews divide their Scriptures into three sections: Torah, Prophets and Holy Writings whereas Christians follow the division of a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint (LXX) into four sections: Pentateuch, History, Wisdom Literature and Prophets. Obviously, the two sets of collections would not be identical. Luckily, both Torah and Pentateuch contain the same books attributed to Moses.

The Torah is the most important collection of scriptures for Jews. The Sadducees who belonged to the priestly class accepted only the Torah whereas the Pharisees accepted all three collections as authoritative. Here are some basic statistics about the Torah/Pentateuch. There are 50 chapters in Genesis, 40 in Exodus, 24 in Leviticus, 36 in Numbers and 34 in Deuteronomy. Furthermore, the frequencies of the word “hear/listen” in these five books are: 63 in Genesis [1.26 per chapter], 50 in Exodus [1.25], 7 in Leviticus [0.29], 33 in Numbers [0.92] and 91 in Deuteronomy [2.68]! No wonder within the five verses of the first reading today, the word “hear” appears twice (Deuteronomy 6:3, 4)! Scholars believe that Deuteronomy is a collection of three parting speeches of Moses delivered to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land. Moses knew that the LORD barred him from entering the Promised Land. Furthermore, he knew all too well that the Israelites were stiff-necked (appear some 7 times within the Torah). He was anxious for their future in the Promised Land, “so that you, that is, you, your child, and your grandchild, may fear the LORD, your God, by keeping, as long as you live, all his statutes and commandments …, and thus have long life” (6:2).

Let’s re-visit how God created the known universe. In the book of Genesis chapter one, a priestly hymn describes how God spoke and things were created: light, firmament, oceans and land masses, sun and all celestial bodies etc. … But before the creation of men, God seemed to be speaking to a stone-wall. The Creation was not yet able to respond meaningfully to His words. So, on the sixth day, God created human beings in His own image which then was able to respond to His words! What is the appropriate response towards speaking? Of course it must be hearing/listening. Speaking together with listening establishes a connection, a relation between two parties.

Before one can keep all God’s statutes and commandments, one must know them first. Throughout the ages, the scribes and Pharisees were able to draw up 613 laws scattered among the five books in Torah to help the Jews practise their faith. It was in this context that a scribe challenged Jesus and asked Him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” (Mark 12:28) and Jesus quoted him the “Shema Israel” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and “Love your neighbour as youself” (Leviticus 19:18). Most of us would be easily attracted by the word “love” in these two commandments. However, I opine that listening takes precedence over love because it is meaningless to love without firstly establishing a connection, a relationship! As I have mentioned earlier, listening to God establishes our relationship with Him. Listening enables us to know/discern the will of God and then to respond. Obeying God’s will means loving God. Not listening to God or not following His commandments means we severe our connection with God. We literally cut ourselves away from God, away from our source of life. As the Chosen People of God, how did the Israelites/Jews perform? The Prophets and the Wisdom Literature are littered with God’s complaints: “For this is a rebellious people, deceitful children. Children who refuse to listen to the instruction of the LORD” (Isaiah 30:9); “Listen, my people, I will testify against you. If only you will listen to me, Israel!” (Psalms 81:8) Even up to today, the Israelites have demonstrated to the whole world what would happen to a Chosen People who do not listen to the LORD God!

The second reading today is an excerpt from Hebrews 7. We should read the whole chapter in order to understand the logic flow. The main theme of the second reading tells us the superiority of Jesus’ High Priesthood over the high priests of Torah. According to Jewish Law, high priests must come from the house of Aaron whereas chief priests and lower class priests from the tribe of Levi. Remember, Jesus was a descendant of Judah, not of Levi. He could not be a priest, not to mention, the High Priest, according to the law. The levitical High Priests were inferior because they had to offer sacrifice for their own sins before they could offer sacrifice for the people (Hebrews 7:27) whereas Jesus, the Son of God needs not to offer sacrifice for Himself! The author of Hebrews quoted the Psalms to prove that God the Father had vowed to make the Son an eternal High Priest, “The Lord has sworn and will not waver: ‘You are a priest forever (7:21) according to the order of Melchizedek (7:17)” (Psalms 110:4). Verses 1 to 3 in Psalms 110 points to someone from the tribe of Judah and of course, God’s vow must be as valid as, if not stronger than the levitical laws.

Jesus is our hope because He is able to answer at least two problems in the first of all the commandments. Firstly, ordinary people and modern ones in particular are multi-tasking. We do many things at the same time by scheduling our tasks into different time-slots, urgency being the criterion. Therefore, how can modern people love God with ALL their hearts, ALL their souls and ALL their strength? For non-believers, the concept of God is irrelevant and they would allot no time and no energy to entertain it. As for believers, I am afraid only the consecrated religious would be able to love God with ALL their strength. Secular clergy will have a lot of management tasks to handle. They are torn between loving God and maintaining an expanding Church! What can listening to Jesus help those poor souls? Jesus is the embodiment of the word of God and the author of Hebrews writes, “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart” (Hebrew 4:12). After establishing connection with Jesus, He is able to penetrate our souls and spirit. When we are open to Him, He is able to transform us and make it easy for us to discern the Father’s will and obey it.

Now that we are enabled/empowered, how are we guaranteed to channel ALL our efforts to follow God’s will? Of course it is unrealistic to accomplish the target of total devotion overnight. But there is a hope that Jesus would make up what is lacking in us. In His public ministry, Jesus has demonstrated times and again His transformative and multiplicative powers: namely the miracle of transforming water into wine at Cana (John 2:9) and the miracle of five loaves and two fish to feed 5000 men (6:9-13)! The Responsorial Psalm today also drops us a great hint. Our response is, “I love you, LORD, my strength” (Psalms 18:2)! When the LORD becomes our strength, how can we not love the LORD God with ALL our strength! The transformative power of Jesus shall tune our strength into God’s strength. Thus, the author of Hebrews is right in saying, “Therefore, He [Jesus] is always able to save those who approach God through Him” (Hebrews 7:25a).

Beloved brethren! Listen to the word of God and be stiff-necked no more. In the word of God, we will find salvation. Amen.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: answeredfaith.com