審判天主 Judging God

《原罪系列 II》
主題：審判天主（路17:7-10）

《創世紀》說人類是按天主的肖像所造（創1:26），所以人類有能力與天主溝通、做天主所做的事和享受天主的光榮等等…例如我們會創作、與其他人溝通、分工合作做更偉大的事、管治不同的環境等等。可惜自從罪惡進入了世界之後，世人遭受「原罪」的傷害，除了幾個天主所特選的人之外，無一倖免！「原罪」的破壞力有多大？

亞當吃了「禁果」之後，失去了原始的恩寵，便因為恐懼遭受死亡的懲罰（2:17）而逃避天主。固然他逃不了，所以在面對自己的罪過時，為了自保而把責任推卸到天主和女人身上（3:12）！真是天大的膽，竟然連天主也審判！我這樣說並不誇張，且聽我的解釋。

保祿宗徒的教訓是正確的，他曾說：「所有的人都犯了罪，都失掉了天主的光榮」（羅3:23）。既然大家都是「囚友」，一起生活在同一艘作為「太空監獄」行星上，同是「天涯淪落人」，同是失掉了不同程度的天主光榮。那麼，我們憑甚麼寬恕自己的弟兄呢？正確！ 我們不但沒有資格，而且沒有能力。所以今天耶穌指出─即使我們極不願意接受─我們都是「無用的僕人」（路17:10）！作為主人，天主有責任為作為僕人的我們提供「工具」，就是福音裡所說的「塔冷通」（瑪25:15）。看！連我們的才幹都是天主的恩賜（編上29:14），我們真是名副其實的「無用的僕人」了！

親愛的兄弟姊妹！主人的吩咐，就是我們應做的事（路17:10）！昨天，主耶穌吩咐我們「修煉寬恕」，每天寬恕弟兄七次。今天你做了沒有？倘若我們輕視這修煉，有朝一日，恐怕我們也會好像亞當一樣，斗膽到連天主也審判！到時…
天主保祐！

---

生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：grok.com, ideogram.ai

[Original Sin Series (II)]
Theme: Judging God (Luke 17:7-10)

Men were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). Thus, human beings are able to communicate with Him; do what God does and enjoy His glory … etc. For example, we create, communicate, divide labour to do huge projects and to manage different environments etc. Regrettably, since the break-in of sins in the world, the entire humanity has sustained injuries from the Original Sin except for a few specially chosen ones by God! How destructive is the Original Sin?

After Adam had eaten the “Forbidden Fruit”, he lost the Original Graces. Out of fear of the punishment of death (2:17), he tried to hide from God. Of course he failed, and had to confront his own fault. To defend himself, Adam passed the buck to God and the woman (3:12)! How dared you Adam to pass judgment on God! I have not exaggerated. Let me explain.

Paul’s teaching is right. He says, “All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Since all of us are “inmates” living in the same “Space Prison” planet, are deprived of God’s glory in different degrees. With what do we forgive our brethren? You are right! We are not in position and are not capable. Thus, Jesus points out today, whether we like it or not, that “We are unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10)! As a master, God has the obligation to provide “tools” for us servants. This is the “Talents” mention in the gospels (Matthew 25:15). Look! Even our talents come from God (2 Chronicles 29:14). We are truly “Unprofitable Servants”!

Beloved brethren! When we are obliged to do what the Master tells us to do (Luke 17:10)! Yesterday Jesus told us to practise forgiveness, to forgive our brethren seven times a day. Have you done it today? If we ignore this practice, sooner or later, we would be bold enough to pass judgment of God like Adam! Then …
God bless!

身教更有力 Actions Speak Louder Than Words

追福系列（五）
身教更有力（瑪5:1-12a）

擁有聖金口若望的神恩固然好，但傳福音不一定需要有能言善辯的口才，因為是聖神藉著你說話。的確，我們不完全理解我們的對象，我們真的不知道那一句說話能觸動到他們的心靈，接受天主對他們的慈悲。我認為傳福音，身教可能比言教更有力。

今天教會慶祝「諸聖節」，紀念前人為我們建立了的萬世基業。當中有不少無名英雄，他們走過成聖的道路，各式各樣，不一而足。他們也應該是福傳的成功人仕，對建樹天國作出過貢獻，所以天主子在天國為他們預備了一席位（若14:2-3）。他們成聖的道路，也是他們福傳的方法，他們以身作則，宣講福音的喜訊。

他們當中，有些人選擇了神貧的生活方式，不為世物所約束，自由自在地為更有價值的永生作見證；有些人雖然遭受不幸，以致終日以淚洗面，但他們仍然展示出天主的安慰和心靈的舒暢（詠94:19）；天主喜歡使競爭者相咬相吞，同歸於盡（迦5:15），讓溫良的人反而承受土地；天主喜歡為那些備受剝削的人出頭，祇要他們向祂呼求，天主便會使他們「飽享穀、麥、酒、油、小牛小羊；他們的心靈要好像受灌溉的田園，再也不感憔悴」（耶31:12）；憐憫人的人展現出天主慈悲的面容，讓身邊的人和自己，回心轉意，投奔上主，接受到天主的憐憫。一如經上記載：「因為上主你們的天主是慈悲的，是仁愛的；如果你們轉向祂，祂決不會轉面不顧你們」（編下30:9b）。人們不再有如舊約時代的以色列人一樣，害怕看見天主，以為看見天主的面容，必死無疑（出3:6; 申18:16; 民13:22; 列上19:13…）。懷著痛悔的心情，這樣的心怎會不潔淨呢？能夠懷著敬畏的心情，問心無愧，經常在上主面前行走，看見天主，真是指日可待！

親愛的兄弟姊妹，這些都是平凡的生活方式，跟著去做，足以成聖，足以福傳，一點也不困難。讓我們彼此互勉。
天主保祐！

生命恩泉

---

Gospel Chase (V)
Actions Speak Louder Than Words (Matthew 5:1-12a)

Possessing the charisma of St. John Chrysostom is of course good but evangelization does not need an eloquent and persuasive tongue because it is the Holy Spirit who speaks through you. Indeed, we do not fully understand our target audience. We really don’t know which words are able to touch their soul and their heart to accept God’s mercy towards them. I opine that as far as evangelization is concerned, actions speak louder than words.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of All Saints to commemorate our predecessors who have laid down the foundation for the Kingdom of God. There have been many anonymous heroes whose paths of sanctification are different from each other’s. They should also be successful in evangelization and have contributed to the building up of the Kingdom of God. Thus the Son of God has prepared a room for them (John 14:2-3) in heaven. Their paths of sanctification must also be their means of evangelization. They proclaimed the good news of the Lord with their actions.

Among them, some chose to lead a life of spiritual poverty, not constrained by worldly possessions and bore witness in freedom to the more superior values of eternal life. Some suffered misfortunes and mourned all days but they were able to show God’s consolation and spiritual joy (Psalms 94:19). God likes to make competitors bite and devour one another (Galatians 5:15), leaving the meek to inherit the land. God likes to advocate for the exploited. When they call upon His name, they would enjoy, “The grain, the wine, and the oil, flocks of sheep and cattle; They themselves shall be like watered gardens, never again neglected” (Jeremiah 31:12). The merciful manifest God’s merciful countenance, help their neighbour together with themselves to repent and turn to the Lord and receive His mercy. As it is written, “The LORD, your God, is gracious and merciful and He will not turn away His face from you if you return to Him” (2 Chronicles 30:9b). People are no longer afraid to see the face of God like the Israelites were in the Old Testament. They thought that if they saw His face, they would surely die (Exodus 3:6; Deuteronomy 18:16; Judges 13:22; 1 Kings 19:13 …). How can a contrite heart not be pure? Walking with a pious fear before God without a guilty conscience, the day to see God can be numbered!

Beloved brethren! Those are just ordinary life styles. Following them would sanctify and evangelize. It is not difficult at all. Let us encourage and support each other.
God bless!

---

Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio

Is Injustice Idolatry? 行不義與拜偶像無異

Sixteenth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Is Injustice Idolatry? 行不義與拜偶像無異

In the first reading today, the Lord pronounced punishment on the bad shepherds/rulers of Judah who destroyed and scattered the flock of the Lord (Jeremiah 23:1). The Lord would take care to punish their evil deeds because they had not cared for the people whom the Lord had entrusted them (23:3). The Lord would raise up a righteous branch for David, meaning the Messiah, as king to reign and govern wisely (23:5). “This is the name to be given him: The Lord our justice” (23:6b). We may wonder what a good shepherd as demonstrated by Jesus “When He disembarked and saw the vast crowd, His heart was moved with pity for them for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34), has to do with justice and why a good shepherd should be righteous! Thus, we need to read the entire previous chapter to know the context.

King Josiah was a good king of Judah because he restored Yahwist worship and destroyed Baalist altars and images throughout Jerusalem and Judah. Regrettably in his campaign against the Egyptian support of the collapsing Neo-Assyrian Empire, a stray arrow mortally wounded him in the battle at Megiddo (2 Chronicles 35:20-24). His sons did not follow the footsteps of their regal father to continue the religious reform King Josiah had started. The Lord says, “They have deserted their covenant with the LORD, their God, by worshipping and serving other gods” (Jeremiah 22:9). The Lord continued to enumerate their sins and pronounced His judgment. Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, sons of Josiah, and Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim, cared more about building beautiful palaces to prove themselves among kings (22:15), but set their eyes and hearts on nothing except their own gain, on shedding innocent blood and practicing oppression and extortion. They would die in exile (22:12, 26), and would be given the burial of a donkey beyond the gates of Jerusalem (22:19) and their descendants would never sit upon the throne of David to rule over Judah again (22:30)! Now, it is getting more complicated because not doing justice is equivalent to idolatry!

After reading Jeremiah 22, we may wonder what vainglory, self-fattening, oppressing the poor, extorting the rich and shedding innocent blood etc. have to do with idolatry, worshipping and serving other gods.
Let us meditate from another perspective. In the Sermon on the Mount, the first Beatitude says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Further down Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters … You cannot serve God and mammon” (6:24). Obviously, riches and wealth can be an obstacle between our relationship with God. In fact, between God and men, there are many obstacles preventing men from approaching God. Wealth is just one of those many obstacles, such as jealousy, lust, power and sloth etc. These capital vices boost our ego at the expense our neighbours. They tempt us to take advantages of those who cannot defend and speak for themselves. Meanwhile, we no longer feel that we need God who is becoming irrelevant in our modern world. With knowledge and technology, we are better able to control the world. God is less and less able to wreak havoc in our lives. Thus we rely less and less on His mercy. When we have wealth and power, instead of serving the people, we are able to lord over the people to fatten ourselves. We do not need God as a guiding principle in our daily encounter with other souls! There is no incentive to improve our relationship with the Lord and with our neighbour. That is to say, we can afford to lead a lazy life which is convenient and comfortable. In our spirit, we replace our Creator whom we are not able to control, with more controllable objects such as wealth and power which become idols that carry us further and further away from the Lord! In our deeds, not only do we marginalize the poor, but we also marginalize God. When we start oppressing the poor, shedding the blood of the innocent, we are actually oppressing God and shedding His blood (25:45) because the King is present in them! On the contrary, understanding that we are only stewards of what God entrusts us, when we make good use of our power to serve the poor, of our wealth to relieve the needy, we are doing the will of the Lord. How can we be far away from Him?

In this light, we see why the poor are blessed because they have nobody to turn to, not their relatives, nor their neighbour, nor the states but the Lord! Let us meditate on a particular group of poor people whose life may shed light on our understanding of the blessing of poverty. Among the poor, the elderly citizens are the most vulnerable, physically, emotionally and financially. There is only one direction for their health to go. Sooner or later, they will be unable to take care of themselves and have to rely on family members or care-takers at home or in the institutions. Are the elderly able to afford such a life style financially? With the advances in medical technology, we expect them to outlive the people they know and become lonely. Depression and dementia begin to emerge and the elderly will find it more and more difficult to communicate with the world outside. Beloved brethren! Remember that the elderly are our path finders. They go before us into uncharted waters where we will go in the future. Nowadays, our society is witnessing the rise of a fast ageing population. This is anticipated but we fail to attract the young to join the caring profession. Decades of prosperity and political uncertainty discourage young couples to give birth and raise children. The society is lacking economically active young people, not to mention attracting them to join the caring professions. The future of the aged is grim. Perhaps by then we have robotic caretakers. But I doubt whether computers are able to program human emotions into robots! In short, a gloomy future is awaiting our elderly citizens whom we will surely join! Technologically, intelligent machines are able to sustain our economy and solve our financial problems. But when there can only be robotic care-takers to meet our needs in old age, are we ready to live with it? Remember, spiritual life is not a luxury reserved for a small number of enlightened elites. All of us are entitled to a fulfilled life physically, emotionally, financially as well as spiritually.

Beloved brethren! It is wise to stay poor in spirit. Then we don’t need to prove anything to others because the Lord has promised us the kingdom of heaven. We don’t need to worry about tomorrow because the Lord will provide. Helping people reconcile with their Creator is our only mission and successes or failures should not be our concern. It is God’s concern. Stand by the disadvantaged and advocate the rights of the needy. We will travel light and have nothing to rely on but we’ll have everything we need to accomplish our missions. The Father’s will be done on earth. Amen.
God bless!

---

2021 Reflection
Picture Credit: nightcafe.studio

Enjoy To Forget Worries 樂以忘憂

Laetare Sunday, Year B
Theme: Enjoy To Forget Worries 樂以忘憂

As an ex-school-teacher for nearly four decades, studying has become my second nature and Confucius my fundamental role model. Don’t get me wrong, as a Catholic, no human being can replace Jesus Christ in my heart.

People enjoy doing many different things and what people enjoy doing is a matter of personal choice. In time, people may discover that they are able to find joy and/or serenity by remaining in a certain state of existence. Confucius and I found joy in studying. Of course, joys and worries are twins. One does not exist without the other party. Once I was racking my brain in pain to come up with a phrase that best described myself to engrave it on a rock seal, the following quote from The Analects popped up, “Learning without satiety and instructing others without being wearied 學而不厭，誨人不倦” (The Analects, Shur Er #2). More than relieving me of the pain, this experience thrilled me and enlightened me. The following quotes from the same source show us what joy and worries Confucius found in studying. He says, “Virtues without proper cultivation, what is learnt without thorough discussions, after gaining knowledge of what is right without moving towards it and not being able to change what is not good are my worries 德之不修，學之不講，聞義不能徙，不善不能改，是吾憂也” （#3）, “With coarse rice to eat, with water to drink, and my bended arm for a pillow; I find joy in the midst of these things飯疏食飲水，曲肱而枕之，樂亦在其中矣” （#16）. “He is simply a man who in his eager pursuit of knowledge forgets his food, who in the joy of its attainment forgets his sorrows, and who does not perceive that old age is coming on其為人也，發憤忘食，樂以忘憂，不知老之將至” (#19). Though Confucius did not have the opportunity to know Christ in person, his moral teachings are on a par with Christianity. I would say Confucius has led an admirably fulfilled life. What more can one expect from life?

The Chosen People have treaded a totally different path. They must learn to unlearn whatever seems profitable for them and put their trust entirely upon Yahweh who liberated them from slavery in Egypt. Their path has been perilous since then. Along the way to the Promised Land and even after settling in it, they “rebelled” against Yahweh and the spokesmen He sent. This is how the first reading of today begins. “In those days, all the princes of Judah, the priests, and the people added infidelity to infidelity … polluting the LORD’s Temple …. Early and often did the LORD, the God of their fathers, send his messengers to them …. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His warnings, and scoffed at the prophets, until the anger of the LORD against His people was so inflamed that there was no remedy” (2 Chronicles 36:14-16) comes from the last chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles. The Books of Chronicles give us from another perspective a summary of the history of ancient Israel but the theme is more or less the same.
In order to redeem the fallen humanity, God called Abraham the ancestor of the Israelites to enter into a covenant with him and Abraham responded faithfully. Through the line of Judah, one of the tribes of this Chosen People, God would send the Messiah-Redeemer to save all the peoples on earth. The LORD God is faithful to the covenant and no matter how rebellious the descendants of Abraham have been He shall keep His promise at all costs. In the unfolding of this Salvation History, the Chosen People were tempted to take shortcuts to gain power and prosperity. They worshipped idols and injustice against the underprivileged was rampant. Thus, the LORD God sent messengers to warn them and lastly made use of external powers to chasten them. Through another hand, the LORD God liberated them again and this is how the Second Book of Chronicles ends, “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: The LORD, the God of heaven, has given to me all the kingdoms on the earth. He has also charged me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. All among you, therefore, who belong to His people, may their God be with them; let them go up” (36:23). After spending fifty (seventy if we include an earlier partial exile) suffering years of Babylonian Captivity, the Jews were joyous at last.

Those who returned home should have been second generation Jews that were born in Babylon. However, would they pick up Babylonian idolatry, like their slave-ancestors in Egypt did? Thanks to the Pharisees who helped them re-define their identity as God’s Chosen People and preserve the purity of their blood, those returned Jews must have learnt a painful lesson and would not practise idolatry any more. However, history keeps repeating itself. Did not the LORD God make the liberated Israelites spend forty years in the wilderness to cleanse them of idolatry picked up in Egypt? The generation that entered the Promised Land was supposed not to practise idolatry and yet what worried Confucius snowballed to be a nightmare in time. God’s Chosen People has not put in sufficent effort to learn and avoid disasters! Had God not been faithful and intervented, the tribe of Judah would have vanished from human history like the rest of the 12 Tribes of Israel! The responsorial Psalm today is a lamentation showing the sorrows of captives in great contrast to the joys of those who were able to return to their homeland. Boney M’s “Rivers of Babylon” popularized this psalm in the 1970’s.

The Chinese culture is rather discreet in talking about intimacy and love. Unlike the Greeks who have three different words to talk about love, the Chinese do not have a comparable vocabulary. If Confucius has an area to improve, perhaps intimacy can be one of the candidates. Yet he preferred spending his remaining energy in studying I-Ching! “If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of I-Ching, and then I might come to be without great faults 加我數年，五十以學易，可以無大過矣” (The Analects, Shur Er #17). This was his choice and I am sure the Son of God would respect. Alas! Learning is good but no human effort nor standing on shoulders of giants is sufficient to lift a person up high enough to leave the present deplorable state we are in. In fact, whatever one tiny step we achieve through technological advances, we are pushed two steps back by the consequences caused by human greed and ambition. We have witnessed this drama repeatedly since the Age of Enlightenment! How sacarstic! Perhaps we have put our faith in the wrong place. Between the love of God and wealth as well as power provided by Mammon, Jesus advises us to choose wisely (Matthew 6:24). Regrettably, most people choose the latter. As usual, the LORD God shall not give up. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). Confucius would not be able to believe in Jesus Christ in his life time. But I know that the LORD God has granted Confucius eternal life because “Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God” (3:21).

Beloved brethren! Who can accuse Confucius for not living the truth? Not even the Accuser! I hope that we have not put our faith in a better tomorrow away yet. In time of the present difficulties, namely not upholding righteousness, flexing mighty muscles to prove themselves right, hardening of hearts to see the innocent in Gaza perish etc., let us put our hope in the mercy and love of the LORD God to persevere until the end. Meanwhile, continue to learn and enjoy humility of the Lord (Matthew 11:29) to ease our worries. Amen.
God bless!

---

2021 Reflection
Picture Credit: kknews.cc

善牧的心 The Heart of the Good Shepherd

常年期第十六主日，乙年
主題：善牧的心

過去的探監經歷，補充了我從前當老師時所累積的，單一的人生經驗。不同背景的囚友都異口同聲說，監獄是一個很理想的荒野，可以重新發現天主，與祂重建一個更有意義的關係。誠然，困在監獄裡失去了寶貴的自由，而且資源貧乏，想多讀一點書也諸多限制！不過正因為這些不足，讓我們失去了慣常的倚恃，反而更能親近天主，領受祂的慈愛。

進入常年期，沒有甚麼隆重慶典；彌撒的讀經，騰出了空間，讓我們更能細心回味耶穌基督的心意。今天的福音承接派遣十二宗徒出外傳教的事蹟，他們回來作出「業績」報告（谷6:30）。雖然福音沒有直接描述宗徒們報告的內容，但從後來聚集的人數看，宗徒們宣講的成果是非常理想的。他們為了宣講福音，可算是不遺餘力，沒有半點怠慢。
這是我們應該自我檢討的！梵二大公會議後，聖職人員再沒有宣講福音的專利，生活在人群中的平信徒，他們宣講福音的地位，已受到教會的重視。可是，在半個世紀之後的今天，有多少平信徒仍然把傳福音的責任推卸到聖職人員身上呢？這情況並不樂觀，因為信仰有如逆水行舟，不進則退。信仰要進步，就必須從信仰中，找到喜樂甘飴之處（伯前2:3）。福音的喜樂從何而來？就是從傳福音而來！看到別人領受福音後，獲得自由，可以長進，這是一件何等喜樂甘飴的事！所以，不傳福音，我們的信仰必然倒退！倘若信德失去了，難道單憑一張領洗紙，能葬在天主教墳場內，便可以進入天堂嗎？

今天的福音告訴我們，宗徒們「凱旋」歸來報告業績，但沒有記載耶穌基督對他們的「業續」是否滿意。祂祇淡然地說：「你們來，私下到荒野的地方去休息一會兒！」（谷6:31）很明顯，耶穌基督有洞悉人心的能力，看到他們即使因為業績而與奮，仍遮掩不了身心的疲倦！耶穌基督對宗徒們動了憐憫的心（6:34），命令他們休息！這是命令，是十誡的第三誡！
固然這是天主的慈悲，但這也是我們應該自我檢討的！堂區團體，是一個實踐信仰，親近天主的地方，一個增強信、望、愛三德的地方。從彌撒的禮儀，衍生了不少善會組織，例如輔祭會、聖言宣讀組、非常務送聖體員和聖詠團等。原本是一個更精細，更能實踐信仰的地方，可惜這些善會普遍缺乏了信仰的分享和培育成份，變得事工性，使善會的效能大打折扣。另一方面，為了做好業績而本末倒置，祇追求做好自己負責的細節，忘記了禮儀的整體氛圍，提升教友的積極參與，獲得實在的神益！我們缺乏了主耶穌那份對成敗的淡薄，不知不覺地陷入了教宗方濟各在【你們要歡喜踴躍】宗座勸諭中，警告過的成聖障礙：「白拉奇主義」的誘惑！我們應該聽從主的命令，不一定要進入監獄裡，但一定要找到一個「荒野」的地方去休息一會兒，親近天主，享受和領悟禮儀的神髓；重整旗鼓，重振傳福音的心火！

「無牧之羊」或者「沒有牧人的羊」在聖經中出現過三次。第一次當梅瑟求天主安排一個領導人給以色列時，他就是這樣描述以色列人說：「望上主，賜給一切血肉氣息的天主，委派一人管理會眾，叫他處理他們的事件，領導他們出入，免得上主的會眾如無牧之羊」（戶27:16-17）。天主安排了若蘇厄繼承梅瑟，領導以色列人進入預許的福地；而若蘇厄的名字，希臘文就是「耶穌」！可見天主的計劃，何其遠大，祂的慈愛，永遠常存！這詞語第二次出現在以色列王阿哈布計劃與猶大聯手攻打阿蘭，猶大王約沙法特想從先知口中確定是天主所認可時，先知米加雅按上主的吩咐作虛言說：「我看見全以色列散在山上，好像沒有牧人的羊群。上主說：這些人既然沒有主人，就讓他們各自平安回家罷！」（列上22:17，編下18:16）。天主曾把自己的選民，無奈地交託給以色列的領導人照顧（撒上8:7）！可惜，這些領導人大多是殘民以自肥的人，能夠像梅瑟一樣無私地履行這職務的，寥寥無幾！雖然天主在末日會向那些邪惡的領導人算帳，但天主總不會讓祂的子民，沒有牧者照顧，讓他們自生自滅的。當這詞語第三次在福音中出現時，天主兌現了這善牧的承諾（瑪9:36，谷6:34），那份牧者的心以五餅二魚神蹟，表露無遺！

各位兄弟姊妹，雖然我們沒有耶穌基督行神蹟的能力，但最少也應該有梅瑟那份對天主所許必踐的信德，應該有愛人如己的愛德，關心近人靈魂的生死存亡，向他們宣講得救的福音。否則，我們的信仰將會倒退，自身難保了！
天主保祐！
2018年講道
圖片鳴謝：sjnews.org

---

Sixteenth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: The Heart of the Good Shepherd

My prison ministry has supplemented the previously simple life experience I had accumulated in my teaching career. Inmates from different backgrounds unanimously agreed that the prison is an ideal deserted place to discover God anew and to cultivate a more meaningful relationship with Him. Frankly, the imprisoned lose their precious freedom and there the resources are inadequate. There are many restrictions even on reading materials. And just because of this deficiency, we are able to come close to God and receive His blessings when we lose supports which we usually rely on.

Now that we have entered the Ordinary Times, there are not many solemnities to celebrate. We have more rooms in the readings to meditate and discover the heart of Jesus Christ. The story today follows the commission of the Twelve. They returned to report all they had done and taught (Mark 6:30). Although the gospel does not show us the contents of the reports, from the number of people gathered subsequently, their proclamation must have been very successful. They must have been very eager in evangelization, not a bit lazy.
We should examine ourselves! After Vatican II, evangelization is no longer the privileges of the clergy. The role of the laity who live among peoples is deemed important by the Church. But today after half a century among the laity, how many of them continue to push the responsibility of evangelization onto the clergy? The situation is not optimistic because faith is like sailing against the current. If you don’t make progress, you regress. In order to make progress in faith, we need to taste the goodness of God, the joy of the gospel (1 Peter 2:3). Where does the joy of the gospel come from? From evangelization! How joyful it is to see people gain freedom and grow after receiving the gospel! Thus, our faith regresses if we don’t proclaim the gospel! If our faith is lost, do you think your baptismal certificate which gives you permission to be buried in a Catholic cemetery is able to admit you to heaven?

The gospel today tells us that the apostles triumphantly reported their achievements but does not tell us whether Jesus Christ was satisfied or not. He simply says, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31) Obviously Jesus Christ has the power to read people’s mind. He saw that the excitement of the apostles was not enough to cover up their exhaustion! His heart was moved with pity for them (6:34) and told them to rest! This is an order, the Third Commandment of the Ten!
Of course God is merciful but we also need to examine ourselves! The parish community is a place to put our faith into practice, a place to come close to God and a place to build up our faith, hope and charity. Some laity associations have sprung up from the rites of the mass such as the acolytes, the lectors, the extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist and the choir etc. These are more refined places to practise our faith. Unfortunately, many of these associations lack the sharing and formation of faith. They become very functional. Their effectiveness in building up faith is greatly reduced. On the other hand, for the sake of doing the tasks well, many put the cart before the horse. They seek perfection in discharging their duties at the expense of the overall ambiance of the liturgy, forgetting the active participation of the congregation and the effectiveness of obtaining grace! We lack the indifference toward success and failure which Jesus shows. Imperceptibly we fall into the temptation of Pelagianism, one of the two obstacles to sanctification, against which Pope Francis warned us in his apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate. We should obey the Lord’s order, not necessarily by going into prisons, to go away to a deserted place and rest a while, in order to become intimate with God, to enjoy the spirit of the liturgy, to recoup ourselves and rekindle our zeal for evangelization!

“Sheep without a shepherd” appears in three different occasions in the Bible. In the first, Moses begged God to arrange a leader for the Israelites whom he described as such. He says, “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humanity, set over the community someone who will be their leader in battle and who will lead them out and bring them in, that the Lord’s community may not be like sheep without a shepherd.” (Numbers 27:16-17). God appointed Joshua to succeed Moses to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. The name Joshua in Greek is Jesus! How far-sighted God’s plan is and His mercy endures forever! The phrase appears a second time when Ahab, the king of Israel schemed to attack Aram together with Judah. King Jehoshaphat of Judah wanted to seek God’s assurance before they proceeded. Prophet Micaiah followed God’s instruction to speak in a lying spirit, “I see all Israel scattered on the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord saying, ‘These have no master! Let each of them go back home in peace.’” (1 Kings 22:17, 2 Chronicles 18:16). God had reluctantly allowed Israelite leaders to govern His Chosen People (1 Samuel 8:7). Regrettably, many of these leaders fattened themselves at the expenses of the people. Only a handful of them had discharged their duties altruistically! Although God would make these evil people accountable at the end of the world, He would not leave His people on their own without a shepherd. So, when this phrase appears for the third time, God honoured His good-shepherd pledge (Matthew 9:36, Mark 6:34) lavishly with the miracle of 5 loaves and 2 fish!

Brethren! Although we don’t have Jesus’ ability to work miracles, at least we should have the faith of Moses who trusted the faithfulness of God and have the charity to love our neighbour as ourselves. We should be concerned with the life and death of our neighbour’s souls and proclaim the gospel of salvation to them. Otherwise, our faith will regress and we can’t even save ourselves!
God bless!

禮服是天主供應的 God Provides the Wedding Garment

常年期第廿八主日，甲年
主題：禮服是天主供應的

聖經的確是一座寶山，內裡有很多寶藏，有待發掘。
相信大家一定記得《創世紀》原祖犯罪的故事，當他們被逐出樂園的時候，「上主天主為亞當和他的妻子做了件皮衣，給他們穿上。」（創3:21）給犯了罪的原祖穿上皮衣，是一個天主憐愛罪人的鮮明形象！人憑自己的能力，祇能「用無花果樹葉，編了個裙子圍身」（3:7），算不上甚麼衣服！這裡，包含了很豐富的默想材料，最特出的，就是人類憑一己的努力，絕不能拯救自己，不能改善自己。是否執事想多了嗎？在釋經的時候，有意無意地添加了個人的臆斷？

天主怎樣愛罪人呢？像耶穌所說，天父「使太陽上升，光照惡人，也光照善人；降雨給義人，也給不義的人」（瑪5:45）嗎？即是說，天主泛愛世人，一視同仁地照顧他們的日常需要。天主對罪人的愛，當然不祇於此！撒羅滿王和聖詠的作者，在祈禱中這樣說：「上主天主，願祢的司祭身披救援，願祢的聖徒在幸福中歡樂」（編下6:40，詠132:9）！除了天主外，還有誰可以給司祭披上救援呢？原來，天主給亞當和他的妻子穿上皮衣，是表示天主沒有放棄犯了罪的人類，決意賜給全人類救恩的意思。聖經另一處，指出天主給人穿上的，不是別的，而是救恩。「祂給我穿上救恩的衣服，給我披上義德的外衣，使我有如頭戴花冠的新郎，有如佩帶珍珠的新娘」（依61:10）。所以，執事沒有添加個人臆說，每當聖經記載天主給人穿上衣服時，是表示天主以救恩，覆蓋人類。且看！婚宴的形象漸漸顯露出來了！

今天的比喻，告訴我們天主在天上，為人類預備了豐盛的宴會。首先被邀請的人，就是在人類歷史中，被天主所揀選的民族，即以色列人。天主計劃使他們成為萬民的「福源」（創12:3），借助他們，使全人類獲得救恩。天主沒有從人類中，揀選一個順服的民族，偏偏挑選一個極其執拗的民族，作為選民（申9:6, 13），擔當這個「福源」的角色。天主的確喜歡挑戰，捨易行難！另一方面，天主是公平的，以色列人並沒有「贏在起跑線」，沒有獲得先手之利。的確，「被召的人多，被選的人少」（瑪22:14），人人都有蒙召的機會，可是，每個人的價值觀都不一樣。有些人思念天上的事（哥3:1），要知道，第一代基督徒中，絕大部份是猶太人。有些人卻注重眼前的事業（瑪22:5），極端的甚至覺得天主的代言人，是他們事業上的障礙，除之而後快（22:6）！結果，他們招來天主的復仇，在公元七十年，聖城被圍，聖殿被毀（申32:35，瑪22:7）。結果，救恩的大門，直接開放給外邦人了！

說也奇怪，天主好像沒有設定參加婚宴的條件，沒有選擇某類人可以成為賓客，而是「無論壞人好人」（22:10），祇要肯回應召叫的人，便可以加入。那麼，後來巡視參加者有沒有穿著禮服（22:11），冷不提防國王使「穿著禮服」成了參加婚宴的條件，是否矛盾，是否不合理呢？倘若參加婚宴的人是窮人，沒有錢買禮服，要求他穿禮服出席婚宴，豈不是不公義嗎？
聖奧思定在解釋禮服時，祇憑信德就可以受洗，加人教會。所以，無論壞人好人，祇要對耶穌基督懷有信德，同樣可以得救，同樣可以參加天國的婚宴（羅8:22）。即是說，不要妄想教會的成員，個個都是好人，教會內一定有「壞蘋果」，一定有令人失望的人！聖奧思定進一步解釋，禮服象徵「愛德」。祇有信德，而沒有愛德的行為配合，是死的信德（雅2:26），以愛德行事的信德纔算數（迦5:6）！所以，沒有穿禮服參加婚宴的人，是指那些憑信德領了洗，以為因信可以稱義，不必履行愛德的行為，結果在末日被抽出來，「丟在外面的黑暗中」（瑪22:13）！這個解釋，仍然美中不足。原來祇是表面上沒有條件，事實上有條件！有點「搬龍門」的感覺，令人難以信服。我倒認為，天主給亞當披上救恩，其實已經為每個亞當的後裔披上了救恩。即是說，國王把邀請和禮服，一拼送上！

昨天本堂在疫情下舉行入門聖事，今天新教友穿著白衣參加主日彌撒。阮金山神父在今天的講道中，提醒所有人，領洗的時候，穿上了基督！應該保持這新生命，末日可以向天主交代！這樣的話，有禮服而不穿，不穿而受罰，客人便無從抵賴了；有基督而不穿，生活不肖似基督而受罰，基督徒無從抵賴！這禮服/白衣是甚麼？就是愛的能力！天主是愛，天主按自己的肖像做了人，即是人有愛的能力。可惜，人濫用了天主恩賜的自由，讓罪惡染污了世界，埋沒了愛的能力，有禮服而不穿。最後受罰，咎由自取。

筆者好奇在想，天主喜歡給人類穿上救恩，那麼，平日祂自己穿甚麼呢？聖詠的作者說：「上主為王，以尊威作衣冠，上主身著德能，腰束大權」（詠93:1）「祢以尊貴威嚴作祢的衣冠，身披光明，好像外氅」（104:1-2）行動時，天主穿甚麼？先知說：「祂身穿正義作鎧甲，頭戴救恩作鋼盔，身佩復仇作衣服，外披妒恨作外氅」（依59:17）。相信保祿宗徒從先知的話取得靈感，為基督徒訂造了全副武裝：「用真理作帶，…穿上正義作甲，以和平的福音作準備走路的鞋…拿起信德作盾牌…戴上救恩作盔，拿著聖神作利劍」（弗6:14-17）。

各位兄弟姊妹，參加婚宴，用不著穿上全副武裝。但前往婚宴路上，旅途凶險，全副武裝是必須的。但當你穿上基督的話，你還需要穿上全副武裝嗎？
天主保祐！
2017年講道
圖片鳴謝：medium.com/@stevenliew

---

Twenty Eighth Ordinary Sunday, Year A
Theme: God Provides the Wedding Garment

The Bible is a treasure trove. There are many treasures yet to be dug up.
I trust all of you remember the story of the fall of our First Parents in Genesis. When they were driven out of the Paradise, "The Lord God made for the man and his wife garments of skin with which He clothed them"(Genesis 3:21). Clothing the fallen First Parent with garments is a clear sign of God's mercy on sinners! With their own power, men could only "sew fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves" (3:7), not even garments! Here is much material for meditation but the most glaring one is that it is beyond human capacity to save themselves or to improve their situations. Am I reading too much into the Bible?

How does God love sinners? Like what Jesus says, our heavenly Father, "makes His sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust."(Matthew 5:45)? That is to say, God loves all men and takes care of their daily needs indiscriminately. Of course more than that! King Solomon and the Psalmist say in their prayers, "Your priests, Lord God, will be clothed with salvation, your faithful ones rejoice in good things."(2 Chronicles 6:41, Psalm 132:9)! Who else could clothe the priests with salvation if not God? Thus, when God clothed Adam and his wife with garments, it indicates that God shall not abandon mankind and is determined to save them all. In yet another piece of text in the Bible, we find that God clothes all men with salvation. "For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, and wrapped me in a robe of justice, like a bridegroom adorned with a diadem, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels" (Isaiah 61:10). Thus I did not read too much into the text because whenever the Bible says God clothes men with garments, it means God covers men with salvation. See? The image of a wedding banquet is emerging!

The parable today tells us that God has prepared a lavish wedding banquet for all men. The first people to be invited were historically God's Chosen People, the Israelites. God intended to make them a source of blessing for all peoples on earth (Genesis 12:3). Through them, all peoples shall be saved. God did not choose an obedient people but a stiff necked people (Deuteronomy 9:16, 13) to play the role of a source of blessing. God is truly adventurous, taking a difficult path! On the other hand, God is fair. The Israelites had not taken up the advantages and privileges of being the Chosen People. Indeed, "Many are invited, but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14). All are given the opportunity and called. Yet different people have different value systems. Some "seek what is above." (Colossians 3:1) Remember, most of the first generation Christians were Jews. But some focus on worldly achievements (Matthew 22:5). The more extreme ones even treated the spokesmen of God as obstacles to their success. They took action to remove them (22:6)! In the end, they invited the vengeance of God and in 70 A.D., Jerusalem was sieged and the Temple was burned down (Deuteronomy 32:35, Matthew 22:7). Consequently, the door of salvation is open wide to Gentiles!

It seems a bit strange. God seems not to have set down any condition for people to join the wedding banquet. He did not choose His guests. The servants "gathered all they found, bad and good alike" (22:10). So, everybody is welcomed. Later, the King came in to meet the guests and saw a man without wedding garment (22:11). Suddenly, the King made "wearing wedding garments" a criterion to join the banquet. Isn't it contradictory and unreasonable? What if a poor man attends this banquet? He can't afford a wedding garment. Isn't it unfair?
When St. Augustine explained this wedding garment, he said that faith is enough for baptism, and admission into the Church. Thus, as long as you believe in Jesus Christ, all can be saved and join the heavenly banquet, bad and good alike (Romans 8:22). In other words, don't fancy that all Church members are good people. There must be "rotten apples" and frustrating people. St. Augustine continues to explain that "wedding garments" symbolizes charity. Faith is dead without accompanying charity (James 2:26), "only faith working through charity counts" (Galatians 5:6)! Thus, people who attend the banquet without wedding garments are those who were baptized with faith, thinking that faith alone justifies and there's no need to do charitable works. Consequently, they would be singled out on Judgment Day, "cast into the darkness outside" (Matthew 22:13)! This explanation is still inadequate. Superficially there is no string attached but actually there is! The goal keeps moving and thus unconvincing. Rather, I'm of opinion that God clothed Adam with salvation. In fact, God has clothed all the offspring of Adam with salvation. That is to say, God sends the invitation and wedding garments together!

Yesterday, our Parish celebrated the rites of Christian initiation during the pandemic. Today, the newly baptized wore their baptismal garments to join the Sunday mass. Fr. Paul Nguyen reminded the congregation that after baptism, we put on Christ! We should preserve this new life and be accountable on the Last Day! Thus, you have the wedding garment but failed to wear it. You are punished for not wearing it. Who is to blame? Christians do not put on Christ. Christians are punished for being unchristian. Who is to blame? What is this wedding/baptismal garment? It is the ability to love! God is love. God created men in His image. Thus, men are able to love. Regrettably, men abused the freedom God gave and contaminated the world with sins, smothering the capacity of charity, not wearing the wedding garments. At last, they shall be punished for what they deserve.

The author is curious. God enjoys clothing men with salvation. What does God wear in ordinary times? The Psalmist says, "The Lord is king, robed with majesty, the Lord is robed, girded with might" (Psalm 93:1) "You are clothed with majesty and splendour, robed in light as with a cloak" (104:1-2). What does He wear in action? The prophet says, "He put on justice as His breastplate, victory as a helmet on His head; He clothed Himself with garments of vengeance, wrapped Himself in a mantle of zeal" (Isaiah 59:17). I think Paul was inspired by the prophet and created the full armour of a Christian, "… loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate … shod in readiness for the gospel of peace … faith as a shield … helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:14-17)

Brethren, we don't wear armour to attend wedding banquet. But the path to the banquet is full of perils. The armour is necessary. But when you put on Christ, do you need to wear armour?
God bless!

我們都是天父所揀選的 We Are Chosen by the Father

四旬期第二主日，丙年
主題：我們都是天父所揀選的

在四旬期第一主日，福音告訴我們耶穌基督如何三退魔誘。受造物中，祇有人類纔會受試探誘惑。動物不會，天使和魔鬼也不會。因為在一般的情況下，動物按牠們的本能生活，沒有所謂濫殺無辜，犯姦淫和說謊等。天使和魔鬼是定了型的靈體，他們各自擁有清晰的立場和任務，塵世間沒有甚麼事物可以改變他們，引誘他們。人類既是天主的肖象，能分辨善惡，又有天主賜予的自由。因此，宇宙間惟有人類經常處於「心神固然切願，但肉體卻軟弱」（谷14:38）的狀態之中，我們必需作出努力，纔能克服拉扯我們離開天主的誘惑。上一個星期的福音，告訴我們一個基督宗教的當信道理：耶穌基督是真正的人，祂的死亡是真實的，不是一個假象！在四旬期，我們與候洗者一起，用四十天的時間準備慶祝復活節。從耶穌基督三退魔誘的事蹟中，學習基督運用天主的聖言，幫助我們拒絕遠離天主。

今天我們耹聽耶穌基督顯聖容的事蹟，默想祂是真天主的道理。在默想前，讓我們澄清一些細節。耶穌顯聖容的事蹟，記載在三部對觀福音之中，發生在伯多祿宣認耶穌為默西亞和耶穌基督第一次預言受難復活之後。雖然耶穌基督想告訴他們復活的喜訊，可惜門徒接受不了他們的師傅，要前往耶路撒冷受死的計劃，伯多祿甚至想阻止耶穌，結果被耶穌斥責他是撒殫！後來，耶穌基督決定帶三名入室弟子，上山顯聖容，讓他們明白復活後分享天主永恆生命的光榮。

三部對觀福音之中，惟有路加福音記載了梅瑟，厄里亞與耶穌基督對話的內容：「他們出顯在光耀中，談論耶穌的去世，即祂在耶路撒冷必要完成的事。」（路9:31）希臘文原文並不是用「去世」一辭，而是「出谷」。即是說，耶穌基督將來在耶路撒冷受難，死亡，復活和升天，是一個「出谷」事件。耶穌基督的死亡和復活，是一個逾越到永生的程序。從此，信仰祂的人，死亡不再是灰飛煙滅，而是跨越到永生的門限，是一次「出谷」！我們與候洗者在四旬期的準備，就是準備一次「出谷」。候洗者準備逾越，度一個脫免罪惡奴役的基督徒恩寵生活；已經是基督徒的我們，準備再跨進一步，走近天父多一些，接受更豐盛的恩寵。

瑪竇福音和馬爾谷福音說是「六天後」（瑪17:1；谷9:2），路加福音卻說是「過了八天」（路9:28）。那麼究竟是「六天」還是「八天」呢？其實，「六天」還是「八天」並不重要，福音的作者這樣安排，自有他所希望表達的訊息。聖安博認為「八天」是指耶穌基督的復活，因為耶穌基督是在一周的第一天復活，亦可以說是第八天。聖安博說：「誰聽了基督的話並相信的，在復活時將會看見基督的光榮。」倘若我們聽了並相信耶穌基督的教訓，並在生活中為祂的復活作見證；在末日，我們也可以像三位宗徒一樣，享見基督聖容的光輝。

除了表示復活之外，「八天」也可以象徵神聖的集會。在舊約的法律和歷史事蹟中，多次提及「在第八天舉行盛大的，全民的神聖集會。」（肋23:36，戶29:35，編下7:9，厄下8:18）雖然在顯聖容時，門徒祇看見梅瑟和厄里亞兩個，並不算甚麼盛大的集會。但不要忘記，梅瑟代表了法律，厄里亞代表了先知，兩個人一起代表著整個舊約。因此，梅瑟和厄里亞代表著整個舊約的所有人物，把新的盟約交託到耶穌基督的手中。三位宗徒是教會的支柱，他們在現場，同樣代表著新約時代所開展的教會所組成的一個神聖集會，他們要向世界見證天父對世人的慈愛。

最後，按猶太人的習俗，在第八天為初生男嬰舉行「割損禮」，並給他起一個名字，使他正式成為猶太人團體的一份子！在描述雲中出現的聲音時，路加福音的記載很特別，說：「這是我的兒子，我所揀選的…」（路9:35）。我們的信仰，宣稱耶穌基督是天主子，是聖父所生，而非聖父所造。既是聖父所生的，為甚麼是「揀選」的呢？要知道路加福音是一本祈禱書。固然，他描述耶穌生平的時候，經常提及耶穌基督的祈禱，不但如此，路加把每件事蹟，都描述成為祈禱的材料。整個顯聖容的事蹟，是一個默想祈禱的材料，尤其是這句「這是我的兒子，我所揀選的」，不單指示耶穌基督本人的身份，更是指耶穌基督的奧體，祂的教會！我們與及所有候洗者，都是天父所揀選的！我們的「割損禮」就是「洗禮」，我們要割損的，不再是肉體上的包皮，而是我們的心靈（申30:6，耶4:4，羅2:29）。我們真是幸福，有幸被天父所揀選，他日將分享復活永生光榮的福樂！

各位兄弟姊妹，為了承受這幸福，今天我們應做甚麼呢？我們既蒙召成為聖徒，組合成一個神聖的集會。讓我們跟隨教宗方濟各在【你們要歡喜踴躍】的號召，在生活中活出「真福八端」的精神，朝著永生邁進，他日有資格分享耶穌基督的天主性！
天主保祐！

2016年講道

---

Second Lenten Sunday, Year C
Theme: We Are Chosen by the Father

On the first Sunday of Lent, the gospel told us how Jesus Christ overcame temptations. Among the Creation, only human can be tempted. Animals won't be, neither be angels nor devils. It is because under normal circumstances, animals act according to their instincts. It is meaningless to say they kill the innocent, commit adultery and tell lies etc. Angels and devils are fixed spirits. Their stance and missions are fixed. Nothing on earth is able to tempt them to change their courses. But men were created in the image of God. They are able to know good from evil. Furthermore, God gave them freedom. Thus, only humans among the Creation always remain in a state of "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38) We have to work hard in order to overcome temptations that drag us away from God. The gospel on last Sunday tells us an important Christian dogma: Jesus Christ is genuinely human. His death is real, not an illusion! During Lent, we together with the elect shall spend forty days preparing for the celebration of Easter. We learn from Jesus' example of overcoming temptations how to make use of the Scriptures to refuse drifting away from God.

Today, we hear of the narrative of the Transfiguration. We meditate on the divinity of Jesus Christ. Before the meditation, let us clarify the context. The three Synoptic Gospel report the incident. It happened after Peter's Declaration of Jesus' Messiahship and Jesus' first Passion Prediction. Although Jesus wanted to tell his disciples the good news of resurrection, they could not accept their master's plan to suffer in Jerusalem. Peter even tried to stop Jesus. Consequently, Jesus rebuked him and called him Satan! Later, Jesus decided to take the core of the apostles to witness his Transfiguration, allowing them to understand the glory of partaking in God's eternal life after resurrection.

Among the Synoptic Gospel, only Luke mentions the contents of the exchanges between Jesus with Moses and Elijah, "Who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem." (Luke 9:31) The word "exodus" was used. That is to say, the passion, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem would be an Exodus event. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a process of Passover to eternal life. From hence, for all believers, death is no longer an annihilation but a passover of the threshold to eternal life. It is an Exodus! Together with the elect, we prepare in Lent an Exodus once more! The elect prepare to passover to lead a Christian life of grace free from the bondage of sins. We, who are Catholics, prepare to move a step closer to the Father to receive more abundant life.

Matthew and Mark talks about "six days later" (Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:2). But Luke says, "About eight days after this" (Luke 9:28). Well then, was it six or eight? In fact, whether it is six or eight is not important. The Evangelists wish to express their messages with such arrangements. St. Ambrose opined that "eight days" refers to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is because Jesus Christ rose on the first day of the week. It can be said to be the eighth day. St. Ambrose continued, "He who listen to the words of Christ and believe shall be able to see the glory of Christ at resurrection." If we listen and believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ and bear witness to his resurrection in our daily life, at the Last Judgment, we shall be able to see the glory of his countenance like the three apostles.

Other than resurrection, "eight days" also symbolizes sacred assemblies. In Torah as well as historical events in the Old Testament, "sacred assemblies of the people on the eighth day" were mentioned many times. (Leviticus 23:36, Numbers 29:35, 2 Chronicles 7:9, Nehemiah 8:18) Although the apostles only saw Moses and Elijah, which was not a big assembly, don't forget, Moses represents the Law and Elijah the Prophets, together they represented the whole of the Old Testament. Thus, Moses and Elijah represented all the people of the Old Testament to pass on the New Testament to Jesus Christ. The three apostles are the pillars of the Church. Their presence represented the sacred assembly of the Church inaugurated in the New Testament. They shall bear witness to the mercy of the Father to the world.

Lastly, according to Jewish customs, a male baby should be circumcized on the eighth day and given a name so that it would be formally declared a member of the Jewish community! The Lukan narration of the voice in the cloud is peculiar, "This is my chosen Son" (Luke 9:35). In Christianity, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, begotten of the Father, not made. If he was "begotten", why "chosen"? We have to appreciate that the gospel of Luke is a book of prayer. Of course, in telling the life of Jesus, Luke always mentions the prayings of Jesus Christ. Not only that, Luke narrates every event as materials of prayer. The Transfiguration is stuff for meditation and prayer. In particular, "This is my chosen Son" not only indicates the identity of Jesus Christ, but it also points to the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church! Together with the elect, we are chosen by the Father. Our baptism is the circumcision. We should circumcise, not the foreskins of our body but our hearts (Deuteronomy 30:6, Jeremiah 4:4, Romans 2:29). How blessed we are to be chosen by the Father to partake in the glory of eternal life after resurrection!

Brethren! In order to inherit this blessedness, what shall we do today? Since we are called to be saints, to form a sacred assembly, let us follow the call of Pope Francis in Gautete et Exsultate to lead a life in accordance to the spirit of the Beatitudes. Let us march ahead towards eternal life so that someday we may partake in the divinity of Jesus Christ!
God bless!

憐憫必得勝審判 Mercy Triumphs over Judgment

常年期第六主日，乙年
主題：憐憫必得勝審判

為了保障人能安全地在一個團體生活，團體會定下一些規矩讓成員遵守。為了團體的益處，人必需犧牲一些自由，法律便出現了。今天的第一篇讀經，便反映出這樣的一個現實。痲瘋是一種高度傳染性的疾病，在發現盤尼西林之前，這是不治之症。為了保障其他人的安全，痲瘋病人要接受隔離。（肋13:45）這種隔離並由此引申的歧視，在我們今天的眼中，非常不人道。不過在舊約，天主曾以痲瘋病懲罰過人（戶12:10；列下5:27；編下26:19），所以，一般人會把痲瘋病看待為天主的懲罰。因此，檢驗證明一個痲瘋病人是否痊癒，不是醫生，而是司祭。（肋13:6, 13, 17, 23 ...）

痲瘋病有如罪一樣，既傷害自己，也傷害別人。因此，痲瘋病人是罪人的一個象徵。其實，痲瘋病是一個很好的象徵，它出現在皮膚上，覆蓋著皮膚並慢慢侵蝕進去。同樣，我們都是按天主的肖像所創造，但罪惡包裹著這肖像，使它蒙污，更侵蝕著它，使它瓦解。因此，罪人有兩條可以走的路：就是誓不認錯，或是尋求天主的治療，天主的寬恕 。誓不認錯的後果是滅亡，但為甚麼仍然有罪人選擇繼續犯罪呢？是因為他們心存僥倖，濫用了天主的慈悲；抑或是他們以為自己罪大惡極，不敢相信天主的慈悲會寬恕他們呢？我們不得而知。今天的福音，展示了罪人應有的態度──謙卑。這個痲瘋病人，跑到耶穌跟前跪下，求耶穌潔淨他。（谷1:40）耶穌基督是他惟一的希望，他便不顧禁令，跑到耶穌跟前。他跪下，表達了罪人應有的謙卑。

現代人過份自信，覺得可以把一切玩弄在指掌之間。他有如天主，操控一切，他不需要耶穌基督，不需要對耶穌基督懷有任何希望！這份自信使他們不覺得天主與他們同行，他們的成就或是挫折，與天主無關，他們與天主日漸疏離。天父目睹自己的肖像如此，是何等難過哩！ 另一方面，這個痲瘋病人違反禁令，我們可以接受嗎？倘若他擅闖城市，散播病菌，危害他人的安全，這是不能接受的。但他違反禁令，是尋求「專家」的治療，這是應該的。當罪人一日及早與天主的修和，早日對身邊的人有益處，何樂而不為呢？
驕傲自大是人的死穴，它令人對自己的不善盲目，障礙了人尋求天主的治療。這個跪在耶穌跟前的痲瘋病人，做對了！

另一方面，耶穌本來可以祗說一句話，這個痲瘋病人便可以立刻痊癒。但為甚麼耶穌會多此一舉，伸手撫摸那痲瘋病人呢？此外，耶穌撫摸這痲瘋病人，自己也會成為不潔，不能接觸其他人，直至黃昏（戶19:22）。耶穌為甚麼要冒這個險呢？福音的解釋十分簡單，耶穌動了憐憫的心（谷1:41）！難道憐憫就可以不守法紀，橫行霸道嗎？正如雅各伯宗徒所說：「憐憫必得勝審判」（雅2:13）一樣的嗎？耶穌不是來廢除法律，而是成全它（瑪5:17）嗎？正是。且看，後來耶穌吩咐這個痊癒了的痲瘋病人找司祭檢驗和按法律獻祭，所以耶穌基督不是來廢除法律。他不守法紀去撫摸痲瘋病人，是以憐憫去成全法律！法律祗能做到犧牲小數人的利益，來保障大部份人的利益。對痲瘋病人的禁制令，無疑保障了大部份人的利益，但不能兼顧痲瘋病人的需要。請不要忘記，痲瘋病人和罪人也擁有天主的肖像！耶穌撫摸痲瘋病人，表達出對病人，對罪人的憐憫和關顧，補充了法律的冷酷無情。法律是為人而立，並不是人為了法律（谷2:27）！當然，我們可以想像耶穌在接觸到痲瘋病人一刻之前，已潔淨了他。因此耶穌撫摸的已是一個潔淨的人，祂沒有觸犯禁令。這種猜測是可接受的。

天父出於愛，按自己的肖像創造了我們。當我們受罪惡的折磨時，祂出於憐憫，召叫了我們領洗入教，恢復了我們天主子女的身份。祂進一步召叫我們度婚姻、獻身或聖職人員的生活，在這種生活中成聖，刷新這天主肖像的光輝。我們應該學習痲瘋病人的榜樣，謙遜地跪伏主前，求主憐憫。
天主保祐！

---

Sixth Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Mercy Triumphs over Judgment

In order to protect the safety of people in a community, regulations must be set up for members to follow. For the benefits of the community, members have to sacrifice some of their freedom. Laws appear. The first reading today depicts such a reality. Leprosy is a highly infectious disease. Before the discovery of penicillin, it was incurable. To protect the safety of the others, lepers had to be quarantined (Leviticus 13:45). This quarantine and the prejudice it derived is inhumane to modern eyes. But in Old Testament times, God had punished some people with leprosy (Numbers 12:10, 2Kings 5:27, 2Chronicles 26:19). Thus, people saw leprosy as a punishment of God. Naturally, to inspect whether a leper was cured was the job not of physicians, but priests. (Leviticus 13:6, 13, 17, 23 ...)

Like sins, leprosy harms oneself as well as the others. Thus lepers are a symbol of sinners. In fact, it is an excellent symbol. Leprosy appears on the skin, covers it and slowly erodes into it. Similarly, we were created in the image of God. But sins cover this image, contaminate it and even erode to disintegrate it. Thus sinners have two choices: either to refuse to pledge guilty or to seek God's healing, God's forgiveness. Refusing to pledge guilty will only lead to demise, but why would some sinners choose to continue sinning? Would it be because they want to take chances, to abuse the mercy of God? Or they think that their sins are so grave that they dare not to believe that God would forgive them out of mercy? We don't know. The gospel reading today shows us the proper attitude of sinners --- humility. This leper came to kneel before Jesus, beseeched Jesus to cleanse him (Mark 1:40) Jesus Christ was his only hope. He disregarded the injunctions, came before Jesus and knelt down to show a humility proper to sinners.

Modern people are over-confident. They feel that everything is within their grips. They are like God, dominating everything and have no need of Jesus Christ, of putting their hope on Jesus Christ. This overconfidence renders them unable to see that God is with them, blinds them of the relationship between God and their successes and failures. They are moving away from God day by day. When the Father sees His images suffer like this, how upset He shall be!
On the other hand, can we accept the leper's breaching the injunctions? If he trespasses into a city to spread the fungus and harming the safety of the others, it is unacceptable. But he breached the injunctions to seek expert cure. This is appropriate. The sooner a sinner seeks reconciliation with God, the more benefits he brings to his neighbour. Why not? Arrogance is the Achilles' heels of men. It blinds him of his inadequacy and prevents him from seeking God's cure. This leper who knelt before Jesus had done the right thing!

On the other hand, Jesus would have cured the leper immediately with only a word. But why did Jesus touch him? It was not a necessity. Moreover, when Jesus touched this leper he would become unclean and could not contact others until evening. (Numbers 19:22) Why did Jesus take this risk? The explanation in the gospel is simple: Jesus was moved with pity! (Mark 1:41) Is pity an excuse for not obeying the law, the same as James, the Apostle says, "Mercy triumphs over judgment"? (James 2:13) Did Jesus come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it? (Matthew 5:17) Exactly! Behold, Jesus later told the cured leper to be inspected by a priest and to offer sacrifice according to the law. Thus, Jesus did not come to abolish the law. That Jesus disregarded the law by touching the leper was to fulfill the law with mercy! In order to protect the benefit of the majority, the law can only sacrifice the benefit of the minority. Doubtless to say, the injunction on lepers protects the benefits of the majority, but it ignores the needs of lepers. Don't forget, lepers and sinners also possess the image of God! Touching the leper, Jesus showed the sick and sinners mercy and care to fulfill the impersonal laws. The law was made for man, not man for the law. (Mark 2:27) Of course, we can imagine that the moment before Jesus touched the leper he had already cleansed the leper. Thus Jesus was touching a cleansed man. He did not violate the injunction. This speculation is acceptable.

Out of love, the Father created us in His image. When we were tortured by sins, out of mercy, the Father called us to be baptized and restored our identity as children of God. He further called us to lead a married, or a consecrated or a clergy life in order to blush up the glory of the image of God, to be sanctified. We should learn from the leper, kneel before the Lord in humility to beseech His mercy.
God bless!

Seventy Years of Exile

Let's do some arithmetics. I rely on the Old Testament timeline provided by Bible Hub to do the following calculations in order to look at the 70-year Babylonian exile. It is commonly agreed that in 537 B.C., Cyrus decreed that the Jews should return to Jerusalem. Moreover, Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Therefore, the exile lasted for 50 years only. However, prior to 586 B.C. the Babylonians had already begun deporting the nobles since 605 B.C. Therefore, a 70-year exile makes sense.

"to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had been paid her sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years." (2 Chronicles 36:21)
This verse stirs up my speculation. The Israelites did not observe the law of sabbathetical year (Leviticus 25), 70 in total. Therefore, they were exiled for 70 years to repay the skipping of sabbathetical years.
Before we start calculating, we need to decide what to make of the Jubilee Year, the fiftieth year. Since the land rested in a Jubilee Year similar to that of sabbathetical years, I will count it a sabbathetical year. Therefore, in 50 years, there were 8 sabbathetical years. Now, the Jews were exiled for 70 years to repay for the skipping of sabbathetical years. Therefore 70 sabbathetical years were skipped. A total of 437.5 (70/8*50) years were covered. When did the Jews begin skipping sabbathetical years and jubilee years? 974 (537 + 437) B.C. During this time, David was fleeing from the onslaugh of his own son Absalom! It sounds reasonable. I speculate that after the death of Absalom, David returned to Jerusalem to mourn for his favourite son who tried to overthrow his own father. Meanwhile, David did not observe sabbathetical years anymore since his return to Jerusalem.

What if we do not count Jubilee Years as sabbathetical years? A total of 500 (70/7*50) years would be covered. That is to say, the Jews began skipping sabbathetical years since 1037 B.C. It was roughly 10 years before Saul openly disobeyed Samuel (1 Samuel 15). Saul had been king for about 6 years since he was anointed king in 1043 B.C. That is to say, ever since the appointment of kings, the Israelites no longer observed sabbathetical years. Both versions make sense. Yet, they are only speculations.
The author of Chronicles saw the Babylonian Exile as a repayment of sabbathetical years. This very idea warned the Jewish readers to keep God's commandments because they had to repay every cent they owed (Matthew 5:26) The reading of John is more consoling. God did not send Jesus to judge the world but to save it (John 3:17). Unlike Matthew, John was less legalistic.

Today, at the 2nd Rite of Scrutiny in St. Francis of Assisi Church, I met a few La Salle old students. After leaving LSC for more than 20 years, some of them will be baptized this Easter. They are all grown-ups now. God is marvelous. I am touched and speechless as well. The Word of God is like a seed growing up on its own in their hearts. This is God's working, not mine.

Dear Lord, I praise you. You will not leave anybody unsaved. Amen.

An ungrateful orphan king

Orphans usually arouse pity in our hearts. Joash was no exception. But this orphan turned out to be an ungrateful one.

King Ahab had a daughter called Athaliah who was married to Joram (Jehoram), king of Judah. She bore Joram a son called Ahaziah who would succeed Joram as the king of Judah (2 Kings 8:26). When Jehu wiped out the house of Ahab, he shot dead Joram, son of Ahab (2 Kings 9:24). At the same time, Ahaziah was mortally wounded by Jehu as well (2 Kings 9:27). After the death of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Athaliah killed all the king's son to become the queen of Judah. One boy managed to escape. It was Joash who was saved by his aunt.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be slain, and she put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. Thus she hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain;
and he remained with her six years, hid in the house of the LORD, while Athaliah reigned over the land (2 Kings 11:2-3).
Joash was under the protection and coaching of Jehoiada the priest. In the seventh year, Jehoiada engineered a coup d'état to put Joash onto the throne. Athaliah was killed in the king's house (2 Kings 11:20).
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; his mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba.
And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest (2 Chronicles 24:1-2).

Jehoiada grew old and died 130 years old (2 Chronicles 24:15). He was buried among the kings in the city of David (2 Chronicles 24:16).
Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and did obeisance to the king; then the king hearkened to them.
And they forsook the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt.
Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the LORD; these testified against them, but they would not give heed (2 Chronicles 24:17-19).
What had happened to Joash? He had been doing well when Jehoiada was still alive. Why did he listen to the princes of Judah and make a U-turn after the death of his mentor? Hadn't Jehoiada's teaching been internalized? As an orphan, Joash was badly in need of a father figure. Jehoiada must have been the best candidate. But had Jehoiada been too strict and anxious in bringing him up so that when opportunity arose, Joash rebelled? We can never tell.

Jehoiada could not be harsh to Joash. Here is the evidence.
Then the Spirit of God took possession of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, "Thus says God, 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.'"
But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the LORD.
Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, "May the LORD see and avenge!" (2 Chronicles 24:20-22)
Joash was ungrateful and was fully responsible for all the evils he had done. We cannot put any blame on Jehoiada.
The people conspired against Zechariah. Perhaps they bad-mouthed him in front of the king. Shouldn't Joash summon Zechariah to find out the truth before commanding him to be stoned to death? King Joash's decision was totally unacceptable.
Later, the Syrians defeated Judah with a small army, leaving Joash wounded.
When they (the Syrian army) had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded, his servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed. So he died; and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings (2 Chronicles 24:25).
Joash, the ungrateful orphan king did not deserve a dignified burial in the tombs of the kings. Instead, Jehoiada was buried among the kings. History has passed judgment on Joash.

Dear Lord, to all our benefactors, let us be grateful. To all who treat us badly, let us be grateful too because they drive us closer to You. To You, let us sing with a grateful heart. Amen.

Barnabas, the Levite, sold a field

Levi was the third son of Jacob by Leah (Genesis 29:34). When the family of Jacob settled in Egypt for more than four hundred years, this tribe brought forth Moses and his elder brother Aaron (Exodus 2:1-2). During the forty years of wandering in the desert, Moses had the support of his tribesmen. Therefore when the Israelites divided up Canaan, Joshua followed the instruction of Moses to order the eleven tribes to support the Levites. Probably the Levites settled all over Canaan in different tribes and were given the tithe, i.e. one tenth of the produce of the land. From this bare information, we gain the impression that the Levites did not own any land. But was it true? No. We need to read more.

I was always puzzled by the story of Barnabas. Here are the puzzling lines.
Thus Joseph who was surnamed by the apostles Barnabas (which means, Son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus,
sold a field which belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet (Acts 4:36-37).
Why did Barnabas, a Levite, own a field? Were Levites not supposed to own any land? Wrong! A search with the key words "Levite" and "field" yields three entries: 2 Chronicles 31:19, Nehemiah 12:44, 13:10. The last one confirmed that Levites owned fields after the Babylonian exile.
I also found out that the portions of the Levites had not been given to them; so that the Levites and the singers, who did the work, had fled each to his field(Nehemiah 13:10).
Due to the mismanagement of the Temple by Eliashib the priest, the tithe for the Levites were neglected and they had to flee each to his field to earn his living. Of course, the situation was rectified by Nehemiah. But how did this ownership of field come about? We need to go all the way back to Moses.
The LORD said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho,
"Command the people of Israel, that they give to the Levites, from the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands round about the cities." (Numbers 35:1-2)
Therefore, the Levites were given cities to dwell in and pasture lands round about the cities. Joshua carried out this command.
The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasture lands (Joshua 21:41)
Therefore, the Levites were given 48 cities with their pasture lands after the Israelites had entered Canaan. A lot of events had taken place before the age of the Apostles. Yet, the Levites were always entitled to own land. The impression that Levites did not own any land is wrong and it is the result of not reading enough Bible.

Priests dedicate their life for the service of God and His people. They deserve to be supported by God's people, following the Levite model. However, life on earth has evolved from being simple agricultural to complex industrial. The Church has grown from a simple community to a complex hierarchy. During the Apostolic age, believers could sell their property and lay the proceeds at the feet of the Apostles to distribute according to the need of each.
Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common (Acts 4:32).
But it lasted only for a short while in Jerusalem before the persecutions from the Jewish authority. Since then, this communist way of life was no more. Priests have to find ways to fend for themselves in this modern age.

Dear Lord, You teach us to lead a life of spiritual poverty. We rely on Your providence. You will provide (Genesis 22:8). Amen.

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year B)

It is rather sad to read the last chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles. King Josiah initiated a badly needed religious reform in Judah. The book of Deuteronomy was "recovered". When it was read to the people, the congregation was moved into tears, such as had never been before. Unfortunately, Josiah died pre-maturely and the religious reform never saw its fruition.
The last chapter of the Second Book of Chronicles began with Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah. He was 23 and people made him king over Judah. He reigned for only 3 months and was deposed by the Egyptians!
The Egyptians made his 25-year old brother Eliakim, a vassal and renamed him Jehoiakim.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD his God (2 Chronicles 36:5).
Unfortunate for Jehoiakim, the Babylonians rose in power and King Nebuchadnezzar captured him and brought him into exile in Babylon. His son Jehoiachin reigned in his stead.
Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD (2 Chronicles 36:9).
I do not know what an eight-year-old could have done that was evil in the sight of God. Probably when you are in power and if you fail to master power, power will instead master over you. The boy was so young that he was not able to tell right from wrong. People around him should be blamed instead. After being a king for roughly 100 days, King Nebuchadnezzar carried him off to Babylon and made his 21-year-old brother Zedekiah king of Judah.
After 11 years, Zedekiah dared to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar. Jerusalem was under siege and breached. All the vessels in the Temple were carried away and the Temple was burnt down. Many people were butchered and the surviving ones were sent to captivity in Babylon. Zedekiah was blinded by Nebuchadnezzar after witnessing the killing of his children. The kingdom of Judah ended in total humiliation. God passed judgment on Judah because she condemned herself.
Nebuchadnezzar took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia,
to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil seventy years (2 Chronicles 36:20-21).
Jews spent 70 years in captivity and finally, King Cyrus of Persia sent them home to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up.' (2 Chronicles 36:23)
Now we fast forwards to Jesus. Fr. Martin celebrated the 11 a.m. mass with us this morning. He began his homily with the contradiction we read in the gospel of John this morning.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
Then Fr. Martin brought out the contradiction in John.
For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God (John 3:17-21).
Fr. Martin shared with us 3 incidents he met which highlighted how when we passed judgments on others, we passed judgments on ourselves at the same time.
Once, Fr. Martin spoke with an old friend who spent their school years together. His friend admitted candidly that he would never want to be converted because most of the Catholics and Christians he met had never been sincere. Fr. Martin was not offended. In turn, he candidly admitted that working in the parish, it is difficult to maintain his candour. He needs to put up a brave face in front of difficult situations.
In another occasion, he spoke to some old nuns, telling them that the animation Wall-E was worth watching. The nuns commented what could come good from a cartoon. What was worse, there was little dialogue. Fr. Martin retorted that the theme of friendship which needed no dialogue made the cartoon a good movie.
In the last incident, Fr. Martin was listening to a young man of twenty something complaining about his father who always told him to abstain from hot food and put on more clothes. The young man retorted that he was already 24 and had not eaten potato chips because of his acne. For twenty four years, he had never caught any cold. Fr. Martin patiently asked the young man to put on his father's shoe. He was old and would fall sick after eating hot food. He was old and easily caught cold when he did not put on enough clothes.
So, whenever we want to pass judgment on others, think of their situations. Most likely, we do not know well enough their situations. Leave room in our harsh judgment on others. God does not want to see us perish. It is us who put ourselves in damnation.

My God, I sincerely thank You for sending us Jesus to save us. May we take this opportunity in Lent to return to You. You do not pass us judgment. Let us not condemn ourselves. Amen.