時空孰重 Space or Time, Which is More Important?

《原罪系列 V》
主題：時空孰重（路17:26-37）

我們的信仰，包括了「在起初」天主創造天地萬物，並且「在世界末日」，天主子要重臨，審判生者死者。所以基督信仰與相信有輪回的東方宗教有所不同，是有始有終的，而不是沒完沒了的循環！雖然身為天主子的耶穌基督已經否定了揭示末日的可能性（谷13:32），但很多人仍鍥而不捨地搜集資料，進行運算，想破解「世界末日」的密碼！

承接昨天的福音，今天的「他們」（路17:37）是指耶穌的門徒（17:22）。他們相對地聰明得多了。不要奇怪為甚麼耶穌正在舉諾厄和羅特的例子，來說明末日會出現在不為人所期望的日子，「消滅所有的人」（17:27; 29）的時候，門徒竟然聰明地問「主，在那裡呢？」（17:37a）！在時間和空間的兩個維度之間，既然師傅已經否定了在時間維度可以找到答案，門徒便聰明地另闢蹊徑，嘗試從空間維度找線索！耶穌的答案：「在那裡有屍體，老鷹就聚集在那裡」（17:37b），卻是另一個啞謎！不要灰心，因為只要方向正確，還有破解的希望！

親愛的兄弟姊妹！雖然不可以知道世界末日在甚麼時刻出現，但有一件事情是可以肯定的。末日的出現有一定的起承轉合過程，會有開始、有起點：例如諾厄建造方舟的地點，羅特居住的索多瑪城等、有發展、最後完成。至於維持多久則尚未可知。但找到起點對我們是有利的！起點在哪？「有屍體，有老鷹」的地方就是！讓我們多讀【聖經】，努力破解吧！
天主保祐！

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生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：grok.com

[Original Sin Series (V)]
Theme: Space or Time, Which is More Important? (Luke 17:26-37)

“In the beginning”, God created heaven and earth and “At the end of the world”, the Son of God shall return to judge the living and the dead are among the articles of faith we believe in. Different from eastern faiths which believe in re-incarnation, Christianity believes in a beginning and an end instead of endless cycles/spirals! Although the Son of God Jesus Christ has declared the impossibility of revealing the end of the world (Mark 13:32), many people still invest their whole life collecting information and computing to crack the “End-Time” code!

Following the gospel passage of yesterday, “They” (Luke 17:37) refers to Jesus’ disciples (17:22). They were smarter. Do not wonder why they were so smart as to ask “Where, Lord” (17:37a) when Jesus was quoting the stories of Noah and Lot to illustrate that the end-time would come at the unexpected day “to destroy them all” (17:27; 29). Between the dimensions of time and space, since the Master has denied the possibility to find the answer in the time dimension, it was smart of the disciples to try another path in the space dimension! Jesus’ answer: “Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather” (17:37b) is yet another enigma to crack! Don’t be discouraged because when the direction is right, there is hope for cracking this code!

Beloved brethren! Although when the world ends is an unknowable mystery, there is one thing for sure. The end will be a process in time, with a beginning, a starting point such as the location of the Ark which Noah built, or Sodom where Lot lived; an unfolding and a finale. As for how long this process takes is yet another unknown. But finding the starting point is advantageous for us! Where is it? It is “The body, the vultures”! Let us study the Bible harder to crack it!
God bless!

天國建基於愛德 The Kingdom of Heaven is Built on Charity

《原罪系列 IV》
主題：天國建基於愛德（路17:20-25）

耶穌時代的猶太人，以「天主選民」的身份，屈就在羅馬帝國的殖民統治之下，心有不甘，是可以理解的。他們期待應許的「默西亞」出現，建立「天主的國」（撒下7:14），再一次在異民之間，吐氣揚眉！固然猶太公議會之中，也有支持維持現狀的黨派，無意推翻羅馬帝國的統治。作為「以色列的師傅」（若3:10），法利塞人屬於前者，卻不敢採用武力，好像「熱誠者」一樣。他們相信遵守自己一手編纂的梅瑟法律，足以獲得天主的拯救。結果只流於空談，並給人「偽善」的印象。至於「熱誠者」，他們滿以為暴力可以救國，結果給人民帶來十多個世紀的顛沛流離！

耶穌基督很清楚羅馬帝國的鐵腕統治，只是撒殫千變萬化的手段之一。天主子知道自己的使命，是剷除罪惡的根源，幫助人類與天主修和；而不是推翻區區的一個羅馬帝國！二千年來的歷史證明了，無論是十字軍東征還是二十世紀的兩次世界大戰，都只是生靈塗炭，從來沒有建立到一個仁愛、公義、和平的世界秩序。所以主耶穌心目中的「天主國」，與猶太人心目中的「默西亞王國」，或是「太平天國」，有著天淵之別。

試問有那一個當權者，不想出人頭地，騎著高頭駿馬，凱旋進京？反而願意為他的臣僕洗腳？在飢荒時以自己的血肉做人民的食糧？在心靈極度痛苦，須要陪伴支持的時候，仍要孤身搏鬥，被眾人擯棄？以十字架為王座？以荊棘為冠冕呢？甚至寄居在他人的墓穴，默默地等待天父來復活祂呢？（路17:25）天主國完全不是我們所期望的，難怪天主國是難以觸摸！

親愛的兄弟姊妹！有如法利塞人一樣，理性不足以救國，有如熱誠者一樣，充滿熱血的意志敗事有餘。惟有基於愛德的謙遜服從，纔是真正的苦口良藥，根治原罪所帶來的傷害。亞孟。
天主保祐！

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生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：grok.com

[Original Sin Series (IV)]
Theme: The Kingdom of Heaven is Built on Charity (Luke 17:20-25)

It is understandable that the contemporary Jews in Jesus’ time, bearing the identity of “God’s Chosen People”, were unhappy living under the colonial rule of the Roman Empire. They were anticipating the appearance of the promised Messiah to establish the “Kingdom of God” (2 Samuel 7:14), to walk tall once more among the pagans! Of course, there were factions in the Jewish Sanhedrin that wanted to maintain the status quo and had no intention to overthrow the Roman rule. As “teachers of Israel” (John 3:10), the Pharisees belonged to the former faction but were reluctant to resort to violence like the Zealots. They believed that by observing the Mosaic laws they had compiled, God would deliver them. Consequently, they became armchair philosophers and gave people the impression of being hypocrites. The Zealots thought that violence would restore their dream kingdom. On the contrary, Jews became fugitives for more than 1800 years.

Jesus Christ understands that the blood and iron policy of the Roman Empire is only one of a thousand cards on Satan’s sleeve. The mission of the Son of God is to uproot evil and help humanity reconcile with God, not simply to overthrow a negligible Roman Empire! As the subsequent history of two millennia unfolds, whether it be Crusades or two World Wars in the 20th century, humanity has not been able to establish a world order of charity, justice and peace. The “Kingdom of God” in Jesus’ heart is diametrically different from the Jewish anticipation of the “Messianic Kingdom” or the “Taiping Heavenly Kingdom”.

Among the people in power, who don’t want to be admired, to enter the capital in triumph on stallions? On the contrary, who want to wash the feet of their servants, to feed their people during famines with their own flesh and blood? In agony when companions are badly need, who want to fight alone as the last badass deserted by all? Who want to be enthroned on a cross? Who wants to be buried in other’s sepulchre and to wait silently for the Heavenly Father to raise him up (Luke 17:25)? The Kingdom of God is completely different from our expectations. No wonder the Kingdom of God is hard to grasp!

Beloved brethren! Like the Pharisees, rationality does not save. Like the Zealots, a will of hot-blood is only a bull in a china shop. Only with a humble obedience based on charity can the injuries of the Original Sin be fully healed. Amen.
God bless!

如何失去信德 How to Lose Faith

《原罪系列 III》
主題：如何失去信德（路17:11-19）

神學上有一句格言，姑且翻譯為：「祈禱律即信德律即生活律Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi」。意思是我們用祈禱來表達我們的信仰，並以生活實踐信仰。很明顯，基督徒不會，亦不應該向黃大仙、關帝或觀音祈求；同樣也不會參考他們生平言行，作我們生活的楷模。因此，那十個癩病人對耶穌的信德是肯定的（路17:13）。主耶穌也沒有令他們失望，立刻俯允了他們的祈禱，治癒了他們（17:14）。請注意，他們的信德是伴隨著行動的，他們服從主耶穌的吩咐，去找司祭檢驗。但有行動的信德未必足以保持信德！

所謂「好戲在後頭」，這個治療神跡的重點在後面，在回來光榮天主和感謝耶穌的撒瑪黎雅癩病人身上。請注意，我們不能因為那9個沒有立刻回來感謝耶穌的癩病人，便判斷他們全部都是忘恩負義的人！因為我們只可以肯定，他們在司祭檢驗之後，必須按梅瑟法律所規定的，向天主祭獻（谷1:44）。所以他們不會是忘恩負義的人！不過這份感恩之心，因時間流逝而沖淡的可能性會越來越高！即是說，他們後來的祭獻，可能是按規定做，而未必出自真心的感恩！

親愛的兄弟姊妹！綜合上述的考慮，主耶穌藉著這個立刻回來光榮和感謝的癩病人，教導我們經常懷有感恩之心是非常重要的，因為它可以滋潤和保存我們的信德（17:19）。沒有感恩之心，恐怕我們遲早會失去信德！
天主保祐！

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生命恩泉
圖片鳴謝：grok.com, copilot.microsoft.com

[Original Sin Series (III)]
Theme: How to Lose Faith (Luke 17:11-19)

In theology, there is an aphorism which reads, “Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi” which can roughly be rendered as “The law of prayer is the law of faith, the law of living”. It means our prayers express our faith which guides our lives. Obviously, Christians do not pray to Wong Tai Sin, Lord Guan or Avalokiteśvara. Similarly, we do not look up to their words and deeds as exemplars. Thus, the faith of the ten lepers was beyond doubt (Luke 17:13). Lord Jesus did not disappoint, immediately answered their prayers and cleansed them all (17:14). Notice that their faith was accompanied by actions. They obeyed Jesus’ instruction to go and show themselves to the priests. But actions do not necessarily keep faith safe!

As usual, the best is yet to come. The gist of this healing miracle is on the Samaritan leper who came back to give glory to God and to give thanks to Jesus. Beware! We cannot judge the nine, who did not return immediately to thank Jesus, for being ungrateful! We can only be certain that after showing to priests they had to offer sacrifice prescribed by Moses (Mark 1:44). They could not be ungrateful! However, this gratitude might, with the passage of time, diminish! That is to say, their latter offerings might become routine and would not be genuine!

Beloved brethren! From the deliberation above, we see that Lord Jesus wants to teach us with this leper, who came back immediately to praise and thank God, the importance of maintaining a grateful heart. It moistens and maintains our faith (17:19). Without a grateful heart, sooner of later we will lose our faith!
God bless!