聆聽天主的話 Listening to the word of God

主題：聆聽天主的話
進入常年期，禮儀所見的都是綠色，正值炎炎夏日，萬物欣欣向榮，正好提醒我們也要繼續成長，在靈性上要長進，要默想體會救主耶穌的心意。
今年是禮儀年的乙年，主要選讀【馬爾谷福音】。福音的結構十分簡單，以敘述耶穌的生平行實為主，並沒有長篇大論的道理，故事性強，可讀性相當高，是認識耶穌的入門書。
馬爾谷把耶穌的講道集中在第四章的天國比喻和第十三章有關世界末日的言論。今天所聽到的是有關天國的其中兩個比喻。耶穌是非常明白我們的需要，所以祂把深奧的道理，用故事的形式告訴我們。試問您記得上個月第二個主日，我/神父所講的那篇道理嗎？就算我講故事，您們也未必記得，因為有太多其他的電影、電視的故事充斥著大家的心。為了我們的蒙召成聖，我們必需為自己的靈魂騰出一些私人空間，與耶穌傾談。現在讓我們默想芥子比喻為我們有甚麼意義吧。
首先，「天國」是甚麼意思呢？二千年前的門徒所理解天國，可能有別於我們今天的理解。但是我們相信，耶穌在二千年前對門徒所說的話，也是對我們說的。有聖神的啟迪和助佑，我們可以放心大膽地演繹「天國」的意義。
對二千年前的門徒，芥子的比喻鼓舞著他們對天國的希望。耶穌說，在開始的時候，不要擔心天國是微不足道的，因為它發展起來是很有潛力的，很茂盛的。如果我們把天國理解成為教會，耶穌即是說，在開始的時候，教會是微不足道的，祗有120個信徒。經過三百年的教難、中世紀的腐敗、啟蒙時代世俗化和無神論的沖擊，今天的教會仍然是茂盛的。根據2013年的數字，全球約有七十二億人，其中十二億是天主教徒，另外十二億是其他的基督宗教例如東正教、聖公會等，即全球人口的三分一。既然基督徒的「市場佔有率」這麼高，我們還需要對天國、對教會懷有希望嗎？答案是肯定的。我們仍需要對天國、對教會懷有希望，不能掉以輕心。經過了二千年的努力，人數是增加了，但質素呢？所以，現代的著眼點已不再是每年有多少人領洗入教，而是提高教友的信仰質素，改善每個人與主耶穌的關係，即幾位教宗所呼籲的「新福傳」。
但無論神職人員如何大聲疾呼，呼籲大家多讀經祈禱、領聖事、求大赦等；或者攪攪新意思，安排明供聖體、公唸玫瑰經、泰澤祈禱、行山拜苦路、酵母行動等，倘若教友接收不到，或不接受，神職人員的努力是徒勞無功的。問題可能出現在宣傳方面，又或教友本身的困難。種子自長的比喻正好告訴傳教士和神職人員，當有很多人參加活動時，不要驕傲自滿；當很少人回應時亦不要灰心，因為福傳的成敗不是與我們的努力成正比的，我們要承認不知道種子是如何生長的。我們儘管做好傳福音的工作，其他的天主自會照顧。是天主使傳播的渠道暢通，是天主開啟聽眾的心靈耳朵。
不過，我們沒有理由甚麼也不做，等待天主來開啟我們心靈的耳朵。這種態度是不正確的，因為天主送給我們的心靈耳朵，我們是有責任好好保養這個接收器的。如果保養得不好，不能接收到天主的指示，又怎能接收到天主為我們預備了很多的恩寵。我們知道到那裡找嗎？倘若我們不留心聆聽天主的指示，我們知道怎樣取得天主的恩寵嗎？
首先，我們做教友應有成聖的意向。如果我們祗滿足於到美麗的天主教教堂舉行婚禮，進入天主教名校讀書，或者安貧小姊妹會的安老院、又或者充足的骨灰龕等，我們太看不起天主的恩寵了。天主為祂揀選的人所預備的恩寵，是何等的高貴偉大，何祗名校、安老院和骨灰龕呢？祂邀請我們成聖，分享祂超性的生命。
其次，我們必須讓自己靜下來。在這商業化的大都會外面有太多噪音了，就算戴了耳塞，仍然聽到坐在旁邊的兄台由上車大大聲講電話講到落車。總算返到聖堂，可以寧靜下來。可是，我相信大家都有這個經驗，就是靜下來的時候，內裡的噪音開始抬頭了，思潮起伏，各種各樣的念頭在爭奪您的注意。這些就是所謂「祈禱時的分心」了。總無法靜下來，如何是好？答案是我們需要時間。不是站在聖母像前兩三分鐘唸三次聖母經可以做到的。唸經不是不好，但當您說話的時候，您可以同時聽到對方的說話嗎？您祈禱是與天主交談，您不斷唸經、求恩、謝恩、為其他人轉求的話，您聽到天主對您說話嗎？讓心中的各種念頭浮動一會兒，不用壓抑它，它會自然沉寂下來的。倘若它不斷重覆浮現，這表示你需要處理的問題了。除了把它交托給天主的慈悲之外，你需要找神職人員指導了。這個指導人就是所謂的「神師」了。
有沒有更有效的辦法處理分心的現象呢？有。例如運用聖經作為默想祈禱的材料。這就是天主教傳統的寶庫之一，行之有效的「本篤靈修」和「依納爵靈修」了。為甚麼有這麼多的靈修方法呢？其實就好像中國功夫一樣，有不同的派別，迎合不同人的需要。不過，它們都採用「神聖誦讀Lectio Divina」的基本功，去聆聽天主，親近天主。
如果持之以恆，保養得好，有朝一日，我們的接收器的功率便會大大提高。當我們領會到耶穌的心意時，我們就到達天國的境界了。 天主保佑。

The Eleventh Sunday (Year B)
Theme: Listening to the word of God
On Ordinary Sundays, the liturgical colour is green. It is summer time and all living things are thriving. It reminds us of our need to grow continually. We also need to grow spiritually, to understand the heart of Jesus our Saviour.
It is Year B according to the liturgical calendar. Gospel readings are mostly chosen from Mark whose structure is rather simple. It mainly tells the life of Jesus without long proses of teachings. It is narrative and highly readable, a good introductory biography to help us know Jesus.
Mark collects the teachings of the Kingdom of Heaven in Chapter 4 and eschatology in Chapter 13. In the reading today, we heard of 2 parables about the Kingdom. Jesus knows our needs very well. So, he tells us sophisticated theology in simple stories. Ask yourself, do you remember what the priest preached in his homily on the second Sunday last month? Even if he used stories, we might not remember because there are too many stories from movies and TV competing for our attention. For our vocation to sainthood, we need to spare some private space for our soul to enter into a dialogue with Jesus. So, let us meditate the meanings of the parable of Mustard Seed first.
First of all, what does “Kingdom of Heaven” mean? Two thousand years ago, the understanding of the disciples about the Kingdom might be different from our understanding today. But we believe that what Jesus told the disciples 2000 years ago was also meant to tell us. With the inspiration and help from the Holy Spirit, we may boldly speculate the meanings of the Kingdom.
For the disciples 2000 years ago, the parable of mustard seed cheered them up, boosted their hope in the Kingdom. Jesus told us not to worry about the meagre beginning of the Kingdom because it had great potential to grow and prosper. If we understand the Kingdom as the Church, Jesus was actually saying that at the beginning, the Church was meagre. There were only 120 disciples. After 3 centuries of persecutions, the corruptions in the Middle Ages and the secularization and onslaught of atheism since Enlightenment, the Church is still thriving. According to the data in 2013, the world population stood at 7.2 billion. Among them there were 1.2 billion Catholics and another 1.2 billion Christians including Orthodox and Anglicans etc. That is to say, Christianity occupies one third of world population. Now that our “market share” is high, do we still need to put our hope in the Church, in the Kingdom? The answer is affirmative. We still need to hope for the Church and cannot afford to be complacent. After the effort of 2 millennia, the number is increased, but what of the quality? Therefore, the focus today is not the number of people baptized each year, but the raising of quality of faith and improving the relationship of each individual with Jesus. This is the “new evangelization” which several popes have been advocating.
But no matter how loudly the clergy appeal to you to pray, to read the Bible, to receive sacraments and to obtain indulgences; or rack their brains for some new ideas such as Eucharistic adoration, saying the rosary, Taizé prayers, outdoor Stations of the Cross and Yeast Movement etc., if you fail to receive the message or refuse to accept it, the effort of the clergy is futile. The problem may arise from promotion works, or the personal difficulties of the parishioners. The parable of the Growing Seed tells the missionaries and clergy that when many people turn up in their evangelization programs, don’t get proud and self-contented; when very few people respond, don’t be crestfallen. It is because the success of evangelization is not directly proportional to human efforts. We need to admit our ignorance of how the seed grows. We do our part and God will take care of the rest. It is God who clears up the obstacles in the communication channel and opens up the spiritual ears of men.
However, there is no reason for us not to do anything, waiting for God to open up our spiritual ears. This attitude is wrong because God has given us a spiritual ear. We have the duty to maintain the proper functioning of this “receiver”. If it is not working and failing to receive God’s instruction, how can we receive the many graces God has in store for us? Do we know where to look for? If we do not pay attention to God’s instructions, how do we know that we have obtained God’s grace?
First of all, as a Catholic, we should harbour an intention to sainthood. If we are contented with the beautiful church buildings in which we marry, the elite Catholic schools, the homes for the aged run by the nuns and the ossuaries, how much do we look down upon the grace of God! How much greater and nobler the grace God has prepared for His chosen ones than elite schools, homes for the aged and ossuaries! He invites us to become saints, to share his supernatural life.
Secondly, we need to enter tranquillity. There are too many external noises in this commercial cosmopolitan city. Even if we put on ear-plugs, we can still hear the man sitting next to us, yelling over the phone from the moment he gets onto the coach to the moment he alights. At last, we reach the Church and quiet down. However, and I believe this is the experience of all of us, the moment we quiet down, many internal noises begin to pop up. Many thoughts and volitions are fighting for our attention. These are the so called “distractions in prayer”. What should we do? There seems to be no way to quiet down. The answer is, we need time. This cannot be achieved by reciting 3 Hail Marys in front of the Madonna in three minutes. It is not bad to recite prayers, but when you speak, you are not able to listen to the other party. We engage in a dialogue when we pray to God. When we recite prayers, petitions, thanksgivings and intercessions for the others, can we hear what God has to say to us? Let all distractions float for a while. There is no need to suppress them. They will die down naturally. If they keep on popping up, it means it is something you need to deal with. Besides offering them to the mercy of God, you need to look for a clergy to help you. This is your ‘Spiritual Director’.
Is there any other effective ways to deal with distractions? There are. For example, we can make use of the Scripture as our material for prayer. There are many schools of effective spirituality in the Catholic tradition such as Benedictine Spirituality and Ignatius Spirituality. Why are there so many schools of spirituality? Like Chinese kung-fu, in order to meet the needs of individual physique and stamina, there are different schools of Chinese kung-fu. However, all schools of spirituality make use of Lectio Divina as a fundamental way to listen to God, to draw near to God.
With perseverance and good maintenance, one day, the efficiency of our “receiver” will be highly raised. When we are able to understand the heart of Jesus, we attain the Kingdom of Heaven.
God bless.

Eating Jesus' body and be saved

Eating Jesus' Body and be saved

With my limited knowledge of Chinese history and legends, I am able to locate a story in which eating the flesh of a son and his father was saved.
The son was called 伯邑考, the first born of 姬昌, a feudal lord in the west serving the last emperor, the notorious tyrant紂王of the Shang商Dynasty. The tyrant was suspicious of the loyalty of 姬昌 and had him imprisoned. Perhaps one of the reasons was that 姬昌 was a famous oracle. During his imprisonment, he was accredited for finalizing the Chinese classic I-Ching易經. In order to save his father. 伯邑考 brought along treasures and offered himself as a hostage. The tyrant made him a charioteer. Later, in order to test the oracle skills and loyalty of the father, the tyrant boiled the son and gave the soup to the father. The tyrant reasoned that if 姬昌were such a reputed holy man, he would not eat the soup made of his son. Out of fear, 姬昌 ate the soup and regained his freedom. Upon his return, 姬昌was more determined to overthrow the insane tyrant. His second son 姬發 succeeded him and united 800 feudal lords to finally overthrow the tyrant and built up the Zhou周Dynasty which lasted for more than 800 years in Chinese history. 《史記正義·殷本紀》

If you think the story gruesome, think about the Holy Eucharist of Christianity. Catholics believe that the Sunday and daily mass is more than a remembrance of the Last Supper. The mass is a celebration, a re-enactment Jesus' sacrifice on Mount Calvary in a non-bloody way. During the Last Supper, Jesus took up the bread, broke it and announced that it is his body which would be broken on the cross for the redemption of mankind. Catholics and some other Christians believe in the real presence of Jesus in the consecrated bread because Jesus said so. Eating his body, we partake in his redemption. We become a part of his Mystical Body and we are assured of our salvation and ascension etc. Looking back, the theology is not that bizarre after all when we have heard about the Chinese story. Of course they are not the same because Jesus is God while伯邑考was only a mortal. However, the theme of sacrificing oneself so that others may live runs through human history in many heroic stories.

Contemplation before the Eucharist teaches us one important mystery, the incarnation. If it is difficult to grasp the wonder of God being made flesh, of divinity "downgrading" into humanity, think about how Jesus becomes immobile within a piece of wafer, waiting for our consumption. After receiving the Holy Communion, we absorb Jesus into our bloodstream. We are animated and strengthened to bear witness and work charity. So is Jesus who has been imprisoned and immobilized in the wafer after consecration, reminiscent of the Son of God taking up humanity. What a mystery of love!

Dear Lord, strengthen me to carry out your will, to make your presence felt in the world. Amen.

Australian Same Sex Marriage, Part 3

"I myself as a believer and a mother, if one day my son tells me, 'I have found someone whom we love each other. We intend to get married to spend the rest of our life. But it is a he. Will you come to our marriage to give us your blessing?' I will say yes. This is the love of a mother towards her son. Among faith, hope and love, love is the greatest.  When you learn that sexual orientation is inborn, you will understand the wishes of homosexuals are based on love."

"When you learn that sexual orientation is inborn, you will understand the wishes of homosexuals are based on love."
Let me narrow down the sexual orientation to gay orientation. Human beings are the product of the interaction between nature and nurture. Human beings are born immaturely and they take years to interact with their environment to become what they are. Assuming that there are gay genes. Men born with gay genes have the potential to become fully blown gay. Some will successfully develop their gay potential while others do not, depending on the environment. A study of identical twins in 2000 yielded only a 20% concordance rate. That is to say, only one out of five pairs of identical twins are gay together. That is to say, there are many more factors during their formative years which determine the outcomes of inborn gay. (Interested readers can refer to a webpage I made and updated in 2014 on "Controversies over Same Sex Marriages", slide #21.) 
That is the reason why I strongly oppose gay couples adopting children, especially male children. Gay couples themselves are products of their gay potential with the environment. Men are known to modify their environment for their survival. Therefore gay people will modify their environment so that their gay potential may be actualized with the least hindrance. Even today, we do not have any screening tests to determine the sexual orientation of a baby. (Such a screening test is ethically questionable. Heterosexual parents cannot abandon their children born with gay potential, can they?) We believe that most babies are born heterosexual because we estimate that only 2% of the general population are gay. There is a 98% chance for gay couples to have adopted a heterosexual baby to be raised in a gay environment. No matter how much the gay couple love the heterosexual baby, the gay environment they create to live in will hinder the normal realization of the heterosexual orientation of the baby. That is my worry.

"I myself as a believer and a mother, ... , I will say yes. This is the love of a mother towards her son. Among faith, hope and love, love is the greatest."
I have no doubt about the love of my sister-in-love towards her son. I am sure her heart will ache when she says yes to her son. Erich Fromm named 4 basic elements in true love: care, responsibility, respect and knowledge. We have to admit that most of us are only successful in varying degrees of care, responsibility, respect and knowledge. Of course we care and carry out our parental responsibilities as much as we can. We respect the autonomy of our grown up children but not when they were young. Responsibility overwrote respect in their formative years. During their adolescence, parents knew less and less about their children when the generation gap widened. Therefore, it will not surprise me if one day, my son invites me to attend his wedding with a man. But our relationship must have been dysfunctional for a long time and I am responsible for that. I will attend the wedding but my heart bleeds. I am a failure for I have failed my son. How can I fail to know his gay orientation and fail to provide him with proper guidance when he was young? 
Respect does not forbid me from telling him the truth about human sexuality. The truth is that sex is not just for personal enjoyment, for making money and for building up relations etc. Sex is for procreation. There are different types of relationships. Relationship among basket team members is brotherhood. So are gay couples. NBA team members do not give birth to new human beings. So don't gay couples. Only heterosexual couples do. 
As a believer in Christ, I profess that love is the greatest among the three theological virtues. But love must be practised in truth. Otherwise, tragedies will catch us up.

p.s.
As a Catholic, I have developed a habit of reading the Bible reading of daily masses. On these couple of days we are reading Tobis which the Protestants treat as apographa because this book does not have a Hebrew version in the Old Testament. I would like to quote the prayer of Tobia and his wife Sarah, his kinswoman, on their wedding night.
Sarah had been married to 7 men before. A demon killed these 7 men before they could approach Sarah. She was cursed. The story of Tobia has a happy ending. With God's help, Tobia was able to free Sarah from the curse of the demon. Tobia redeemed Sarah. In a Christian marriage, husband and wife redeem each other. I am not sure how this may work out in gay unions.
"And now, O Lord, I am not taking this sister of mine because of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that I may find mercy and grow old together with her. And she said with him, 'Amen.'" (Tobia 8:7-8)
The Greek original for "sincerity" is ἀληϑείας, in Latin veritate, both of which mean "truth".

Australian Same Sex Marriage, Part 2

"I myself as a believer and a mother, if one day my son tells me, ' I have found someone whom we love each other. We intend to get married to spend the rest of our life. But it is a he. Will you come to our marriage to give us your blessing?' I will say yes. This is the love of a mother towards her son. Among faith, hope and love, love is the greatest.  When you learn that sexual orientation is inborn, you will understand the wishes of homosexuals are based on love. The world is changing everyday because human beings are changing. There were matriarchal societies, polygamy (nowadays, some religions and local customs still allow polygamy). Now, same sex marriage is part of human history."

Last time, I did not have enough time to deal with this last part of my sister-in-law's message. I bluntly said that it was full of fallacies and I owe her an explanation.

Let me begin with "The world is changing everyday because human beings are changing."
This is obvious but a lot of things have been oversimplified. 
Many things remain unchanged. For example, Men are mortal. Human beings are born immaturely. They need a relatively stable community to grow up and it takes years for them to develop their full potentials. Moreover, only women can give birth to children. Men cannot. They need to work together to bring forth new human beings. That is why a social institution called marriage is established to provide such a stable community. 

"There were matriarchal societies, polygamy (nowadays, some religions and local customs still allow polygamy)."
There are different forms of marriage, e.g. monogamy, bigamy and polygamy. All of them involve the pairing up men and women. There are two types of polygamy: polyandry in which a woman has several husbands at the same time; and polygyny in which a man has several wives at the same time. One thing remains unchanged. Polygamy is heterosexual. It involves joining men and women together.
It is easy to imagine human society to begin with matriarchy because a mother-child relationship was easier to recognize while it was more difficult to see the link of a baby with its biological father. Furthermore, it is easy to imagine a matriarchal society to practice polyandry. It is supposed to be a manifestation of women power over men. But anthropologists tell us that power actually fall into the hand of the brother of the matriarch, the uncle of the offspring, a man. When women were busy giving birth to babies and nursing them, it is easy to imagine a coup d'etat in which men overthrew matriarchy to set up patriarchal societies. Furthermore, men began to take advantage of the reproductive capacity of women and enslave them. Polygyny arose. Such arrangements cannot arise without appropriate social-economical environment to support them. A man cannot support several wives unless he has enough physical, psychological and financial strength as well as favourable social factors to enable him. A king can afford 3000 concubines while a beggar can have at most one. At most, the so called analysis above can only be wild guesses and is not scientific at all. Yet, many people believe that human society did go through such an evolution. The next step? Same sex marriage.

"Now, same sex marriage is part of human history."
Same sex unions cannot be called marriages. First of all, there are two different types of same sex unions: gay union and lesbian union. They cannot be the same because gay unions cannot give birth to children without involving a surrogate woman while lesbian unions can, ignoring the immorality of IVF. Here is a dilemma. If we only pass laws sanctioning lesbian marriage, gay couples will cry discrimination. If we pass laws sanctioning same sex marriage, gay couples will enjoy a greater share of advantages over lesbian couples. Thus same sex marriage law is unfair to lesbian couples. The Australians are debating about equality of marriages. This is wrongheaded because part of the reasons of the institution of marriage is to provide for the needs of children. The world needs new human beings. A society needs babies otherwise it will age quickly. Women need babies. It is part of their mother instinct. Men need babies. They need inheritors of their empires. 
Heterosexual unions are open to new life and carry greater burden of raising up new human beings. Therefore it is right to provide greater benefits for heterosexual unions. On the other hand, gay unions are sterile and have given up the responsibility of raising new human lives. It is unfair to enjoy benefits while refusing to shoulder responsibilities. I have no authority to stop homosexuals from living together, but don't call it marriage please. Such a union does not deserve the title "marriage".

I will deal with the question of sexual orientation and parenting tomorrow.

Australian Same Sex Marriage

Our debate started in WhatsApp which is not a good platform for lengthy texts. Therefore, I invited my friends to come over here to exchange our views.
Moreover, I want to know more about the situation in Australia because many Hong Kong ordinances have been inspired by similar laws in UK and Australia. When I teach my students sexual ethics and when I deal with similar issues in the future in the capacity of a permanent deacon, I need to have a broader perspective.

The debate started when a lady friend urged us to vote against Australia passing same-sex marriage in an online poll by 9news.com.au. I oppose same-sex marriage, but I do not like meddling with the affairs of other countries. The lady, perhaps shocked like me about the outcome of the recent Irish referendum on same-sex marriage, a defeat of the Irish Catholic Church, thought we should fight the battle on all fronts.
Then, my sister-in-law in Australia told us about the tolerant atmosphere in Australia where same-sex civil unions have been endorsed. She said not many same-sex couples raise kids and she has homosexual friends and colleagues. A few of them have kids who are good classmates of her son. "Their families are full of love", she said in WhatsApp. The lady friend in WhatsApp thought that it was too dangerous.

Out of curiosity, I asked my sister-in-law.
"Same-sex couples cannot give birth to children which must be adopted." (I was proven wrong later.)
"Australian government respects the adoption right of homosexuals, but children must have been born of heterosexuals. Does the Australian government respect the right of children to be raised by heterosexual parents?"
Here is the reply of my sister-in-law.
"The children of homosexuals I know of were born of their mothers. (i.e. lesbian couples) Their children study in the Catholic boy school in which my son studies and they are good friends. Thanks the school for offering Study of Religions as a compulsory subject. The kids know different religions and learn of love and tolerance. I myself have taught me son love, respect and compassion. If I cannot do this to the family members of his friends, how can I set up a model for my son, to make my son trust his mother, to keep always love and compassion?"
Though I claim to be an opponent of same-sex marriage, I have less objection against lesbian couples because men and women are different in many ways. To be more exact, I oppose gay marriage more than lesbian marriage. As for the part on love and compassion, it is commendable. However, one crucial point is missing. Truth. There is no doubt about love and compassion. However, when we love in the wrong ways, tragedy arises. Love must be practised within truth. And what is the truth? This is a big question. To be tolerant means I should not impose my understanding of the truth on you. But I still have the duty to tell you the truth as I understand it.

My sister-in-law continued.
"Most of the children of same-sex couples came from IVF. Mothers gave birth to their own children while men sought surrogate mothers who are friends or voluntary surrogates. In order to protect children and surrogate mothers, NSW forbids commercial dealings, only altruistic. Exploitation of women and children through adoption and surrogacy should be condoned and penalised. However, not just same sex couples will adopt children or use commercial surrogate service. Heterosexual couples exploit too."
With the advance of technology, we are able to do a lot of things. However, should we do what we can do? This is another big question. Ethics. Human beings are more than animals because we are rational. We are able to tell the difference between good and bad. We are able to foresee the consequences of actions. Are they contradictory? Are they virtuous? Human beings uphold values. Technology extents our ability. But technology can be very selfish and unethical. For example, we enjoy comfort and convenience at the expense of our future generations. It is blatant injustice. Therefore, we have environmental ethics.
All ethical schools of thought condemn IVF. It is unethical because we treat other human persons as an object to satisfy our need. I dare anyone to tell her IVF son the truth, "Son, we made you in a tube to satisfy our needs! You are not the fruit of our love."
Surrogacy is even worse. It is a power relationship in which the rich male exploit the reproductive capacity of the poor female. Michael Sandel's "What money cannot buy" and "Outsourcing Pregnancy to India" speak loudly against such unethical dealings. The path to hell is littered with good intentions. Good intentions cannot turn what is unethical ethical.
Lastly, unethical is unethical no matter who does it, be it heterosexual or homosexual. The wrongs done by heterosexuals cannot right the wrongs done by homosexuals. Exploitation is exploitation. Exploitation done by heterosexual couples cannot justify the exploitation done by homosexual couples.

"I myself as a believer and a mother, if one day my son tells me, ' I have found someone whom we love each other. We intend to get married to spend the rest of our life. But it is a he. Will you come to our marriage to give us your blessing?' I will say yes. This is the love of a mother towards her son. Among faith, hope and love, love is the greatest.  When you learn that sexual orientation is inborn, you will understand the wishes of homosexuals are based on love. The world is changing everyday because human beings are changing. There were matriarchal societies, polygamy (nowadays, some religions and local customs still allow polygamy). Now, same sex marriage is part of human history."
The above section is full of fallacies and I hope I can talk more about it tomorrow. Sorry for my bluntness because I am an Ethics and Religious Studies teacher.

天主奇妙的愛 The Amazing Love of God

復活期第六主日
主題：天主奇妙的愛

今天想與大家默想天主那奇妙的、意想不到的愛。
在今天的第一篇讀經，【宗徒大事錄】之中，有兩件事值得留意。
第一，初期教會不像今天的教會以「天主聖三」之名施洗，而是因主耶穌基督之名施洗（宗10:48）。只用耶穌之名施洗，好像漏了些甚麼，會不會是不完滿的洗禮呢？其實，我們的信仰是有歷史的，是信徒經過二千年來的努力，千錘百鍊所得來的。
「有歷史的」表示我們對真理的認識，尚未完滿。能應付到二千年前的農村的需要道理並不表示能滿足到今天的國際大都會的需要。幸好耶穌曾許諾派遣聖神與教會同在，教導她所需要的所有真理。所以，祗要對天主的慈愛抱開放的心，就能掌握到所需要的真理。「對天主的慈愛抱開放的心」是甚麼意思，讓我們再看【宗徒大事錄】值得留意的第二件事。

耶穌的門徒全部都是猶太人。耶穌升天的時候，門徒們仍念念不忘復國，仍然以為耶穌復活後會領導他們驅逐羅馬人，解放他們，重建以色列。初期教會以為自己是「新以色列」，取代舊的以色列。舊的以色列有十二支派。所以，耶穌選十二個宗徒。當十二宗徒之一的猶達斯死了，就補選了瑪弟亞，填補猶達斯的遺缺。所以，接受外邦人加入教會是宗徒們所始料不及的。在我們今天沒有讀到的故事的前半部所記載，連伯多祿都認為不應接受外邦人加入教會。
我們不是猶太人，所以是外邦人。我們有幸入教，覺得天主的慈愛是理所當然的，祗是初期教會的猶太信徒太頑固，是他們的信德出了問題而已。其實今天的故事也同樣挑戰著我們對天主的慈愛的開放程度。讓我們來接受挑戰吧！

在我們上慕道班，學習天主教道理的時候，我們學過堅振聖事賜予聖神，而祗有無罪的人纔能領受聖神。因為堅振聖事不像聖洗聖事、告解聖事及病人傅油聖事。這三件聖事是為了赦罪和為了醫治靈魂的病弱。堅振聖事是給予已經領洗重生的人七種恩寵，即所謂「聖神七恩」，讓他們的靈魂成長發展，加強領堅振的人靈魂的力量，成為耶穌的勇兵，在人前為耶穌作見證。在今天的讀經中，科爾乃略全家尚未領洗，即是說他們仍有原罪和本罪，卻先領聖神。很奇怪，那些原罪、本罪不會阻擋他們領受聖神的恩寵嗎？更何況，他們未領洗重生，他們的靈魂就好像未出生的嬰兒一樣。試問未出生的嬰兒又怎樣長大成人呢？合乎邏輯嗎？為甚麼我們的道理與聖經的記載會出現矛盾呢？莫非我們學了錯誤的道理嗎？抑或是我們好像初期教會中的猶太信徒一樣，是我們的信德出了問題嗎？

其實，我們不得不承認我們是有限的受造物，我們在各方面多方面都是不足的，好像耶穌時代的猶太司祭和經師。他們為甚麼要唾棄耶穌呢？因為他們頑固，對天主的慈愛採取封閉的態度，自命為天主救恩的代理人。自己不做，也不讓別人做。在他們眼中，耶穌離經背道，不守賴以得救的法律。例如：法律禁止觸摸不潔的人，耶穌卻觸摸不潔的癩病人；安息日不准做不必要的勞動，耶穌偏偏就在安息日治病；耶穌與不潔的羅馬人來往，治好百夫長的僕人；耶穌怎至與公開的罪人，稅吏娼妓一起同席；他搗亂聖殿；自認天主子；耶穌的罪，簡直罄竹難書。
這些猶太權貴不是罪大惡極的壞人，他們祗是接受一個符合他們要求的天主。最初，伯多祿不能接受外邦人加入教會，也是犯了同一個毛病，就是對天主的慈愛採取封閉的態度。他們的經驗，正好提醒我們對天主的慈愛要抱開放的態度。不與罪人來往，又如何令他們得救呢？按法律行事固然是好事，但強迫人死守法律的條文而忘卻法律的精神，豈不是本末倒置？天主為我們預備了很多的恩寵，倘若我們死守一些自己的偏見，而不去嘗試以天主的眼光看這個世界，不以天主的心愛這個世界，又怎能領受到天主豐富的慈愛呢？

很多夫婦對生命不敢開放，不想生育小朋友，恐怕沒有四百萬養育他們，恐怕他們受共產黨洗腦，將來用文革式的手段批鬥自己。其實，有誰比母親更能具體地表達天主對我們的愛呢？母親對子女無私的養育，正好反映出天主對人類奇妙及意想不到的慈愛。母親的確是教人認識天主慈愛的第一位老師。今天是母親節，讓我們為這些有顧慮的夫婦祈禱，祈望他們能對天主的慈愛開放，讓兩夫婦能憑天主的助佑，共同承擔使命，令作為妻子的能享受到做母親的喜樂。
很多的青年人對前途不敢開放，逃避回應聖召，恐怕自己不配做修道人，又恐怕年邁的雙親沒有人照顧。今年是「獻身生活年」，讓我們為這些充滿疑慮的青年祈禱，祈望他們能對天主的慈愛開放，鼓起勇氣蹈出第一步，探索天主為他們所預備了的恩寵。開放自己，讓天主的恩寵改造自己。
天主保佑。

2012年反省

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6^th Easter Sunday, Year B
Theme: The Amazing Love of God
Today, let us meditate on the amazing, undreamt of love of God.
In the first reading this morning, two things are worth paying attention to.
First of all, unlike today, the early Church did not baptize in the name of the Blessed Trinity, but in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:48). Something seemed to be missing if they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ only. Would their baptism be incomplete? In fact, our faith is historical. Our belief is the deposit of Christian efforts of the last 2 millennia.
That our faith is historical suggests that our understanding of the truth is incomplete. The “truth” which satisfied the needs of agricultural villages 2000 years ago may not meet those of a cosmopolitan city today. Luckily Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit who will teach us all the truth we need. Therefore, when we open up our hearts to the mercy of God, we will be able to get hold of the truth we need. What does it mean “to open up our hearts to the mercy of God”? Let us turn to the second detail I previously mentioned in the Acts today.

All the first generation disciples of Jesus were Jews. On his Ascension, the disciples still wanted to restore the kingdom of Israel. They still thought that after resurrection, Jesus would lead them to drive out the Romans, to liberate them and to regain independence. The early Church thought of themselves as the “New Israel” to replace the “Old Israel”. There were 12 tribes of (Old) Israel. Therefore, Jesus elected the Twelve. When Judas, one of the Twelve, had died, they chose Mathias to fill Judas’ vacancy. Therefore, admitting Gentiles into the Church was unthinkable for the Apostles. In the earlier part of the story we read today, even Simon Peter did not think it was right to admit Gentiles.
We are non-Jews, in other words, Gentiles. We were baptized and entered the Church and take God’s salvation and mercy for granted. We think that the problem lay in the stubbornness of the Jewish believers in the early Church. Their faith was flawed. However, the story today also challenges how open we are to the mercy of God. Let us take up the challenge.

When we learned the Catholic faith in our catechism class, we were told that the sacrament of Confirmation confers the Holy Spirit and only people whose sins have been remitted can receive it. Unlike the sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation and Anointment which forgive sins and heal the weaknesses of our souls, the sacrament of Confirmation confers to the newly reborn seven graces, the so called “Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit” to help their souls grow up, to strengthen their souls to become the soldiers of Christ and to bear witness before people etc. In the story today, all the family members of Cornelius were not baptized. That is to say, they still had the Original Sin and their actual sins but they received the Holy Spirit. Is it strange? Did not the Original Sin and their actual sins prevent them from receiving the graces of the Holy Spirit? Moreover, they were not yet reborn in baptism. Their souls were like babies not yet carried to term. How could an unborn baby be grown up into an adult? Is it logical? So, why do the instructions we received in catechism classes contradict with what is written in the Bible? Have we learnt something wrong? Or is our faith flawed like that of the Jewish Christians in the early Church?

In fact, we have to admit that we are finite creatures. We are inadequate in many areas like the Jewish priests and scribes in Jesus’ day. Why did they reject Jesus? It was because they were stubborn and closed themselves to the mercy of God. They made themselves the sole dispensers of God’s salvation. What they did not do, they forbade others to do. In their eyes, Jesus was a heretic who did not follow the Torah on which salvation depended. For example, Torah forbids touching the unclean but Jesus touched a leper; people are forbidden to do unnecessary labour on Sabbath but Jesus chose to heal on Sabbaths; Jesus befriended the unclean Romans, healing the servant of a centurion; Jesus even sat at table with public sinners such as publicans and prostitutes; he disrupted the Holy Temple and called himself the Son of God etc. The list of his sins is endless.
These Jewish authorities were not evil. They could only accept a God who fits their requirements. At first, when Peter could not accept Gentiles into the Church, he made the same mistake as the Jewish authorities. He was also closed to God’s mercy. What happened to them is a good reminder for us to be open to God’s mercy. If you refuse to walk along with sinners, how can you bring them salvation? Observing the Torah is a good thing. But by imposing the precepts on the people and forgetting the spirit of the Law, have we put the cart before the horse? God has prepared a lot of graces for us. If we stick to our prejudices and do not try to see the world with God’s eyes, to love the world with God’s heart, how can we receive the abundant grace of God?

Many couples dare not to be open to life. They do not want babies. They worry that they don’t have 4 million dollars to raise a kid. They are afraid that their children would be brainwashed by the Communists so that in the future they would suffer Cultural Revolution style “struggles”. In fact, who can concretely express God’s love better than mothers? The unreserved love of mothers in raising their kids genuinely reflects God’s amazing and undreamt of love towards humanity. Mothers are the first teachers of God’s love to humanity. Today is Mother’s Day. Let us pray for those worried parents. We pray that they can be open to God’s mercy and with the help of God, they can share their mission, enabling wives to taste the joy of motherhood.
Many young people dare not to remain open to their future. They evade their vocation. They worry whether they are worthy to consecrated life. They also worry that there is nobody to take care of their ageing parents. While this is the “Year of Consecrated Life”, let us pray for those confused youngsters. We pray that they are open to God’s mercy to take the first step to explore what grace God has in store for them.
Open ourselves up. Allow God’s mercy to transform us.
God bless.

God is greater than our hearts

Fifth Easter Sunday, Year B

My heart is not peaceful at all at this moment. The closer the ordination, the more unworthy I feel. The situation has worsened since the 7-day retreat in Taiwan. Wounds have been uncovered and yet they have not been properly treated. Don't misunderstand me, I am not putting the blame on anybody, which I found to be my MO, in particular the Spiritual Director, Fr. Francis Tam, who has been most helpful. After all, a retreat is a retreat, not a counselling or psychotherapy session. It is spiritual and not psychological. It is an encounter with Jesus Christ and a reconciliation with myself. And here lies the problem. I cannot forgive myself. In time, I will publish my spiritual journal of those 7 days. But at the moment, I am stressed.

At the moment, I feel like a bride who wants to run away the night before wedding. Have I not known Jesus enough? No. I think not. I celebrated my 45^th anniversary of Confirmation last month and in a few months, I will retire my 39-year career of Bible teaching. Do I not love Jesus? No. I always feel the same as St. Augustine that I have loved Him too late. Does Jesus love me? A categorical YES. There is no doubt about it and at times, I am conscious of his love. Is there anything missing? Not that I know of. So what is troubling me? I don't know. Perhaps I have not prayed hard enough.

"Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." (1 John 3:18-20)
My conscience is condemning me. John said that my love in deed and in truth shall reassure my heart because God is greater than my conscience and He knows everything.

Perhaps this is the meaning of a private revelation of mine. My wounds shall never get totally healed. I shall have to carry my wounds until the day I meet my Creator who is greater than my conscience but for my sake, He will not erase it. This lack of peace shall accompany me for my whole ministry in the future. This is just the beginning, a foretaste of the things to come in the future so that when it comes, I shall not be caught unprepared.

"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you." (John 15:7)
I pray that I shall not bring any scandal to the Church in my ministry. Amen.