2018-1-15

朋友们，今天的福音中有人问耶稣为什么他不叫他的门徒禁食。耶稣的回答妙极了：“若新郎尚在场，婚宴上的客人怎能禁食？” （顺便说一句，以问题回答问题是典型的犹太风格。）

 

《圣经新约》中婚宴的意象经常出现，最明显的就是加纳婚宴。传统中的婚宴意象更是层出不穷。耶稣就是天上人间的婚宴，神性和人性的联姻；祂就是新郎，而教会就是新娘。在祂身上，天主和世人取得了最亲密的结合。

 

想象一下人们在婚宴上禁食的情景是怎样的？想象一下你带着宾客进入高堂雅座，上菜时却只有面包和白开水，那会是怎样？太荒谬了吧！所以耶稣说：“他们与新郎在一起的时候，岂能禁食？”基督圣旨的标志是喜乐、丰盛、欣喜。天主与世人已经结合。难道还有比这更好的消息？

 

Friends, in today’s Gospel people ask Jesus why he doesn’t encourage fasting among his followers. Jesus’ answer is wonderful: "How can the guests at a wedding fast while the groom is still with them?" (That’s a typically Jewish style, by the way: answering a question with another question.)

 

This great image of the wedding feast comes up frequently in the New Testament, most obviously in the wedding feast at Cana narrative. And it is echoed in the Tradition. Jesus is the wedding of heaven and earth, the marriage of divinity and humanity; he is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. In him, the most intimate union is achieved between God and the world.

 

Could you imagine people fasting at a wedding banquet? Could you imagine going into an elegant room with your fellow guests and being served bread and water? It would be ridiculous! So says Jesus: "As long as the groom is with them, how could they fast?" The mark of the Christian dispensation is joy. Exuberance. Delight. God and the world have come together. What could be better news?

 

2018-1-16

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣要求我们认祂为主。接受耶稣是主意味着你必须改变生活。这对于很多人来说是大快人心的好消息，但对于一些人来说是极大的威胁。如果耶稣是主，那么我的自我、我的宗教、我的祖国、我的信念、我的文化都不能是主。

 

耶稣的复活清晰地表明了祂作为主的身份。所以关于耶稣复活的消息总是受到攻击、蔑视或者搪塞。《宗徒大事录》的作者提到保禄受到“暴力虐待”。我在YouTube论坛上也有过一点点相似的体验。我们都应该预期这种迫害，尤其当我们大胆地为主宣告。

 

这启示了一个奥秘：主召唤我们去宣扬福音，但并非所有人都会聆听。我们一旦完成宣扬的任务，就应该继续前行，不要执着于那些不聆听福音的人。为什么有些人听了后作出回应，而有些人却根本不听？我们不得而知，但天主自有定夺。

 

Friends, in today’s Gospel Jesus calls us to recognize him as Lord. Acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus means that your life has to change. For many this is liberating good news. But for others, it is a tremendous threat. If Jesus is Lord, my ego can’t be Lord. My religion can’t be Lord. My country, my convictions, and my culture cannot be Lord.

 

The Resurrection is the clearest indication of the Lordship of Jesus. This is why the message of the Resurrection is attacked, belittled, or explained away. The author of Acts speaks of "violent abuse" hurled at Paul. I have a small taste of this on my YouTube forums. We all should expect it, especially when our proclamation is bold.

 

This reveals a great mystery: we are called to announce the Good News to everyone, but not everyone will listen. Once we’ve done our work, we should move on and not obsess about those who won’t listen. Why do some respond and some don’t? We don’t know, but that’s ultimately up to God.

 

2018-1-17

朋友们，今天的福音讲述耶稣含怒治好了一个手枯干了的人。《圣经》经常提到神圣的愤怒，内容都是对天主热切渴望纠正错误的诗意表述。天主没有情绪的起伏。祂不会无故怄气。祂渴望在世间建立公正，并制止那些与祂对抗的力量。在今天的福音中，耶稣正是这样做。

 

这个故事与公正有关。什么是公正？我很喜欢柏拉图的简单定义：公正就是各得其所。公正就是平等，或者用圣经语言来说，是“正义”。意思是为所应为。用否定的方式来说，就是不要欺骗他人、不占人便宜、不剥夺别人的权利。

 

《圣经》总是教导我们：天主代表公正，同时希望我们成为公正的代表。耶稣说：“饥渴慕义的人是有福的。”这句话鼓舞着一代又一代的社会改革者，从威廉·威伯福斯到威廉·劳埃德·加里森到马丁·路德·金到若望·保禄二世。今天让我们默想他们的事迹吧。

 

Friends, today’s Gospel shows an angry Jesus healing a man with a withered hand. Whenever the Bible speaks of the divine anger, which it does a lot, it is talking poetically about God’s passion to set things right. God doesn’t go in and out of emotional states. He doesn’t fall into snits. He longs to establish justice on the earth and stands athwart those forces opposed to his purpose. This is precisely what Jesus does toward the Pharisees in today’s Gospel.

 

The episode concerns the idea of justice. Now what is justice? I love Plato’s simple definition: justice is rendering to each his due. It is fairness, or, to use more biblical language, "righteousness." It means doing the right thing. To state it negatively, it is not to cheat, not to take advantage of, not to deny someone his rights.

 

A steady teaching of the Bible is that God stands for justice and wants us to stand for it too. Jesus says, "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness." These are words that have inspired social reformers from William Wilberforce to William Lloyd Garrison to Martin Luther King to John Paul II. Let’s reflect on them today.