Monday, October 30, 2017

讓我一生事奉您吧!



十八世纪時,在美國有一個年青人決定去西岸淘金,碰碰運氣。結果不枉此行,拿著一大袋金返回東岸。途經 New Orleans 看見一羣人在聚集喧嘩,很熱鬧。細看才發觉原来有人在販賣奴隷。站在台上的是一個年青貌美,非常吸引人的黑人女子。台下人羣爭相出價,並不斷用汚言穢語戲弄和侮辱她;有些人甚至公然表明買了她後,要與她好好親近。

最後,一個中年男子喊出極高價目,志在必得。售賣者數了123正準備成交時,淘金的年青人從袋裡拿出超越高價三倍的金買了她。現塲的人哇然,有人埋怨他被美色衝昏頭腦乱出價,笑他是色魔。

他上台一手拉走黑人少女。她憤怒地在年青人面上吐口水,並狼狼地骂他。走到較幽静的地方時,年青人從口袋拿出剛用金買來的奴隸證書交給黑人少女説:「妳自由離開,好好做人吧!這是妳的自由證書。」

少女不敢相信自己的耳朵,感激流涕之餘,立即跪下説:「您付出重大代價,就是為了讓我自由?!!」她抱著年青人的腳,不斷重覆著這說話。最後她堅決地説:「先生,您為了我犧性您自己,請您也讓我為您做同樣的事:讓我一生事奉您吧!」

朋友:這黑人少女的故事,就是我的故事。若你不知道我為何提前退休,退休後做甚麼,這故事便是我的解釋。謝謝閲讀!

Thursday, October 26, 2017

「你們應該效法我, 如我效法了基督一樣」(格前 11:1)

「你們成了效法我們和效法主的人, 甚至成了馬其頓和阿哈雅衆信者的模範」(得前 1:6-7)。那樣較容易做呢?承認自己是罪人, 或是為他人豎立好榜樣? 我認為後者比前者難做百倍。

要建造一座會倒塌的橋樑是很容易的, 因為這座橋的倒塌是預料中事, 它的拆毀亦是無可避免。但若果這座橋樑是用來安全地承擔繁忙的交通, 工程計算便必需準確, 建造也要嚴謹;最後要通過嚴格測試和批准, 橋樑才能開放給公眾使用。為他人建立好榜樣就像建造一座好的橋樑。要取得他人的信任或甚至被他人效法, 我們務必做到「在任何事上, 避免這職務受詆毀」, 以免我們的過失, 不管如何微細, 成為仰望我們的人跌倒的因由 (格後6:3)。保祿對得撒洛尼人的教會非常滿意, 因為他們的努力使他們堪當鄰近信衆團體的「模範」。對於自己及教會領導人,保祿的要求同樣很高, 所以他亦邀請得撒洛尼人成為「效法我們和效法主的人」(得前 1:6)。

在為《生命恩泉》當義工的這些日子裡, 上主賜給我的恩寵, 實在不能一一細數。但若果我必需挑選其中最重要的一個, 我認為是能有機會與一群真正追隨基督的人緊密地一起工作, 他們願意徹底地活出天主教信仰的決心是堅定不移的。對他們來說, 聖保祿對生活的信念 - 「生活原是基督, 死亡乃是利益」- 並不只是座右銘這麽簡單, 而是他們生活的唯一方式 (斐 1:21)。

作為一個認真追隨基督的信徒, 如果我的價值觀和生活方式, 令我在這個不斷世俗化、是非不分、逐漸遠離天主的世界裡, 感到越來越不屬於和孤立的話,在《生命恩泉》這團體裏, 我卻找到支持及友情, 使我悠然自得,如在家中。這團體由一群虔誠 的天主教教友組成, 他們聚集起來不是為了自己, 卻是為了幫助他人; 這團體緊密地聯繫在一起, 不是因為他們要退縮, 卻是因為他們要向外伸展。

這個團體也不懼怕宣認他們自己就是「基督的馨香」(格後 2:15)。正如聖保祿一樣, 他們不退避和不隱藏自己; 他們站出來公開宣揚他們的志向: 「你們應效法我, 如我效法了基督一樣」(格前 11:1)。他們真心跟隨耶穌基督的教導, 立志成為地鹽世光, 並邀請大家到他們的基地「來看看罷」(若 1:39)。當他們奉行褔傳這特別的召叫時, 他們渴望獻出自己的身體 ‐ 他們的整個生命 - 「當作生活、聖潔和悅樂天主的祭品」(羅 12:1)。他們的願望是讓聖神的大能將自己轉化:變作帶來生命和令人愉悅的芬芳, 化為引發希望和甜美怡人的清香, 成了宣講仁愛和使人安慰的氣息。這感覺是毋可置疑的; 這屬靈的魅力令人難以抗拒。在他們內, 我感受到聖善, 而聖善是有吸引力的, 使人心儀。

(這是甲年常年期卅主日彌撒經文的反思。鳴謝生命恩泉翻譯組將英語原文翻譯成中文。)

Monday, October 2, 2017

If I Must Give One and Only One Reason Why I Support Fountain of Love and Life



“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord…so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia” (1 Thes 1:6-7).

Which is easier? Admitting that we are sinners or setting good examples for others to follow? I would submit to you that the latter is a hundred times more difficult to do.

If a bridge is built to fall, it can be constructed easily since its collapse is expected and its demolition all but inevitable. But if it’s meant to be used to carry heavy traffic safely, then it must be engineered properly, built carefully, and tested rigorously before it can be licensed for public use. Setting good examples for others is like building a good bridge. To be worthy of people’s trust and even imitation, we must make sure “that no fault may be found with our ministry”, lest our flaws, however minuscule, become the reason for those looking up to us to stumble (2 Cor 6:3). Paul is pleased with the Thessalonian church because their good efforts have made them worthy of being “a model” for the believers of the neighboring communities. Expecting no less from himself and the church leaders, he also invites the Thessalonians to become “imitators of us and of the Lord” (1 Thes 1:6).

In all these years of volunteering for the Fountain of Love and Life (FLL), the blessings that the good Lord has granted me are more than I can count. But if I must pick the most important one, I would say it’s the opportunity to work and associate closely with a good number of true followers of Christ whose determination to live out the Catholic faith in a radical way is unshakable. For them, St. Paul’s conviction about life - “life is Christ, and death is gain” - is more than just a motto; it’s their only way to live (Phil 1:21).

If my Christian values and my way of life as a serious follower of Christ are causing me to feel increasingly marginalized and isolated in a world that is getting more and more secularized, relativized (no right or wrong), and is in danger of drifting further and further away from God, here in the community of FLL I find support and fellowship that make me feel perfectly at home. It’s a community of good Catholics who come together not for their own sake but for the sake of helping others; a community that bonds as one not because they feel the need to recoil, but because they want to reach out.

It’s also a community that is not afraid to profess to be “the aroma of Christ” (2 Cor 2:15). Like St. Paul, they do not retreat and hide; they stand up and make public their ambition: “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). True to Jesus’ teaching, they aspire to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world; they invite people to their home base to “come and see” (Jn 1:39). By exercising their special calling to evangelize, their desire is to offer up their bodies – their whole lives! – “as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Rom 12:1). Their wish is to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit into a pleasing fragrance that brings life, a sweet smell that elicits hope, a comforting breath that speaks the language of love. The sensation is unmistakable; the charisma irresistible. In them I sense holiness, and holiness attracts.