Thursday, March 29, 2018

生活的聖言

我們堅持跟隨教會的教導,拒絕將天主聖言「物件化」或「文字化」;拒絕將天主教信仰低貶成「一本書」的信仰。

《聖經研討會》是筆者眾多活動或課程中,最需要用時間、功夫和資源來準備的。由2002年九月開始至今,轉眼差不多十六年,這基本上一年查看一書的課程,從未間斷過。藉著天主聖神的推動,和義工們的幫助,這活動有效地發揮著福傳和屬靈培育的作用,每年登記人數都超越一佰以上。

令人興奮的是,按最新統計資料顯示,藉著《聖經研討會》網站我們每月成功地接觸到超過一仟人數的網站訪客!換言之,平均每天都有三十多人次瀏覽,收聽和採用網站資料。他們主要來自以下國家:
1. 渥克蘭(Ukraine) – 27%
2. 美國 – 19%
3. 中國(可能香港為主) – 16%
4. 加拿大 – 10%
其它順序是蘇聯、土耳其、法國、德國、荷蘭、波蘭、澳洲、瑞典等。

能夠在《聖經研討會》中一起學習和分享,一起在聖言中成長,是非常有意義的事;這也是我們舉辦《聖經研討會》的主要目的。

但是也讓我們謹記,我們在聚會中一起學習和分享的聖言,並不是一本書這麼簡單。

因為聖言在聖神默感而被寫下之前
1. 已先被宣講(如信經所說:「祂曾藉先知們發言」) ;
2. 已藉聖子耶穌基督降生成人的奧蹟、聖死和復活,全面彰顯出來;
3. 已被宗徒們按主耶穌升天前的吩咐,忠實地向萬民宣揚(瑪28:19-20);
4. 已先在初期教會團體的禮儀中用語言、祈禱、動作、標記和詩歌來表達(保祿書信常引用當時普遍被採用的禮儀),並臨現聖事中;
5. 更重要地,聖言就是天主,「在起初就與天主同在。萬有是藉著衪而造成的;凡受造的,沒有一樣不是由衪而造成的」(若1:1-3) 。

顧名思義,《聖經研討會》非常著重聖經,一切活動皆環繞聖經而展開。但是同時我們堅持跟隨教會的教導,拒絕將天主聖言「物件化」或「文字化」;拒絕將天主教信仰低貶成「一本書」的信仰。我們不但學習研究聖言,而且「常常敬禮聖經,如同敬禮主的聖體一樣」(啓示憲章廿一) ;深信這被寫成文字和保存在聖經內的聖言,在禮儀中被宣讀時,因著聖神大能而回復祂本來和獨有的功能,奧妙地成為生活的,直接向天主子民說話的天主聖言(註)。這生活的天主聖言是「從我口中發出的言語,不能空空地回到我這裏來;反之,它必實行我的旨意,完成我派遣它的使命。」(依55:11) 這「生活的,是有效力的」天主聖言「比各種雙刃的劍還銳利,直穿入靈魂和神魂,關節與骨髓的分離點」(希4:12)。

讓我們珍惜這些《聖經研討會》的歲月,在聖言內繼續成長!各位海外兄弟姐妹,請繼續支持《聖經研討會》;希望您會成為ELODOCUMENTS的跟隨者("followers"見網頁右邊點擊按键),讓我們透過它保持聯絡!

註:請參考Patrick McGoldrick, “Liturgy – The Context of Patristic Exegesis”, Letter & Spirit 7 (2011), 221-230.

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

The 8th Day – A New World Order

What seems like an interlude now is but the beginning of everlasting happiness and glory.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair….” The famous opening line of Charles Dickens’ historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, has captivated the imagination of many a literature lover from generation to generation. The greatest English writer of the Victorian era probably did not have this Sunday’s Mass readings in mind when he penned those remarkable words. But the masterful language used to highlight the unusual social and political conditions in London and Paris leading up to the turbulent years of the French Revolution is nonetheless a fitting characterization of the same unusual times that today’s gospel reading helps to bring alive.

It is only three days ago when the disciples’ high hope of finding the Messiah suddenly comes crumbling down, shattering and falling apart like an imploding star. Jesus the Nazarene, the holy one who they have hoped would redeem Israel, is handed over by their chief priests and rulers to a sentence of death and crucifixion on the day of Passover (cf. Luke 24:19-21, John 19:14). It is truly the worst of times.

But the worst of times may well be the best of times; the winter of despair, the foreshadowing of the spring of hope. Why? What hope is left when the savior of the world has been all but relegated to the rank of crucified criminals? The good news is: Jesus is resurrected only 3 days after his crucifixion! In today’s gospel, he appears to his disciples and, seeing that incredulity has left them stupefied, invites them to check out his hands and his side. Thomas, notoriously a late person who, according to Church tradition, also missed out on seeing Mary when it was time for her to leave this world, is absent from the scene. But when Jesus returns a week later just for him, Thomas doesn’t disappoint. He responds with the strongest declaration of faith possible: “My Lord and my God!”, thus affirming the divinity of Christ.

What is the significance of the resurrection? Why do we consider the event “the best of times” for humanity? Apparently, John shares the same view. Today’s gospel from John puts Jesus’ appearance as happening on “the evening of that first day of the week”, soon after Mary of Magdala found the empty tomb “early in the morning” (John 20:1, 19). Considering that the Johannine gospel was written to contrast Jesus’ “New Creation” with the “old” creation of Genesis, the Bible scholars have good reason to believe that “the first day of the week” is John’s way to heighten the significance of the 8th day – the beginning of a new week, the week of the New Creation, following the first week, or first 7 days, in which the old world order was created. What Mary of Magdala and the disciples are witnessing, in other words, is the beginning of a new world order – the New Creation, ushered in by Jesus through his resurrection (cf. CCC2174).

Jesus’ resurrection is an unwritten statement - or a state of the union address, if you will - made by the Son of David, the “heir” that God has promised to “raise up” to sit in David’s royal throne forever (2 Sam 7:12-13), to affirm that the power of death has been destroyed once and for all, that its unrelenting grip on humanity since the fall of Adam and Eve is no more, and that the heavenly kingdom finally has come. Put simply, as Peter did in his inaugural sermon, resurrection and ascension is the coronation and enthronement of Christ the King (cf. Acts 2:29-36); not that he in his divinity as the eternal Son needs any more glorification, but that he in his humanity as the Son of David is now royally enthroned to receive dominion, glory, and eternal kingship (Daniel 7:13-14).

No wonder in the first reading the early community of believers live as though they were in their very last days, claiming no possessions of their own and sharing everything in common. For a community that sees things through the eyes of faith after the descent of the Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13), close on the heels of the worst of times is the joy of the best of times; mired deep in the winter of despair is the glimmer of the spring of hope. What seems like an interlude now is but the beginning of everlasting happiness and glory.