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施毓謙神父2021.8.15首祭講道

 

各位早安

我昨天剛領受晉鐸成為神父,所以大家可以看到徐立仁神父在這裡去確認我的每一個動作,確保彌撒可以有效率且合規的進行,和他一起的還有邁可王先生,他是最資深的輔祭,他在這裡為了給我道義上的支持,我希望這將不會變成道義上的威脅,讓我們來看看。

今天是我們紀念聖母瑪利亞升天日,這是教會最重要的節慶之一。假設這個詞來自動詞假設,它最初是拉丁語中的〝adsumere〞,意思是:採取。當然,瑪利亞是被神帶到天堂的,但聖經並沒有記載這件事。

所以,首先,我要解釋一下我們今天的此慶節的真實性。

對於我們天主教的信仰來說,有兩個同樣重要的來源:聖經與傳說;有些人認為聖經更具體實在,因為有作者,然而傳說是可疑的,因為沒有人可以對其負責。

對於這種觀點,我們需要知道,《聖經》和《傳說》都來自於真正的早期基督教社區:聖經是被社區授權與認可的『神的話語』;另一方面,傳說是由同一個社區生活和傳承的『共同記憶』。

傳統記載,瑪利亞在臨終前向天主祈禱,希望能在世上最後一次見到所有的門徒,其中,有11位門徒沒有來遲,但再一次,多默缺席了,當他終於到達時,他哭得像個孩子,因為其他人都告訴他發生了什麼事,儘管他很固執,他還是要求打開瑪利亞的墳墓,這樣他就可以告別了。最後,他們打開了她的墳墓:但瑪利亞已經不在那裡了,門徒們相信她就是這樣被帶入到天堂的。

這是每個天主教徒都必須相信的教義背後的故事——幾十年前,如果任何天主教徒膽敢說「但我不相信這個」,他或她將被逐出教會,根據教規立即生效,這就是法律和信仰的區別:法律,我們有時會害怕,但信仰,我們總是感動和感動。雖然是( 即將成為主教的)周神父指派我去學習教會法,但我知道這個問題。所以今天,我們不談論法律。相反,根據路加福音,我準備了瑪利亞生平的小總結,因為傳說告訴我們,路加與瑪利亞非常接近。

現在,這不是聖經告訴我們的,而是世界衛生組織告訴我們,在2017年,懷孕和分娩的死亡率是每10萬人中有15人; 2000年死亡率為每10萬人340人; 在 17 世紀,每 10萬 人中有 1,200 人; 然後當耶穌出生時,數學告訴我們:死亡率約為每 10萬 人中 34,000 人, 這意味著,超過 30% 的母親因懷孕和分娩而死亡,那是生死攸關的時刻。根據聖經,瑪利亞為這個使命運讚美上主(正如你們都從今天的福音中聽到的那樣)。 這並不容易,而是非常勇敢; 當她做出那個神聖但致命的決定、同意,對上主的旨意說「承行主旨」時,她大約 15 16 歲(那是那些年猶太女孩結婚的年齡)。

作為一個女孩,瑪利亞是年輕人的英雄。年紀雖小,卻能與神合作,成就大事。

然後,瑪利亞成為了母親。做母親很難,對瑪利亞來說,做耶穌基督的母親更是非常困難的。看到她帶著若瑟和剛出生的耶穌來到聖殿的老智者西滿突然說:「看哪,劍將刺透你的靈魂」時,她一定感到驚訝甚至不安。

作為他的母親,她不得不以難民的身份從白冷逃到埃及,因為國王想殺死耶穌,正因如此,傳說記載她在她從未有機會,向自己的母親聖安娜告別。

當耶穌 12 歲時,她很擔心,然後在他們參觀聖殿時就消失了. 然而,當她終於找到他時,孩子卻頗為“生硬”,並沒有向父母道歉,而是道:「你找我怎麼樣? 你不知道我必須在我父親的家裡嗎?」

以我的經驗,通常,當孩子有這種溢出甚至滲出的自信時,父母肯定會打他或她的臉,但不一定要當著別人的面。相信我,我知道那是什麼感覺,並且為了記錄,這是正確和公正的。

然而,瑪利亞把這一切都記在心裡,勇敢地繼續“給空間”給耶穌,直到耶穌選擇被釘在十字架上,真正死去的那一刻。 她從不試圖改變他的想法,而是一直陪伴著他。

雖然瑪利亞沒有接受教育,但她知道給孩子耶穌留出空間的重要性。我記得,當我高中畢業時,我想學習醫學。我父親很擔心,他想讓我學習工程學。另一方面,我媽媽給了我空間。因此,我成為了一名醫生,然後我有機會在 NICU(新生兒重症加護病房)的環境中發現我的耶穌會聖召。而且,在醫學院的幾年和三年的實務經驗讓我對自己和對神有了可靠的信心。 這就是我如何敢於接受來自周神父的使命任務,並開始研究教會法。

回到瑪利亞,當她看到耶穌在十字架上停止呼吸時,她一定很害怕,那是她的兒子,她曾把他抱在懷裡,領著他邁出了第一步,在他 30 歲的時候被送走了,她緊隨在他 3 年的旅程、奇蹟和教導中,瑪利亞保持沉默。沒有人能理解基督在做什麼,可能包括瑪利亞在內,所以她選擇相信:這對任何父母來說都是最困難的決定之一,相信有一天他們心愛的孩子會成長並從父母那裡接起他們自己的命運。

我從來沒有當過父母,但我知道當我離開家加入耶穌會時,我媽媽開始了她最困難的時期,就像許多在類似情況下肯定會有同樣感受的母親一樣。此外,對我來說,作為一個孩子,這也很困難——因為我從來沒有那麼想念我的媽媽,但我知道神在呼喚我,我相信神,因為這是我媽媽教我的。

耶穌在十字架上,在為自己被父神遺棄而呼喊時,是不是也會回憶起兒時的記憶:當瑪利亞懷著母愛,教導他信靠神?

我們再一次不知道,根據傳統的說法,在復活的那天,耶穌比其他任何人都先向瑪利亞顯現,因為她是他的母親,她在子宮裡懷抱他,以手臂懷抱他,懷抱他在心底裡,懷抱裡他在信仰中。

這就是為什麼我們紀念天主之母瑪利亞的升天:她的生活以基督為中心,由她自己決定,充滿勇氣和信任。

願我們永遠記住她在我們生活中的榜樣。阿們!

 

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Homily: the 15th of August (Solemnity of Assumption)
Good morning to all! 


I was just ordained yesterday, and that’s why you can see Fr. Clement is here to verify all of my movements and to make sure this Mass will be effective and valid. Together with him, you may also notice Mr. Michael Wong, one of our most senior altar servers. He is here to give me his moral support, and I hope it will not become moral threat. Let’s see.
Today we commemorate the Assumption of Mary Mother of God, one of the most important Solemnities of the Church. The word Assumption comes from the verb assume which is originally “adsumere” in Latin, meaning: to take. Of course, Mary was taken by God to heaven, yet this event was not kept in the Bible.
Therefore, firstly, I will explain the authenticity of our Solemnity today.
For our Catholic faith, we have 2 equally important sources: the Bible and the Tradition. Some people may think, that Bible is more concrete, because it has its authors; but the Tradition is, however, suspicious, since there isn’t anyone who can be held accountable to it. 
To such opinion, we need to know, both the Bible and Tradition are from the authentic early Christian community: the Bible was authorized and recognized as “Word of God” by the community; and Tradition, on the other hand, is the “communal memory” lived and passed on by the same community. 
Tradition records, that before Mary died, she prayed to God in order to see all the Apostles for the last time in this world. Among them, 11 apostles came without delay. But once again, Thomas was absent. When he finally arrived, he cried like a child because all the others told him what had happened. Yet stubborn as he was, he demanded the tomb of Mary to be opened so he could bid the farewell. Finally, they opened her tomb: but Mary was not there anymore, that was how the Apostles believed she was taken,  or assumed, into the heaven. 
This is the story behind the Doctrine that every Catholic is bound to believe – decades ago, if any Catholic would dare to say, “But I do not believe this”, he or she will be excommunicated, effective immediately, according to the Canon Law. This is the difference between law and faith: by law, we are sometimes frightened, but by faith, we are always touched and moved. Although I am assigned by Fr. Stephen Chow (soon to be Bishop Stephen Chow) to study Canon Law, I am aware of this problem. So today, we do not talk about law. Instead, I have prepared a little summary of the life of Mary, following the Gospel according to Luke, since Tradition tells us that Luke, was quite close to Mary.
Now, this is again, not written in the Bible, but the World Health Organization tells us, that in the year of 2017, the mortality ratio of pregnancy and delivery was 15 per 100,000; in the year of 2000, the mortality was 340 per 100,000; in the 17th century, it was 1,200 per 100,000; then when Jesus was born, mathematics tells us: the mortality was around 34,000 per 100,000. That means, more than 30% of the mothers died because of pregnancy and delivery. That is a life and death moment. And Mary, according to the Bible, praised God for this destiny (as you have all heard from today’s Gospel). It is not easy, but courageous; and when she made that holy but deadly decision to give consent, to say “fiat” to the will of God, she was around 15 or 16 years old (that was the age when Jewish girls got married in those years). 
As a girl, Mary is a hero of the youth. Though quite young, the youth can cooperate with God and achieve great things.
Then, Mary became a mother. It is difficult to be a mother, and for Mary, it was **very difficult to be a mother of Jesus Christ. She must had been surprised or even disturbed when Simeon the old wise man, who saw her coming up to the temple with Joseph and the newborn Jesus then suddenly said, “Behold, a sword will pierce your soul”.   
As His mother, she had to run for life as a refugee from Bethlehem to Egypt because the king would like to kill Jesus, because of this, legend recorded that she never had a chance to say farewell when her own mother, St. Anne, died. 
She was worried when Jesus turned 12 years old and then just disappeared during their visit to the temple. However, when she finally found him, the child was quite “blunt”, instead of apologizing to his parents, he said, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 
In my experience, usually when the child has such an over-flowing or even oozing confidence, the parents will surely slap him or her in the face, though not necessarily in front of the others. Trust me, I know how it feels, and for the record, it was right and just.
However, Mary kept all this in her heart, and courageously, she kept on “giving space” to Jesus, until the moment when Jesus chose to be crucified and really died. She never tried to change His mind, but always accompanied Him. 
Though Mary was not into education, she somehow knew the importance to give space to the child Jesus. I remember, when I was finishing the high school, I’d like to study medicine. My father was quite worried, he wanted me to study engineering. My mum, on the other hand, gave me the space. Thus, I became a doctor and then I got a chance to discover my Jesuit vocation, in a setting of NICU (the ICU of the newborns). Moreover, the years in the Med-school and 3 years of practice has given me a reliable confidence in myself and in God. That is how I was daring enough to take the mission from Fr. Chow and set out for the study of Canon Law. 
Coming back for Mary, she must be terrified when she saw Jesus stop breathing on the Cross, that was her son whom she held in arms, led for the first steps, sent away when He turned 30 years old, followed in the 3 years of journeys, miracles, and teachings. Mary kept quiet. No one could understand what Christ was doing, possibly including Mary, so she chose to believe: and this is one of the most difficult decisions for any parent – to believe that one day their beloved children will grow and will take over from the parents about their own destiny.
I’ve never been a parent, but I know when I left home to join the Society of Jesus, my mum had started her most difficult times, like many of the mothers who will surely feel the same in similar situations. Also, for me, as a child, it was difficult – because I never missed my mum so much, but I know God calls me and I trust God, because that was what my mum taught me.
Jesus, on the Cross, when crying out for he felt abandoned by God the Father, would it be the same, that He also recalled the very early childhood memory when Mary, with her motherly love, taught Him to trust in God? 
We never know, yet again by Tradition, on the day of Resurrection, Jesus appeared to Mary before anyone else, because she was His mother, who had carried him in womb, carried him in arms, carried him in heart, and carried him in faith.
This is why we commemorate the Assumption of Mary, mother of God, that she has her life centering on Christ, by her own decision, with courage and trust.
May we always remember her example in our lives. Amen!

 

 

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