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以下是莫神父於上星期五慶祝晉鐸十週年感恩祭之講道: 各位教友： 晉鐸十週年，這是多麼奇妙的人生旅程，那感覺實在難以言喻，只能以妙不可言來形容這段美麗的時光！ 有人問﹕為何慶祝晉鐸十週年，一般都是慶祝晉鐸廿五、五十週年的呀？答案其實很簡單﹕司鐸的每一天都值得慶祝。況且當我五十五歲、八十五歲時，或許已體力有限，更難以確定屆時身在何方。 仍記得晉鐸那一年，我與眾多親人相聚一堂，雖然，當年晉鐸的只是我一人，然而，那卻是我整個家族的喜慶呢！今年是教會特設的司鐸年，司鐸是天主給教會的一份厚禮，因此，我的晉鐸慶典實是與所有在場的人仕，共同慶祝天主賜給教會的厚禮！ 不時聽到一些對司鐸的評價﹕這個神父挺好呀，仁慈、寬大、熱心、樂於助人……又或是﹕這不是個好神父，嚴勵、易動怒、又蠻不講理……這兒恕不深究、細談種種評價〔其實不難猜到教友對我的評語〕！在此，誠邀你來以耶穌的角度來評價一下司鐸，「耶穌把自己想要的人召來，為同祂常在一起，並為派遣他們去宣講」。這是我所持守的司鐸之道，縱使有時成功，有時跌倒，但我們仍時刻地盡力追隨祂，行祂所指示的路。 近日，我靜心參悟晉鐸十年的路，感恩之餘，真要謝謝所有與我相遇的人，以及在我那十年寒暑裡，時刻以真心誠意相助的良朋益友。若問司鐸生涯的喜與憂，這真的難以概述，只因得失、好壞從來都是相輔相承的，在邁向天主的路上，空前的成功建基於種種挑戰，磨難往往帶來豐厚的喜樂。 請留意我特備的紀念書簽，印有聖保祿宗徒致弟茂德後書中所言﹕「天主拯救了我們，以聖召召叫了我們，並不是按照我們的行為，而是按照祂的決意和恩寵」，今日讓我以這番話套用在自己身上﹕天主以聖召召叫了我，並不是按照我的行為，而是按照祂的決意和恩寵。這是我對主的召叫的回應，期望同樣的回應，於不久的將來，臨到我所牧養的青年身上，看到青年人能結出回應聖召的果子，猶如當日若望、雅各伯、伯多祿及其他宗徒追隨耶穌基督一樣，那將是作為一個司鐸最大的喜樂。 感謝所有出席我晉鐸十週年慶典的你，以及那些因事未能參與的人，謝謝你們孜孜不倦地為我所作出的祈禱及祝願，願主的祝福長隨你們的左右。 主祐， 莫靖龍神父 (此乃莫神父講道之意譯，講道內容請參閱英文原稿) |
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The following is the homily Father Fernando gave at his 10th Anniversary Mass last Friday night. Dear Parishioners: Ten years as a priest! What an amazing journey, places, people, experiences. It would be hard for me to express in just one homily what this journey has been like, I can only say: It has been an incredible journey. Some people may say why I should celebrate 10 years as a priest when usually this kind of celebration is reserved until the 25th or 50th anniversary. My answer is very simple: Priesthood like life is something that should be celebrated every day. Besides I may not have the same energy by the time I turn 55 or 80 and more importantly who knows where I will be by then. I remember before being ordained as a priest, I had a big meeting with all my family, grandmother, parents, sisters, cousins, uncles, aunties and I remember telling them that even when I was the one being ordained, the celebration was for the whole family. This year, we are celebrating the year of the priest and we have heard that the priesthood is a gift from God to his Church, so today I also feel that the celebration is not only for me, but for all of us, we celebrate the gift that God gives to His Church. In this year of the priest and in some conversations with people we usually hear words like: This is a good priest, kind, merciful, helpful, and fervent and so on, sometimes the opposite is also heard. He is not a good priest, angry, strict, and unreasonable. I am not going to put you under the microscope and push you to choose (I may already know the answer anyways!) However, what I want to invite you to do today is to think about priests in the way Jesus would think of them. “Chosen by His own heart to be with Him and send them to preach”. This is what the life of the priest is like for me. Sometimes we do right, sometimes we fail, but we always try our best to follow Jesus more closely. These last few days I have had the chance to meditate about my journey in the last past 10 years. I am grateful for the journey, all the people I have met in my ministry and who in one way or the other have helped me to become the priest I am today. People ask me, what is the best and the not so good experience in your 10 years as a priest? This is a question very difficult to answer, because I think that every experience is built on a previous one, the happiness of one moment and the challenge of another are the foundations for the next experience that God will put in our way. I am also grateful to all the people who have come into my life through this ministry, to all the friendships I have developed through the years. They have opened their arms and their hearts to walk with me in this amazing journey. On your way in, or on your way out, you will find a bookmark with the words of St Paul in the Second letter to Timothy Chapter One versus nine “God has saved us and called us to be holy not because of anything we ourselves had done but for his own purpose and by his own grace”. Today I want to make those words my own, God has chosen me to be holy not because of anything that I have done but by his own grace. At the end is the Lord Jesus who calls. We just follow patiently. I hope this call can be received by some of the many young people I have met in my journey. I honestly believe that one of the greatest happiness in the life of a priest is to see one of the young souls we minister to can receive and follow the same Jesus who called Peter, John, James, the rest of the Apostles, and also by his own mercy and for his own purpose had called me. I am grateful to all of you here present today and those who for some reason could not be here with us today. For all of you I will pray to the Lord and offer this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Thank you for being here and for all your prayers and good wishes. Peace in Jesus Fernando Montano MG |