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各位教友 : 上週三，天主教傳統的一個特殊時段開始了，它就是「四旬期」。「四旬期」對不同的人可能意味著不同的事，甚或什麼意義也沒有。當我問一位非天主教朋友，是否知道我在談論什麼時，他的臉色大變(當時﹐我告訴他今年二月十七日是「聖灰瞻禮」）。他很老實的回答說﹕「我真的不知道你在說什麼」。我還以為他在開玩笑，對自小接受天主教傳統熏陶的我，會理所當然地認為每一個人都應該知道什麼是聖灰瞻禮。另外，我們有時候會迷失在細節裡，比如司鐸何時及從何處取得灰燼 (是去年聖枝主日被祝聖的棕櫚枝)﹔甚至為何「四旬期」是四十天（耶穌在沙漠逗留了四十天，不斷祈禱､齋戒和對抗魔鬼的誘惑）﹔但我認為大家對「四旬期」和「聖灰瞻禮」總會有自己的想法。 這引發我思考究竟「四旬期」是什麼一回事。在天主教傳統裡，「四旬期」是特殊的時刻﹐幫助我們作好準備，迎接復活節這盛大慶典的到來。此刻，我們應更緊密地默想耶穌基督帶來的信息，以及我們如何在日常生活中作出回應。如大多數人一樣，我們其實並沒有盡力慷慨地回應基督﹔又或只是願意作出一觸即就的改變。 在「四旬期」我們需要打破日常規律，騰出一點時間，重新審視天主在每人身上所作的奇妙化工。其實天主常常發出信息，但我們卻來去匆匆，沒有停下來仔細傾聽。 這個默想和審視的過程包括三個層面，正正被「四旬期」的傳統做法具體映照出來﹕施捨､祈禱和守齋。這些傳統做法其實反映了內在人的心性，而不是個別單一的習慣。假若這些行徑流於表面化，並未建基於深層的真我，即使耶穌也曾為此作出批判。 「施捨」是當我們評估與他人的關係時，內心所產生的觸動，尤其是那些有需要的鄰人﹔這也關乎我們是否願意尋找那些無論實體或心靈上已離我們遠去的人。 「祈禱」可以估量我們跟天主的關係，是深化我們靈性生命的好時機。且藉此檢視我們是在按主的律法、還是按一己的意慾而行事。祈禱亦幫助我們探求如何把信仰落實為善工。 「守齋」是測試我們能否捨棄過剩的東西。藉此鍛煉自我控制和隔絕使我們遠離天主的事物。嚴如「施捨」是與別人相關的行為﹔而「守齋」卻是內在思想、一言、一行的自省。 就讓我們一起祈求四旬期這準備的時刻，最終能結出豐盛的果實，讓我們一同慶祝主基督的光榮復活。 主內平安 莫靖龍神父 (此乃莫神父致教友書信之意譯，書信內容以英文為準) |
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Hello Everybody: Last Wednesday we started the special time in the Catholic Tradition we call Lent. Lent can mean different things to different people or just not have any meaning at all. I was talking to a friend of mine who is not catholic and his face just changed when I asked if he know what I was talking about (I was telling him that we had ash Wednesday on the 17 of February this year). His answer was very honest “I have no idea what are you talking about” he said. I thought he was joking, me being brought up in the Catholic tradition, just took for granted that everybody should know what Ash Wednesday is about, yes, sometimes we get lost in the small details of how and where the priests get the ashes from, (BTW those are traditionally the ashes of the Palms we blessed the year before on Palm Sunday) or even why it is forty days (the forty days that Jesus spent in the Desert, praying, fasting and facing temptations by Satan), but I thought everybody had an idea on what Lent and Ashes where about. Of course this led me to think. What is Lent all about? Well in the Catholic tradition, Lent is the special time we prepare ourselves for the big celebration of Easter. We come to meditate more closely on what is the message of Jesus Christ and how we respond to that message in the day to day basis. Most of us would discover that we are not responding in the generous way we should and we make a commitment to change and get it better this time once and for all. Lent is the time of the year where we take some time off our daily routine and try discovering more closely the actions of God in our lives. We try to become more sensible to the messages that God is giving us every day but we are just too busy to stop and listen carefully. This process of meditation and evaluation is given in three dimensions which are made concrete in three traditional practices of Lent: Alms giving, Prayer and Fasting. These three practices should be of course the result of what is going on in the human heart and not just isolated acts on themselves. Even Jesus criticizes these acts when they are not based in the honest expression of a deeper reality. Alms giving is the movement of the heart when we evaluate our relationships with others, those who need us and those who spend their lives closer to us. It is also related to our willingness to go and search for those who are away from us, both physically and emotionally. Prayer is the evaluation of the relationship we have with God, the chance we have to intensify our spiritual life and see if we are actually acting according to the Law of God or just our own will. We also meditate how we are making this faith concrete in acts of Charity. Fasting then would be the chance we have to evaluate how willing we are to give up the things that do not need. It is an exercise to self-control, to abstain from the things that may keep us away from God. Just as Alms giving has more to see with others; Fasting is more a self-evaluation of our thoughts, words and actions. Let us pray together that our preparation during this time of Lent will be a fruitful one and we may be ready to celebrate together the happiness of the Risen Christ. Peace in Jesus Fernando |