常年期第五主日

 

祈禱、齋戒與社會正義

 

讀經一：(依58:6-10)：天主喜歡的是人解除不公正的鎖鏈

讀經二：(格前2:1-5)：不依靠動聽的言語宣道

福　音：(瑪5:13-16)：山中聖訓之：地上鹽、世界光

中國文化： 非攻：大為非、攻國，則不知非，從而譽之，謂之義！

 

「你們是地上的鹽、世界的光」。(參考瑪5:13-16)

 

我們對這段經文很熟悉，但我們又如何理解這段經文，並成為鹽和光呢？本主日的第一篇讀經依撒意亞先知書第58章，可以幫助我們較全面地明白如何作鹽和作光。

 

上主說：「我所喜歡的齋戒，是要人解除不公正的鎖鏈，廢除軛上的繩索，斬斷所有的軛，使受壓迫者獲得自由。」

 

這就是齋戒。它並不意味是單單少吃一些食物，而是解除不公正的鎖鏈，作出正義和仁愛的行為。

 

依撒意亞繼續說：「把食物分給飢餓的人，收容流浪的窮人，遇到赤身露體的人，給他衣服穿，不要忽略你的同胞。這就是你的齋戒。如此，你將會光芒四射，有如黎明。你的創傷會迅速復元。那時，若你呼求，上主一定俯允。若你哀求，天主一定答道：我在這裡。」(參考依58:6-10)

 

所以，齋戒並不單單只是少吃一些，使自己感到飢餓；同樣，祈禱也不單單只是向天主祈禱，和天主建立關係。聖經要求我們，要在人神關係上，促進人與人的關係，而在人與人的關係上，找尋和神的共融。這才是聖經的精神。

 

因此，聖經就把「解除不公正的鎖鏈、把食物分給飢餓者、不要忽略同胞」等正義與仁愛的行為，提昇到敬神的層次，認為這才是對神的真正敬禮。信徒能做到這些，才能光芒四射，那時，祈禱才會產生效力，那時，上主才會回答我們：「我在這裡。」

 

依撒意亞繼續說：「若你放棄欺壓的行為，不再互相侮辱及出言傷人。若你把食物施捨給飢餓的人，滿足貧窮人的心靈，那麼你的黑暗將成為光明，你的黑夜將成為白晝。」

 

聖經本來是一個有機的整體。要明白新經，就要找尋古經的背景；要明白古經，就要在新經的光照下去觀察。

 

在這個角度下，在依撒意亞先知的啟發下，我們就可以明白新約所謂作世界的光更深一層的意義。即是，我們如果要做光，就不單只是明白生命的道理、走向個人成全，或只懂得祈禱和領聖事。我們更要在基督內學習生活、待人，並建設一個正義和平的新世界，去光照世人，讓人看清甚麼是真理和生命。

 

真理有時不易看清。墨子在《非攻》曾說過一段很震憾的話：「當一個人殺一個人時，會說他不義，有一條死罪。若這樣計算，殺十個人，便有十重不義，有十條死罪；殺一百個人，便有一百重不義，有一百條死罪。這些道理大家都懂。因此，我們都會罵那些殺一個人的、殺十個人的、或殺一百個人的人。但是，只要你有能力殺一個國家、殺無數的人，只要你懂得攻城、攻國，所有人都會讚賞你們。」

 

墨子的感嘆是：殺一個人算是不義，殺一國，反而被讚賞。這就如一個人，少見黑說黑，多見黑卻說白，我們便說這個人黑白不分。現在正是如此。我們罵那些作小惡的人，而對那些作大惡，甚至屠城滅族的人，卻讚賞他們能幹。用墨子的原話是：「今有人於此，少見黑曰黑，多見黑曰白，則必以此人為不知白黑之辨矣。今小為非，則知非之，大為非、攻國，則不知非，從而譽之，謂之義，此可謂知義與不義之辨乎？」面對著這個是非不分的世界，我們這些「作光」的人的任務不是更大嗎？

 

墨子的觀察令我們傷感，也令我們警惕。對小不義我們懂得判斷，對大不義，我們就不知所措。這世界就是如此。

 

當我們看到一些小偷偷竊，便會判他有罪；但當一個奸商利用一個國家的壞制度去剝削了大量金錢時，我們反會讚他有商業頭腦。有些人偷銀行的錢，會被判坐牢。但若有些人利用銀行的制度，甚至利用龐大的資金，在金融或股票市場上翻雲覆雨，致令一個國家或多個國家的經濟崩潰，我們則說這些人是經濟事務的天才！若我們見到一個賣淫的妓女，我們會說她無恥，但若我們看到一些地方公然設立紅燈區，把賣淫合法化，我們則說這是在回應社會的需要、人性的需要！

 

「你們是地上的鹽，世界的光。」基督徒要高舉福音的價值觀和理想去光照世界，基督徒需要負起移風易俗的責任，不單注意個人的得救而已。

 

主基督，求你幫助我們能成為地上的鹽、世界的光。幫助我們看到自己應走的路，也幫助我們能看到世界及人類應走的路。你是我們個人的救主，也是我們整個人類的救主；你有能力聖化我們個人，也有能力聖化整個世界。幫助我們和你合作去聖化我們自己，也聖化別人；聖化個人，也聖化影響我們生命素質的整個社會制度。

常年期第五主日

 

祈祷、斋戒与社会正义

 

读经一：(依58:6-10)：天主喜欢的是人解除不公正的锁链

读经二：(格前2:1-5)：不依靠动听的言语宣道

福　音：(玛5:13-16)：山中圣训之：地上盐、世界光

中国文化： 非攻：大为非、攻国，则不知非，从而誉之，谓之义！

 

「你们是地上的盐、世界的光」。(参考玛5:13-16)

 

我们对这段经文很熟悉，但我们又如何理解这段经文，并成为盐和光呢？本主日的第一篇读经依撒意亚先知书第58章，可以帮助我们较全面地明白如何作盐和作光。

 

上主说：「我所喜欢的斋戒，是要人解除不公正的锁链，废除轭上的繩索，斩断所有的轭，使受压迫者获得自由。」

 

这就是斋戒。它并不意味是单单少吃一些食物，而是解除不公正的锁链，作出正义和仁爱的行为。

 

依撒意亚继续说：「把食物分给饥饿的人，收容流浪的穷人，遇到赤身露体的人，给他衣服穿，不要忽略你的同胞。这就是你的斋戒。如此，你将会光芒四射，有如黎明。你的创伤会迅速复元。那時，若你呼求，上主一定俯允。若你哀求，天主一定答道：我在这里。」(参考依58:6-10)

 

所以，斋戒并不单单只是少吃一些，使自己感到饥饿；同样，祈祷也不单单只是向天主祈祷，和天主建立关系。圣经要求我们，要在人神关系上，促进人与人的关系，而在人与人的关系上，找寻和神的共融。这才是圣经的精神。

 

因此，圣经就把「解除不公正的锁链、把食物分给饥饿者、不要忽略同胞」等正义与仁爱的行为，提升到敬神的层次，认为这才是对神的真正敬礼。信徒能做到这些，才能光芒四射，那時，祈祷才会產生效力，那時，上主才会回答我们：「我在这里。」

 

依撒意亚继续说：「若你放弃欺压的行为，不再互相侮辱及出言伤人。若你把食物施舍给饥饿的人，满足贫穷人的心灵，那么你的黑暗将成为光明，你的黑夜将成为白昼。」

 

圣经本来是一個有机的整体。要明白新经，就要找寻古经的背景；要明白古经，就要在新经的光照下去观察。

 

在这個角度下，在依撒意亚先知的启发下，我们就可以明白新约所谓作世界的光更深一层的意义。即是，我们如果要做光，就不单只是明白生命的道理、走向個人成全，或只懂得祈祷和领圣事。我们更要在基督内学习生活、待人，并建设一個正义和平的新世界，去光照世人，让人看清甚么是真理和生命。

 

真理有時不易看清。墨子在《非攻》 曾说過一段很震憾的话：「当一個人杀一個人時，会说他不义，有一条死罪。若这样计算，杀十個人，便有十重不义，有十条死罪；杀一百個人，便有一百重不义，有一百条死罪。这些道理大家都懂。因此，我们都会骂那些杀一個人的、杀十個人的、或杀一百個人的人。但是，只要你有能力杀一個国家、杀无数的人，只要你懂得攻城、攻国，所有人都会赞赏你们。」

 

墨子的感叹是：杀一個人算是不义，杀一国，反而被赞赏。这就如一個人，少见黑说黑，多见黑却说白，我们便说这個人黑白不分。现在正是如此。我们骂那些作小恶的人，而对那些作大恶，甚至屠城灭族的人，却赞赏他们能干。用墨子的原话是：「今有人於此，少见黑曰黑，多见黑曰白，则必以此人为不知白黑之辨矣。今小为非，则知非之，大为非、攻国，则不知非，从而誉之，谓之义，此可谓知义与不义之辨乎？」面对著这個是非不分的世界，我们这些「作光」的人的任务不是更大吗？

 

墨子的观察令我们伤感，也令我们警惕。对小不义我们懂得判断，对大不义，我们就不知所措。这世界就是如此。

 

当我们看到一些小偷偷窃，便会判他有罪；但当一個奸商利用一個国家的坏制度去剥削了大量金钱時，我们反会赞他有商业头脑。有些人偷银行的钱，会被判坐牢。但若有些人利用银行的制度，甚至利用庞大的资金，在金融或股票市场上翻云覆雨，致令一個国家或多個国家的经济崩溃，我们则说这些人是经济事务的天才！若我们见到一個卖淫的妓女，我们会说她无耻，但若我们看到一些地方公然设立红灯区，把卖淫合法化，我们则说这是在回应社会的需要、人性的需要！

 

「你们是地上的盐，世界的光。」基督徒要高举福音的价值观和理想去光照世界，基督徒需要负起移风易俗的責任，不单注意個人的得救而已。

 

主基督，求你帮助我们能成为地上的盐、世界的光。帮助我们看到自己应走的路，也帮助我们能看到世界及人类应走的路。你是我们個人的救主，也是我们整個人类的救主；你有能力圣化我们個人，也有能力圣化整個世界。帮助我们和你合作去圣化我们自己，也圣化别人；圣化個人，也圣化影响我们生命素质的整個社会制度。

FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

 

Prayer – Fasting – Social Justice

 

First Reading ( Is 58:6-10 ) : What God desires is for us to loose the bonds of injustice.

Second Reading (1Cor 2:1-5) : Do not rely on lofty words to preach the Word of God

Gospel (Mt 5:13-16 ) : Teaching on the Mount : Salt of the earth, Light of the world

Chinese Classics

“Committing the big unrighteous act – attacking another country is not considered wrong. On the contrary, it is commended and considered righteous.” (1)

 

‘You are the salt of the earth ,the light of the world’ ( Mt 5:13-16)

 

We are very familiar with this Gospel passage but how do we interpret it and become salt and light? Perhaps this Sunday's first reading from the fifty-eighth chapter of the prophet Isaiah can help us have a broader idea of how we can be salt and light.

 

The Lord said, ‘The fast that I choose is to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke’

 

That is fasting. The meaning is not only to eat less food but to loosen the bonds of injustice and perform deeds of righteousness and charity.

 

Isaiah continues:- ‘Share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin. This is your fast. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.’ ( Is 58:6-10)

 

Therefore fasting does not mean only to eat less so that one feels hungry ; nor does prayer mean only to pray to God and establish a relationship with God. Scripture demands of us that along with a relationship with God we must promote good relations with other people and through relationship with other persons find union with God. Only that can be called the spirit of the Gospel.

 

Therefore, ‘loosing the bonds of injustice, sharing one's bread with the hungry, not hiding oneself from one's own kin,’ and all these kinds of just and merciful deeds, are raised to the level of worship of God, and only then does Scripture consider it true worship. Only if the faithful can do this, can their light rise in the darkness, only then will their prayer be efficacious, only then will God say to us ”I am here with you.”

 

Isaiah continues: ‘If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil. If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.’

 

The Bible really is an organic, complete unit. To understand the New Testament, one must look into the background of the Old Testament; to understand the Old Testament one must observe how it is illumined by the New Testament.

 

Looking at it in this way, we can better understand the meaning of ‘salt’ and ‘light’ as used in the New Testament. That is to say, if we wish to be light, we not only need to understand the doctrine of life and become perfect in our own lives, or only understand how to pray and receive the Sacraments. Besides this from Christ himself we must learn how to live, how to treat others, and we must build up a new world of peace and justice, shed light on the world and lead people to see clearly what truth and life really are.

 

At times truth is not easily discerned. Mo Zi, in Anti-war, conveyed a confrontational message: When a man kills another man, he commits an unrighteous act and deserves the death sentence. Calculated in this way, if a person kills ten men, he commits ten unrighteous acts and deserves ten death sentences. If he kills a hundred men, he commits a hundred unrighteous acts and deserves a hundred death sentences. Everyone understands this kind of reasoning. Therefore, we condemn those who kill, be it one, ten or a hundred men. However, if you could kill a country and the countless lives there, and knew how to attack a city or a country, everyone would commend you.

 

Mo Zi's ‘ lament was: to kill one man was considered unrighteous but to kill a country would be praised. When judging right and wrong, if a person sees a little bit of black then he says it is black; and when he sees more black, he says it is white. Then we can say that this kind of person cannot tell the difference between black and white, or right and wrong. We are in such a situation at present. We condemn those who have committed small acts of wrong-doing but we praise those who commit great evil acts such as wiping out a whole city. To quote Mo Zi: “Today people are like this. When they see a little black they say it is black. When they see more black they say it is white.. We consider these people not being able to tell the difference between black and white. Today, for small wrong-doings, people know it is wrong. But committing the big unrighteous act – attacking another country- is not considered wrong. On the contrary, it is commended and considered righteous. We say they cannot tell the difference between righteousness and unrighteousness.” Confronted with a world which does not distinguish between right and wrong, does this not mean that we, who are “the light”, have an even greater mission?

 

Mo Zi's observation saddens us but it also serves as a warning. We can judge small wrongful acts but in face of great injustice, we do not know what to do. That is our world.

 

When we see a petty thief stealing small amounts of money, we are apt to judge this as wrongdoing; but when we see a dishonest merchant taking advantage of a nation's corrupt political system to exploit others and deprive them of millions of dollars we praise them for having a good ‘business head.’ Some people rob a bank and are imprisoned. But there are others who manipulate the banking system, appropriate great wealth, speculate on the money market or stock market, lead a nation or even several nations to the brink of bankruptcy, and we say these are financial geniuses! If we see a professional prostitute we may say she has no shame, but if we go somewhere and see an open ‘red light district’ with legalized prostitution, we might say this is responding to a social need or to the need of humanity!

 

‘You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.’ Christians should raise up Gospel values and ideals to brighten the world. They must take up the burden of trying to improve public morality and not only care for one's own individual salvation.

 

O Lord Jesus Christ, help us to become salt of the earth and light to the world. Help us to see the road we ourselves should take and to see also the road the world and humanity should walk. You are the Savior of each one of us and the Savior of all humankind; you are able to sanctify each of us and to sanctify all of humankind. Help us to cooperate with you in sanctifying ourselves and sanctifying others. Help us to sanctify each individual, and to sanctify all the elements of our society structure that influence the quality of our lives.

 

(1) 非攻：大為非、攻國，則不知非，從而譽之，謂之義！