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常年期第23主日 Homily 23th Sunday OT C September 4

Homily 23rd Sunday OT C

Homily presented by Franklin Fong, OFM

 

Our lectionary for today is all about how we develop and deepen our discipleship of our Christian lives.

The first reading from the Book of Wisdom points out how by our very nature we are not equipped to understand God’s mind, intent or wisdom. It then points out how frail our human minds are! We are timid, unsure, have material concerns which only involve earthly issues. Our only solution is to be connected with God in prayer that we might then have God’s counsel, wisdom and spirit in our lives.

Psalm 90 focusses our attention not only on God’s goodness to us, but that our time on earth may be running out! We’re not here on earth forever! So, how do we make the most of our time?

The second reading from St Paul’s letter to his friend Philemon . In this letter we hear about Onesimus who is the slave of Philemon. When St Paul was in prison, Onesimus visited and was brought to believe in God through the St Paul’s witness to him. So, St Paul became his God-father. Paul urges Philemon to welcome back his runaway salve who is no longer a slave but a brother in Christ !

Finally in the Gospel of Luke we hear of three teachings of Jesus on what is needed to be a good disciple.

The first teaching is about ‘hating’ your family relationships. Hating someone in today’s language is probably more about giving up our priority to do something for family instead of doing something we might be called to do in ministry. So this is more about sacrificing rather than the emotion of hating. Are we willing to sacrifice our relationships with family, friends and ourselves to be of service to God?

The second teaching of being a better disciple is to pick up and carry your own cross. Giving sacrifice of ourselves is what is needed if we are even open to picking up the cross and carrying it in our lives.

The third teaching of being a better disciple is to renounce all your possessions. Often times when we ‘own’ something, we feel obligated to using it for our purposes. The example given in the gospel reading is about the king who has an army of men ready to fight for him. The king gave up his possession of the army but not calling them forward to fight for him, but rather the king sends out a delegation to ask for peace!

So Christian discipleship asks you to give up your legitimate relationships, your convenience and your properties to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

Jesus is a great teacher and master. He has a lot of great things (wisdom, food for thought) to share with us. Many are attracted to him because of his consoling words. He touches a lot of people. He heals all their wounds. He gives hope to the hopeless. Now, to those who would like to follow him more, to get to know him more, he demands abandonment of families and friends and total dedication of themselves to him.

Christ demands a total conversion and overhaul of our value system. We should not withhold anything from him. Jesus wants a total commitment to him. We must be 100% sold out to him, otherwise, our being disciples is half-baked and our witnessing is being compromised. People in the world, Christian or otherwise, deserve to interact with authentic disciples of Christ!

Keep in mind that we have our entire lives to gradually make the personal changes in how we practice our faith life.

Christian discipleship is identification with Christ who walked around teaching, healing and forgiving people, who went around without relatives and friends, who can bog him down in his mission, who appeared to people without baggage and paraphernalia, and who was totally free to do God’s will and not follow his own itinerary.

We cannot be Christ’s disciples, if we do not know the will of God, if we are not learned in his ways. (1st reading)

We cannot be Christ’s disciples, if we do not give freedom to our brothers and sisters. (2nd reading)

We cannot be Christ’s true disciples, if we are not detached from our loved ones and material things, if we are not willing to bear our cross (burdens), and if we are not willing to take sacrifices.

Let’s now translate the theme of discipleship in our parishes and communities

• by allowing ourselves to be put into our proper places.

• by sharing our particular charism and God-given talents.

• by willingly allowing ourselves to be hurt in the process.

So in summary, Christian discipleship is not dictating what others should do, but discerning what Jesus wants US to do in the community. We have to know ourselves and find out if we have the resources. We audit ourselves. We must be humble enough to admit our limitations. We don’t pretend everything is ok, if we want to engage with others who share our value for personal conversion and transformation in our faith journey together as a community.

So brothers and sisters of the Chinese Catholic Community, that is the good news for this 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time.

ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!

Fr. Fong

 


 

(中文翻譯.原文以英文為準.)

 

2022 年 9 月 4 日, 常年期二十三主日
鄺神父主日道理中譯本

 

今天的講道是聚焦於我們如何成長和深化作為基督徒應有的生活。

 

讀經一《智慧篇》指出,我們人類是無法理解天主的思維、心意或智慧的。 然後它指出我們人類的思想是多麼有限和脆弱! 我們膽小,猶疑,世俗的思想中普遍一般涉及物質層面等問題。 跳出這範疇唯一的解決辦法就是我們在禱告中與天主聯繫,這樣我們的生命也許會更能親近天主的旨意、智慧和精神。

 

聖詠 90 不僅將我們的注意力集中在天主對我們慈愛, 美善上,而且提醒我們在塵世上的時間可能已經不多了! 我們不可能永遠活在塵世上! 那麼,我們該準備如何充分利用我們在世的時間呢?

 

讀經二是聖保祿致費助孟書。 在這封信中,我們聽到了費助孟的奴隸敖乃息摩的故事。 當聖保祿在監獄裡時,敖乃息摩拜訪聖保祿, 並通過聖保祿的見證讓他認識並接受了天主。 於是,聖保祿成為了他的代父。 聖保祿敦促費助孟歡迎他曾已失去的奴隸回來,並不要再視他為奴隸而是基督內的兄弟!

 

最後,在路加福音中,我們聽到了耶穌講及關於成為好門徒所必需具備的三個訓導/條件。

 

第一個訓導是關於“惱恨”你的家庭關係。 在今天的聖言中,惱恨某人可能更多的是解釋為放棄我們首先為自己家人做事,而是優先做天主召叫我們在教會做的事工。 所以這更多是關於自我的犧牲而不是仇恨的情緒。 我們是否願意犧牲與家人、朋友和自己為首的家庭關係轉化為以服務天主為個人首要任務呢?

 

成為一個更好的門徒的第二個訓導是拿起並背起你自己的十字架(重擔)。 如果我們願意拿起十字架後並在我們的生活中背負它,這就必然需要犧牲自己了。

 

成為一個更好的門徒的第三個訓導是放棄你所有的地上的財物。 通常,當我們“擁有”某物時,我們會覺得有義務將其'物盡其用'。 福音中給出的例子是關於國王準備好為他而戰的軍隊。 但國王放棄了利用自己的軍隊叫他們上前為國王而戰, 而是國王派了一個使者去談判求和, 放棄了自己可以'物盡其用'的選擇!

 

所以作為一個基督徒的基本要求是要求你放棄你在社會上擁有的關係地位、你的方便和你的財物來跟隨耶穌的腳步。

 

耶穌是一位偉大的導師和師傅。 他有很多很了不起的東西(智慧、深思熟慮)要與我們分享。 許多人因為祂的安慰話語而被祂吸引着。 祂觸動了許多人。 祂治癒了他們所有的創傷。 祂給絕望的人帶來了希望。 現在,對於那些想更多關注,更多了解祂的人,祂要求我們放棄與家人和朋友的關係為優先,全心全意地為祂奉獻自己。

 

基督要求我們的價值觀和體系徹底轉變和徹底地改革。 我們不該對祂隱瞞任何事情。 耶穌想要我們完全委身於祂。 我們必須百分百'全心,全靈,全意,全力'愛祂,否則,我們基督徒的信仰就是半生不熟的,我們的生活見證就會受到損害。 世界上的人,無論是基督徒還是非基督徒,都應該與真正的基督門徒們彼此互動交流!

 

請記住,我們一生中都在積極改變我們如何在生活中實踐活出我們的信仰生活。

 

基督徒的門徒身份是必與基督認同,祂到處探訪,教導、醫治和寬恕人,四處走動,沒有携同親戚和朋友,甚至可以在祂的使命行動工作中陷入困境,向人們顯現時沒有携包袱和特別用具,並且完全自由地作天主的事, 從沒有跟隨祂自己的行程計劃。

 

如果我們不知道天主的旨意,如果我們不學習他的道/方式,我們就不能成為基督的門徒。 (讀經一)

 

如果我們不給我們的兄弟姐妹自由,我們就不能成為基督的門徒。 (讀經二)

 

如果我們不脫離我們所愛的人和物質的東西,如果我們不願意背負我們的十字架(重擔),如果我們不願意犧牲,我們就不能成為基督的真正門徒。

 

現在讓我分享我們在堂區和社區中作為基督徒該備的態度和重點:

 • 讓自己積極參與事奉並接受被派到適當的工作位置上服務。各盡其力。

 • 分享我們獨特的個人魅力和天主賦予的才能。各展所長。

 • 甘心地讓自己接受在這個事奉過程中可能受到的傷害。

 

所以總而言之,基督徒的己任不是規定別人應該做什麼,而是辨別耶穌希望我們在堂區和社區中做什麼。 我們必須了解自己並找出我們每人都擁有的天賦能力。 我們需個人審核自己。 同時我們必須謙虛地承認我們的有限和不足。 最後, 如果我們想與其他兄弟姊妹有機會分享互動我們在信仰上個人和在團體中一起成長和轉化的經驗,我們就該嘗試參與,不假裝一切都好或自己沒有能力,

 

所以華人天主教會的兄弟姊妹們,這是常年期 23 主日的好消息。

 

亞肋路亞, 亞肋路亞!