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復活節第 6 個星期日講道 Homily 6th Sunday Easter - May 22, 2022

May 22, 2022, 3:00 PM

 

In the first reading we hear about the struggles and challenges that Paul and Barnabas had in sharing the Good News to Gentiles.  Why are our human  lives marked by arguments and dissensions?  Among the many reasons is the fact that each one of us is unique.  We see things differently, we have varying needs, and we are plagued with self-centeredness.  And, so it was no different even among the peoples of the early church.  It had to deal with a variety of opinions regarding the togetherness of Jew and Gentile as we saw in the first reading. 

 But after much dialogue, the disputants came to a decision “of the Holy Spirit and ours too.”  There is one Spirit but this Spirit lives in the many members of Christ’s body.  The basic message then of the first reading is that community calls for a mutually beneficial exchange among many different individual persons. 

 In the highly imaginative  description of heaven of the 2nd reading, God, Jesus and Lamb share their light and life with all people.  It is clear that we can not understand our faith if we have no imagination !

The Gospel of John verses show why the fullness and joy of life are experienced in our harmonious relationships with God and one another.  God himself is a relationship.  God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  We Christians must then appreciate  Jesus’ departure as 

  1. a return to our Heavenly Father and 

  2. a paving of the way for the coming of the Holy Spirt.  

So Jesus’ departure is not about abandoning his disciples, but about loving God the Father and giving way for the next chapter to begin!

So we see that in God there is a mixing of diversities, and infinite loving, caring and sharing.  This helps us to understand why God would invite us into a relationship or covenant with himself.  

Do we believe that God is for us? 

 Are we  open to receiving and giving the gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives?  

And, are we open to others receiving and giving gifts as well in their lives?

To conclude, the common theme in these three readings is about how our faith has three distinct perspectives:  Head, Heart and Hands.

The first reading focuses our attention on how we are to bring the Good News to Gentiles.  This is about our actions !  HANDS !

The second reading focuses our attention on a vision of Heaven.  This is about our thoughts!  HEAD!

And the Gospel reading focuses our attention on our  hearts, loving one another and receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit!  HEART !

So, I encourage you to re-read today’s verses in the coming week and to ask yourself this question:  

How and in what ways have you practiced your faith from a HEAD, HEART and HANDS perspective ?  Which is the most developed and strongest and which is the weakest or least developed in your faith journey?  

In my faith journey, I lived my faith as a protestant Christian from my HEAD perspective.  As a Catholic Christian, I learned how to live my faith from a HANDS perspective through receiving eucharist.  And finally as a Franciscan Friar, I learned how to live my faith from a HEART perspective !  

 So reflect on your faith journey and see if you can remember how each perspective developed in your faith journey !

Brothers and sisters that is the Good NEWs for this 6hth Sunday of Easter!

Alleluia  Alleluia !

Fr. Fong

 

(中文翻譯.原文以英文為準)

 

在讀經一中,我們聽到了保祿和巴爾納博在向外邦人分享好消息時所遇到的困難和挑戰。為什麼我們的人生充滿爭論和紛爭?眾多原因之一是我們每個人都是獨一無二的。我們看待事物的方式不同,我們有不同的需求,而且我們被自我中心所困擾。而且,即使在早期教會的民眾之間也沒有什麼不同。正如我們在讀經一中看到的那樣,它必須處理關於猶太人和外邦人團結的各種觀點。 但經過多次對話後,爭論者得出了“聖神和我們自己”的決定。只有一個聖神,但這個聖神住在基督身體的許多肢體裡。讀經一的基本信息是:團體呼籲許多不同的個人之間進行互利的交流。 在讀經二極富想像力的天堂描述中,上主、耶穌和羔羊與所有人分享他們的光和生命。很明顯,如果我們沒有想像力,我們就無法理解我們的信仰! 若望福音的經文表明,為什麼在我們與上主和彼此的和諧關係中會體驗到生命的充實和喜悅。主本身就是一種關係。上主是聖父、聖子和聖神。我們基督徒必須欣賞耶穌的離去,因:

1. 回歸我們的天父和

2. 為聖神降臨鋪平道路。

 

所以耶穌的離去並不是要拋棄他的門徒,而是要愛父,上主,並為下一章的開始鋪路!

所以我們看到,在上主里面混合了多樣性,以及無限的愛、關懷和分享。這有助於我們理解為什麼上主會邀請我們與他建立關係或立約。

我們相信上主是為了我們嗎?

我們是否願意在我們的生活中接受和給予聖神的恩賜?

而且,我們是否對其他人在他們的生活中也接受和贈送禮物持開放態度?

總而言之,這三篇讀經的共同主題是關於我們的信仰如何具有三個不同的觀點:頭、心和手。

讀經一將我們的注意力集中在如何將好消息帶給外邦人。這關乎我們的行動!手!

讀經二將我們的注意力集中在天堂的異像上。這是關於我們的想法!頭!

福音將我們的注意力集中在我們的心上,彼此相愛並接受聖神的恩賜!心 !

所以,我鼓勵你在接下來的一周裡重新閱讀今天的經文,並問自己這個問題:

您如何以及以何種方式從頭、心和手的角度實踐了您的信仰?在你的信仰之旅中,哪個是最發達和最強大的,哪個是最弱或最不發達的?

在我的信仰之旅中,從頭的角度來看,我作為一名新教基督徒過著我的信仰。作為一名天主教基督徒,我通過接受聖體聖事學會瞭如何從手的角度來生活我的信仰。最後,作為一名方濟會修士,我學會瞭如何從心的角度生活我的信仰!

所以反思你的信仰之旅,看看你是否能記住每個觀點在你的信仰之旅中是如何發展的!

兄弟姐妹們,這是復活節第六個星期日的好消息!

阿助路亞, 阿肋路亞!