昔日文章

What are the largest mammals in the world? Whales, especially blue whales, are the largest living mammal species on earth. Since whales are extremely big, what is the meaning of the slang phrase " a whale of a time " ?  This phrase has nothing to do with the biblical story of Jonah, who was swallowed by a " great fish ". A lot of English versions often translate this into " whale ".  The expression started to appear in the English language in the 19th century. According to " Student Slang " written by Willard C. Gore in 1895 in the USA, " a whale " carries two meanings: (1) a person who is exceptionally strong or brilliant, as in " he is a whale in mathematics ". (2) Something exceptionally large, as in " a whale of a banquet " or something exceptionally jolly, as in " a whale of a time ". Nowadays, " a whale of a time " has become the more common colloquialism.  Due to the Covid-19 pandemic , many governments have already advised their citizens to observe the social distancing rules now if they want to have " a whale of a time " during Christmas.  世界上體積最大的哺乳動物是甚麼？鯨魚，特別是藍鯨，是地球上最龐大的現存哺乳動物物種。由於鯨魚極為龐大，a whale of a time這個俚語是甚麼意思？  這個片語與《聖經》中約納被一條大魚吞噬的故事並無關係。許多英文版本往往將此翻譯為「鯨魚」。 這個語句在19世紀開始出現在英語當中。根據美國威拉德・卡・戈爾於1895年所撰寫的《學生俚語》記載，a whale含有兩個意思：（1）一個格外強壯或卓越的人，例如「他的數學卓絕非凡」（he is a whale in mathematics）。（2）特別龐大，例如「極度大型的宴會」（a whale of a banquet），或者極其愉快，例如「快樂時光」（a whale of a time）。如今，a whale of a time已經成為較為常用的俗語。 由於新冠狀病毒肺炎大流行的緣故，不少政府已經勸諭市民，他們如果希望在聖誕節期間有一段歡樂的時光（a whale of a time），現在就要遵守社交距離規則。    捐款支持公教報  http://kkp.org.hk/donation

（本報專題）小朋友，你們會跟爸爸媽媽一起上主日學嗎？粉嶺聖若瑟堂的三位導師，包括朱麗安、李展琳及李寶怡，由於子女需要上主日學，她們又喜歡小朋友，於是便在三年前開始舉辦「親子聖經樂趣班」。朱麗安說：「這班小朋友的年齡由三歲至四歲，年紀太小很難管理，所以需要父母一同陪伴，也是個好機會讓小朋友和父母相處。」李寶怡認同，她認為親子班令小朋友有機會認識天主，亦讓家長把信仰知識溫故知新。 課堂主要分為三部份： 玩遊戲、說故事及做手工。小朋友特別喜歡做手工，方凱澄說： 「我最喜歡的手工是『把水變為酒』，導師也曾講述這聖經故事，我覺得做手工很好玩。」她十分喜歡與媽媽一起上課，因為媽媽會陪她聽故事，「我喜歡學習天主的道理，最喜歡聽約納的故事，因為他不聽天主的說話而被鯨魚吃掉，最後要向天主道歉。」方媽媽表示， 凱澄在家會自己挑選睡前故事，有陣子更要天天聽耶穌驅魔的故事。 另一小朋友陳彥婷認為在課堂學到耶穌愛我，天父愛所有人的道理，「天父很好，祂教導人要變乖；就算世界上有些人做了壞事，天父都會原諒他們。」朱麗安表示，小朋友不太明白大道理，但透過生活化的方式教授，小朋友便能自由表達意見，自然地能吸收道理。 親子一同成長 除了課堂外，「親子聖經樂趣班」的小朋友還負責在堂區舉行的主保瞻禮上， 表演唱歌跳舞，逗得會眾十分開心。陳媽媽認為小朋友表演不錯，雖然只有一個半月的排練時間，但仍能記得基本舞步。她表示，「整個表演由導師籌劃，我們上課時會幫忙製作表演用的帽子。」她在家時，更會哼表演的歌，教導彥婷怎樣做動作。 陳媽媽認為，透過這些活動和遊戲帶出天主信息，比在家裡教導女兒《天主經》來得容易。她笑言：「兩母女有時會吵架，彥婷會向天父爸爸祈禱，分析做得不好的地方，她更會扯著我到天父爸爸的聖相前，請天父給我一個機會去改過。」另外，兩母女也會一起祈禱， 「當我看到新聞報道災禍，或是有些人對彥婷不好，我就會與她一起為這些事、這些人祈禱，希望她能透過祈禱，從善的角度去看事情。」 方媽媽認為這一年最大的收穫，是學到用不同方法教女兒有關信仰的問題，「以前我只會說故事，但原來也可以做手工，而女兒是十分喜愛的。」陳媽媽補充，不只是參加主日學有收穫，而是因為認識這信仰後，她有靜默時間反思教育小朋友的方法，並與小朋友一起用正面的方法，解決問題。（妤） 

搭乘新幹線時，旁邊的座位是空著的。 長途旅行的時候，身旁有一張空位是很舒服的事。靠走道的人可以毫無阻礙地欣賞窗景， 靠窗的人也無須每回「借過」，就能自由起身走動。我因此感到開心：「真幸運，隔壁沒人坐！」 沒過多久，列車抵達京都。車門一開，陸續上來了幾名乘客。其中一位年輕女孩安頓完大包小包的行李後，便在我身邊坐下。她將厚重的大衣塞在椅邊，座位空間頓顯狹隘。我偷瞄了一眼她的車票， 發現對方與我一樣直搭到終點站東京，原有的好心情遂蕩然無存：「啊，真倒楣， 旁邊的空位被坐走了。」 無辜的鄰人並不知道我心中的抱怨。只見她悠悠哉哉地戴上耳機，邊聽音樂邊喝咖啡，三兩下就進入夢鄉，留下我獨自坐著生悶氣。不期然，心中響起了一個聲音：「妳這樣發怒，合理嗎？」 那句問話好似舊約故事中，天主對約納先知的諄諄教導（請參閱《約納先知書》4：4），也當場給了我一記當頭棒喝。的確，我這樣抱怨，合理嗎？  冷靜下來捫心自問，我所購買的，不過是一張座位的車票。旁邊的位置原本不屬於我，是空是滿也與我毫不相干。然而，我卻在潛意識中將之據為己有，合理化了自己的佔有欲。以至於那張椅子的主人一旦出現，竟讓我萌生「受害意識」， 因著架空的「損失」而心煩意亂。 天主賞賜的十誡中，明明白白地教導人民不可偷竊，也不可貪戀他人的財物。我原本以為自己既不偷也不搶，已經算是循規蹈矩。誰知道，就連在這麼一點兒小事上，也顯露出本性的貪婪與不堪，真是慚愧。 天主的誡命其實很簡單：有多少就是多少。不貪戀不屬於自己的事物，卻滿足於已經擁有的一切。 我切願，在祂的誡命中逐漸活出自由，活出感謝。

  A couple of Sundays ago, Jan 22, the first reading was from the book of the prophet Jonah 《約納先知書》.  We are very familiar with the story.  I have two things for you to think about. First, why did Jonah get swallowed by a whale?  Because he did not want to go to Nineveh.  Why?  Because Nineveh was the capitol of Assyria, and Assyria was the enemy of Israel.  Why would Jonah want the Assyrians to repent and not be punished (think “wiped out”) by God?  Hurray.  Go do it, God.  So Jonah would not go.  But God WANTS them to be saved.  And God insisted.  That is the background of the story. Second, most people stop reading after the first 3 chapters.  The most interesting part is in chapter 4.  Take the time to read it now, or else the next paragraphs will not make sense.  (pause) So what does it say? ‘Then the LORD said, “You are concerned over the gourd plant which cost you no effort and which you did not grow; it came up in one night and in one night it perished. And should I not be concerned over the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot know their right hand from their left, not to mention all the animals?”’  (vs 10,11) God cares for all people, including our enemies, because He created all of us.  We are His children regardless of race, ethnicity….. The story of Jonah is not simply about his being swallowed up by a giant fish.  It is about: 1. God wants to save the world, eventually sending His Son Jesus to die on the Cross. 2. God wants us to love even our enemies. 3. God will even use someone like Jonah, who did NOT want to do His Will, to be His prophet. So really, we have no excuses, if we believe in Jesus, even when we are not willing or obedient.  He wants us do His work of Love and Salvation. On a more timely application to this lesson, let us look at the issues of ecology（生態學）, environmental protection（環保）and abortion （人工流產，墮胎）.   Sunday, January 22, 2011, marked the 39th anniversary of the legalization of abortion in the US in 1973.  In Hong Kong, abortion became legal on Feb 17, 1981. To be honest, when I was growing up in Hong Kong I knew about abortion but did not think much about it.  It was just there.  I did not consider whether it was right or wrong.  It had nothing to do with me and this was before it was legalized. I first thought about it when it became legal while I was at the university in US.  We were discussing it and listening to what the Church had to say. Even today, most discussions involve the issues of the rights of the woman to choose, to decide for herself about her own body.  Other discussions are about the circumstances of the pregnancy, the supposed population “explosion” etc…  (It is certainly not about our sinful misuse of the gift of sexuality by one or both parties that resulted in a non-desired condition of having a baby.) I would just like to know what did the innocent baby do to deserve such a horrible death?  In this day and age, where we are so concerned with the preciousness of the environment and green earth, we simply ignore the preciousness of a human life.  We treat a baby worse than the worst enemy of society.   We are thinking like Jonah, of our own self interests. Jesus wants more from us.  He wants us to love one another as He has loved us.