昔日文章

Dwight is a devoted（虔誠）Catholic. Lent（四旬期）means a lot to him. During the 40 days before Easter, he usually observes abstinence（克己）to repay（報答）. Jesus for His suffering. As a sacrifice, he prefers to start with his eating habit since he is such a food lover. One Lent, he decided not to take any food or drinks in between meals. Another Lent, he stayed away from all snacks and candies; having a sweet tooth, this is really not easy for him. This year he responses to Our Lady’s invitation to have only bread and water on both Wednesday and Friday. Dwight did some research on the rationale（依據）behind this fasting idea. Wednesday is for the remembrance（紀念）of Christ's betrayal（出賣）while Friday, remembrance of His Crucifixion. Dwight has deep affection（情）for this act（行為）.  Yet, fasting on two days in a week has been quite obvious（太明顯）because Dwight is going out for lunch with classmates. He has been asked numerous（無數）times about his bread and water diet. Oh dear, this is only the second week of Lent. On one hand, the Bible teaches that there is no need to tell anyone when one is doing good, otherwise it will be like the hypocritical（偽善）manner of the Pharisees（法利賽人）. On the other hand, Dwight doesn’t want to lie about his act.  What would you do if you were Dwight?  I’d tell my friends why I would fast on Wednesday and Friday humbly, not trying to show off. If they like the idea, they could join me as well. If they could not share my feeling and find me funny, I’d ignore whatever they say and keep it my way. God would be glad if I insist even if my peers laugh at me.  I’d tell them because of Lent, I would not go out for lunch with friends. I could prepare my own bread and water at home and leave some time for prayers instead of going out. This could be easier for my friends to comprehend（理解） .This way I would not have to explain anything to do with fasting as that might frighten people away from being Catholics. 

Last Friday was Teachers’ Development Day, there was no school. Paul made use of the long weekend to visit his grandma who lives by herself in Cheung Chau. The two planned to take it relaxingly and dine out at different outlets. There are some small but gimmicky（有噱頭） food stalls which earn a reputation（有名氣）.  All went well until Saturday afternoon. Paul was a couch potato（沙發裡看電視的人）in front of the television while Grannie enjoyed her peanuts, also watching the same Korean anime（韓國動漫）. All of a sudden, a loud explosion（爆炸聲）came from the kitchen. Both raced（衝去）to see what happened. Oh no, water was rushing out（沖出）from the pipe（水渠）underneath the sink! The water was so rapid（湍急）that Paul had to use his whole chest（胸膛）to cover the hole on the pipe. He shouted to Grannie to get his phone and call his father for help. It took quite a long time before a plumber（水喉師傅）appeared. The tiny flat was flooded and Grannie took Paul out to eat with her heart sunk（沒有心情）, both wrapped in a big towel.   What would you do if you were Paul?  If the flat were all flooded, I would take my grandma back to my place and let my parents fix the issue. If she refused to go with me, I’d still leave as she would have one less thing on her mind to worry about. Not causing any trouble would be the best I would offer.  I’d not let my spirit sink with hers. I’d console（安慰）my grandma that it was just a perfect timing the accident happened while I were around. I’d invite her to thank God with me in a short prayer and then listen to her preferences in following up with the issue. I would comply（順從）. 

Personal Details  Feast Day : 11 April  Born : 12 March 1878  Died : 11 April 1903  Beatified : 1933  Canonized : 1940 St. Gemma was an Italian living in a Tuscan City. She died at the age of only 25.  St. Gemma was born on 12 March 1878. She was the eldest daughter and had seven brothers and sisters. Her father died when Gemma was aged 19. She alone had to look after her seven brothers and sisters and her life was very hard.  When young, Gemma wished to become a nun but her poor health prevented her from being accepted. She offered this disappointment to God as a sacrifice. Gemma was diagnosed with congenital meningitis and the doctor said that her illness was incurable. Surprisingly, the angel Gabriel appeared to her one day and she was miraculously cured.  St. Gemma always had some special grace from God. She had many ecstasies while praying, and could see visions. On 8 June 1899, Gemma had an interior warning that some unusual grace was to be granted to her. Each Thursday evening, the marks of stigmata would appear on her body. The stigmata would remain until Friday afternoon or Saturday morning when the bleeding would stop and the wounds would close. The stigmata continued to appear until the last three years of her life.  Throughout her life, Gemma had to live with many hardships: body weakness and sickness, poverty and the mockery by others because of her great love for God. Nevertheless, she adhered to her good virtues and led a life loving God and her neighbors. St. Gemma died peacefully on 11 April 1903 at the age of 25. She was beatified in 1933 and canonized in 1940.  Little Quiz  Think for a while, can you use one sentence to illustrate the life of St. Gemma?  Do you know what were “the stigmata” that St. Gemma received? Please find out. 

   What day of the week is Sabbath?  The original Sabbath refers to the seventh day rest of Gen. 2:2 because God saw everything was good. Because of this religious notion of taking time to enjoy what is good, Western cultures have the practice of taking a day off from work to enjoy what the work brings. The word “sabbatical” comes from this notion of taking a break in order to be refreshed.  There are two things we need to keep in mind. First, the Jewish people consider a day, again from Gen. 1, to begin with sundown and ends at sundown the next day. Second, our Sunday is their first day of the week. Thus, in John 20:1, “On the first day of the week.....”, every first day is Easter, Sunday. So, for us, Sunday is the real first day of the week even though we feel that Monday as the first day.  On the Sabbath, the Jewish people begin their observation at home. Their Friday evening meal takes on a prayerful nature. Parents would often say a prayer of blessing over their children. The Jewish people would then go to the synagogue, their word for church, to celebrate the gift of community. This may take place Friday evening or Saturday morning. Nevertheless, the community is the extension of the family.  There are a number of references in the Acts of the Apostles mentioning that the early Church continued to observe Sabbath at the synagogue and then gotten together to celebrate the Breaking of the Bread on the first day of the week. Historically they did this until after 70 A.D. when Jewish Christians were no longer allowed to go to the synagogues. They then combined the two parts: the reading of scripture and praying of the psalms with the Breaking of the Bread, now called the Eucharist. They then naturally incorporated the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles in what we now call the Liturgy of the Word. St. Justin the Martyr described this in a writing dating to 155 A.D. (CCC 1345)  From then on, Christians no longer observe the Sabbath but the Lord’s Day. And so do we.  Another noteworthy citation is from the Gospel. Lk. 4:16 “He came to Nazareth, where He had grown up, and went according to His custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.” When people tells me that they do not go to church on Sundays because they don’t get anything out of it, I tell them that Jesus probably didn’t get much out of it either. I am certain that He would rather take time with the Father on His own, which He did often. Yet He went on the Sabbath not for Himself but for the community. So, we do the same and pray on our own at other times.  One thing that has always bothered me about being Chinese is that we work so hard. Most Chinese businesses will open on Sundays, at least part of the day. When I was growing up, my dad had to work every other Sunday. He did make it a point that when he was off everybody had to be there to spend the day with him. Now, when we look back, we treasure those memories: things we did, places we went. I still have the pictures when we used to go to the Peak and spend half the day there.    If our family is God’s first gift to us, we have to spend them to appreciate them. So is our parish family.