昔日文章

  From the title, some of you are already thinking about the encyclical （通諭） written by Blessed Pope John Paul II in 1998 in which he showed how faith and reason are intertwined and not separable. He wrote it in response to the modern and mistaken notion that matters of faith are somehow irrational, unreasonable.  Is faith and reason really incompatible? In other words, does having faith means we cannot reason, and if we use our reasoning power we cannot have faith? “ Faith without reason leads to superstition. ” Blessed Pope John Paul beautifully pointed out in his encyclical that the ability to reason is what makes man unique of all God’s creation. This gift of reason is tremendously important. When we fail to reason, we can easily fall into superstition, which is with us even now, and fanaticism such as the blind following of ideologies like Nazism of the 1930’s-40’s in Germany or the Red Guards of the 1960’s in China. On a smaller scale, many people may choose to believe in anything when they become desperate. An example of this may be found in otherwise very reasonable persons until someone they care about suffers from a terrible illness like cancer. They would chase after any form of “cure” or “promise of cure” because they suspend their “reason” in their desperation. Other forms of superstition can be seen in our athletes that do certain things or wear certain things because they “always” perform better with them, as if these “things” have some supernatural power of their own. “ Reason without faith is hopeless. ” Let me approach it this way. Every scientific discovery begins with an act of faith. Based on reason, the scientists observe some evidence that point to something “more” which, at the moment, is not clear to them. In their research they “open” the veil that keeps them from “seeing” the whole picture. Every scientist is a man or woman of faith. That is why it is “unreasonable” for a scientist to claim reason and faith being incompatible. This gift of “more” than the eye can see comes from God who made us. And it is this promise that is the foundation of “hope” which I will write next time. In Romans 1:18-23 St. Paul pointedly condemned those who worship man-made gods while ignoring the “reasoning” of one God that is “evident” to all. Later on, St. Thomas Aquinas would lay out his five proofs of existence of God from the same “reasoning”. I am not convinced what many people claim, that they are either atheists or agnostics. I think they are very mistaken of themselves. They have difficulty using their reasoning, or understanding the reasons presented to them. It is precisely that moment when they could exercise their faith. But instead, they shy away from making the “leap of faith” because they also know that if they do so, they have to change their lives. And they are not ready or willing to do so. That is quite different from saying that they don’t believe in God. In the bottom of their heart, they believe. That is why they hedge their bet by claiming to be agnostic. On the other hand, those of us who claim to believe in God do not always live as if it were important to believe in God and all that comes with that declaration. We often-times live as if God does not matter. We bear out the claim that religion and faith together has no real meaning in life and in doing so, we obscure the “evidence” of God to those who are seeking Him.  

What is an elephant? How does one describe it? Even better than that, how does one tell a blind person what an elephant looks like?  Or if you take a blind person up to an elephant and let him touch it, how would he describe what he felt? And if you take different blind persons to touch an elephant how will their descriptions be different? And if they sit down and explain to each other their various experiences, would they end up contradicting each other, and yelling at the other person(s) for being wrong, being stubborn, or even accusing each other for being deliberately closed minded? Often there are differences in experiences that may seemingly disagree with or even contradict each other. That is because we all are, to a degree, blind. Our experiences, because of that blindness that comes from the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, are not complete. Our experiences need to be verified, to make sure that we have the true and complete picture.  Our personal experience is called subjective （主觀）truth, truth as I “see” it.  We need to compare that to the “real” or objective （客觀）truth, truth as it “really” is.  What we hold to be true must not be based upon merely our personal experiences. And when we differ with someone else, we must also be receptive to the idea that we could be wrong, or at least not totally correct. We may be missing something from the whole picture. In the areas of “Faith”, yeah, we are back to that, the Catholic Church professes that Jesus did not only teach us the Truth, He gave us St. Peter and those who came after him, with their responsibility to pass on the WHOLE Truth of His Teachings. This is important. As Catholics, we really believe that the Church is Jesus truly present in the world, speaks to the world and saves the world. When we say that we believe in the person of Jesus, we must also say that we believe in the “person” of the Church. That is why we do not have a church that is led by just anyone claiming to speak for Jesus. He must be a person designated by the successor of St. Peter. We will look more closely at this later. For now, we will stay with what is called the Four Marks of the Church（教會的四個特徵）: “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.” （教會是唯一、至聖、至公、從宗徒傳下來的）(CCC 811) There is only ONE Truth. This is because there is only ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE Baptism. (Eph. 4:5) This Truth is Holy because Jesus is the Truth and He is Holy. It is Catholic, the word meaning “universal”, because Jesus meant to give it to ALL, for He is the God of all creation. And it is apostolic because Jesus commanded the apostles “to teach everything [He] has commanded.” (Mt. 28:20) So, for us Catholics, this Faith is not dependent upon how I feel about God (re: last week’s article) nor just my personal experience. My confidence in the faith is precisely because it is lovingly given to me by God through His beloved, the Church. It is like my calculus teacher in high school. He made it so simple and easy to grasp that we were eager to go to his class. God wants us to know Him and He has given us wonderful teachers like Blessed Pope John Paul and now Pope Benedict to pass on the faith. Open your eyes, to see the whole elephant. And be careful where you step!  

In our daily life, we spend a lot of time to wait for something. Early in the morning, we wait for bus to go to school or go to work. During the rush hours, it may take us longer to wait especially when traffic is congested （擠塞）.  One day, I experienced a very long queue in the bank and waited a long time just to renew my bank passbook. The other day, I made a call to an airline company for ticket revalidation and it was a pity for me to wait more than an hour for the line to be connected. Have you ever dialed up to a hotline for a service provider? Once you get connected, you are guided step by step to a specific category and sometimes it may take you over several minutes to obtain the required information or service. This is just like another kind of call waiting that a telephone can provide. If you encounter something ‘to wait’, so be patient （耐心） as it may bring you hope or trap you to anxiety. Students are so anxious waiting for their examination results and employees are so eager for promotion. One very important thing that can never wait （耽擱）too long - that is an ‘opportunity’ （機會）, once you get it, grasp it immediately. Do not hesitate and wait or it may slip away. I have read a famous quote from an American Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church (1966-1969), Fulton J. Sheen. "Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is timing, it waits on the right time to act, for the right principles （原則） and in the right way."

Now that the Year has begun, what have you thought about? Has the priest in the parish mentioned anything that interests you: a Bible study class, a review of the teachings of the faith, a study of the Vatican Council documents, attending a retreat?  In the course of this year, I would like to examine a few issues of our faith beginning with FAITH itself. What is it really? Many people think that faith is how they feel about God. If they feel the presence of God, then they believe that God exists. Can I really think that God only exists if I feel Him and He does not exist if I don’t feel His presence? God either exists or does not, regardless of my feelings. Faith （信仰） 信 –人言，something SPOKEN by a PERSON. Faith is first of all trusting in the person who has spoken. St. Paul says, “Faith comes from hearing.” ( Rom 10:14-17 ) In a later article I will come back to this passage and focus on verse 17 itself. 仰 – I lift up my mind and heart to what is said. I respond to the message because I trust in the person. In the Catechism article 26: “Faith is man's RESPONSE to God, who reveals Himself and gives Himself to man.”  This means that faith is initiated by God. Our part is to “answer” His invitation to trust in Him. Imagine someone calling us on the phone. We have to answer it. Some people let the phone ring and ring and not answer it. Some people may pick up the phone when no one is calling. Our feelings about the phone ringing have little to do with the ringing. For a conversation to take place, it requires first a caller and then an answerer. In Christianity, we believe that God loves us and calls us to share a life with Him, to be in Communion with Him. We believe that even our response is a gift, Grace, from God. A second consideration for Faith rests in the “content” of Faith. In Hebrews 11:1, St. Paul wrote, “Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see.” Without going too far into the word “hope”, it implies something that will happen. I will write about “hope” and “wish” later. Here, because Jesus promises us eternal life, this hope is based on Him who always tells the truth. Our faith is based on the One who speaks the Truth and, indeed, is Truth Himself. Our faith then has a “content” told us by a trustworthy Person and the “content” is also the Person who is God. If this sounds confusing, take a little time and come back and read it again. Pope Benedict urges us to use this Year of Faith to first examine the “content” of Faith. Who is it that we believe? When we open the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the very first section deals with “Faith” and everything that flows from believing in God in Christianity. The major difference between Christianity and all other religions is that in Christianity God comes to lead us to Him. Again, the focus is on our response. Blessed Pope John Paul II, in “As The Third Millennium Draws Near”, wrote in paragraph 6: “ In Christ, religion is no longer a "blind search for God" (cf. Acts 17:27) but the response of faith to God who reveals himself ” and that “Christ is thus the fulfillment of the yearning of all the world's religion.” This means that Jesus is the true answer to everything the world wants and desires. This is the power of believing in Jesus. This faith is real. All it is waiting for is for us to recognize it and desire it.  Jesus is waiting. Answer Him.