昔日文章

In the beginning was the Word… And the Word was God. (Jn. 1:1)  And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (Jn. 1:14)  The Father and I are one. (Jn. 10:30)  The Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name… (Jn. 14:26)  Following the Feast of Pentecost, the Church highlights the first of the central teachings of the Church, the Holy Trinity. Historically, it took the Church almost four hundred years to clarify the doctrine.  F i r s t , the divinity of Christ was addressed. Is Jesus God, or is He God looking like a man, or a man having the supernatural powers of God? After much studying, the Church professed that Jesus is truly God and truly man. Mary was given the title “Mother of God” to emphasize that her son, Jesus, is truly God. It does not in any way give her divinity. But the second person of the Holy Trinity took on human nature in her.  Then the Church focused on the relationship between the Father and the Son, followed by the nature of the Holy Spirit and the relationship with the Father and the Son. It is in this background that the term Trinity, three in one, was introduced. This one word replaced the tedious and cumbersome sentence of One God in three distinct Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, consubstantial, yet one eternal God head…….  Now, you may ask why the Church talks this way? The answer is simple. God revealed it and we have to try to digest it. This doctrine distinguished Christianity from all other religious. This is not just to be difficult. One may ask why soccer is different from basketball, aren’t they the same, both playing with a round ball? You see what I mean?  Then, you may ask how important is this Trinity?  There are two good reasons:  1. It is important because it is about God Himself. He chose to show us who He is. This makes it very personal. Unlike other religions where the gods are just merely gods and have no connection with us mortals, Christianity believes that God wants us to know Him as He is. It may be difficult for us as creatures, yet God respects us enough to introduce Himself to us. He does not think less of us or looks down on us as unfitting of His Love. (Contrast this with Islam where they think we are insulting God by calling Him Father.)  2. In the Mystery of the Trinity, God shows that the Love relationship comes originally from Him. God is not a “One” who has no one equal in dignity to love. And in creating us in His image, our highest calling is to love, as He loves, others of equal dignity.  These are not abstract thoughts. These are also the most important thoughts of life. It is the confusion and ignorance of these thoughts that make the world so chaotic all through human history. Yet, at times, there are glimpses of brilliance when individuals exhibit the power of this love. We have seen them whenever we look at the life of a particular saint. Some of these saints stopped the world in her tracks, not just Christians. Look at what Mother Teresa did in a Hindu world! St. Francis still moves atheists to humanitarian efforts.  So even though we may not grasp what the Holy Trinity is really about and even though we may not be able to explain how the Holy Trinity affects our day to day lives, but because God revealed it, I trust that He is Trinitarian. And because of it, I believe I am a more complete person.    Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit… 

   In many parts of the world, (including Hong Kong), Ascension Thursday is no longer celebrated as a holy day on the Thursday 40 days after Easter. Instead, it is moved to the following Sunday, thus replacing 7th Sunday of Easter and the reading of the Gospel for that Sunday. I would like to share with you my reflection on this beautiful text from Jn 17:20-26. This took place after the Last Supper. In Jn 17, Jesus prayed with them and in verse 20-26. He said,  “Holy Father, I pray not only for them,  but also for those who will believe in me through their word.”  For whom was He praying? Who were the “them”? The apostles. “Those who will believe ... through their word.” Who were these? US. We are the ones who, through the centuries, came to believe in Jesus through the words of the bishops, priests, catechists, parents, friends… followers of Jesus.  Jesus prayed for US at the Last Supper!!!!!  Jesus PRAYED for US at the Last Supper!!!!!  JESUS PRAYED for US at the LAST SUPPER!!!!  Jesus, who is God, had us in His thoughts at the Last Supper. We were there, in His thoughts and in His Heart.  When this was brought to my attention some 40 years ago, I was dumbfounded. When I think about it, when I talk to others about it, I am still AU-struck.  Have you got it?  Let’s move on.  “I have given them the glory you gave me.”  We are to share in His GLORY!!! Not just in Heaven, but “that the world may believe that you sent me.” Our living, our faith in liveliness, in His Love, is for the world to see Him! What a responsibility! What a privilege! What an honour!  “Father, they are your gift to me.” We are gifts to Jesus!!! And as the Mystical Body of Christ, we are given as gifts to each other.  There are two sides to this. First, we are gifts. Second, others are gifts to us.  We are gifts. We don’t think of ourselves that way because we should be humble. But then, if that’s what we are, we should consider it carefully so that we do not diminish what God has intended. That needs a careful balance in our prayer life. Do we really live in such a way that we bless others by our lives? That really is the PURPOSE of our lives. Every day when we pray “Thy Will be done”, we need to think about how we are to enrich the lives of those around us by the love we have from Jesus. “Give us this day our daily bread.” Are we the daily bread God intends to feed others? Are we fed by the Eucharist so that we can be the Body and Blood of Jesus to those who need Him? Do we really strive to live a sinless life so as not to cheapen the gift that we are?  Others are God’s gifts to us. Often, I remind married couples that they may think that way BEFORE they were married, but somehow, after time has passed, the gift gets a little tarnished. They see each other less “gift-ly” each day. Why? Each day, we need to open our eyes and ask God to help us see the gift, the daily bread, He intends for us to have this day and treasure each other as gifts.  We are created in the image of God. Let us live up to our dignity and glory as He intends. 

  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.  

Mother Marianne led a group of sisters from New York to the Hawaiian Islands in 1883 to establish a system of nursing care for leprosy patients. Mother Marianne, formerly Barbara Koob (now officially Cope) was born January 23, 1838 and baptized the following day in what is now Hessen, West Germany. She was the daughter of farmer, Peter Koob and Barbara Witzenbacher Koob, his second wife. Peter Koob's first wife had nine children before she died, only two of whom reached adulthood. Peter and Barbara Koob had five children born in Germany, and five born in the United States. In 1839, the year following Barbara's birth, the family emigrated to the United States to seek a new start in the land of opportunity. Peter Koob became a naturalized citizen in the 1850s as did his children, including Barbara, who were minors at the time.  The Koob family became members of St. Joseph's Parish in Utica, N.Y., where the children, including Barbara, attended the parish school. Barbara received her first holy communion and was confirmed at St. John's Parish in Utica. It was the practice at that time for the bishop of the diocese to come to the largest church in the area to administer these two sacraments at the same time.  Barbara wrote of experiencing a call to religious life at an early age. However, the desire to follow her vocation was delayed nine years because of family obligations. As the oldest child at home, and after completing an eighth grade education, she went to work in a factory to support the family when her father became an invalid. Only when her younger siblings could care for themselves did Barbara feel free to enter the convent. She did so one month after her father's death in the summer of 1862. She was 24 years of age. Barbara entered the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse, N.Y. on November 19, 1862.  On November 8, 1883, Mother Marianne left with 6 sisters to work in Hawaii. In her first two years on the island, Mother Marianne did so much good work that she was decorated by King Kalakaua with the medal of the Royal Order of Kapiolani for the acts of benevolence she planned and developed to help the suffering people of the kingdom. In 1884, at the request of the government, she established Malulani Hospital, the first general hospital on the island of Maui.  St. Damien DeVeuster is known as the "Apostles to Lepers." Mother Marianne met Father Damien for the first time in January 1884. Two years later, in 1886, Father Damien was diagnosed with Hansen's disease ( leprosy 痲瘋病). Mother Marianne alone gave hospitality to the outcast priest upon hearing that his illness made him an unwelcome visitor to church and government leaders in Honolulu. Mother Marianne arrived at Kalaupapa several months before Father Damien's death on April 15, 1889. With two assistants she was able to console the ailing priest by assuring him that she would provide care for the patients at Boy's Home at Kalawao. Two weeks after the death of Father Damien, Mother Marianne was placed in charge of his work. She continued to work tirelessly until her death of natural causes on August 18, 1918 at the age of 80. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2005 and will be canonized by Pope Benedict on Oct 21, 2012. Two miraculous healings have been attributed to her. This is exerted from various sources including  http://blessedmariannecope.org/biography.html http://www.nps.gov/kala/historyculture/marianne.htm