昔日文章

   Before we go there, we must back up to last week’s article on Commandment 1.5, “You shall not carve idols…” Some Protestant churches have that as the Second Commandment. So depending on with whom you may have a discussion on the Commandments, just referring to a Commandment by number may be confusing.  In treating this Commandment, I would like to take up two topics:  1. Taking an oath.  2. Using God’s name in vain.  Taking An Oath（發誓）  In the U.S. with its tradition as a Christian country, it is customary to take an oath with one hand on the Bible and at the end of an oath say, “So help me God.” This happens in legal courts before testifying for a case or when an immigrant becomes a citizen. Whatever the occasion may be, making a commitment by oath is a serious thing. Calling on God while you take an oath is asking God to be a witness and a partner to your promise.  (Another example of this would be the vows in a Catholic wedding. When a couple divorces, they are breaking a promise not only with the spouse, but with God as well. That is why the Catholic Church would not allow divorce and remarriage. If the first vow is already broken, why would anyone think that the second vow would be kept ?)  At other times, we make promises light heartedly. “I swear….” As if by doing so we are more truthful. Jesus said, “Say yes when you mean yes, say no when you mean no.” (Mt. 5:37 & James 5:12)  The fact is, when we speak the truth and live the truth we are united with God who is Truth. What we say has the power and glory of God creating the universe itself, when God said and it was. (Gen. 1)  Using God’s name in vain（妄呼天主聖名）  In Vain – this means “for no purpose”. This is very common in English-speaking countries. People use God or Jesus as part of a sentence expressing their anger or disappointment or, indeed, for no good reason. Honestly, I did that when I was a university student. I just did not think anything about it. That might be the real problem. I did not think anything of God. When I began to take Jesus and my faith seriously, those phrases went away. So I try to tell people that using God’s name in vain is really an indication of how much Jesus is NOT in their lives. The sad fact is that Jesus’ name is used in vain in movies along with other vulgar words （粗口）.  The word “vulgar” does not mean “dirty” or even “bad”. It means “common” or “day-to-day” language（俗語）. It differs from a more cultured language（文雅）as those used in educated circles. St. Jerome even called the Bible he translated into Latin the Vulgate because Latin was the common language of the time and then common people could understand the Bible. Sad to say, young people use too many vulgar words in day-to-day conversations. It only shows how uncultured they are.    Lastly, when someone confesses that they use the Lord’s name in vain, I usually tell them, “Don’t stop. Finish the sentence. Tell God that you are angry. You are disappointed.” Then proceed to consider how God would want you to deal with the situation. In other words, make it a prayerful occasion. He wants to be in our lives, for better or worse. Include Him. 

   Deuteronomy 5:8- 10. “You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or worship them.”  Protestant churches follow this part of the Commandment and do not have statues or paintings in their churches. What about us? How come……  Consider these three other passages from the Bible:  Exodus 25:10-22. This is God’s instruction to Moses on how to build the Ark of the Covenant. And in vs. 18- 20, we read, “Make two cherubim of beaten gold for the two ends of the propitiatory, fastening them so that one cherub springs direct from each end. The cherubim shall have their wings spread out above, covering the propitiatory with them; they shall be turned toward each other, but with their faces looking toward the propitiatory. This propitiatory you shall then place on top of the ark. In the ark itself you are to put the commandments which I will give you.” Here, God told Moses to have cherubim – angels – places on the top of the Ark. By God’s Command, the Ark of the Covenant in which the Tablets of the Commandments were kept has carvings of angels on top of it! (The movie Raiders of the Lost Ark did a very good job of building the Ark according to the Bible. By the way, many young people get confused between Noah’s Ark and the Ark of the Covenant. The word ark is simply a container, both used in boat as in Noah and cabinet as in Ark of the Covenant.)  Numbers 21:4-9. This is the episode of the Jewish people complaining to Moses about having to wander in the desert. They would rather be in Egypt as slaves! God sent serpents to punish the Israelites for their ungratefulness. Then in vs. 8 God said to Moses, "Make a seraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover.'' Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered.” Did the bronze serpent have some kind of healing power that saved the people? To the Jewish people the seraph serpent is a symbol of the devil tempting Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. When they looked at the bronze serpent they acknowledged their sins before God. That was what healed them.  In John 3:14- 15, Jesus said, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so does the Son of Man have to be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” Here, Jesus refers to His own crucifixion. To us Catholics, the Crucifix is a symbol of sin. We look at the Crucifix so that we realize how serious our sins are and how Jesus died, paid the price, for our sins. It is interesting how Protestant churches may have a cross without the “corpus”, the body of Jesus on the Cross. They would not violate the Commandment by having carved “idols”. But Jesus is not an idol.  And, wait a minute. Many Protestant churches now have manger scenes decorated for Christmas! It is okay. Or is it not?    I n t h e C a t e c h i s m ( 2 1 3 2 ) i t s a y s , “Religious worship is not directed to images in themselves……but tends toward that whose image it is.” We pray to Jesus and the saints, and not the statues. We know that and now you can explain it, from the Bible! 

   This article will not deal with the commonly known superstitions like fortune telling, reading horoscope, wearing good luck charms, etc. Rather, I would like to comment on our day-to-day little superstitious habits.  1. Good omen (好意頭). We Chinese have a bad habit of having to say things that sound good and avoiding those that do not. We think that they may bring luck we do or do not desire. On occasions of celebration we want to say the right sounding words. Thus, we have fish (魚) and meat (肉) for new year because they bring plenty (餘) and fulfilling desires (慾). We certainly want good numbers because some numbers do not sound good. (The number four, for example. This is different from westerners’ aversion of the number thirteen.) Public figures, priests included, get complaints because they used a word the sound of which could be misheard and bring bad luck. It gets even harder when switching between Cantonese and Mandarin. That’s superstition.  2. We are also superstitious with words and signs like blessedness turned upside down otherwise they may all flow out.  3 . O u r l i v i n g and w o r k i n g environments have to have a certain rightness according to our superstitious belief. One example is, (from what I heard), how the escalators at the HSBC building have to be placed in an “open” manner to bring in richness.  4. Athletes are, as a group, habitually superstitious. They often think that they have to go through certain routines, wear certain clothes in certain ways, in order to win a game. It gets as silly as putting on socks in a certain order and many other idiosyncrasies.  We can go on and on about behaviors and habits that, by themselves, have no supernatural power but we afford them such powers. That is what superstition is all about.  The issue is about where God is in all our daily activities. People acting superstitiously are saying that some things are beyond God. Or that God expects us to act that way, otherwise HE will let bad things happen to us. Sadly, this may even involve religious acts. I have watched basketball players make the Sign of the Cross and bounce the ball exactly five times before shooting a foul shot. This shows a lack of faith, in God and in oneself.  Lack of faith in God.  As Christians, our actions are good because we have good moral intentions, what we do is morally good and the outcome is morally good. There are many things we do that have no moral criteria. In those instances, God simply lets us do our thing. So, when we play basketball, there is no moral value on how we shoot the foul shot. Just go do it. Now, there may be habits in the act of shooting that falls under “muscle memory”. That is very different from thinking that if we do not go through certain routines, God will not let the ball go in.  Lack of faith in oneself.  This happens when a person thinks that a particular routine by itself will guarantee a certain outcome. The routine somehow has a power of its own. A basketball player may think that the ball will go in only if he makes the Sign of the Cross and bounces it five times, that it has nothing to do with how diligently he has practiced shooting.  Can you think of habits you might have that border on superstition? Imagine how hilarious it must be to God when He watches us doing those silly routines for no good reason.    Trust Him. He loves you. 

   It’s never too late to wish you all a happy new year. （「有心不怕遲，十月都是拜年時。」）  With a new year, I would like to focus the next few months’ writings on some reflections on the Ten Commandments, beginning with the first Commandment, “I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.”  It would be good for us to consider how we place God in our lives. Very often, our lives are not anchored in God alone. We have so many things to worry about that only when we feel that we need God do we turn to Him. That is not a bad thing by itself. If we don’t turn to Him when we are in need, when should we turn to Him? God allows things to happen so that we do feel like turning to Him. As first teachers of faith, this is important for parents to imitate. Here are a few more ways to help people reflect God in their parenting. For you young people reading this column, tell your parents this is what you would like them to do. (Ha! Ha!)  First. You should NOT make sure that your children are provided with everything they want all the time. It is good for them to have to wait for something so that they have a sense of their dependence on you. At that moment you can teach them about God’s faithfulness. This is also known as “delayed gratification.” Some things are better having had to wait for them.  Second. Do not give your children everything even if they were good. Some things they do not need. And even if they need them, it is not all-important to have them. They must trust in you and God. A sense of need helps them to think about God and prayer.  Third. It is important to make promises you will keep, in your own good time. God does. He means what He says. “Let there be light and there was light.” (Gen. 1:3) “I will be with you always, until the end of time.” (Mt. 28:20) When we keep our word, we unite ourselves with God’s Word, Jesus. Our truthfulness reflects His truthfulness. Our faithfulness reflects His faithfulness.  Fourth. Do not be fair. It is just common sense. Children want to be treated fairly all the time, yet you treat your children each according to their needs. If you take your daughter shopping, it would be FAIR to buy a dress for your son as well. And if your son needs glasses, would make sure your other son gets a pair of glasses – just to be fair? What a silly thought! God loves us individually and He provides each of us accordingly. Be God-like. Do not be fair.  Fifth. Do not give in when they say, “Please.” There seems to be this expectation that good manners get you everything. It is important for young people to have good manners. But it should not “buy” them anything. On the other hand, they have to say “thank you” even when they don’t get what they want. They must trust that what you give them, in your wisdom and love, is better for them than what they asked for. Isn’t this what God does? We need to be thankful to God for everything that happens to us every day.   Enough of my rambling thoughts. Next time we will look at the First Commandment and superstition.