Wednesday, February 18, 2015

以彩虹為記

四時來去匆匆。看!寒冬已到,加拿大人民本來舒適的日子,又要被她弄得一團糟。跟她一起擾攘的是她的老拍檔:飛雪, 狂風, 冰雹和嚴寒刺骨的氣温, 我們的冬天真不好過!更令人氣餒的是,冬天似乎比她的同儕春、夏、秋更常到訪此地,並持久逗留, 徘徊不去。另一方面,嚴冬峻冷與四旬期所要求的祈禱、懺悔、犧牲和克己的精神非常配合。隆冬苦寒之際, 正值四旬期展開之時,這個主日便是四旬期六個主日的第一個。

四時來去匆匆。去年冬天這個時候,我下定決心要悔改我罪, 尤其是一些年復一年地重覆著的陋習。藉四旬期的禮儀和祈禱的幫助,結果我的決心總算維持了數個星期。但封齋期一過,那些陋習便好像盜賊般, 靜悄悄地潛逃回來, 又再成為我生活的一部份!

因此我們這些軟弱的凡夫俗子,需要不斷儆醒 。我們需要一些實質或明顯的標記, 時刻來提醒我們曾作出的承諾或建立了的關係。這個主日彌撒的讀經一,天主和諾厄立下了盟約,以彩虹為標記。這可見的標記不是用來提醒天主 - 祂永遠不會忘記 - 而是在提醒著我們,在天主和人之間已經透過諾厄建立了一個特殊的盟約關係。

為了實現救世計劃,天主透過人類歷史上五位關鍵人物, 立下了五個不同的盟約, 用來團結祂屬靈的大家庭,且各有明顯的標記:

- 透過亞當,一個丈夫,用婚姻來肯定結合,以安息日為記;
- 透過諾厄,一個父親,用家庭來肯定連繫,以彩虹為記;
- 透過亞巴郎,一個族長,團結部族,以割禮為記;
- 透過梅瑟,一位民長,統一民族,以逾越節為記;
- 透過達味,一位君王,建立王國,以王座為記。

最後天主透過祂的兒子,一位大司祭,以教會來凝聚信衆,用聖體聖事作為祂所訂立的新的盟約的標記(註)。

「天主的國臨近了,你們悔改,信從福音罷!」,這是耶穌開始公開傳道時所宣講的(馬爾谷福音1:15)。在這四旬期,就讓我們重申我們悔改和做補贖的決心,因為我們知道天主的國度,那藉着基督寶血合而為一的國度,就在眼前了。這不是我們憑空想像出來的,因為舊約的標記 - 安息日、彩虹、割禮、逾越節、和王位 - 都在提醒著我們。而這些都衹是過渡時期的標記, 是為指向一個新的標記, 即代表著新而永久的盟約的聖體聖事。

註: Source: S. Hahn, A Father Who Keeps His Promises, p.35.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Why Through Mary and the Saints? Why Not Through Jesus Directly?

Communion of saints is an important theme in the Pauline letters, particularly 1 Cor 12 where St. Paul teaches that "we were all baptised into one body" (1 Cor 12:13) in one Spirit, and in this one body "if (one) part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy" (1 Cor 12:26). In the Eucharist, all members of the Church partake of the bread as one body in communion: "The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf" (1 Cor 10:16-17).

After narrating the faith of many ancient saints down the line of salvation history, the author of Hebrews concludes: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin...while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus..." (Hebrew 12:1-2). Note that he uses present tense - "we ARE surrounded" - in referring to the presence of these ancient witnesses to our faith. And understandably so because we ARE in communion with them.

The communion of saints concept is also illustrated beautifully by Jesus himself in John 15 using the motif of vine and its branches. Every member of the body benefits from Jesus - the Head of the body (Eph 5:23). With us dwelling in him, and him in us, it gives us life - abundant life (John 10:10) - the way the vine gives water and nutrition to its branches. By virtue of our communion in the body of Christ, there's NOT A MOMENT we don't benefit from Christ and, as St. Paul teaches in 1 Cor 12:26, from the other members of the body.

As members in communion with each other in the one Mystical Body, we can intercede for one another. Among all members of the Mystical Body, Mary, the Mother of the Church (John 19:27), is particularly powerful in her intercession, as was demonstrated at the wedding in Cana where Jesus performed his first miracle by turning water into wine on the prompting of his mother (John 2). But wait! Isn't Jesus "the only Mediator between God and the human race"? (1 Tim 2:5) How can a teaching that endorses multiple mediation be scriptural? Correct. This is why whether the intercession is by ordinary members like us, or by the saints in heaven, or by Mary, its efficacy is derived not from the intercessor's own merit but from sharing in Jesus' one mediation in a subordinate way.

Inevitably we have to ask a very Protestant question: In that case, why bother? Why through Mary and the saints? Why not go to Jesus directly who is the ONLY Mediator? Isn't it his mediating power the source that Mary and the saints draw on anyway?

I like St. John Paul II's answer in this regard (see Fr. Michael Gaitley's 33 Days Morning Glory, day 27). Yes, Jesus definitely could have saved us directly without going through Mary. But the fact of the matter is: he chose to do so THROUGH Mary by entrusting his body to her womb! He entrusted his infancy to her maternal care; he entrusted his childhood and youthful years to her guidance and upbringing; and on the cross, he entrusted his Church to her (he made her the Mother of his Church), wanting her to take care of the Church - his Mystical Body - the way she took care of his human body when he was growing up! So yes, we want to go to Jesus directly. But Jesus told us to go to Mary! It's not that Jesus cannot mediate directly, but that he knows we can benefit from his mediation better through Mary and the saints.

This is no different than God choosing to manifest his glory and power through his creation (Rom 1:19-20, Ps. 19:2-5). Always a good teacher who knows our needs and limitations as human beings, God uses intermediaries that enable us to understand his truth better and receive his grace more effectively.

I think this last point is very important because so many Catholics struggle because of it. To whom should we pray? Jesus or Mary? It's as though the two were in competition with one another. Of course we pray to Jesus. But we can pray with and to Mary too (CCC 2679). Mary is a great gift from Jesus (again John 19:27) that's meant to help us, to bring us closer to Jesus. We shouldn't hesitate to use Jesus' special gift for us. Mary doesn't compete with Jesus. She is his coworker, assisting him to sanctify us the way she assisted him in realizing the incarnation and the economy of salvation.