「那傳報喜訊的腳步，是多麼美麗啊。」(依52: 7)
依撒意亞先知的預言，在耶穌身上完全應驗了，因為耶穌這樣答覆了來訪的若翰的門徒：「瞎子看見，瘸子行走，癩病人得了潔淨，聾子聽見，死人復活，窮苦人得了喜訊。」
耶穌所帶給人類的，不單是有形可見的痊癒，而是無形可見的恩寵，因為耶穌往往在施行聖蹟時，對當事人說：「你的信德救了你！」
當耶穌要求到稅吏匝凱的家裡留宿時，匝凱說：「我願意把一半的產業施捨給窮人，另外，那些不義之財，我將四倍償還！」可見耶穌所帶來聖寵的效果，遠超人們的想像。
「你願意我給你做什麼？」是耶穌的慣用語。
雖然恩寵是白白的給予我們，但也需要我們打開心靈，需要我們的『願意』。
天主施予的恩寵是無條件的，但我們仍需不斷祈求。
「你們求，必定賜給你們！」
耶穌所帶來的救恩，是多麼美麗啊！
梁達材神父
信仰生活互動坊、塔冷通心靈書舍
12月26日 (週五) 瑪10：17-22 (其他經文──宗6：8-10；7：54-60 詠31)
耶穌對他的門徒說：「你們要提防世人，因為他們要把你們交給公議會，要在他們的會堂裡鞭打你們；並且你們要為我的緣故，被帶到總督和君王前，對他們和外邦人作證。當人把你們交出時，你們不要思慮：怎麼說，或說什麼，因為在那時刻，自會賜給你們應說什麼。因為說話的不是你們，而是你們父的聖神在你們內說話。兄弟要將兄弟，父親要將兒子置於死地，兒女也要起來反對父母，要將他們害死。你們為了我的名字，要被眾人所惱恨，唯獨堅持到底的，才可得救。」
默 想
親愛的兄弟姐妹們！
“誰能相似上主我們的天主？他坐在蒼天之上的最高處。他必會垂目下視，觀看天上和下地”。以色列在他聖詠中的一篇這樣唱著（詠113，5s），既讚頌天主的偉大，也讚美他慈愛地接近人。天主住在高天，卻向下垂顧…天主是無比地偉大，他遠遠超乎我之上。這就是人的第一個經驗。距離似乎無窮。宇宙的創造者，引導一切的他，離我們非常地遠：起初似乎是如此。後來卻出現了令人驚訝的經驗：那沒有人可以比擬、坐在高天之上的他，卻垂目下視。他俯身向下，看到我們，看到我。這篇聖詠接著說：“他從塵埃裏提拔弱小的人…”，他用他的垂顧提拔了我，慈愛地牽著我的手，幫助我從下往上爬升。“天主俯身向下”。这是一句先知性的話。在白冷的夜裏，這句話有了嶄新的意義。天主的俯身彎腰表現了未曾聽聞和先前無法想象的實際。他俯身，親自降下，像個嬰兒躺在可憐的馬槽裏，那是缺乏一切，被人遺棄的象徵。天主的確下降。他成了嬰兒，處在完全依賴的狀況之中，就是一個方才誕生的人的處境。身為掌握一切、我們唯他是賴的造物主，竟成了微小、需要人性溫愛的人。天主躺在馬槽裏。在舊約時代，聖殿幾乎被視爲天主的腳凳；而結約之櫃就像是他神秘臨在人類之中的地方。因此，人知道在聖殿之上暗藏著天主光榮的雲彩。現在，雲彩就臨在馬槽上面。天主就隱藏在一個沒有居所的嬰兒的可憐雲彩之中：那是無法進入、卻光榮的雲彩！其實，他對人的關愛有什麽方法能比這樣更顯出偉大和純真呢？藏身的雲彩，象徵那完全需要愛情的嬰兒的貧窮的雲彩，卻也是光榮的雲彩。因爲沒有什麽能夠比這更崇高、更偉大的愛，以這種方式俯身，下降，成了依賴的人。當人面對白冷的馬槽敞開内心的眼睛時，真天主的光榮便展現在眼前了。
我們方才聽到的聖史路加所敍述的聖誕事跡，告訴我們天主首先向那些處境卑微、在高層社會中受歧視的人，稍為揭露了他藏身的面紗：這些人是牧羊人，他們在白冷城外牧放看守著羊群。路加給我們說這些人“守著夜”。因此，我們也可以聽到耶穌訊息的中心呼喚，它一而再，再而三，越來越迫切，直到橄欖園爲止，不斷邀請我們保持醒寤，準備好自己，隨時留意上主的來臨。爲此，此時此地，這句話或許比外在單純的守夜意義更深刻。那些牧羊者的確是警醒的人，他們對天主的意識和天主即將來臨的感受是活潑的。這些人都在等待著天主，他們毫不在意天主外表上似乎離他們的日常生活很遠。偉大的喜訊是可以向警醒的心透露的：今夜，救世主為我們誕生了。只有警醒的心有能力相信這個訊息。只有警醒的心能夠激發勇氣，敢在馬槽中的嬰兒身上尋找天主。我們要祈求上主，幫助我們成爲警醒的人。
此外，聖路加也給我們敍述牧羊人被天主的光榮、被天主的光彩所環繞，他們處在這個榮耀的内在光輝之中。這些被神聖的雲彩所環照的牧人聽到天使讚美的歌聲說：“天主受享光榮于高天，主愛的人在世享平安”。天主所愛的人若不是微小、醒寤、等待、期望天主的慈愛、從遙遠的地方引頸盼望著他和尋找他的那些人，還有誰呢？
在教父的著作中可以找到令人驚奇的、有關天使歡迎救贖主降生的歌聲的評述。教父們說，直到那個時候，天使們只從由天主而來並反映天主的宇宙的偉大、邏輯和美妙來認識天主。天使們只接納了造化讚美天主的無聲之歌，並把這個歌聲轉變爲天籟。然而，現在卻發生了甚至令天使驚訝的新奇的事。那宇宙所談論的、手中掌握著一切的他，竟然進入人類歷史中，在歷史中有所作爲並受苦。教父們又說，從這件不可思議的事產生的愉快不安，從天主這第二、也是新的顯示自己的方式，產生了一首新歌，這首新歌聖誕節的福音為我們保存了下來：“天主受享光榮于高天，世人在世享平安”。我們或許可以說，根據希伯來詩的結構，這兩節重疊的詩文事實上說的是同一件事，只是從不同的觀點出發而已。天主的光榮是在高天上，如今他的崇高卻隱藏在馬槽裏，那低微的卻成了崇高的。他的光榮是在地上，是謙卑和愛的光榮。再者，天主的光榮是和平。哪裏有他，那裏就有和平。什麽地方人不願意使用暴力，獨自把地球變爲天堂，那裏就有天主。天主和内心醒窹的人、謙卑的人、以及相稱他崇高的謙虛和愛的人在一起。對這些人他賜給平安，好使平安經由他們也進入世界。
中世紀神學家威廉·蒂里曾說：天主發現他的偉大從亞當便開始便引起人的反抗；人感到自己的存在受到限制，他的自由遭到威脅。因此，天主選擇了一條新路，變爲一個嬰兒，成了依賴他人的弱者，需要我們的愛。現在，那成了嬰兒的天主對我們說：如今你們不能再害怕我，只能愛我。
懷著這樣的心情，今夜我們接近白冷的嬰兒，接近那爲了我們而自願成爲嬰兒的天主。在每個嬰兒身上都有白冷那個嬰兒的映像。每個嬰兒都央求我們的愛。爲此，今晚我們特別想到遭父母拒絕愛的嬰兒；想到享受不到家庭溫暖，流浪街頭的兒童；想到遭野蠻利用為士兵，成爲暴力工具，而不作爲修好與和平使者的兒童；想到被色情和其他種種妄用的可惡行業嚴重傷害到心靈的兒童。白冷的嬰兒是向我們發出的新呼籲，他要求我們盡一切可能結束這些兒童所受的折磨；要求我們盡一切可能，使白冷的光感動人們的心。只有經由内心的皈依，只有透過人心的改變，才能克服這一切邪惡的原因，才能戰勝邪魔。只有先改變人，然後才能改變世界。但為了能夠改變，人需要來自天主的光照，需要那道以出其不意的方式照射我們黑夜的光芒。
在談論白冷那個嬰兒的時候，我們也想到名叫白冷的那個地方；想到耶穌生活過、而且深深熱愛的那個國家。讓我們祈禱，使那裏能夠締造和平，終止仇恨與暴力，喚起彼此的諒解，敞開心懷，開放邊界。願天使在那一夜高唱的和平降臨。
在聖詠第九十六（九十五）篇中，以色列和教會都讚頌天主在造化中所呈現的偉大。一切受造之物都蒙召叫，隨聲附和這首讚頌之歌。歌中這樣邀請我們說：“願森林中的一切樹木在上主面前歡樂，因爲他已駕臨”（12節）。教會把這篇聖詠當作預言、也當作一項使命任務來誦讀。天主降臨白冷城是靜悄悄地，只有守夜的牧人一時被天主駕臨的光芒所環照，也得以聽到天使驚喜天主降臨，而高唱那首新歌的一部分。天主的光榮世世代代、繼續不斷、靜悄悄地來臨。哪裏有信德，他的話就在那裏宣報出來，並受到聆聽，天主就聚集人們，以他的身體賜給他們，改變他們成爲他的身體。他來到，喚醒人心。天使的新歌變成了世人的歌，他們世世代代、萬古常新地高唱天主以嬰兒的樣子來到，打從心底成爲喜樂的人。森林的樹木都前往上主面前歡樂。聖伯多祿廣場的那棵大樹也在談論上主，願意傳揚他的光芒說：是的，他已來到，森林的樹木都向他歡呼。城市裏和家中的樹木應該不只是節慶的裝飾，它們指出上主是我們喜悅的緣由，他爲了我們而成爲嬰兒。讚頌之歌所唱的畢竟是重新找到的同一棵生命之樹。我們因著信仰他而領受了生命。在聖體聖事中他把自己賜給我們，他賜給我們抵達永恒的生命。此時此刻，我們也同聲齊唱讚頌造化之歌，我們的讚頌同時也是一篇祈禱：是的，上主，讓我們也窺探到一點你榮耀的光輝，賜給大地和平，使我們男男女女成爲你和平的人。阿門。
（梵蒂岡電臺華語部譯）
（梵蒂岡電臺訊）教宗本篤十六世于24日聖誕節前夕，晚上12點，在聖伯多祿大殿主持隆重的聖誕子夜彌撒。25日聖誕節正午時分，教宗要在聖伯多祿大殿的中央陽臺上發表聖誕文告幷降福羅馬居民和全世界的人。教宗的這個活動要由許多家電視臺向世界各地直接轉播。
24日下午，在聖伯多祿廣場上布置的馬槽揭幕，許多信友們圍繞著馬槽，參加爲世界和平祈禱的晚禱會。在晚禱會結束前，教宗點燃放在他私人書房窗前的和平之燈，幷降福聚集在聖伯多祿廣場的信友。
聖伯多祿廣場上的馬槽是梵蒂岡政府的技術部門負責布置的。今年的馬槽布置成一個在白冷城墻隱蔽處的簡陋庇蔭的地方，同時以水和火來象徵純潔與更新以及光明戰勝黑暗。
（梵蒂岡電臺訊）教宗本篤十六世十二月二十二日接見了旅居羅馬的樞機主教和聖座各部會首長及工作人員，彼此互祝聖誕年節，並按照往年慣例向他們發表了一篇相當長的講話，回顧一年來教會的重大事件。他談到今年七月間在澳大利亞悉尼舉行的世界青年日，十月間在梵蒂岡舉行的世界主教會議，談到有關人的真理以及聖神在教會中的臨在。關於這篇講話，本台向梵蒂岡專家，意大利《快報》周刊編輯桑德羅·馬吉斯特爾做了下面的訪談：
問：馬吉斯特爾先生，您對教宗這篇講話有什麽感想？
答：教宗談到今年教會的兩件大事，一件是在悉尼舉行的世界青年日，一件是有關天主聖言的世界主教大會。教宗把這兩件大事結合在聖神這個主題下來談。這篇談話的内容有點出乎意料，但非常中肯。教宗的講話指出聖神乃是創造的神。這是非常偉大的見地，對天主的整個造化，包括人和宇宙，有非常積極的見解。這篇講話像是人的生態學，這個思想幾乎是整篇講話的主軸。
問：馬吉斯特爾先生，您也和許多人一樣，認爲教宗這篇講話充滿喜樂與希望嗎？
答：沒錯。的確如此。本篤十六世教宗的講道訓誨從來不是漆黑晦暗的，而是明朗透徹，向黑暗的地方照射光亮。從這個觀點看，這篇講話很代表當今教宗領導教會的大體方向。
問：我們來談談本屆以天主聖言爲主題的世界主教會議。教宗非常專注會議的進行，是不是？
答：教宗不但以旁觀者和聆聽者參與大會的進行，而且以會議主要角色的身份全程參與。他在會期約進行一半的時候發言，他的發言雖然簡短，卻非常明確有力，充分反映他先前所寫的、以及正在書寫的著作第二部分的精神，這部傑出的著作就是《納匝肋的耶穌》。
問：馬吉斯特爾先生，教宗這篇講話的主題之一就是今年七月在澳大利亞悉尼舉行的世界青年日。您覺得教宗怎樣看待這件事？
答：教宗談這件事的時候，幾乎間接地，或者說隱含地與那些低估世界青年日的人有所爭論。這些人中包括一些自以爲是的天主教知識份子，他們批評這種形式的聚集青年。教宗在講話中差不多明顯地指出他們。教宗強調本屆世界青年日特別具有意義的某些方面，例如在悉尼市區舉行的大型拜苦路禮儀，他說那的確是青年日最具代表性的活動和時刻。我毫不遲疑地認爲那是個重大和現代化的聖劇。更有甚者，教宗進一步說，除了拜苦路之外，還有一項隆重的禮儀，在這項禮儀中天主聖言變成為事實：人辦不到的，天主辦到了。
問：馬吉斯特爾先生，教宗在講話中也提到保祿六世教宗的《人類生命》通諭。您對那段話有什麽特別的感受？
答：我承認教宗提到《人類生命》通諭很令人吃驚。教宗先是談到聖神為創造者之神，之後卻對《人類生命》通諭的意向給以積極性的評價。他以人的生態學之名，不但強調要保護熱帶森林，要保護動物、植物和水，不使這些遭到破壞，他更強調要保護人免於自我毀滅的危險。教宗說：人必須有能力從造化中認出那個不可被顛覆的秩序，這個秩序包括男人和女人，包括陽性和陰性。教宗說當今某些理論以爲性別乃是人和文化創造出來的，這樣的觀念破壞人的本質。我們正應該保護人不受到這樣的破壞。而《人類生命》通諭正在提醒人類保護自己的的重要性，這根本是人所要求的。
（梵蒂岡電臺訊）羅馬城和那不勒斯都有用藝術來表達耶穌聖誕的古老傳統。藝術史學家巴納巴向本台介紹說：“13世紀時，德亞迪尼修會的創始人聖加埃塔把這個傳統帶到羅馬。在羅馬的第一個馬槽是在越過台伯河區內的聖女多洛泰阿和西爾維斯特羅教堂搭建的，以後又從那裏傳到全意大利，也可以說傳到全世界的男隱修院。有件很有趣的事值得一提：那時修女們是不能搭建馬槽的，只有隱修士們可以搭建，因爲人們認爲搭建馬槽、岩洞，思考其中的人物會使她們在祈禱時分心。與那不勒斯不同的是，羅馬馬槽的主要特徵是有更多的連貫性。就是說羅馬的馬槽有更多的仿古特徵。馬槽的景色以羅馬城和鄉村爲背景是非常重要和强烈的一點。白冷往往成了羅馬城的一個地區。馬槽中也常放入把羊背在肩上的牧人，因爲提前表達了善牧的形象。”
關于羅馬馬槽搭建的重要組成部分，巴納巴告訴本台：“城市同耶穌的誕生當然是主角。美妙的是，這些馬槽是能自動的。比如說代表台伯河河流可看到小船在河上搖來搖去。再有就是所有手工藝人都處在動態，有鐵匠、木工等等。因此說是過‘真實生活’的馬槽布景，因爲要用這種生活來表達：‘我們都在這裏，高興看到聖嬰誕生。’因此是非常真誠的馬槽。以前也有一些房子接待願意參觀私人馬槽的羅馬人，這些房子的門前放了一個木環爲告訴人們：‘請進，這裏也有爲你們搭建的馬槽。’這些馬槽也用驢子和牛來裝飾，內容顯得更加豐富。根據教父們的見解，這兩個成分讓我們加以思索：一個是牛，代表選民，而驢子則代表外教人，指出了改變人生事物的參照點。”
（梵蒂岡電臺訊）教宗本篤十六世十二月二十二日上午，按照往年慣例，接見生活在羅馬的樞機主教和聖座各部會首長及工作人員，和他們彼此祝賀聖誕年節，並在這個機會中和他們一起反省一年來聖座和教會的生活。其中，教宗特別舉出今年七月間在澳大利亞悉尼舉行的世界青年日活動，十月份在梵蒂岡舉行的世界主教會議，以及對人的維護。此外，教宗也談到今年内普世教會紀念保祿六世教宗頒佈《人類生命》通諭四十年，今年這位教宗去世三十周年，聖保祿宗徒誕生兩千周年紀念年揭幕，教宗前往美國和法國的牧靈訪問等等重要事跡。
教宗首先指出：基督建立教會的時候，把向全世界宣講福音和宣報聖神的責任托付給教會，這個責任兩千年來沒有改變。關於悉尼的世界青年日，教宗說：“世界青年日是一再被分析的對象，人們刻意要了解這個所謂的青年文化。一般流行的分析都把世界青年日當作現代青年文化的一種變形，好像改變為教會性質的巨型搖擺音樂會，以教宗為巨星。這些分析人士認爲，不論有沒有信仰，這類音樂會萬變不離其宗，他們相信因此可以把有關天主的問題排除掉。甚至教會裏面也有類似的説法，他們認爲青年日不外是一種大場面的歌舞劇表演，即使是美好的，卻沒有什麽信仰上和福音上的意義。青年日可以算是令人出神入迷的歡樂活動，但到頭來還是回到原狀，對青年們的生活不會有任何深入的影響”。
對這些不著邊際的分析，教宗提出他的反證說：“那些分析沒有看到一點，就是在悉尼所呼吸到的喜悅氣息。那個氣息與在任何搖擺音樂會中所感染的大異其趣。在悉尼的二十萬青年沒有騷擾城市，沒有帶來暴力，不是吸毒的聚會。之所以如此，因爲他們的節慶活動早就開始了，那是一條信德的旅程，以十字架為核心”。
說到十字架，教宗便提到青年日一項極重要的活動，拜苦路。他說：“在澳大利亞，那條貫穿悉尼全城的漫長苦路所以變爲青年日活動的高峰，決不是偶然的。那項活動再次綜合了過去多年來所發生的事，指出那位把我們又聚集在一起的乃是天主，他爲了愛我們甚至死在十字架上。因此，他們所圍繞的那顆巨星不是教宗，教宗只不過是那顆巨星的代表而已，他把一切引向臨在我們當中的基督。所以，世界青年日的巨星乃是耶酥基督和他的聖神，這位聖神是創造共融的力量”。
在悉尼的世界青年日之後，教宗談到今年十月間在梵蒂岡舉行的世界主教會議。這屆會議的主題是《教會生活和使命中的天主聖言》。他說世界主教會議就像世界青年日之與聖神一樣，充分顯示聖經與聖神的關係。教宗說：“我們知道聖經是不同年代編寫成的，因此是過去的作品。但我們也看到聖經的訊息不留在過去，也不局限在文字裏面。事實上，天主一向對今天的人講話，只有當我們發現天主的臨在，而且就在眼前這個時刻愛我們的時候，我們才算是真正聆聽了聖經”。
最後，教宗也談到人類與大自然的關係以及人對自己尊嚴的維護。他說：“我們對大地所負的責任的最後根據是對造化的信仰。大地不是我們的財產，所以我們不能任意剝削它。大地是造物主賜給我們的禮物，造物主為大地已經做好了内在的安排，因此也給了我們應循的方向，我們只是天主造化的管理人而已”。至於人本身，教宗說：“熱帶森林值得我們保護，作爲受造物的人所應受到的保護不次于森林。天主在人身上銘刻著訊息，這個訊息不違反我們的自由，而是指出自由的條件”。
.- Today during his Christmas homily, Pope Benedict XVI explained that wherever God is, “there is peace.” By being born as a child, the Pontiff continued, Christ brought love into the world so that those who draw near to him might be bearers of his peace.
The Holy Father continued his homily by asking those present to pray for the children of the world, especially those who are victims of violence, abuse or pornography. “The Child of Bethlehem summons us once again to do everything in our power to put an end to the suffering of these children; to do everything possible to make the light of Bethlehem touch the heart of every man and woman. Only through the conversion of hearts, only through a change in the depths of our hearts can the cause of all this evil be overcome, only thus can the power of the evil one be defeated. Only if people change will the world change; and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God, the light which so unexpectedly entered into our night.”
The full text of the Holy Father’s homily is posted below:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
“Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down upon the heavens and the earth?” This is what Israel sings in one of the Psalms (113 [112], 5ff.), praising God’s grandeur as well as his loving closeness to humanity. God dwells on high, yet he stoops down to us… God is infinitely great, and far, far above us. This is our first experience of him. The distance seems infinite. The Creator of the universe, the one who guides all things, is very far from us: or so he seems at the beginning. But then comes the surprising realization: The One who has no equal, who “is seated on high”, looks down upon us. He stoops down. He sees us, and he sees me. God’s looking down is much more than simply seeing from above. God’s looking is active. The fact that he sees me, that he looks at me, transforms me and the world around me. The Psalm tells us this in the following verse: “He raises the poor from the dust…” In looking down, he raises me up, he takes me gently by the hand and helps me – me! – to rise from depths towards the heights. “God stoops down”. This is a prophetic word. That night in Bethlehem, it took on a completely new meaning. God’s stooping down became real in a way previously inconceivable. He stoops down – he himself comes down as a child to the lowly stable, the symbol of all humanity’s neediness and forsakenness. God truly comes down. He becomes a child and puts himself in the state of complete dependence typical of a newborn child. The Creator who holds all things in his hands, on whom we all depend, makes himself small and in need of human love. God is in the stable. In the Old Testament the Temple was considered almost as God’s footstool; the sacred ark was the place in which he was mysteriously present in the midst of men and women. Above the temple, hidden, stood the cloud of God’s glory. Now it stands above the stable. God is in the cloud of the poverty of a homeless child: an impenetrable cloud, and yet – a cloud of glory! How, indeed, could his love for humanity, his solicitude for us, have appeared greater and more pure? The cloud of hiddenness, the cloud of the poverty of a child totally in need of love, is at the same time the cloud of glory. For nothing can be more sublime, nothing greater than the love which thus stoops down, descends, becomes dependent. The glory of the true God becomes visible when the eyes of our hearts are opened before the stable of Bethlehem.
Saint Luke’s account of the Christmas story, which we have just heard in the Gospel, tells us that God first raised the veil of his hiddenness to people of very lowly status, people who were looked down upon by society at large – to shepherds looking after their flocks in the fields around Bethlehem. Luke tells us that they were “keeping watch”. This phrase reminds us of a central theme of Jesus’s message, which insistently bids us to keep watch, even to the Agony in the Garden – the command to stay awake, to recognize the Lord’s coming, and to be prepared. Here too the expression seems to imply more than simply being physically awake during the night hour. The shepherds were truly “watchful” people, with a lively sense of God and of his closeness. They were waiting for God, and were not resigned to his apparent remoteness from their everyday lives. To a watchful heart, the news of great joy can be proclaimed: for you this night the Saviour is born. Only a watchful heart is able to believe the message. Only a watchful heart can instill the courage to set out to find God in the form of a baby in a stable. Let us ask the Lord to help us, too, to become a “watchful” people.
Saint Luke tells us, moreover, that the shepherds themselves were “surrounded” by the glory of God, by the cloud of light. They found themselves caught up in the glory that shone around them. Enveloped by the holy cloud, they heard the angels’ song of praise: “Glory to God in the highest heavens and peace on earth to people of his good will”. And who are these people of his good will if not the poor, the watchful, the expectant, those who hope in God’s goodness and seek him, looking to him from afar?
The Fathers of the Church offer a remarkable commentary on the song that the angels sang to greet the Redeemer. Until that moment – the Fathers say – the angels had known God in the grandeur of the universe, in the reason and the beauty of the cosmos that come from him and are a reflection of him. They had heard, so to speak, creation’s silent song of praise and had transformed it into celestial music. But now something new had happened, something that astounded them. The One of whom the universe speaks, the God who sustains all things and bears them in his hands – he himself had entered into human history, he had become someone who acts and suffers within history. From the joyful amazement that this unimaginable event called forth, from God’s new and further way of making himself known – say the Fathers – a new song was born, one verse of which the Christmas Gospel has preserved for us: “Glory to God in the highest heavens and peace to his people on earth”. We might say that, following the structure of Hebrew poetry, the two halves of this double verse say essentially the same thing, but from a different perspective. God’s glory is in the highest heavens, but his high state is now found in the stable – what was lowly has now become sublime. God’s glory is on the earth, it is the glory of humility and love. And even more: the glory of God is peace. Wherever he is, there is peace. He is present wherever human beings do not attempt, apart from him, and even violently, to turn earth into heaven. He is with those of watchful hearts; with the humble and those who meet him at the level of his own “height”, the height of humility and love. To these people he gives his peace, so that through them, peace can enter this world.
The medieval theologian William of Saint Thierry once said that God – from the time of Adam – saw that his grandeur provoked resistance in man, that we felt limited in our own being and threatened in our freedom. Therefore God chose a new way. He became a child. He made himself dependent and weak, in need of our love. Now – this God who has become a child says to us – you can no longer fear me, you can only love me.
With these thoughts, we draw near this night to the child of Bethlehem – to the God who for our sake chose to become a child. In every child we see something of the Child of Bethlehem. Every child asks for our love. This night, then, let us think especially of those children who are denied the love of their parents. Let us think of those street children who do not have the blessing of a family home, of those children who are brutally exploited as soldiers and made instruments of violence, instead of messengers of reconciliation and peace. Let us think of those children who are victims of the industry of pornography and every other appalling form of abuse, and thus are traumatized in the depths of their soul. The Child of Bethlehem summons us once again to do everything in our power to put an end to the suffering of these children; to do everything possible to make the light of Bethlehem touch the heart of every man and woman. Only through the conversion of hearts, only through a change in the depths of our hearts can the cause of all this evil be overcome, only thus can the power of the evil one be defeated. Only if people change will the world change; and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God, the light which so unexpectedly entered into our night.
And speaking of the Child of Bethlehem, let us think also of the place named Bethlehem, of the land in which Jesus lived, and which he loved so deeply. And let us pray that peace will be established there, that hatred and violence will cease. Let us pray for mutual understanding, that hearts will be opened, so that borders can be opened. Let us pray that peace will descend there, the peace of which the angels sang that night.
In Psalm 96 [95], Israel, and the Church, praises God’s grandeur manifested in creation. All creatures are called to join in this song of praise, and so the Psalm also contains the invitation: “Let all the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes” (v. 12ff.). The Church reads this Psalm as a prophecy and also as a task. The coming of God to Bethlehem took place in silence. Only the shepherds keeping watch were, for a moment, surrounded by the light-filled radiance of his presence and could listen to something of that new song, born of the wonder and joy of the angels at God’s coming. This silent coming of God’s glory continues throughout the centuries. Wherever there is faith, wherever his word is proclaimed and heard, there God gathers people together and gives himself to them in his Body; he makes them his Body. God “comes”. And in this way our hearts are awakened. The new song of the angels becomes the song of all those who, throughout the centuries, sing ever anew of God’s coming as a child – and rejoice deep in their hearts. And the trees of the wood go out to him and exult. The tree in Saint Peter’s Square speaks of him, it wants to reflect his splendour and to say: Yes, he has come, and the trees of the wood acclaim him. The trees in the cities and in our homes should be something more than a festive custom: they point to the One who is the reason for our joy – the God who for our sake became a child. In the end, this song of praise, at the deepest level, speaks of him who is the very tree of new-found life. Through faith in him we receive life. In the Sacrament of the Eucharist he gives himself to us – he gives us a life that reaches into eternity. At this hour we join in creation’s song of praise, and our praise is at the same time a prayer: Yes, Lord, help us to see something of the splendour of your glory. And grant peace on earth. Make us men and women of your peace. Amen.
恭讀聖若望福音 1:1-18
在起初已有聖言，聖言與天主同在，聖言就是天主。聖言在起初，就與天主同在。萬物是藉著他而造成的；凡受造的，沒有一樣不是由他而造成的。在他內有生命，這生命是人的光。光在黑暗中照耀，黑暗決勝不過他。
曾有一人，是由天主派遣來的，名叫若翰。這人來，是為作證，為給光作證，為使眾人藉他而信。他不是那光，只是為給那光作證。
那照亮每人的真光，正在進入這世界；他已在世界上，世界原是藉他造成的；但世界卻不認識他。他來到了自己的地方，自己的人卻沒有接受他。但是，凡接受他的，他給他們，即給那些信他名字的人權能，好成為天主的子女。他們不是由精血，也不是由肉慾，也不是由男慾，而是由天主生的。
於是，聖言成了血肉，寄居在我們中間；我們見了他的光榮，正如父獨生者的光榮，滿溢恩寵和真理。若翰為他作證，呼喊說：「這就是我所說的：那在我以後來的，成了在我以前的，因他原先我而有。」從他的滿盈中，我們都領受了恩寵，而且恩寵上加恩寵。因為法律是藉梅瑟傳授的，恩寵和真理卻是由耶穌基督而來的。從來沒有人見過天主，只有那在父懷裡的獨生者，身為天主的，他給我們詳述了。
—上主的話。
A Reading from the Gospel of John 1:1-18
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.
—The Gospel of the Lord.
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往神父講道目錄
