23

甲年—常年期第12主日

Fr. Jijo Kandamkulathy CMF

甘天霖神父

Gospel: Matthew 10:26–33（玛10：26-33）

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew,

Glory to you, O Lord!

"Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Homily: It’s really risky to go against the traffic

Emperor Domitian had begun a persecution in Asia minor against Christians who did not worship his statue. They were at the limit of endurance and the risk of apostasy was looming in the air. To encourage the Christians of his community, Matthew quoted these sayings of the Master regarding the difficulties and persecutions that the disciples would have had to bear.

For the Christians, persecution is not an accident; it is an inescapable fact. But fear often paralyzes a Christian. It manifests itself in the fear of losing one’s position, of seeing the esteem of one’s superiors diminished, of losing friendships, of being deprived of one’s properties, of being punished, demoted, and for some even of being killed. Whoever is afraid is no longer free. It is normal to be afraid, but woe to one dominated and guided by fear, one ends up paralyzed.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus insists three times: “Do not be afraid!” The announcer of the Gospel is afraid, first of all, because of the violence unleashed by the enemies of Christ, his mission might fail. Jesus assures him that despite the trials and hardships, the gospel will spread and transform the world. They probably will not see the seeds of light and goodness that they have sown with toil and pain germinate. However, they must cultivate the joyful certainty that the harvest will grow and will be plentiful.

The second is the fear of being mistreated or even put to death. Jesus invites us to reflect: what harm can the enemies of the gospel do? To offend, accuse unjustly, beat, confiscate property, take away life! Yes, but nothing more! No violence is capable of depriving the disciple of the only lasting treasure: the life he has received from God and that no one can take away.

But there is someone—Jesus continues—that is to be feared. It is “the one who has the power to destroy both soul and body.” It is not an external character to us. It is the evil that since birth we carry within us. Have we not many times for fear of being alone cultivated ambiguous friendships or maintained relations that ended up making us slaves and preventing us from living? Whoever is afraid fails to accomplish what would lead them to realize their life and therefore, “perishes.”

The third reason why persecution frightens us is that often it affects not only us but also those around us who may be deprived of the necessary subsistence. To this objection, Jesus responds by recalling the trust in the heavenly Father’s providence. He does not promise his disciples that nothing will happen, that they will always be rescued in a prodigious way. He assures that God will still realize their true goodness if they have the courage to remain faithful.

Today there are still many who are killed because of the Gospel. Even without bloodshed, persecution exists, and it is unavoidable. Sometimes it openly manifests itself through insults, public taunts, at other times through subtle and disguised marginalization, discrimination, exclusion ... One who has no concern of others has adapted the principles of this world and, perhaps, has given up the kingdom of God without realizing it.

证道：是屈服迫害的恐吓？还是信赖天父的眷顾？

多米仙皇帝已经在小亚细亚开始迫害基督徒，因为基督徒不朝拜多米仙的雕像。他们已经到了忍耐的极限，背教的危险在这氛围中逼近。玛窦为了鼓励他所在团体中的基督徒，引用上主说的这些关于门徒们不得不忍受的艰难和迫害。

为基督徒来说，迫害并不是突发的事件，而是不可逃避的事实。然而，恐惧通常会麻痹基督徒。它表现为害怕失去自己的身份地位，看到上级对自己的尊重减少了，失去友谊，财产被剥夺，被惩罚，被降职，有些人甚至被杀。谁害怕，谁就不再自由了。虽然恐惧害怕是正常的，但是被恐惧和误导的痛苦悲伤所占据，最终会使人瘫痪。

在今日的福音中，耶稣强调了三次：“不要害怕！”福音的宣告者首先是恐惧的，因为是基督的敌人进行的暴行迫害，而他的使命或许会失败。不过，耶稣向他保证：尽管有考验和艰难，但是福音必将广扬，并改变世界。他们可能看不到自己辛劳痛苦播种的光明和善良的种子会发芽成长。不过，他们必须培养喜乐，因为确信庄稼必然会长熟，而且收获颇丰。

其次是被虐待或者甚至被置于死地的恐惧。耶稣邀请我们反省：福音的敌人会造成什么伤害呢？令人不安的冒犯、不正义的控告、令人筋疲力尽的鞭打、罚没财产，以及夺取性命！的确是这样，却又仅此而已罢了！没有什么暴行能够夺走门徒唯一永恒的财富：就是从天主那里所接受的生命，没有谁能够夺去。

耶稣继续说，有一位要惧怕的，就是“那能使灵魂和肉身陷于地狱中的”。这为我们来说，它并不是一个外来之物，而是从我们出生就带在身上的罪恶。我们不是由于害怕孤独而多次培养暧昧的友谊，或维持关系，最终使自己沦为奴隶，无法生存吗？谁害怕，就无法完成那引领他们认识自己生命的事情，所以结果是“消亡”。

迫害吓唬我们的第三个原因是它不仅影响我们，还有我们周围那些可能被剥夺了必要生存的人。对这种反对，耶稣以重申信赖天父的眷顾作为回应。耶稣并没有许诺给自己门徒说：一切都会顺利，并且他们将一直会以惊人的方式获得拯救。耶稣保证的是：如果他们有勇气保持忠信，天主将依然体认他们真正的善良。

今日，仍旧有很多人因福音的缘故而被杀害。即使没有流血牺牲，迫害仍旧存在，而且是不可避免的。有时，迫害透过侮辱、大众的嘲弄公开表现出来，其它时候透过隐晦和变相的边缘化、歧视和排斥等手段。不关心别人的人，已经适应了这个世界的规则，或许已经放弃了天主的国而不自知。

文本来源：雅颂福传

翻译：Fr.James