「誰若事奉我，就當跟隨我；如此，我在那裏，我的僕人也要在那裏；誰若事奉我，我父必要尊重他。」（若12:26）

這句經文蠻有意思，它最觸目的地方就在最後的部份。「我父必要尊重他。」天父尊重我們？怎可能呢？雖然我們是按天主的肖像所造，但我們不竟是受造物，造物主怎可能會尊重我們呢？這真是匪疑所思。

如果我們把中心的經文抹去，一個比較清晰的邏輯便會呈現在我們的眼前：「誰若事奉我，就當跟隨我…誰若事奉我，我父必要尊重他。」倘若我們想贏取天父的尊重，我們先要事奉耶穌基督，事奉耶穌基督就是跟隨祂。

跟隨耶穌基督是每個基督徒應做的事，否則，他們祗會是佛教徒，道教徒甚至拜金主義者或無神論者等等，算不上是基督徒。您這樣想可能是因為你覺得跟隨耶穌沒有甚麼難度。現在就看清楚經文的中心部份吧：「如此，我在那裏，我的僕人也要在那裏」。

在今天的社會，職業的流動性比較強，如果不是經濟呆滯，「東家唔打打西家」是家常便飯，老闆會想盡辦法挽留人才，但是耶穌說的「僕人」不是隨時可以轉工的那一種，而是指委身不事二主的那一種。

如果你想追求心靈的覺悟，佛教會適合你；如果你想消災解難，道教更有效；如果你想生活舒適，拜金主義是不二之選…耶穌祗承諾祂在裡，你也要在那裡，而天父必要尊重你…你選擇了沒有？

你有決心，忠心不二地跟隨耶穌嗎？

A winter’s day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need for friendship; friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it loves I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

Jesus calls Peter a rock. It’s an ambiguous nickname. Yes, rock is solid, reliable, and has a strong foundation. But a rock is also hard, immovable and in danger of isolation. Would you call yourself a rock?

I personally like this story in the bible. It is interesting because it involves a mutual name-giving between two people, Jesus and Simon Peter. Simon Peter calls Jesus the Messiah, the Son of the living God. This name means the anointed one, like a king. Jesus in turn names Simon Rock, in Greek, ‘Petros’, from where we get his most familiar name, Peter.

Naming is important in most cultures and especially religions. Indeed, in some cultures, it has a mystical, even magical aspect. You do not share your name too readily, knowing a person’s name can give one power over the other, as is illustrated in some stories like the Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. This is also evident in the stories in the bible, for example when Jacob wrestles all night with an unknown stranger and towards the end of the fight asks for the stranger’s name.

Notice again the mutuality in the attempt to learn the other’s name. But in this case, the stranger (God) does not give his name. Presumably, that would be to give too much away.

What is the meaning of your name? Does it have a history or a story behind it? Why was it chosen for you or by you?

The name of Jesus has meaning, both historically and spiritually. In terms of the biblical narrative, it was chosen by Mary through the revelation of an angel. The name ‘Jesus’ is the Latin version of the Aramaic Yeshua, which is in English also the name ‘’Joshua’. The name means ‘God saves.’ Joshua was a hero of the Hebrew scriptures. He was a military leader who fought the Canaanites when the Hebrew people entered the promised land after their exodus from slavery in Egypt. Joshua was successful in battles and his most famous victory was at Jericho.

Jesus was not a military leader but he was a person of salvation. He brought healing to the sick, hope to the poor, and restored the outcast into society. Some Christians ascribe supernatural power to the name ‘Jesus’ which gives the power to cause miraculous healing.

I invite you to ponder two questions.

First, what name do you give to Jesus? Is there a word or metaphor that can describe your own personal connection to Jesus? Can you think of something beyond the traditional names that describe the unique role Jesus takes in your life?

Secondly, what is the name that Jesus gives to you? Is it a name that describes your true being, the essential you? Or is it a name that says who you are becoming or a purpose that God has for you?

I would imagine that these two names are related. The name you give to Jesus will say something about who you are. The name you imagine that Jesus gives to you will say something about the nature of Jesus.

This is a true story of a Religious Nun and St. Pio of Pietrelcina (aka Padre Pio) who saw Martin Luther is “rotting” in Hell.

Sister Clotilde Micheli (1849-1911), also known as Sister Maria Serafina of the Sacred Heart, received a couple of visions during her life, one of them is on November 10th, 1883.

While in Germany, in a small village, she was looking for a Church to do her personal prayer, then she found one, and it so happened to be a Lutheran Protestant Church. Her Guardian Angel came to her and said:

Arise, for this is a Protestant Church. I want to make you see the place where Martin Luther was condemned and the pain he suffered as a punishment for his pride.

At that moment, she saw Martin Luther in the deepest place in Hell. He was on his knees surrounded by a substantial number of devils with a hammer driving large iron nails into his skull. He was consigned to the fires of Hell for starting the Protestant rebellion.

Then Padre Pio also said that Martin Luther is in Hell and Christians today who follow him will meet the same end and those who do not submit themself to the Pope and the teachings of the Catholic Church are also going to Hell.

Padre Pio also said that Martin Luther was a great heretic, and his fate was horrific and terrifying.

有一位教友離世後，靈魂來到天堂門口。他心想：「我一生熱心愛主，天堂應當是我的歸宿。」

然而，天堂的門緊閉，他焦急叩門。

聖伯多祿出來問：「你找誰？」

「讓我進去，我要進天堂！」他迫切地說。

伯多祿卻緩緩搖頭：「孩子，你還沒有資格。」

這句話猶如雷霆，他痛哭懇求：「請為我向主說句話，我努力愛主愛人啊！」

伯多祿見他淚如雨下，也動了憐憫，便去請主耶穌。然而主的回應卻依舊堅定：「他還未預備好。」

天門，就在眼前，卻如天涯。他跪倒在地，心碎流淚。

就在他幾乎絕望之時，聖母溫柔地走來，手裡拿著一本筆記簿，那筆記簿裡，寫滿了一個個熟悉的句子：「求你現在和我們臨終時，為我們罪人祈求天主，亞孟。」

原來，在生活的縫隙裡、疲憊的夜晚、忙碌的白天，他從未停止過默默念玫瑰經。

主耶穌看見了那滿滿的祈禱痕跡。祂的神情溫柔下來，對伯多祿說：「開門，讓他進來。」

那一刻，天門敞開，淚水化作光，因為玫瑰經成為了他靈魂回家的鑰匙。

親愛的兄弟姊妹，這不是歷史記載，也不是教義範疇，而是一則靈修寓言，提醒我們：我們每一聲「聖母瑪利亞，為我們罪人祈求天主」，都被天上聽見了。

在這個煉靈月，我們為亡靈祈求，也為自己積蓄永恆！

不要等到生命盡頭才後悔說：「我本可以多念一遍玫瑰經，我本可以更愛主。」

願我們每天用玫瑰經，為自己的靈魂、為家庭、為煉靈、為教會舖一條回歸天鄉的光路。

在將來臨終那一刻，願聖母仍在身旁溫言：「這是我的孩子，我認識他。」

願主也對我們說：「讓他進來吧。亞孟。」

今日教廷信理部發佈了新文件「Mater Populi Fidelis」，為了所謂的合一主義，否定了聖母瑪利亞「共救贖者」（Co-redemptrix）的地位。

其實究竟什麼是「共救贖者」？

首先我們需要知道共救贖者仍然還不是定斷的信理，眾所周知的四大聖母信理是：

1. 天主之母
2. 卒世童貞
3. 無染原罪
4. 蒙召升天

簡單來說，共救贖者表達的是聖母協同耶穌以獨特的角色參與祂的救贖工程，在救贖的圖景中就是十字架上的聖子與十字架下的聖母相互輝映 。

而「共救贖者」究竟是有什麼的含意？

藉著宣認聖母為共救贖者，我們也同時承認了救贖的完整可能性，而不只是充滿了可能性，救贖與人性之間的連續性得以完整地表達。

聖母昆仲會會祖聖馬塞林·尚巴納曾經說過信仰上的冷漠，是他當時代最大的異端，這肇端於個人主義以及倫理上的相對主義。

筆者認為在當代的社會中尤是如此，我們犯的許多罪過往往源自一種很深的孤獨感，而這孤獨感便是來自對信仰的冷漠以及我們與受造世界的疏離。

但是共救贖者的名號與其他四個聖母信理不同的是，它直接宣告了瑪利亞與基督徒的關係，在此意義上她是教會的典型，是所有信友的靈性母親。為此我們不須感到害怕，因為基督徒不是被拋擲到這世界上的存有，而是聖家的一員，藉著洗禮他誕生於這個關係之中，這一切都因聖母瑪利亞是「共救贖者」而成為可能。

讓我們也時刻恭敬聖母，效法她的芳表，與基督一同救贖世界！