原文|Bishop Barron
翻译|Carrie

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣又提出了两个关于天国的比喻。第一个是“天国好像撒在海里的网…” 这是说天国将为我们而降临。这是天国在末日的意象，天主在世界末日作最后一次集合。何时是末日？我们不知道，但必须做好准备！而做好准备意味着服从天主的支配和统治。

 

然后第二个比喻：“凡成为天国门徒的经师，就好像一个家主，从他的宝库里，提出新的和旧的东西。”耶稣知道祂的传道教诲在很大程度上是历史的传承。

 

同时，祂也知道祂的布道及其本人的确代表了一种前所未有的新事物。因此，天国的渊博学者热爱传统和信仰的传承，而且也明白圣神在开辟新天地。所以，我们必须乐意接受祂将要展示的一切。

 

Friends, in today's Gospel Jesus presents two more parables on the kingdom of heaven. In the first parable, we hear that "the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea…." Here the kingdom of heaven is coming for us. This is an eschatological image of the kingdom, God's final rounding up of the world at the end of time. When will it come? We don't know. But we must be ready! And being ready means being in accord with the rule of God.

 

Then the second parable: "Every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old." Jesus knew that his ministry and teaching were, to a large extent, in continuity with what came before him.

 

At the same time, he knew that his preaching and person did represent something new and unprecedented. So, those learned in the kingdom of God love traditions, the heritage of faith. And those learned in the kingdom also know that the Spirit is doing new things. Therefore, we have to be open to what he might want to show us.

 

朋友们，今天耶稣给出两个关于天国的比喻。让我们集中讨论第一个：“天国好像是藏在地里的宝贝；人找到了，就把它藏起来…”

 

有时我们就是这样找到天主的爱。俗话说：“你在忙于计划安排，生活却在意料之外。”有时我们在日常不经意间，某种际遇生动出奇地把我们召唤到天主的跟前。我们瞬间恍然大悟人生的意义。我们并未特意寻求，却不期而遇。

 

耶稣要说的正是这个意思。当你在人生的原野上彳(chì)亍(chù)，记住要敞开心扉，随时迎接这种突如其来、汹涌而至的恩典。而当这种恩典降临，你就得放弃所有碍手碍脚的东西。

 

Friends, today Jesus offers two parables about the kingdom of heaven. Let's focus on the first one: "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again…."

 

Sometimes God's love is found that way. There's the saying, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." Sometimes in the course of our everyday lives, something happens that vividly and surprisingly summons us to union with God. We realize, in a flash, what it's all about. We weren't particularly looking for it, but it found us.

 

That's what Jesus is getting at today. As you walk through the fields of life, be open to the inrushing of grace, when you least expect it. And when it comes, give up anything that holds it back.

 

朋友们，今天的福音是麦子和莠子的比喻。天主撒播好种子、圣言、爱和慈悲，但祂的计划遭到抵抗。而这作为反派的恶居然彻底深入到善的骨髓里。

 

经典神学把恶定义为“privatio boni”，即善的丧失（译者注：善因被剥夺而丧失本性），意思是恶时时处处都寄生于善。正如寄生虫靠健康的身体存活（并因此使其体质衰弱）一样，精神上的恶寄生于善良的灵魂、美好的社会、虔诚的教会（并由此削弱这些良善）。

 

结果是什么？就是我们区分善恶的同时要做到不动善的一根毫毛是非常困难的。因此，以打圣战的精神去追击这些恶是极其困难的，而且常常会适得其反。

 

当然，对于某些恶，我们必须进行清理，那是刻不容缓、毫无疑问、无需犹豫的。但对于其他的恶（它们确实是邪恶），我们暂时最好不要轻举妄动，以免在斩草除根的过程中得不偿失。

 

Friends, our Gospel today is the parable of the wheat and the weeds. God sows his good seed, his word, his love and compassion, but his project is met with opposition. And the evil is such that it insinuates itself right into the very fabric of the good.

 

In classical theology, we speak of evil as a privatio boni, a privation of the good, meaning that evil is always and everywhere parasitic on the good. Just as a parasite is living off of the healthy body (and thereby weakening it), so moral evil lives off of the good soul, the good society, the good Church (and thereby weakens them).

 

What is the result? That it is exceptionally difficult to extricate the evil from the good without damaging the good. That’s why it is extremely difficult—and often counter-productive—to go after these evils with a crusading spirit.

 

To be sure, there are certain evils that simply have to be addressed—right now, no questions, no hesitations. But there are other evils (and they really are evil) that are best left alone for the time being, lest more damage is done in the process of extricating them.

 

朋友们，在今天的福音中，耶稣告诉我们如果我们有像芥子那样大的信德，就能把一棵桑树连根拔出，移植到海中。这话的意思很简单：信德就是力量。当我们按天主的旨意生活，我们即成为莫大力量的渠道。

 

身外之物阻碍着我们并且切断这种力量之流。所谓身外物指的是所有你并不需要的但又无法割舍的东西。这个概念在圣依纳爵·罗耀拉精神中是最重要的。阻止神圣力量流入我们的那些身外之物是什么？在大多数情况下，它们是某种财富、享乐、名誉或权力。

 

我们要爱耶稣在十字架上所爱的一切；鄙视祂所鄙视的一切。这是圣多玛斯·阿奎那给我们的指导。我们要以十字架上的基督为榜样来重新调整生活中的头等大事，这正是获得精神意义上的成功人生以及释放神圣力量的关键所在。

 

Friends, in our Gospel Jesus tells us that if we had faith the size of a mustard seed, we could uproot a mulberry tree and plant it in the sea. What is being communicated here is something simple: faith is power. When our lives are aligned to God we become the conduits of enormous power.

 

Attachments block us and break this flow. An attachment is anything you don't need but which you cannot live without. This idea is central to the spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola. What are the attachments that block the divine power from flowing through us? In most cases it is some form of wealth, pleasure, honor, or power.

 

Love what Jesus loved on the cross; and despise what he despised. This is the direction we get from St. Thomas Aquinas. Reorienting our priorities to align with Christ on the cross is the key to a spiritually successful life, and to the unleashing of divine power.