生活聖言 (2010年12月)

by pleung | Dec 2, 2010 | Focolare, Word of Life

「在天主前沒有不可能的事。」（路1：37）

二零一零年 十二月份

聖母瑪利亞在領報時問天使説：「這事怎能成就？」（參閱路1：34）她得到的答案是：「在天主前沒有不可能的事。」天使還用了依撒伯爾在老年懷了男胎的例子來證明天主的大能。於是瑪利亞相信了，並成為天主的母親。
『天主是全能的』這個稱號在舊約中出現過多次，特別是用來表達祂具有降福、審判、引導事件的發展和實現祂的計劃的能力。
天主的全能只有一個限制，就是人的自由。雖然人是被天主召叫去分享祂同樣的能力，但人能夠違反天主的意願，卻因而使自己變得軟弱無能。

「在天主前沒有不可能的事。」

〔……〕這句聖言令我們對天主聖父的愛懷有無限的信心，因為由於天主存在，而且祂本身是愛，那麼完全信賴祂就是合乎邏輯的結果。
所有的恩竉，包括現世的和精神上的，可能和不可能得到的恩賜都來自祂大能的手。天主把它們賜給那些求恩的人，也給那些沒有祈求的人，因為如同福音所說一樣，在天之父「使太陽上升，光照惡人，也光照善人。」（參閱瑪5：45）祂要求我們所有人如同祂一樣，以同樣的博愛，並透過「在天主前沒有不可能的事」的信德去行事做人。

「在天主前沒有不可能的事。」

我們應該如何在日常生活中實踐這句聖言呢？
無論在個人的生活裡，或是與他人的關係中，我們多多少少都要面對困難及痛苦。有時我們也會感到無助，因為我們了解到自己一方面想擺脫自己所依戀的人或事物，但又同時感到捨不得，以致使自己成了這些關係的奴隸。我們也經常要面對冷漠及自我主義的圍牆，並會因為無法處理事情而變得沮喪。
在這些時刻，這句聖言可以幫助我們。耶穌讓我們體驗到我們自己的無能，當然不是要使我們氣餒，而是為要幫助我們更深入地了解「在天主前沒有不可能的事」，為叫我們去體驗祂聖寵的超凡力量，尤其是我們看見自己微薄的力量不足以應付時，祂的力量更能彰顯出來。

「在天主前沒有不可能的事。」

假如我們曉得在特別困難的時刻重複憶述這句聖言，我們將得到其中蘊藏的力量，並且能以某種方式去參與天主的全能。然而，這裡有一個先決條件：我們要生活上主的旨意，並在我們的周圍努力推廣那已傾注在我們心中的愛，使它發放光芒。如此，我們將與全能的主對祂的受造物所懷有的愛完全一致。既然為祂而言，沒有不可能的事，那麼一切有利於實現祂為每個人和為整個人類的計劃的事更是可能的。
可是，也有一個令我們生活出這句聖言，並體驗到它的種種效力的特別時刻，這就是在祈禱中。
耶穌曾說，無論我們因祂的名向天父祈求甚麼，祂都會賜給我們。讓我們嘗試為內心深切的願望而祈求，並堅信為天主而言，沒有不可能的事，包括：解決令人絕望的處境、促進世界和平、使人從重病中康復過來、在家庭或社會衝突中重獲安寧。
此外，如果我們聯合其他人一起為同一件事而祈求，透過互愛達致同心合意，那麼向天父祈禱的就是在我們中間臨在的耶穌自己，按照祂的許諾，我們將會獲得天主的俯允。
有一天，我們懷著對天主的全能和祂的愛的信德，為一位患病的朋友祈禱，希望在X光片上看到的腫瘤能好像一個人為的錯誤或一個幻象而『消失』。祈禱所得的結果也確實如此。
這種無限的信賴，使我們感到身處於天父的懷抱中。對祂來說，一切都是可能的。在生命的種種際遇中，我們應該保持這份信賴。這不是說我們將時常獲得我們所要求的。這位全能者既是我們的天父，無論祂的子女們知道與否，祂總是為了他們的好處才施展祂的大能。對我們來說，最重要的就是去生活，並同時培養這份信心，相信在天主前沒有不可能的事。這樣我們將會體驗到我們從未經歷過的平安。

盧嘉勒

註：本月的聖生活言已於1999年12月份發表

Word of Life – Dec 2010

by pleung | Dec 2, 2010 | Focolare, Word of Life

“Nothing will be impossible for God” (Lk 1:37).

December 2010

When Mary asked the angel at the annunciation, “How can this be?” the answer she heard was, “Nothing will be impossible for God,” and to confirm it, she was given the example of Elizabeth who in her old age had conceived a son. Mary believed and she became the Mother of the Lord. God is all powerful and is frequently called by this name in the Scriptures, especially when expressing the power he has of blessing, of judging, of directing the course of events, and of achieving his plans.

There is only one limit to the omnipotence of God: the freedom he gave human beings who can either oppose his will and thus become powerless, or choose what they are called to: to share God’s own power.

“Nothing will be impossible for God.”

These words open us up to an unlimited confidence in the love of God the Father, because if God exists and his being is Love, what logically follows is that we can have complete trust in him. In his power are all graces: temporal and spiritual, possible and impossible. And he gives them to those who ask and also to those who do not ask because, as the Gospel says, the Father “makes his sun rise on the bad and the good” (Mt 5:45). What he does ask of all of us is to act the way he does, to have the same universal love, supported by the faith that:

“Nothing will be impossible for God.”

How should we put these words into practice? At one time or another we all face difficult, painful situations both in our personal lives and in our relationships with others. We sometimes feel helpless because we realize we have attachments to things and to people that enslave us and from whose chains we would like to be freed. Often too we find ourselves up against walls of indifference and selfishness and we feel discouraged in the face of events that seem to be more than we can handle.
In these moments, the Word of Life can pick us up. Jesus lets us experience our own limitations, not to discourage us, but to help us understand more deeply that “Nothing will be impossible for God,” and to prepare us to experience the extraordinary power of his grace, which is manifested precisely when we see that we cannot manage on our own.

“Nothing will be impossible for God.”

If we remind ourselves of this word of God in the most critical moments, we will experience its energy, for it brings us to participate, in a certain way, in the very omnipotence of God. There is, however, one condition: we must align ourselves with God’s will and try to show to others the love that has been put into our hearts. By doing so, we will be in unison with God’s all-powerful love for everyone. This will contribute to fulfilling his plans for every person and for all of humanity.
There is a special moment that enables us to live this Word of Life and to experience all its effectiveness. It is in prayer.

Jesus said that he will grant us whatever we ask the Father in his name. Let’s try then to ask him for what is most important to us now, firmly believing that for him nothing is impossible: solutions to desperate cases, peace in the world, cures to grave illnesses, peace and unity in family and social conflicts.

Moreover, if we ask united with others, in the full accord of mutual love, then it is Jesus himself in our midst who prays to the Father and, according to his promise, we will obtain what we ask for. One day, with this faith in the omnipotence of God and in his love, we prayed for a friend who had an x-ray that revealed a tumor. We asked that the tumor would not be there when the x-ray was taken again. And that’s exactly what happened. A boundless trust that makes us feel we are in the arms of a Father for whom everything is possible, should be our constant virtue. This doesn’t mean that we will always obtain what we ask for. God’s omnipotence is that of a Father and he always uses it only for the good of his children, whether they realize it or not. What’s important is that we remain aware that nothing is impossible for God. Then we will experience a peace we have never known before.

Chiara Lubich