電子愛火Flamma Seraphica 103
捕捉方濟的節奏
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電子愛火Flamma Seraphica 103 捕捉方濟的節奏 |
| 編者的話 | 講出需要 | 生 | CLARE: A LIVING SONG OF THANKS-GIVING TO GOD |
新書介紹：伴你同行－聖方濟 夏志誠兄弟 | 消息 |
| 編者的話 |
久違了的讀者，今天我又再次重現你們的眼前。感覺如何？ 香港人是全球繁忙一族的大阿哥，忙碌使我與大家隔絕了一段頗長的日子。致令一些愛護我的弟兄姊妹在問愛火怎樣了？不是生病吧！ 盼望今次重出江湖後，真的能更多與大家見見面，問聲好。夏神父的「講出需要」替我解開了結，一家人不應怕道出自己的困難及需要。其實，久未露面主要原因是我患了貧血，蒼白的臉面如何見人？幸得弟兄姊妹的支持，給予維他命滋潤我的生命，面上再次浮現血色，才敢出現，盼望你們本著方濟一家，念念手足之情不怕犧牲而繼續不斷輸入你們的熱血，這樣定能定時再見。 由今期開始新增英文版，讓更多的兄弟姊妹都能分享我們的喜樂，願我們真個活出方濟一家的精神，在港為主作見證。 [回上] |
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方濟會士夏志誠 |
談話不是一件易事，尤其是要將自己的需要告訴別人的時候。要求對方諒解和幫助的自我剖白從來都是困難的，甚至是危險的。當我向你講出自己的需要時，你可能會漠視我，瞧不起我。 為了保護自己，人都會築起圍牆，正所謂：「害人之心不可有，防人之心不可無。」可惜吊詭的是圍牆愈高愈厚，我們變得也愈孤僻，與別人的距離亦愈大。 「不論在何地，弟兄們相遇在一起，他們應為他們是同屬一個家庭的成員作證，每位弟兄應信任地向其他的弟兄表明他的需要。」（1223年小兄弟會會規6：7－8）[回上] |
| 生
瑪利亞方濟各傳教修會修女馮瑞芬 |
生是一個新個體的存在。當然他，她或它都有一個開始及一個終結。我們稱開始是生，終結是死。正因為開始與終結是兩個極端，因此，它們也就產生了很強烈的對比。人對這兩種存在的感情也就成了很強列的對比。生是人的大事，是大喜事，而死卻成了人的大悲傷。英國有一位大作家曾說過，人的一生就是走向死亡。因此，人生就是為了好好地"死"而活。既然我們人不能在人生的兩個極端來全力參與，因為在生前，是我們父母的決定，我們才能出生。在死時，我們多半是病得死去活來，全部力量只是用來爭扎求存，再也沒有其他所以，當我們還能盡一己之力，那就主的愛。是當我們還活著的時候。為什麼我們不好好地過活呢? 在古經中，天主被形容為活水。那裡有活水，那裡就有生命，因為天主就是生命的泉源(詠36:30)。在亞西西城，一處不起眼的地方。在一條短短的街上，有方濟出生的房子，他是天主活水中的一滴，因為天主的緣故，他的影響力，關乎他對和平，生命，環保，人際，各宗教的關係的看法，都實在的影響著生活在廿一世紀的我們。 這條短小的街叫「聖神街」非常的不起眼。我是看了書，知道了這傳說，才刻意的要找這個傳聞中方濟出生的地方。相傳方濟的母親難產，而她得了高人的指示，要她到家中放畜牲的地方去把嬰兒生下。因此小方濟就是在這裡出生，因為耶穌是在馬槽中誕生，而聖方濟的一生，不停的學習他的主子耶穌，因此，連他出生的地方，也是在一個像馬槽的地方。是真是假，現在也就難考證。 就像這房間，方濟的生活是簡陋，純樸的。生活就像一滴清泉。當他回歸天父家後，他就以他的表樣，他的言行，將天主愛的信息帶給亞西西的人，他沒有讀很多的書，沒有做很多的大事，他只是一個很普通的人。他每天和他的小兄弟，過著日出而作，日入而息的生活。只因為他把每一個生活的小節，都加上了"父"這兩個字。因此，他生活在一體三位--父、子、聖神的生活內。雖然，他過著一個很普通的生活，但他卻能活出了一個不平凡的一面，這就是一個非常不普通的生活，那就是----生活在天主的愛內，並透過了這愛，來彰顯給人類天的力量。 其實，我們也可以像他一般的生活，我們為什麼不可以活得輕鬆，活得簡樸一點!?把多餘的東西掉去，不要再買不必要的東西。多點舉心向上，與天父交談，對人對事多點尊敬。就像方濟，我們也可以成為一個活的表樣讓我們那些曾走過亞西西道路的人，先來一個開始，至於那些沒有認識方濟的人，希望也能因為看見了我們而開始認識方濟，進而認識基督，我們救世主。[回上] |
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CLARE:
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This year we celebrate the 750th Death anniversary of St. Clare. Poor Clare Nuns all over the world are preparing for this big Even not so much for the sake of the festivity but for making St. Clare's spirituality known to others. Her spirituality had Often Been limitedly understood to be an outdated and medieval way of life that doesn't find its significant relation to the world of today. Yes, the world of today. Our world had drastically changed over the years. Some changes had been for the better but some are even worsening the already chaotic state of humankind. St. Clare too, lived in a time where there were changes happening in her midst. But how did she deal with all these? Looking closely at the person of Clare would help us catch a glimpse of the beauty of God in her soul. In her writings she often refers to God as "our benefactor, the Father of Mercies". For her, just like St. Francis, everything is a gift, an overflow of God's goodness and love. What we have and continue to receive from Him, is not something we deserve, but something freely given to us. And the natural response to a free gift is gratitude. That is basically what Clare's life is - a song of thanksgiving to God! In our experience, the depth
of our gratitude depends on the greatness of the giver and the affection
that comes with it. Oftentimes, the gift is not of so much value, but
the giver means a lot to us, and so the gift becomes priceless. God is
within us, . His gift is the life within us, the breath we take in everyday
that makes us alive. This truth is the basis of Clare's life, her vocation,
her prayer. In her simple method of contemplation, she divided them into
four ways: gaze upon Him; consider Him; contemplate Him; desire to imitate
Him. In our prayer, gazing can be spending time before the Blessed Sacrament, intently and lovingly staring at Him in His Eucharistic presence. In this stage what is ask of us, is - time! We have to go out of our busy schedule and make space for God. Only then can we experience the "gazing" that led Clare to "love Him totally who gave Himself totally for us". Most of us get too fidgety about time, especially here in Hong Kong where everything is in a fast track motion. Sitting or kneeling idly before the Blessed Sacrament can be considered a fruitless activity. Sometimes we rate productivity with action and concrete outcome of our labors. But with God, as experienced by St. Clare, real productivity is when we can put down all our defenses and stop from "doing" and just "be". In our everyday life, do we take time to pause and just feel the breeze? When we eat, are we really aware of the food we eat or we just gulp down whatever it is? If we become aware of these simple ordinary things around us, then we can be open to the mystery and wonder that God creates for us everyday, every minute that pass. Consider Him. Clare allowed
herself to be drawn to Him. There in the silence of the cloister, having
left everything to live for God alone and possessing only one love, Clare
spent her life in intimacy with the one she loved. The bull of canonization
testifies that "she would assiduously spend the greater part of the
day and night in watching and in prayer" (BullCan 16). Knowing Christ,
her one love, stirred in her heart the deep love for Him. As we move from just "gazing"
in our prayer to "considering", we can implore the Holy Spirit,
the spouse of our souls, to bestow on us the gift of Knowledge. To know
Christ in our hearts is the first step to be able to love Him in our soul.
This is where the rudiments of our religion will be of valuable help.
But the ultimate way is to know ourselves in the light of our faith. Who
am I? Who is God for me? These similar questions were asked by St. Francis
himself when he first heard the call to conversion. Who am I? This can
lead to varying and complicated responses, with the aid of other forms
of personality and psychological processing we can more or less have a
glimpse of the reality within us. But the eternal truth remains the same:
we are the sons and daughters of God! If we live by this truth we can
be assured of peace that only comes from Him. Who is God? In our Franciscan
tradition, God is a Father. For St. Francis, He is "our Father in
heaven". In the book The Journey and the Dream by Murray Bodo, he
described how Francis saw God. "To Francis everything in him and
around him was a gift from his Father in heaven. He expected nothing,
so he was grateful for everything. Even a piece of earth was a cause for
rejoicing, and he thanked God always for everything that was. He held
everything to his heart with the enthusiasm of a child surprised by some
unexpected toy. The air he breathed, the sounds he heard, the sights and
smells of all the world entered his grateful soul through senses perfected
by gratitude and purity of heart." For St. Clare, God the Father is our "benefactor, the Father of mercies". He is our protector, our provider, our consolation, our security and our refuge. She identifies more closely to the second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, whom she described as "the God who was placed poor in the crib, lived poor in the world, and remained naked on the cross". Knowing Christ so intimately, Clare cannot help but love Him totally. She answered Love for love. (To be continued) |
| 新書介紹：伴你同行－聖方濟 夏志誠兄弟 |
有關方濟的書多得很，這一本有什麼特別，值得一看呢？ 「伴你同行－聖方濟」是一本設計以30天來作默想祈禱的小冊子，將方濟的生平大事及神修要義，以30個不同的主題來介紹。讀者可以一天一天的，在一個月之內對方濟精神的梗概有所掌握。每一天或每一個主題之下，都包括五個連成一體的元素，即記述方濟生平的傳記，他自己的言論，筆者的反省，聖經金句及筆者的祈禱。 誠然，有關方濟的書多得很，這本小書並不希望單單在介紹一位聖人的資料，而是希望邀請讀者藉著參與和體驗，默想和祈禱，在神修的道路上，與方濟同行。[回上] |
