21st Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle A

Cantonese Chinese Community – 08 27 2023

Fr. Anson Antony 

We might call this Sunday “Power Sunday” because the main theme of all three readings is that God is the Source of all authority. God shares His authority with civil rulers elected to serve the people and with the Pope and the other Church leaders for the material and spiritual welfare of His children. Today’s Gospel challenges us to accept the authority of Jesus as our Lord and Savior as St. Peter did at Caesarea Philippi.

The first reading, taken from Isaiah, tells us how God hates unfaithful and selfish officials. He removed the proud “master of the royal palace” from his office, taking from Shebna the power and responsibility of which he had proven unworthy, and gave both to the humble and faithful Eliakim. The robe, the sash, and the keys are the insignia of this office. In today’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 138), David thanks God for having raised him from lowly origins and given him authority as king over the people of Israel. In the second reading, St. Paul praises God for the depth of His wisdom, knowledge, and correct judgments, asserting that He is the Source of all authority on earth and in Heaven. Today’s Gospel passage shows us how Peter confesses Jesus as his Lord and Savior and how Jesus, in turn, approves Peter’s words and gives him teaching and ruling authority in his Church. Thus, Jesus established a “Magisterium” in his Church to serve the spiritual and physical needs of the Church members. By Jesus’ statement, “I will give you the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven,” he gives Peter and his successors the power to bind and to loose (make laws; exercise authority) in the Church, and the assurance that their decisions will be ratified in Heaven.

First of all, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to accept Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior: Jesus is not merely the founder of a new religion, a revolutionary Jewish reformer, or one of the great teachers. For Christians, he is the Son of God and our personal Savior. This means that we must see Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the Savior, and the Redeemer. He is our beloved Friend, closer to us than our dear ones, and a living experience, who walks with us, loves us, forges us, helps us, and transforms our lives and outlook. We must give all areas of our lives to him. He must have a say in our daily lives, and we must radiate all around us his sacrificial agápe love, unconditional forgiveness, overflowing mercy, and committed service. The joy, love, and peace we find in Jesus should be reflected in how we live our lives.

Secondly, we need to experience Jesus as our Lord and Savior and surrender our lives to him. The knowledge of Jesus as Lord and personal Savior should become a living, personal experience for each Christian. This is made possible by our listening to Jesus through the daily, meditative reading of the Bible, by our talking to Jesus through daily, personal, and communal prayers, by our offering our lives on the altar with Jesus whenever we attend Holy Mass, and by our leading a Sacramental life. The next step is the surrender of our lives to Jesus by rendering humble, loving service to Him in Himself and in all others, with the strong conviction that Jesus is present in every person. The step after that is to praise and thank God in all the events of our lives, both pleasant and painful, realizing that God’s loving hands are behind everything.

To conclude today's reflection let me tell a story: This story is about the pencil. The pencil maker took the pencil aside, just before putting it into the box. “There are five things you need to know,” he told the pencil, “before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be. One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone’s hand. Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you’ll need it to become a better pencil. Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make. Four: The most important part of you will always be what is inside. And Five: On every surface on which you are used, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.” — The same applies to each one of us too. When we find an answer to Jesus’ question (“Who do you say that I am?”), we will be able to make ourselves useful to our contemporaries. We have to undergo the process that the pencil undergoes. One: We will be able to do many great things, but only if we allow ourselves to be held in God’s hand, and allow other human beings access to the many gifts we possess. Two: We will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but we’ll need it to become stronger as a person. Three: We will be able to correct any mistakes we might make. Four: The most important part of us will always be what’s on the inside. And Five: On every surface we walk through, we must leave our mark. No matter what the situation, we must continue to do our duties to the best of our abilities.

(中文翻譯.原文以英文為準.)

常年期(甲年)第二十一主日 (08/27/2023)
安神父主日證道中譯本

讀經一: 依撒意亞先知書: 22:19-23
讀經二: 聖保祿宗徒致羅馬人書: 11:33-36
聖瑪竇福音: 16:13-20

我們可以稱這個主日為權力主日，因為所有三篇讀經的主題都是帶出了天主是一切權力的源頭。天主與為服務人民而被選出來的官員，以至教宗和其他教會領袖分享他的權威，以維護天主子民的物質和精神福祉。今天的福音考驗我們接受具權威的耶穌作為我
們的主和救主，就像聖伯多祿在凱撒勒雅的斐理伯境內所做的那樣。

讀經一取自依撒意亞先知書，告訴我們天主如何憎惡不忠和自私的官員。他解除了驕傲的宮廷長舍布納的職務，從他手中奪走了已證明他不配獲得的權力和責任，並將兩者交給了謙卑而忠誠的厄里雅金。長袍、腰帶和鑰匙是這職務的標記。在今天的答唱詠 (#138)中，達味感謝天主將他從出身卑微中提拔出來，並賜給他作為以色列王者的權柄。在讀經二中，聖保祿讚美上主的睿智、知識和正確的判斷，並宣稱衪是上天
下地一切權柄的源頭。今天的福音經文向我們展示了伯多祿如何承認耶穌是他的主和救主，而耶穌又如何認可伯多祿的話，並賦予他教導和治理教會的權柄。這樣，耶穌在衪的教會中建立了 "教權"，以滿足教會成員的精神和身體需求。耶穌說："我會給你天國的鑰匙"，祂賦予伯多祿和他的繼承者在教會中束縛和釋放(制定法律；行使職權) 的權力，並保證他們的決定將得到天上的認許。

首先，我們要接受耶穌作為我們的主和個人的救主：耶穌不僅是一個新宗教的創始人，一個革命性的猶太改革家，或者是一個偉大的導師。對於基督徒來說，祂是天主的兒子和我們的救世主。這意味著我們必須將耶穌視為好牧人、救主和贖世主。祂是我們的摯愛朋友，比我們親愛的人更親近，是一種活生生的經歷，與我們同行，愛我們，磨練我們，幫助我們，改變我們的生命和視野。我們必須把生命中的所有領域都交給祂。祂必須在我們的日常生活中擁有發言權，我們必須在周圍散發出衪犧牲的大愛、無條件的寬恕、滿溢的憐憫和忠誠的服務。我們在耶穌裡找到的喜樂、愛與平安應該在我們的生活中反映出來。

其次，我們需要經驗耶穌作為我們的主和救主，並將我們的生命交給祂。認識耶穌是天主和個人的救主應該是每個基督徒活生生的個人經歷。這是通過我們每天默想天主聖言來聆聽耶穌的話語，透過每天個人和團體的祈禱與耶穌交談，藉著每次參加彌撒時與耶穌一起在祭壇上獻上我們的生命，以及勤領聖事。下一步是把我們的生命交託給耶穌，通過在祂自己和其他人身上展現謙卑、充滿愛心地服務衪，並堅信在所有人身上看見耶穌。再接下來的是為我們生命中的所有事情讚美和感謝天主，無論是歡愉的還是痛苦的，認識到在一切事情的背後，天主都在慈愛地工作。

在結束今天的反思，讓我說一個關於鉛筆的故事:一個製作鉛筆的師傅，把一枝鉛筆放進盒子時，他對鉛筆說:�"在我把你送到外面的世界之前，有五件事你要記住，永遠不要忘記，這會使你成為最好的鉛筆。第一，你可以做出很多偉大的事，可是，先決條件是
    你要讓你自己被握在某個人的手裏。第二，在削鉛筆的時候，你常常要經歷許多痛苦，但這是必要的，這會讓你變成一支更好的鉛筆。第三，你發現寫錯或畫錯時，都可以擦掉重作，你可以隨時修正所犯的錯誤。第四，你最重要的部份，就是你裏面的筆芯。第五，不管在任何的材質上，你都要留下你的筆跡，不論在任何情況下，你都要畫出你的痕跡。"

這同樣適用於我們每個人。當我們要找出耶穌提問 (你說我是誰？)的答案時，我們可把自己代入成這枝鉛筆，就會覺得這個比擬蠻有意義，我們必須經歷鉛筆所經歷的過程。

第一，我們可以做出很多偉大的事，可是，先決條件是我們要讓自己被掌握在天主的手裏，並允許其他人共享天主賜給我們的禮物。第二，我們會經歷痛苦的磨礪，經歷生活中的各種問題，但我們需要它來讓自己變得更堅強。第三，我們要隨時修正所犯的錯誤。第四，人最重要的部分永遠是內心。第五，不管走到哪裏，我們都要負責任地留下印記，無論在任何狀況下，我們都必須盡自己最大的努力，緊守自己的責任。

唯有掌握這五項要訣，才能讓我們的生命開花結果。