HOMILY 7TH Sunday OT February 19, 2023
Franklin Fong, OFM
Jesus came among us to reveal and to make available the best way to God. It is also the best road to true personal fulfillment. In the first reading from Sirach, he gave of himself to guide us in making a wise choice between what leads to life and what brings death. Neither an evil power nor God himself forces us to do anything bad or good. So as adults we come to realize that we are blessed with free will in our lives !
Jesus challenges us to move beyond mere observance of laws and the avoidance of sin,, He wants us to grow in a personal relationship with God. He asks us to be generous in giving of ourselves, especially when it comes to seeking reconciliation with others. The way is to look deep into our inner selves, into our hearts. It is time to re-examine our motives for doing what we choose to do.
St Paul in the second reading tells us that the Holy Spirit will give us the wisdom needed in making our choices between good and evil. St Paul reminds us that we are truly blessed that we are sharing in God’s own wisdom in making our free choices in our faith journey.
Jesus in the Gospel reading today seems to compound the difficulties in making choices in our faith journey. In effect Jesus says to us not to settle for the minimum, but to live beyond merely following the letter of the law but rather to live the spirit of the law ! We should settle for nothing less than “heroic love” as we live our lives of faith.
Love demands more than what any legal code could demand. Yes, we expect God to ask for the most of us for our own good. We ourselves do not want to settle for mediocrity. Heroic love would not place any limits on our growth in love nor limits in our commitments !
We must get beyond merely observing God’s laws but to include our hearts in living the loving spirit of the law !
In summary then, the first reading teaches us to choose to be holy and to love our neighbors. The psalm teaches us about gratitude and loving God because God is a forgiving and compassionate God.
The second reading teaches us to choose to love ourselves as our hearts are the temple of the Spirit.
And the Gospel reading teaches us how to choose to be perfect and love everyone. Clearly LOVE is the central theme of today’s readings.
So take some time this coming week to reflect on you have been heroic in your faith journey. How have you moved beyond observing God’s law to living the spirit of God’s law ?
So brothers and sisters of the Chinese Catholic community,
that is the Good News for this last Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Alleluia Alleluia.
(中文翻譯.原文以英文為準.)
常年期甲年第七主日 (02/19/2023)
鄺神父主日講道中譯本
讀經一: 肋未紀 19: 1-2, 17-18
讀經二: 聖保祿宗徒致格林多人前書 3: 16-23
瑪竇福音: 5: 38-48
耶穌來到我們中間，向我們揭示並提供通往天主的最佳途徑。這也是通往實現真正個人成就的最佳途徑。在讀經一肋未紀中，西拉赫獻出自己來指導我們在生與死之間做出明智的選擇。無論是邪惡勢力或是天主，都沒有強迫我們做任何壞事或好事。因此，作為成年人，我們開始意識到我們在生活中擁有蒙受天主祝福的自由意志！
耶穌鼓勵我們不要單為遵守法律條文和避免犯罪而自滿，衪希望我們在與天主的關係中成長。衪要求我們在尋求與他人和解時，努力地開放自己，方法是深入觀察我們的內在自我，觀察我們的內心。是時候重新審視我們作選擇時的動機。
聖保祿宗徒在讀經二中告訴我們，聖神會賜予我們在善惡之間做選擇時所需的智慧。聖保祿提醒我們，我們真的蒙受天主的祝福，因為我們在信仰旅程中，以上主的智慧，作了自由抉擇。
在今天的瑪竇福音，耶穌在我們的信仰旅程中，似乎增加了我們在抉擇時的困難度。實際上，耶穌告訴我們不應滿足於符合最低要求，並要超越法律條文，更要活出律法精神！當我們過著信仰的生活時，我們將要沉浸於天主榮耀的大愛中。
愛超越任何法律法規的要求。是的，我們期望上主為了我們自身的益處而要求我們盡力付出。我們自己也不願安於平庸。天主的榮耀大愛不會為我們在愛中成長設限，也不會限制我們的承諾！
我們必須超越遵守上主的律法條文，並要全心全意地活出律法的愛心精神！
總括來說，讀經一教導我們選擇成為聖潔和愛我們的鄰人。聖詠教導我們感恩和孝愛上主，因為衪是寬容和慈悲的天主。讀經二教導我們應潔身自愛，因為我們的心是聖神
的宮殿。福音教導我們如何選擇聖潔和愛所有人。顯然，愛是今天經文的主題。
所以，在接下來的一週裏應花點時間反思一下，你在信仰旅程中的英勇表現。你如何超越遵守上主的律法條文而活出上主律法的精神？
所以華人天主教會的兄弟姐妹們，這是常年期第七主日的好消息。
亞肋路亞，感謝天主！
