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20100329 痛苦四端:耶穌背負十字架 The Carrying of the Cross

今日,我們身處聖週。聖枝主日,耶穌騎着驢子榮進耶路撒冷。苦難日(聖週五),耶穌背負十字架出耶路撒冷城,為我們受死。今天,我們思攷一下玫瑰經的痛苦四端——耶穌背負十字架。

人生的苦痛

十字架是人生苦痛的標記。聖經對人生苦痛的奧理,有不同的闡釋。

第一種闡釋視苦痛為罪惡的後果。亞當的罪(創世紀3:16-19)把邪惡肆釋,引入生命當中。

第二種闡釋是「苦盡甘來」的看法;現今受苦的,會在默西亞的時代享受福樂;反過來說,罪人現世享樂,將來卻不能享福(路加福音6:20-26;16:19-26)。

第三種闡釋視苦痛是天主誘導性的懲罰。申命紀4:25-32指出天主誘導選民的四步曲: 選民不忠、天主藉苦難懲罰他們、他們回頭呼求上主、天主派遣使者拯救選民並恢復安泰。

最好的闡釋是視苦痛為補贖——是我們得救的工具。耶穌甘願為我們的得救而受極苦,祂亦邀請我們步武祂的後塵,以獲靈魂的永生。

聖保祿宗徒致哥羅森人的書信中寫道:「如今,我在為你們受苦,反覺高興,因為這樣我可在我的肉身上,為基督的身體——教會,補充基督的苦難所欠缺的1:24)。」也許我們會問:什麼是基督的苦難所欠缺的呢?教宗庇護十二世Pius XII指出: 論為世人賺取為得救所需要的恩寵而論,基督的苦難並沒有欠缺。但論到將救贖的恩寵分施與靈魂,天主卻要求我們作出配合。

為把基督的聖寵分施與靈魂, 祈禱和補贖是絕對必要的。聖母在花地瑪顯現時,特別提醒「很多靈魂下地獄,是因為沒有人為他們祈禱和做補贖。」

其中最大的補贖,莫過於安心接受每天的十字架。利用生命中的苦痛,作為靈魂得救的工具。

熱愛十字架的聖者

諾培德修會Norbertine Order有兩位熱愛十字架的會士:真福雅各伯.科納Bl. James Kern和真福包尼斯洛華Bl. Bronislava

真福科納1897-1924在第一次世界大戰時服兵役曾受重傷。一九二零年進入奧地利的諾培德修會,兩年後於晉鐸首祭時,特別提到「聖枝主日隨之便是苦難」。

贖罪的思想常銘刻在真福科納的心中。在一個會士背教創立了「捷克國立教會」反對羅馬教廷,科納便把戰時受重傷的痛苦奉獻,為這人贖罪。聖人肺腑的講道感動無數人的心坎,而信眾稱他為「良善的雅各伯神父」。

科納神父說:「天主常召選一些人工作,召選另一些人受苦。如果祂召我做受苦的人,祂願意我受多久的苦, 我就願意受多久。」一九二四年,聖人健康惡化,十月二十日長眠主懷。

福女包尼斯洛華1203-1259是波蘭克拉科夫城的修女。她在世時克拉科夫城曾兩次被破壞, 加上當時歐洲瘟疫猖獗,人民受盡苦痛。福女為人民服務, 作他們的「安慰天使」。她從默想基督苦難和敬禮十字聖架獲得力量。耶穌有一次告訴福女說:「妳的十字架也是我的十字架,我的榮耀也是妳的榮耀。」福女在苦痛中滿懷希望, 因為她矢信苦難日之後便是復活日的彿曉。

我們應該把苦痛看做得救的工具,而非受苦的刑具!

We are now in Holy Week. On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. On Good Friday Jesus carried the cross, walking out of Jerusalem to die for us. In this article we are going to contemplate the Fourth Sorrowful Mystery, the Carrying of the Cross.

Human suffering

The cross is the symbol of human suffering. Scripture gives us different ways to understand this mystery.

An early way was to attribute evil to personal sin; evil on earth is the results of the sin of Adam (Gen. 3:16-19).

The second way is based on compensation. Those who are suffering now will prosper in the time of messianic bounty. Sinners who are enjoying pleasure now will be deprived of good fortune in the future (Lk. 6:20-26; 16:19-26).

The third way is to see suffering as an educating punishment. The Book of Deuteronomy (4:25-32) shows how God taught the people in a four-phase cycle repeated throughout history: the people were unfaithful, God chastised them through suffering, the people turned to God, God sent them a liberator and brought them peace.

The best solution is to see suffering as expiation. Suffering can become the instrument of salvation. Jesus freely accepted suffering for our salvation, and He invites us to do likewise.

In his letter to the Colossians, St. Paul wrote, “[I] now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His body, which is the Church” (1:24).

We might ask, what are the things that are wanting? Pope Pius XII pointed out, in regard to the winning of grace for the salvation of mankind, that there is nothing lacking in the sufferings of Christ, but in regard to the applying the saving grace to souls, God does demand our co-operation.

These are the things that are wanting: prayer and sacrifice are indispensable in applying the saving grace of Christ to souls. Our Lady herself told the children in Fatima, “Many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and sacrifice for them.”

One of the most important sacrifices we can make is to accept our daily crosses. Suffering can become the instrument of salvation.

Lovers of the cross

There are two blesseds from the Norbertine Order who had special love for the cross: Blessed James Kern and Blessed Bronislava.

Blessed James Kern (1897-1924) was a soldier in World War I who returned from the war badly wounded. In 1920 he entered the Norbertine Order in Austria, and he was ordained a priest two years later. At his first Mass he said, “The Passion would follow this Palm Sunday.”

The thought of atonement was constantly on his mind. He regarded the excruciating pain from his war wound as expiation for a fellow religious who went astray by founding the Czech National Church in opposition to Rome. Blessed Kern preached from the heart, and his sermons touched many. People referred him as the “good Father James.”

Blessed Kern said, “In all times, God desires some men to work, others to suffer; and if the Lord has chosen me to suffer, I will suffer as long as the Lord wants.”

In 1924 his condition worsened, and he died on Oct. 20.

Blessed Bronislava (1203-1259) was a Polish nun in Krakow. During her lifetime Krakow was twice destroyed and Europe was ravaged by the plague. Blessed Bronislava was an “angel of consolation” to the suffering people. Her own strength came from meditation on the Passion of Christ and veneration of the holy cross.

Jesus once told her, “Your cross is My cross; My glory will also be yours.”

She was a woman of hope, believing that the resurrection would follow Good Friday.

May we see the cross not as an instrument of torture, but as a means of salvation.