Let’s begin Anew with Christ. Because we have the spirit of God who's capable of discerning, helping us and making us like Christ

Every child knows exactly that they need to obey the parent's order or commitments, whatever rules, policy. but as you know, not all of us follow those expectations, policies or orders. we tend to defile it. I don't know about you, but when my parents told me not to take the motorcycle out, oh, I just love the idea of taking it. riding on the street enjoy the thrill it gave me/ my uncle told me don't use that gun to shoot squirrels. Every time he went away on a business trip, I would take three of my cousins out to the field. We have a large Big Field. We began to shoot Birds, squirrels, you name it. How about fruits? our parents told us don't ever steal anything from your neighbors. you name it, mango, jackfruit, papayas, all sorts of tropical fruits. delicious, pleasing to the eyes, and must be tasty to eat. and I got them all. It's a bunch of kids. rally early in the morning, four o'clock, climb over the fans with the big bag. We Haul them all to the soccer field. We enjoy it immensely. fascinating isn't it? Have you ever done anything like that? don't lie to me. you probably did. We tend to go against whatever we are told not to do. It sounds like Adam and Eve syndrome. God told them exactly what not to do, what to do, and they just right off the bat disobey him. listen to The Serpent instead. because the Temptation was so strong, it could not resist.

Now let's take a look at our Lord. He even asked more than just keeping the Commandments. How hard could that be? twice as hard. not to kill is already hard, it's very hard to really do that in the middle of the war, in the middle of a very difficult harsh life in the Middle East. they fought for living, they were known as Warriors. Now our Lord is saying: not only you should not take life, you have to love your enemies, you have to pray for your enemies. if they strike you on one chick, you turn the other one. Good God, how hard could that be? adultery is bad, violation of the sixth commandment. it's already hard to keep that. Otherwise, we should not have broken marriages and Families. but now the good Lord is saying if you objectify another human being, if you Harbor lust in your heart, you commit adultery. wow... if you called your brother a fool, you are liable to judgment. all of this my dear brothers and sisters, what does he mean to communicate?

What does it mean to communicate is actually telling you and I, it is not only staying off, not doing anything harmful to the other person, not committing the actual deed, but the idea of thinking about it, objectifying other people for our own need, that is evil in itself. and that place we often call Heart. The heart is not just an organ in the human body, it's actually the internal very sacred core that makes who we are. the place where we conceive the spirit of God, the place where we meditate, the place where God wants to dwell, the place where we actually plan. and therefore ready for action. The good Lord is saying: you need a new heart. the stony heart, the stony heart that is being fossilized in a way by the sins of this world, needed to replace. and our Lord had done to that when he entered human flesh, when he took on human life, when he assumed human presence, he has given to us a new heart. and that new heart also contends the very Spirit of life.

that I was Saint Paul today mentioned in the second reading: the spirit has been poured into our heart so that we could love and imitate Christ from now on. So my dear brothers and sisters, our Lord is asking us to shift, to shift our mentality, to shift our way of seeing, to shift our way of viewing one another, viewing God and viewing ourselves. Let's begin with others. We often objectify those who hurt us as enemies. but our Lord is saying look upon them not as enemies but brothers and sisters infested by sins, tempted by sins and evil in this world. don't look at your brothers and sisters in the family who hurt you as someone you have to even score with. don't look at them in that way, your heavenly father looks thou upon you not the objects of condemnation, or punishment, who looks upon you as a prodigal son and daughter, made a mistake listen to the Temptation, listen to The Serpent, and therefore, committed that act of disobedience.

no my dear brothers and sister, that shift of mentality, that shift of perception, has to take place if we truly live out our Christian vocation. we've got to see other people, not second class citizens or third class citizens. I felt so bad in the past 10 years when a few instances I was treated as such. they asked me, even as a priest, do you speak English? or they asked me: wow you learn English very well for a non-native speaker. as if I don't have the capacity to make it possible. or many times in the restaurant, ignore completely and only the white people get served first. Sometimes the skin or history in origin is a problem. no, it's not that our Lord is asking us to look upon one another so that racism should not be a problem. So that Community with diversity is not a problem, so that enemies are no longer enemies, but brothers and sisters need extended care, love, and forgiveness.

Now how about God? How about God? also needed to be seen differently. In the old days, in the Old Testament, God could be a very different God that we know today. an avenging God, a warrior, a punishing father. if you misbehave, he would punish you. death, ultimately the harsh sentence. but yet it occurred. Well, who could blame them? if they see the center of death passed by and killed all first-born sons of Egyptians who could not blame? who could blame them? if they witnessed God really destroy all those who worship a golden calf dancing around after they fled Egypt. who blamed them that Moses himself single-handedly slaughtered many, many lives, because they committed that act of idolatry. God was seen as the punishing, wrathful father.

but in Jesus Christ he manifested that God is actually not true. That God is actually not true, he's more. He's more, he's very merciful like a good father. Welcomes after The Prodigal Son returns. He is good, as Jesus our lord forgiving the woman caught in adultery. no, he's a merciful god. dare to walk among men and save them, Dare To Die for them on the cross, and ask for forgiveness when needed. that God needed to be seen as such. Only then, can we have mercy toward others, only then can we come to him and dialogue with him. instead with a police officer but a father who listens and cares.

Finally we got to see ourselves differently. Regarding seeing ourselves differently, we should be able to see ourselves as a sinner, we should see ourselves in that way so that we acknowledge our position before God. so that we notify the disease that Adam and Eve passed on, Adam and Eve did not admit their guilt. it was a serpent, it was the woman, it was the one they put here for me, it was the one that you created, and ultimately, God takes the blame. no one took responsibility for their actions.

Now before God, we could humbly say we have done wrong, we have seen you wrongfully, we have judged our brothers and sisters wrongfully. Now I'm here to ask for your forgiveness and mercy. and I ask you to receive me, to see me, to see us. We ask God in that way, so that my brothers and sister, we grow compassionately in the way God wants us to. if we see ourselves in that fashion - a sinner who needs a heavenly father and who also needs brothers and sisters to finish the race. Basically, what our law is saying ,the gospel today, that we have to do more as Christians. We have to step up and do more. by doing more, meaning we see God differently by way of seeing others differently, and seeing ourselves differently in that way we begin to imitate Christ in forgiving our enemies and accepting our brothers and sisters. and forgiving ourselves in that way we no longer objectify others in our heart, lust after them. but look after them for their goodness, for their needs. we no longer wanted to hurt the other person, no longer wanted to judge them.

So my friends today is a day we could begin Anew with Christ. Because that heart has been replaced, the new heart has been given. because we have the spirit of God who's capable of discerning, helping us and making us like Christ.

耶稣赐给了我们一颗全新的爱心来取代那颗顽固的石心。让我们协同基督重新前进，求圣神帮我们，使我们更肖似基督

每个孩子都知道要听父母的话，但我们无法期望孩子们总是遵守父母的教训。孩子们都有倾向叛逆的行为。在我年轻的时候，我的父母不准我骑摩托车，但我却爱享受那骑摩托车在街上的刺激感。我的叔叔ㄧ再叮临我不要拿枪来射松鼠。但每次他出差时，我都会与我的堂兄弟们到后院开枪打猎。包括鸟、松鼠，以及所有的小动物。至于水果呢？父母亲告诉我绝对不可偷邻居的东西。但我们的邻居种了各种热带水果。芒果，菠萝蜜，木瓜，应有尽有。看起来赏心悦目也非常好吃。我们这一群孩子， 一大早四点钟就背着布包，爬过篱笆，将水果装满了布袋，拿到足球场上大家一起享用。真过瘾，这是不是很令人羡慕？你是否做过同样的事呢？别骗我。叛逆的本性使我们做一些不该做的事，这就是所谓的的亚当夏娃综合症。虽然天主确切地告诉他们什么事不该做。他们听到后就立刻违背了天主的旨意反而听信了蛇的谎言。谎言的诱惑是如此的强大，令他们无法抗拒。

让我们看看主耶稣对我们的要求。主耶稣不但要我们遵守诫命，祂的要求更高。诫命要求『不可杀人！ 』。当时中东地区在战争中求生存。为生存而战的人是国家的勇士。要他们不杀人已经很难了，但耶稣的要求不只是『不可杀人！ 』当爱你们的仇人，为迫害你们的人祈祷。如果有人打你左脸，就转过脸来让他打右脸“。 天哪，这是多么的难？诫命『不可奸淫！』也是很难做到。 如果不犯奸淫是容易的事，我们就不会有这么多破碎的婚姻和家庭了。 仁慈的主说，如果你不尊重一个人，以情欲的眼光来看他，就是犯了奸淫。 主又说，“谁若向自己的弟兄说『傻子』，就要受议会的裁判”。 在这里，主的讯息到底是什么呢？

主的讯息是：如果仅仅是为了避免犯罪而不伤害人，是无法满全天主诫命的。只要你依自己的需要来取决与人相处的方式，就是犯了天主诫命，是邪恶的。我们的心不只是一个器官，它是神圣的，它定义了我们。心是我们生命的的中心，圣神成长的的地方，天主的居所，与天主交谈的场所。我们在心中做计划也采取行动。主吿诉我们：你需要一颗崭新的心。所以我们必须更新这颗被世俗罪恶硬化的石心。当主耶稣降生成人，取了人的生命时，祂给了我们一颗崭新的心，一颗充满了新生命和神圣的心。

今天读经二圣保禄宗徒说：圣神已经浇灌在我们心中，使我们可以爱基督，效法基督。亲爱的兄弟姐妹们，主要我们改变心态，用新的态度来对待别人。改变我们看待所有 事物的心态。我们要改变我们彼此、和看待自己的方式。对于那些伤害我们的人，主说：不要将他们视为敌人。他们是被世俗的邪恶和诱惑所侵蚀。兄弟姐妹，不要以仇恨的眼光看他们来与他们计较。我们从来不是天父谴责或惩罚的对象。虽然我们在受到试探时犯错，听信谎言，做了背逆的行为，对天父而言，我们永远是寻求悔改的儿女。

亲爱的兄弟姐妹，如果我们要活出基督徒的生命，必需改变我们的心态。 ，平等地对待所有的人，在我们的眼中没有二等或三等公民。在过去 10 年中，有几次人们以次等公民的态度对待我，使我非常地难过。虽然我是神父，他们还是问我：你懂得英语吗？或是：哇，对于一个英语非母语人来说，你的英语讲得很好。听起来好像我没有能力来学好英文。好多次在餐厅里，服务人员对我视若无睹。等到所有的白人都招呼过后才来招呼我。在这个国家，肤色或种族文化是歧视的症结。但这不是主耶稣今天要我们互相对待的方式。如果以主耶稣的态度来对待此事，多种族就不会有问题，多元化的社区也不是问题，人与人之间再也没有敌人，只有兄弟姐妹和更多的关怀，爱，与宽恕。

那么天主呢？我们也 要以不同的方式来看待天主。旧约中的天主与我们今天对天主的认知有很大的差别。旧约中的天主是复仇的天主，惩罚的父亲。如果你犯了罪，他惩罚你。最严厉的判决就是死。在旧约中有许多死刑的判决。难怪以色列子民认为天主是严厉的判官。他们看到死亡的神杀死了埃及人所有的长子。在逃离埃及后亲眼看到了天主毁灭了所有崇拜金牛犊舞蹈的人。也目睹了摩西杀了所有崇拜偶像的以民。旧约的天主是惩罚的、愤怒的父亲。

但在耶稣基督身上表现出来的天主是不一样的。天主不是一个惩罚的、愤怒的父亲，祂是一个非常仁慈的好父亲。祂盼望浪子回头， 宽恕通奸的女人，一位仁慈的神。祂降生成人为拯救我们被钉死在十字架上，并在需要的时候为我们所犯的罪请求天主的宽恕。我们必须要认识这位爱与仁慈的天主，才能学习祂的怜悯，来到祂面前与祂对话。天主不是一个警察，祂是一位倾听和关爱我们的慈父。

最后，也让我们以不同的方式来看自己，明认我们是个罪人。承认自己在天主前卑微的地位。看清楚从亚当和夏娃传下来的原罪—坚持不认罪，反而用蛇和女人做借口。 “都是祢放在园里的蛇”，“是祢创造的女人”。他们找借口不愿意为自己的行为负责，最后耶稣就担负了这个罪债。

让我们谦卑祈求：“天主我错了，看错了祢，看错了我的弟兄姊妹们。 求祢宽恕我。请祢接受我。 兄弟姐妹们，天主祈望我们的祈祷。让我们在心里充满了爱心来成长。 我这个罪人需要天父，也需要兄弟姐妹们的帮助来共同完成这朝圣的旅途。 今天的福音告诉我们，除了遵守诫命外，基督徒要做更多的事。 我们必须站出来证明我们的确是以全新的态度来看待天主，他人，和自己。我们身体力行地效法基督，接纳我们的兄弟姐妹，宽恕敌人，也原谅自己。我们不再利用他人来满足自己的欲望，用心体会与他人的感觉。我们依照他们的福利来照顾他们，满足他们的需要，不再伤害，不再评判。

朋友们，耶稣赐给了我们一颗全新的爱心来取代那颗顽固的石心。让我们协同基督重新前进，求圣神帮我们，使我们更肖似基督。