信德的奥迹

基督圣体圣血节

出24:3-8；咏116；希9:11-15；谷14:12-16、22-26

当至高者天主的司祭默基瑟德前来与亚巴辣罕见面时，带了饼和酒。默基瑟德在亚巴辣罕遇见索多玛王哈摩辣、左哈尔王贝拉（其名字可被译为“邪恶”）之前，先会见了他（创14:17-18）。与默基瑟德的见面，为亚巴辣罕与贝拉恶王的会面作了很好的准备。我们可以看到很多在生活中面对邪恶的人。然而，只有与至高者天主的司祭相遇的人，并因着他们带来的主的体血，才能够克服邪恶。

当以色列人从埃及出来时，他们在通过旷野旅途中的日常食物就是天使的食粮（咏78:25）。那食粮伴随着他们，直到恩许之地。我们也可以将我们的生活比作穿越旷野的一次旅程。我们的生活特征多是烦恼和悲伤，“转眼即逝，我们也如飞而去”（咏90:10）。我们的目的地是天上的耶路撒冷。在此旅程中，来自天上的食粮滋养我们。“你们若不吃人子的肉，不喝祂的血，在你们内便没有生命”（若6:53）。如果我们想要走完我们的旅程，我们需要从这天使的食粮——真正的食粮，基督的体（若6:55）——中获得力量。

当厄里满心沮丧，并恳求天主收去他的姓名时，上主的使者为他预备了食物，他“赖那食物的力量，走了四十天四十夜，一直到了天主的山曷勒布”（列上19:8）。耶稣基督将自己给了我们，在通往天主的朝圣旅途中加强我们的力量。祂把我们从奴役中引出，在我们内注入真正的生命，并强健我们，以克服各种困难。我们需要重新发现这生命之粮的超然力量。

“我是从天上降下的生活的食粮”（若6:51）。借着圣神的行动和基督圣言的功效，饼酒成为基督的体和血。在感恩祭中的成圣体期间，司铎这样祈祷：“求你派遣圣神，圣化这些礼品，使成为我们的主耶稣基督的圣体、圣血。”然后他重复基督在受难前夕晚餐庭中所说的话。“使所奉献的（饼酒）成为基督体血的，不是人，而是那为我们被钉在十字架上的基督自己。司祭担任基督的角色，说出基督的这些话，然而，这些话的力量及恩宠却是天主的。基督说：‘这是我的身体。’是这句话把奉献的礼品转化‘成了基督的体血’”（圣金口若望，《天主教教理》 1375）。

让我们用圣济利禄的一句漂亮的话语来结束本篇反省：“不要问这事是否真实，而要以信德来接受救主的话，因为祂是真理，祂不会撒谎”（《天主教教理》1381）。

Mystery of Faith

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Readings: Exodus 24:3-8; Psalm 116; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

When the priest of the Most High God came to meet Abraham, he brought out bread and wine. Melchizedek met Abraham before the patriarch could meet the king of Sodom, Bera, whose name can be translated as “in evil”. (Gen 14:17-18). That encounter with Melchizedek prepared Abraham for the meeting with Bera, the king of evil. Life offers many examples of people facing evil in their lives. Only those strengthened by their encounters with the priests of God the Most High, who bring out the Body and Blood of the Lord, are able to overcome it.

When Israel came out of Egypt, their daily food during the journey through the desert was the bread of angels (Ps. 78:25). That bread accompanied them all the way to the promised land. Our life can also be likened to a journey through the desert. Our life are marked by trouble and sorrow, “they pass by speedily and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10). Our destination is the heavenly Jerusalem and on this journey the bread from heaven nourishes us. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). If we want to complete our journey, we need to draw strength from this bread of angels, the Body of Christ that is the true food (John 6:55).

When Elijah got depressed and begged God for death, the angel of the Lord prepared food for him, “and with the strength of that meal he walked forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of God at Horeb” (1 Kings 19:8). Jesus Christ gave himself for us to strengthen us on our pilgrimage to God. He leads us out of depression, pours into us true life and gives us strength to overcome all kinds of difficulties. We need to rediscover the enormous power of this Bread of Life.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:51). The bread and wine become the Body and the Blood of the Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit and the efficacy of the Word of Christ. During the consecration, the priest prays with the words: “Make holy these gifts by sending down your Spirit upon them, so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then he repeats the words that Christ spoken in the Upper Room before His Passion. “It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but he who was crucified for us, Christ himself. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God’s. This is my body, he says. This word transforms the things offered” (Saint John Chrysostom, in CCC 1375).

Probably no one has better captured the profound beauty of this mystery of faith than St. Thomas Aquinas in his famous Eucharistic hymn “Adoro Te Devote”. Let the words of this song accompany us in today’s celebration:

I devoutly adore you, O hidden Deity,

Truly hidden beneath these appearances.

My whole heart submits to you,

And in contemplating you, It surrenders itself completely.

Sight, touch, taste are all deceived in their judgment of you,

But hearing suffices firmly to believe.

I believe all that the Son of God has spoken;

There is nothing truer than this word of truth.

是否听过像这样的事？

天主圣三节

申4:32-34、39-49；咏32；罗8:14-17；玛28:16-20

当我们聆听今天读经中圣保禄的教导时，我们极易注意到他谈及了天主圣三。保禄宗徒描写天主的神、天父和耶稣基督。圣神使我们成为天主的子女，并指引我们祈祷“阿爸，父啊”。作为天主的子女，我们与基督同成为天主的子嗣。“从天主在地上造了人以来，由天这边到天那边，是否有过象这样的大事，是否听过像这样的事”（申4:32）

天主圣三的奥秘在“拣选”中得以启示。“由另一民族中”（申4:34）所拣选出来的以色列民，预示着人类的蒙召，以分享天主的生命。教会，是由万国万民、万千语言中拣选的天主子民团体。天主在埃及为以色列民行了伟大的神迹和异事。祂也在耶路撒冷为我们行了伟大的神迹。各种灾难摧毁了法郎的骄傲，并恩赐以色列民自由。基督的死而复活击败了死亡，使我们摆脱罪恶的暴虐。

在旧约中，割礼是盟约的标志；而新盟约的特点是洗礼圣事。基督命令教会以天主圣三的名施洗。圣洗引领我们进入与天主的共融中。在此圣事中，我们在耶稣的死亡与复活中与祂联合（参见罗6:3-4），我们领受圣神的恩赐（参阅铎3:5），并且成为天主的义子义女（罗8:15）。圣洗时所念的固定语包含“因父、及子、及圣神之名（‘名’为单数）”，表明天主圣三的一体性。

我们亏欠圣子的，是对于关爱我们的天主父的认识（玛11:27）。圣子进入了这个世界，为的是完成父交给祂的工作（若17:4），当祂完成了救赎人类时，便将圣神赐给我们，好使我们分享圣父与圣子间的合一（参阅若17:21-23）。如此，天主三位一体，即父、子和圣神的启示便得以完成。

“所以今日你该知道，且要牢记在心：天上地下，只有上主是天主，再没有别的神”（申4:39）。带领以民出离埃及的经历，是为了使以色列人和埃及人都意识到，亚巴郎、依撒格和雅各伯的天主是上主（出6:7，7:5）。这样的意识要求他们遵守祂的诫命，好使他们繁荣昌盛（申4:40）。今天的福音中也有类似于此的服从天主的召叫。除了要以天主圣三之名施行的洗礼外，耶稣作为唯一天主的完美启示，还命令：“教训他们（万民）遵守我所吩咐你们的一切”（玛28:20）。

天主圣三的奥秘，贯穿着我们基督徒的整个生活。从我们沉浸在洗礼水中的那一刻起，我们就与圣三进入了共融中。从那一刻起，我们的生活就以圣三的行为为标志。“谁光荣圣父，是透过圣子在圣神内光荣祂；谁跟随基督，是因受到圣父吸引和受到圣神推动而跟随祂”（《天主教教理》，259）。“从天主在地上造了人以来，由天这边到天那边，是否有过象这样的大事，是否听过像这样的事”（申4:32）。

Was it ever heard of?

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Readings: Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40; Psalm 33; Romans 8:14-17; Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20

When we listen to today’s words of Saint Paul, we can easily notice a reference to the Holy Trinity. The Apostle writes about the Spirit of God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit makes us the children of God and leads us to pray, “ABBA, Father!”. As God’s children, together with Christ, we are heirs of God. “Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?” (Deut 4:32)

The mystery of the Holy Trinity is revealed in election. The election of Israel from “the midst of another nation” (Deut 4:34) foresees the calling of people to share in the life of God. The Church is a community of God’s children chosen from all nations, peoples and languages. God did great signs and wonders for Israel in Egypt. He has also made powerful signs for us in Jerusalem. The plagues broke Pharaoh’s pride and gave freedom to Israel; the death and the resurrection of Christ defeated death and freed us from the tyranny of sin.

In the Old Testament, circumcision was a sign of covenant, but the New Covenant is characterized by the sacrament of baptism. Christ commands the Church to baptize in the name of the Holy Trinity. Baptism brings us into communion with God. In this sacrament we are united with Christ in his saving death and resurrection (see Romans 6: 3-4), we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (see Titus 3: 5), and are adopted us the children of God (Rom 8: 15). The baptismal formula contains the words, “in the name (and not in the “names”) of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”, thus showing the unity of God as the Holy Trinity.

We owe to the Son the knowledge of God as the loving Father who cares for us (Mt 11:27). The Son came into this world to accomplish the work that the Father gave to him (John 17:4), and when he completed the redemption of humanity, the Holy Spirit was sent upon us, so we can share in the unity which is between the Father and the Son (John 17: 21-23). Thus the revelation of God as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is completed.

“This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the LORD is God in the heavens above and on earth below, and that there is no other” (Deut 4:39). The experience of taking the people out of Egypt was intended to make both, Israel and the Egyptians, realize that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the Lord (Ex 6: 7, 7: 5). This awareness obliges them to obey His commandments, that they may prosper and have long life (Deut 4:40). A similar call to obedience is also in today’s Gospel. In addition to the baptism in the name of the Holy Trinity, as the full revelation of the One God, Jesus also commands: “Teach them (nations) to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19).

The mystery of the Holy Trinity permeates our entire Christian life. From the moment we were immersed in the water of baptism, we have entered into communion with each of the divine Persons. Since then, our life is marked by their actions. “Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit; everyone who follows Christ does so because the Father draws him and the Spirit moves him. “(CCC, 259). “Did anything so great ever happen before? Was it ever heard of?” (Deut 4:32).

法律与圣神

圣神降临节

宗2:1-11

咏104

格前12:3-7、12-13

若20:19-23

“五旬节日一到，众人都聚集一处”（宗2:1）。耶稣的门徒们聚集一处，庆祝西乃山上天主与以色列民所立的盟约，并向以色列民颁布“律法书”——法律。根据《出谷纪的》记载，清晨，上主在火中降到西乃山上（出19:16-18），并颁赐给以色列民法律。根据犹太人的传统，天主的声音以火焰的形状出现，祂所颁赐的每一条诫命，都是单独地达于每个犹太人。此外，天主的声音分别以七十种语言传递，如此，万民都能明白。

“忽然，从天上来了一阵响声，好像暴风刮来，充满了他们所在的全座房屋”（宗2:2）。在全体以色列民庆祝领受法律的那一天，天主决定派遣圣神临于教会。西乃山的立约和法律的颁布，确立了一个特选的民族：“你们为我应成为司祭的国家，圣洁的国民”（出19:6）。新的盟约建立于最后晚餐庭，而且圣神的降临创造了新的天主子民：“至于你们，你们却是特选的种族，王家的司祭，圣洁的国民，属于主的民族，为叫你们宣扬那由黑暗中召叫你们，进入他奇妙之光者的荣耀”（伯前2:9）。

在耶肋米亚先知和厄则克尔先知的预言中，天主的法律和圣神被一起赐下。没有圣神，我们就无法满全天主法律的要求。然而，天主通过向我们承诺，要将祂的神派遣到我们的心中，来解决我们的问题。圣神会将天主的律法写在我们心中，并使我们得以遵守天主的训诫（耶31:33；则36:27）。暴风的声音让人想起厄则克尔先知关于枯骨复生的异象（则37:1-14）。生命之神由四方而来，吹拂过象征以色列全家的“尸体”，并使他们复生了。像以色列一样，我们也需要从因罪恶而导致的死亡中复生，只有天主的神才能做到。

今天的圣神降临，是耶稣恩许的实现：“不多几天以后，你们要因圣神受洗”（宗1:5）。这也是岳厄尔关于末日预言的实现。过去，圣神的恩赐只保留给蒙天主召叫完成而特殊使命的某些人。例如，梅瑟蒙召带领以色列人走向自由，还有先知们蒙召去传扬天主的话语。如今，这一恩赐给了每一个人——男女老少，自由人和奴隶（宗2:17-18；岳3:1-2）。如同圣保禄所说：“不再分犹太人或希腊人，奴隶或自由人，男人或女人，因为你们众人在基督耶稣内已成了一个”（迦3:28）。

我们在接受洗礼中所领受的圣神的恩赐，使我们成为天主的儿女（参阅迦4:6）。圣神赐给我们勇气，使我们宣认，只有耶稣是世界历史和人类生命的主宰。祂还赐给我们特别的礼物，以建立基督徒团体（参阅格前第12章）。最后，天主的神在我们的心中倾入祂的果实，使我们的生活方式不同于我们在世界上所看到的。我们没有满足本性的欲望，而是随从圣神的引导（参阅迦5:16）。

最后，在圣神的来临中，教会开始了她的福传工作。“但当圣神降临于你们身上时，你们将充满圣神的德能，为我作证人，……并直到地极”（宗1:8）。早期教会传扬福音的目标民族名单，包含圣路加所知道的全世界。每个民族都有机会通过自己的语言听到福音。通过这种方式，新的人类正得以建立，而天主的教会和圣神是这项使命的领导者。

The Law and the Spirit

Pentecost Sunday

Readings; Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104; 1 Cor 12:3-7,12-13; Gospel of John 20:19-23

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in the same place” (Acts 2: 1). Jesus’ disciples gathered there to celebrate the covenant at Sinai and the giving to the nation of Israel the “Torah” – the Law. According to Exodus, it was in the morning that the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai in fire (Ex 19:18) and gave the people the Law. According to Jewish tradition, the voice of God took the form of fire, and each commandment uttered by God came to every Jew individually. Moreover, God’s voice was split up into seventy languages so all the nations could understand.

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven” (Acts 2: 2). On the day all Israel celebrated the giving of the Law, God chose to send the Holy Spirit upon the Church. The covenant at Mount Sinai and the giving of the Law established a chosen nation: “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy people” (Exodus 19: 6). The New Covenant established at the Last Supper and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit creates a new people of God: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

God’s law and the Holy Spirit are brought together in the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Without the Holy Spirit, we can not fulfill the requirements of God’s Law. However, God solves our problem by promising to send His Spirit into our hearts. The Spirit will write God’s law on our hearts and will enable us to keep the precepts of God (Jer 31:33, Ezek 36:27). The sound of a rushing mighty wind brings to mind the vision of the prophet Ezekiel about the revival of dry bones (Ezek 37:1-14). From the four winds, the Spirit of life comes and blows into the “corpses” symbolizing the whole house of Israel, and makes them alive again. Like Israel, we also need to be brought back to life from death caused by sin, and only God’s Spirit can do it.

Today’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise: “You will soon be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1: 5). It is also the fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy about the last days. In the past, the gift of the Spirit was reserved only for certain people called by God to fulfill a special mission. For example, Moses was called to lead the people of Israel to freedom and the prophets were called to proclaim God’s word. Today this gift is given to everyone, men and women, young and old, free and slaves (Acts 2: 17-18, Joel 3: 1-2). As Saint Paul pointed out: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).

The gift of the Holy Spirit that we receive in the sacrament of baptism makes us God’s children through adoption (see Gal 4: 6). The Spirit gives us the courage to confess that only Jesus is the Lord of history of the world and of our lives. He also endows us with special gifts to build Christian community (see 1 Corinthians 12). Finally, the Spirit of God pours into our hearts His fruits that make our lifestyle different from what we see in the world. Instead of gratifying the desires of the flesh, we walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16).

Finally, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit the Church begins her evangelizing activity. “When the Holy Spirit descends upon you, you shall be my witnesses (…) to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1: 8). The list of nations to which the early Church announces the Gospel embraces the whole world known to Saint Luke. Every nation has the opportunity to hear the Gospel in their own language. In this way, a new humanity is being established, the Church of God, and the Holy Spirit is the protagonist of this mission.

观望天空……

耶稣升天瞻礼

“他们向天注视着他上升的时候”（宗 1:10）。要理解这句话的意思，我们必须回 到旧约，回到厄里亚被提升天的故事（列下 2:1-15）。当厄里亚的门徒厄里叟意 识到师傅即将被提升天时，他要求：“把你的精神给我两份。”厄里亚回答说：“你 若能看见我，你就可以得到；否则，你就不能得到”（列下 2:10）。结果厄里叟看 见了厄里亚乘着旋风升天去了，而且他的愿望得以实现：“厄里亚的精神已降在 厄里叟的身上了！”（列下 2:15），他也能够行类似的奇迹和异事。

今日的圣道礼仪告诉我们耶稣的门徒们如何看见主耶稣上升天庭。“耶稣说完这 些话，就在他们的观望中，被举上升，有块云彩接了他去，离开他们的眼界”（宗 1:9）。然而，在此之前，祂宣布圣神要临于他们，好使他们能向普世人类作祂的 见证人（宗 1:8）。此外，福音向我们显示，当耶稣被举上升并坐在天父的右边时， 门徒们开始“向一切受造物”宣扬福音，而基督“以奇迹与他们相随，证实所传 的道理”（谷 16:20）。

厄里叟所经验的和门徒们所经验的，大有相似之处，而且这一相似之处颇为惊人。 厄里叟领受了厄里亚的两份精神，门徒们领受了丰盈的圣神。陪伴耶稣完成在世 使命的圣神，如今临在于教会中，伴随他们一起向万民传扬福音。厄里叟延续了 厄里亚的使命，行奇迹异事；使徒们继续主耶稣的使命，宣扬基督的福音，也有 奇迹异事来证实。借此，他们吸引人到基督跟前，建立教会——基督的肢体（弗 4:12）。

耶稣的升天，应验了达尼尔先知有关人子的预言。他由天主那里接受了“永不消 逝的王权”（达 7:14）。对我们来说，成为“肉身”的永恒之道（若 1:14——道成 肉身）坐在天父的右边，“超乎一切率领者、掌权者、异能者、宰制者”（弗 1:21）， 天上的众天使都要朝拜和侍奉基督（希 1:6-7）。基督升天的意义，在本节日的“颂 谢词”中有所解释：“祂升天，并非舍弃我们卑微的人性，而是要我们怀着信心 追随祂，因为我们是祂的肢体”（颂谢词 I），而且，祂“为使我们分享祂的天主 性”（颂谢词 II）。

“加里肋亚人，你们为什么站着望天呢？（宗 1:11）。今天，我们与门徒们一起， 观望主耶稣上升天国。虽然云彩遮住了我们的视线，但我们的信德可以穿透那片 云彩，使我们看见“天开了，并见人子站在天主右边”（宗 7:56）。几天后，当圣 神降临在我们身上时，我们将再次领受天主的德能。我们将以更新的勇气，继续 耶稣的传教使命：“往普天下去，向一切受造物宣传福音”（谷 16:15）。21 世纪 的人们等待我们的见证。

Looking up into the sky

Ascension of the Lord

Readings: Acts 1, 1-11; Psalm 47; Ephesians 1, 17-23 or Ephesians 4:1-13; Gospel of Mark 16, 15-20

“They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going”(Acts 1:10). To understand the meaning of this sentence, we must go back to the Old Testament and the story of the assumption of Elijah (2 Kings 2: 1-15). When Elisha, a disciple of Elijah, realized that his teacher was about to be taken up to heaven, he asked for a “double portion” of his teacher’s spirit. “If you see me being taken from you, it will be yours – otherwise, it will not” (2 Kings 2:10), said Elijah in response. “After he [Jesus] said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight” (Acts 1: 9). Elisha also saw Elijah going up to heaven in a whirlwind and his wish was fulfilled. “The Spirit of Elijah has settled on Elisha!” (2 Kings 2:15) and he was able to performed similar signs and wonders.

Today, the liturgy tells us how Jesus’ disciples saw the Lord Jesus ascending into heaven. Before that, however, he announces that the Holy Spirit will come upon them, so they can be His witnesses all over the world (Acts 1: 8). Furthermore, the Gospel shows us that when Jesus was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father, the disciples began to proclaim the Gospel “to all creation”, and Christ “confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it” (Mark 16:20).

The similarities between the experience of Elisha and that of the apostles are striking. Elisha received the double portion of the spirit of Elijah and the apostles the fullness of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who accompanied Jesus in His earthly ministry will now accompany the Church in the evangelization of nations. Elisha continued the mission of Elijah and performed signs and wonders, the apostles continue the mission of the Lord, preaching the Gospel of Christ and its truth is confirmed by signs and wonders. Thus, they draw people to Christ and build the Church – the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).

The ascension of Jesus fulfilled Daniel’s prophecy about the Son of Man, who received from God “an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away” (Daniel 7:14). The eternal Word of God, which became “flesh” for us (John 1:14), sits at the right hand of the Father, “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion” (Ephesians 1:21), far above all spiritual powers. All God’s angels worship and serve Christ (Heb 1: 6-7). The meaning of Christ’s ascension into heaven is explained in the prefaces of the Ascension of the Lord. Our Lord ascended into heaven “not to distance himself from our lowly state but that we, His members, might be confident of following” Him (Preface I) and that He could “make us sharers in His divinity” (Preface II).

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? (Acts 1:11). Together with the apostles, we saw today our Lord ascending into heaven. Though the cloud hid Him from our sight, faith can pierce through that cloud and enable us to see “heaven open and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). In few days, we shall again be clothed with power from on high when the Holy Spirit descends upon us. Then, with renewed courage, we shall obey Jesus’ missionary mandate: “go to all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation!” (Mark 16:15). People of the 21st century await our testimony.

爱召唤我们去爱

“那些受过割损的信徒，（……）都惊讶圣神的恩惠也倾注在外邦人身上”（宗10:45）。从犹太人的角度来看，世界被分为犹太人——上主的选民，被犹太人认为是不洁的外邦人，以及皈依犹太教的人——他们接受了割损礼并遵守梅瑟律法的所有要求。圣神的恩赐是基督向宗徒所应许的。它使我们因着被收养成为天主的儿女，并允许我们称上主为：“阿爸，父亲。” 受过割损的信徒在圣神降临节（五旬节）那天经历了这个恩赐，基督的应许实现了。然而今天，他们惊讶的是，他们在外邦人中也看到了圣神降临的这一天。

“现在，我真正明白了：天主是平等对待所有人的”（宗10:34）。为了得出这样的结论，宗徒们需要天主的帮助。伯多禄所看到的神视（宗10:10-16）使他明白，作为一个犹太人，不应该将其他名族的人视为不洁（宗10:28）。这种认识也影响了他在Cornelius家中所传信息的内容。他没有引用第一次向犹太人讲道时所用的经文（宗2:14-36），也没有试图证明耶稣就是应许的默西亚，而是把耶稣称为“万民的主”（宗10:36），并强调耶稣之所以能行一切奇事，是“因为天主同他在一起”（宗10:38）。最后，他宣告了基督的死亡与复活，并称耶稣——感谢天主，是耶稣而不是别人——是活人和死人的审判者，赖祂的名我们都要获得罪赦（宗10:42-43）。

圣伯多禄被派到外邦人中宣讲耶稣的福音及圣神倾注在所有听众身上的事实是天主爱的标记。“天主是爱”，这种爱最深的表现就是把天主子赐下到世界（若3:16）。基督降临的目的有两重：（1）拯救我们脱离罪恶和死亡；（2）使我们分享这神圣的生命。第一重目的已经借着耶稣的死亡实现了（若一4:10），而第二重目的是借着圣神的恩赐而实现的。今天圣神的倾注和因耶稣之名而施行的洗礼，是Cornelius及其全家的新生命的开始。

天主对我们的爱总是首先出现：“爱就在于此：不是我们爱了天主，而是祂爱了我们”（若一4:10），“在我们还是罪人的时候”（罗5:8）。天主的爱也体现在拣选中。“不是你们拣选了我，而是我拣选了你们”（若15:16）。祂拣选宗徒作为教会的支柱，拣选Cornelius作为福音在外邦人中所结第一批果实中的一个。我们对天主的爱及转向祂，都是对祂的爱和召叫的回应。

“可爱的诸位，我们应该彼此相爱，因为爱是出于天主”（若一4:7）。伯多禄认识到，没有人是污秽或不洁的（宗10:28）。并且，“凡在各民族中，敬畏祂而又履行正义的人，都是祂所中悦的”（宗10:35）改变了他。受到爱的激发，他去了外邦人的家传福音。是基督的爱催迫我们去传福音（格后5:14）。因此，告诉别人天主对我们所有人的爱，即那显示在为我们的得救而受苦受难的耶稣身上的爱，是真正爱我们近人的标记。弟兄姐妹们，你们是否也与其他人分享耶稣基督的福音呢？