2011/9/2

The foundations of faith

Caritas Internationalis president, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga has given the first of three catecheses at World Youth Day in Madrid. The theme of all the catecheses is “That each of us uses what we receive to serve others.” Caritas Spain looks at the first catechesis.

信德的基石

馬德里世界青年日那天先後共有三篇講道，國際明愛會主席Rodriguez樞機負責三篇中的第一篇。所有講道的主題都是「教導我們每個人，用我們白白領受來的服務其他的人」。西班牙明愛會提供了第一篇道理的摘要。

以信德建立團體

「我們信德的基石到底是什麼樣子？」就這個問題，Rodriguez樞機帶領大家思考，我們的生命只有建立在基督這塊堅固的基石上，才會變得完美。樞機請求年輕人「聆聽天主聖言並付諸實行，就能把生命建立在磐石上」。也只有這樣，我們才能成為「愛護生命、保護生命，從而建立教會的活石。」雖然大家來自不同的國家、擁有不同的文化，但是因為我們有基礎堅固的相同信仰，達成這個目標是可能的。

靈性的衛星導航

然後，Rodriguez樞機要我們看一看，今日世界缺乏基石的後果。他說過：「所有今天的世界危機的根源都由於天主缺席。」他接著說：「如果社會不以天主為圭臬，它早晚必會迷失方向。現在科技真進步，像衛星導航可以幫助開車的人找路，但人自己卻常常不知何去何從，這不是很奇怪嗎？」於是樞機呼求一個精神上的衛星導航，一個由「天主聖言、生命之糧和聖母瑪利亞」引領的精神導航。

為信德作見證

Rodriguez樞機在證道結束時，呼籲廣場上的年輕人：「要為信德作見證，並活出真理，這真理不是與生命無關痛癢的；要堅定信德，因為信德是活著、奮鬥、愛、建立和平和喜樂的根源。喜樂並不是尋獲的，而是使別人快樂，你就會快樂。」(張佩英譯)

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原文

Building communities through faith

 “What are the foundations of our faith like?” With this question Cardinal Rodriguez reflects upon how the building of our lives “can only be complete if they are built on the solid rock that is the Lord”. He called on young people to “build on the rock by listening to the Word and putting it into practice”. Only in this way can we be “living stones, who love and defend life and who build the community that is the Church.” This is possible “even though we’re here from different countries and cultures, we have the same faith which makes the foundations solid”.

A spiritual GPS

Cardinal Rodriquez then looked at the effect of a lack of foundations in today’s world. As he had already said, “The absence of God is at the roots of all of today’s crises.” He continued, “If societies’ reference point stops being God, they will become disorientated. It’s strange that a world which has such advanced technology to help people find their way – such as the GPS – is so disorientated. The Cardinal called for a spiritual GPS, guided by “the Word of God, the bread of life and the Virgin Mary.” This is the door that opens us to Jesus, he said.

Be witnesses to faith

Cardinal Rodriguez ended his catechesis by appealing to the young people at World Youth Day in Madrid “to be witnesses of faith and to live out a truth which isn’t isolated from their lives, to be firm in faith which is the source which brings reasons to live, to fight, to love, to make peace and to be happy, because happiness isn’t found by seeking it out but by making other people happy.