125.6月26與天主合一－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

The goal of sanctity, the fullness of life in union with God, is totally beyond our capabilities. For us, men, this is impossible, but for God all things are possible. God himself is engaged in building up the edifice of our sanctity; he says, ‘Without me, you can do nothing.’ Thus, if discouragement were ever to threaten us in our struggle, because of some difficulty we encountered, we would have to ask ourselves whether we were not trying to sanctify ourselves by sheer will-power alone. We can never manage on our own. The more keenly we feel this helplessness, the more docile we will be to God’s grace.

成聖的目標，是「與天主合一」擁有豐盛的生命，這是完全超出了我們的能力範圍之外。對我們人類而言，這是不可能的，但是對天主而言，一切皆有可能。天主親自參與建造我們成聖的宏偉建築；祂說道：「沒有我，你們什麼也不能作。」(若15:5)因此，如果，因為我們遇到了一些困難，而在奮鬥中氣餒，甚至於威脅到我們，我們必須要自問，我們是否沒有嘗試，卻只靠我們的意志來聖化自己，而我們永遠無法獨自處理，我們越發強烈地感受到這種無助，我們就會因此越發委順於天主的恩典。

Just put yourself in God’s hands like a small child in his father’s arms. It is a surrendering of oneself to him that requires hope, faith, confidence and love.

只要把自己安放在天主的手中，就像一個嬰孩在他父親的懷抱裡一樣。這就是將自己委順於祂，需要具備望德、信德、信心和愛德。

We must never forget that we can do nothing supernatural without the aid of grace. No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

我們絕不能忘記，沒有恩典的助佑，我們做不了什麼超性的事務。除了聖神推動以外，沒有人能說：「耶穌是主」。

But feeling the power of God’s hand in our lives is not enough. We have to make sure we respond by stretching out our hand to grasp his hand. When God’s finger, his grace, meets with a full response, he works wonders.

但是，只感受到天主的手，介入我們生命中的能力是不夠的。我們必須肯定地伸出自己的手，來抓住祂的手作為回應。當天主的手指，祂的恩典，得到完全的回應時，祂就會成就奇蹟。

And how can we respond more fully? With the help of prayer. It is true that we have nothing, and our strength is insufficient. But we are children of God , and that is the best possible guarantee and the firmest pledge for our hope. If we pray, our Father God will hear us. And so, we turn to prayer with confidence. We do not pray in order to make our needs and wishes known to God, but in order to realize for ourselves how much we need his help.

我們要如何才能更充分地做出回應呢？要在祈禱的助佑下。的確，我們一無所有，能力不足。但我們是天主的子女，這就是最好的保證，也是對我們的盼望，最堅定的保證。如果我們祈禱，我們的天父就會垂聽我們。因此，我們要滿懷信心地來祈禱。我們祈禱，不是為了讓天主瞭解我們的需要和願望，而是為了我們自己瞭解到，我們多麼需要祂的助佑。

Together with prayer we must do penance. We say, ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ But to identify our will with God’s Will, we need to be purified by means of mortification, to get rid of whatever separates us from him. In this way, our life will be effective, with a fruitfulness which God will produce through us, in spite of our personal nothingness.

我們的祈禱必須伴隨著痛悔。我們說：「願祢的旨意奉行在人間，如同在天上。」但是，要使我們的意志與天主的旨意合一，我們需要藉由痛悔來淨化自己，好使我們能擺脫與祂分開的事務。這樣，我們的生活將會是有成效的，天主將藉由我們而生產出豐碩的成果，儘管我們個人是一無所有的。

Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it.

True love is love that causes us pain, that hurts, and yet brings us joy. That is why we must pray to God and ask Him to give us the courage to love.

人生是一首歌，唱吧！人生是一場奮鬥，接受它吧！

真正的愛，是會為我們帶來痛苦，而且很痛，卻會為我們帶來喜樂。這就是為什麼，我們必須向天主祈禱，並懇求祂賜給我們「愛的勇氣」。