127.6月28日信德－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

“Only Christ has ‘the words of eternal life,’, as St Peter exclaimed. Without faith in Jesus’ word, it is impossible to please God. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists, and that he rewards those who seek him.” Faith is absolutely necessary for salvation. For as long as we live on earth, it is through faith that we know God, supernaturally, but at the same time somewhat in darkness. Pope Paul the Sixth goes on to ask: “But why should there be this darkness? That is the secret design of God: we cannot grasp his ways. God wants to test our faith during this life, and our salvation depends on whether we accept his design.”

「正如聖伯多祿所宣稱的，唯獨主基督有『永生的話』。不相信主耶穌的聖言，就不可能獲得天主的喜悅。因為凡親近天主的人，都必須相信祂的存在，祂必賞報那些尋求祂的人。」信德是獲得救恩絕對必要的條件。因為只要我們活在世上，我們就是藉由信德。得以超性的方式認識天主，但是同時又有點晦暗。教宗保祿六世接著問道：「但是，為什麼會有這種晦暗呢？這就是天主秘密的設計：我們無法理解祂的道路。天主想在今生考驗我們的信德，我們的救恩，取決於我們是否接受祂的設計。」

At the same time, faith is a light that lifts our understanding far beyond its natural capacity, and enables it to accept the highest truths revealed by God, which the human mind could never even have suspected. “By the light of faith and by meditating on the word of God, we can always and everywhere recognize God, in whom ‘we live and move and have our being,’ seek his Will in every event, see Christ in everyone, whether he be a relative or a stranger, and make correct judgements about the true meaning and value of temporal things both in themselves and in their relation to man’s final goal.”

同時，信德是一盞明燈，它使我們的理解，遠超過本性的能力，並使它能夠接受天主所啟示的至高真理，這是人類思想甚至是不容懷疑的。「藉著信德的光輝和默想天主的聖言，我們可以隨時隨地明認天主，我們生活、行動，以及擁有我們的存在」，在每一件事上尋求祂的旨意，在每個人身上看到主基督，無論是親人或是陌生人，並對世俗事務的真正意義和價值，無論是本身，還是它們與人的終向之間的關係，做出正確的判斷。」

We need God’s grace to have faith, because nothing in nature can impel anyone to embrace the faith. “We believe that what God has revealed is true, the Church states, not because the things we are told are self-evident, by the natural light of reason, but on the authority of God who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived.”

我們需要天主的恩典才能擁有信德，因為在本性中，不能驅使任何人接受信仰。教會申明說：「我們相信天主所啟示的都是真實的，不是因為我們被告知的事情，藉由理性的本性之光亮，是不言而喻的；而是天主的權威，祂既不能欺騙，也不能被欺騙。」

Faith also refers to “the content of faith,” the truths that we have to believe as revealed by God, summarized in the Catechism and the Symbol of Faith or Creed.

信德也指出「信仰的內容」，即我們必須相信的真理，正如天主所啟示的那樣，總結在天主教教理和信德的象徵，或信經中。

We have a great task to accomplish in the world of ideas, to break down people’s prejudices. We have to prepare the ground by uprooting materialism and the false exaltation of man, so that the seed of God’s word can then take root in full, with all its consequences.

在思想的世界裡，我們有一個偉大的任務需要完成，打破人們的偏見。我們必須藉由根除物質主義和高舉虛假的人類，來準備土壤，以便天主聖言的種子，能夠完全生根發芽，並承擔所有後果。

And then pray and attract people by our example, because faith is lived out in our whole life. We can obtain faith by calling on God in humility, and by means of our good deeds; through prayer, and a clean way of life.

I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us, and we change things.

The Crucifixion of St Peter (upside down) by Caravaggio

然後祈禱，以我們的榜樣來吸引人們，因著信德活出我們整個生命。我們可以藉由謙卑地呼求天主，並藉由我們的善功，來獲得信德；藉由祈禱和潔淨的生活方式。

我曾經相信祈禱能夠改變事物，但是，現在我瞭解祈禱能夠改變我們，我們也能夠改變事情。

卡拉瓦喬的《聖伯多祿殉道》（倒釘）