139.7月10日為什麼會這樣呢? －白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

A friend asked me, Why does God allow bad, corrupt people to prosper?

In a company or corporation, I see that some of these persons are promoted, and even remain at the head of the governing board, causing harm to the corporation and disorienting the customers. Why so?

一個朋友問我，為什麼天主允許壞人、腐敗的人成功發達呢？

在一個公司或機構中，我看到其中一些人被提拔，甚至還是管理階層的要員，對公司造成莫大的傷害，並且迷惑客戶，為什麼會這樣呢？

– Only God knows. For some situations, there are legal means. But let us look now at the crucified Christ; he is crowned with thorns. “Then the governor’s soldiers stripped Jesus and put a scarlet robe on him, and then plaiting a crown of thorns, they set it on his head.” (Mt 27, 27-29)

－只有天主知道。在某些情況下，是有些法律途徑的。然而，現在讓我們看看被釘十字架的主基督；祂被冠以荊棘。「那時，總督的兵士把耶穌帶到總督府內，召集了全隊圍着祂，脫去了祂的衣服，給祂披上一件紫紅色的外氅；又用荊棘編了一個茨冠，戴在祂頭上。」（瑪27:27-29）

These thorns inflicted a great torment on him. But did he take off the crown of thorns? Did he ask anyone to take it off from him?

– No. He suffered for our salvation.

這些荊棘給祂帶來了巨大的痛苦，但是祂有摘下棘冠嗎？祂有沒有要求任何人，從祂身上取下它來呢？

－沒有!祂為救贖我們而受苦。

Where were the thorns? Not strewn on the ground, like loose nails!

– The thorns were at Jesus’ head, at the top of his Body.

荊棘在哪裡呢？並不是散落在地上，像鬆動掉落的釘子！

－荊棘在主耶穌的頭上，在祂身體的頂端。

Likewise, for that corporation, I guess, we have to continue praying, asking Our Lord to shorten the period of His suffering (mind you, He is the One who suffers most).

同樣的，我猜想，對於那家公司，我們必須繼續地祈禱，祈求我們的天父，縮短祂受苦的時間（請注意，祂是受苦最多的那一位）。

Yes, “Corruptio optimi pessima,” the corruption of the best is the worst kind of corruption. Only humility helped by grace can stop that corruption, that sudden switch from the best to the worst. St Augustine writes: “I have found no better people than those who are advancing in holiness, but neither have I found any worse than those who have abandoned it.”

是的，「Corruptio optimi pessima」，最佳的腐敗，就是最嚴重的腐敗。只有藉由恩典助佑的謙遜，才能阻止腐敗，突然從最好的轉變成最壞的。聖奧斯丁寫道：「我無法找到那些，比在奮鬥成聖勇往直前的人，更好的人；但是，我也沒有發現，比那些放棄成聖的人，更糟糕的人。」

“Holding fast to our Lady’s hand, let us make the resolution now to be faithful always; to be faithful day by day in the little things, which is to say, to live a continual, lifelong faithfulness, that is, perseverance.” St Josemaría

「緊握住聖母的手，讓我們現在下定決心永遠忠誠；在小事上日復一日地忠誠到底；也就是說，活出一種持續的、終其一生的忠誠，那就是堅持到底。」(聖施禮華)

Meanwhile, be patient. God may permit us to lose a skirmish, but He never loses the battle.

同時，要有耐心。天主可能允許我們輸掉一場小規模的衝突，但是，祂永遠不會輸掉這場戰役。