140.7月11日因小失大－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

We must be on guard especially in moments of blindness. The Scripture tells us about two brothers, Esau and Jacob. Esau had a history of foolish or unfaithful actions, most of them in little things, but some not so little. But one moment was decisive. Once, he came home hungry from the fields, and sold his birthright to Jacob for the paltry price of a plate of lentils. The only thing that mattered to him at that moment was to eat and stave off his hunger; everything else had lost all meaning for his heart in his blindness.

我們必須保持警醒，特別是在目盲的時刻。聖經告訴我們，有兩個兄弟，即厄撒烏和雅各伯。厄撒烏過去曾有過愚蠢或不忠行為的紀錄，其中大多數是小事，但是有些卻是大事，其中一次是決定性的錯誤。有一次，他從田裡回家肚子餓了，以代價微乎其微的一碗扁豆羹，把自己與生俱來的名份，賣給了雅各伯。那一刻對他而言，唯一重要的就是吃飯和避免饑餓；其他一切都在他的目盲中，失去了所有的意義。（創25:29-34）

The moment of blindness passed, and then he realized what a wretched price he paid in exchange for his birthright. But it was too late, and all he could do was lament for having thrown overboard the greatest treasure of his life in a moment of madness.

目盲的那一刻過去後，他意識到，他以與生俱來的名份作交換，付出多麼可悲的代價。但是為時已晚，他所能做的，就是開始哀歎在瘋狂的時刻，把他生命中最貴重的寶藏，扔到了海裡。

In case we should ever find ourselves in a similar situation, blinded by selfishness, let us remember St Josemaría’s words. “Don’t forget … that we can make mistakes in life, but that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with our way of life, nor with our Love. What it means is that we need to be more prudent for the future. No one can reason like this: ‘Because I can’t manage to fulfill this duty, I won’t fulfill any of my duties.’ That would be a reaction of pride: to fall out from the hands of God, to become diabolical.”

萬一我們發現自己處於類似的境地，被自私而蒙蔽了雙眼，讓我們記住聖施禮華的教導：「別忘了…我們可能會在生活中犯錯，但是這並不表示我們的生活方式，及我們的愛有什麼錯誤。這代表著我們需要對未來更加謹慎。沒有人能如此推理：『因為我無法履行這個職責，所以我不會履行我任何的職責。』那將是一種驕傲的反應：擺脫天主的手，而變成了惡魔。」

This is the temptation of Esau: to suffer the loss of the greatest treasure God could possibly have given us, for something as worthless as a bowl of lentils.

這就是厄撒烏的誘惑：失去天主可能賜給我們最貴重的寶藏，為換取像一碗扁豆羹，這樣毫無價值的東西。

In those moments of blindness, the divine call and the abundant fruits of fidelity seem empty of meaning, compared with the obsessions of the flesh or the whims of the heart; the person desires “to live his own life,” or shuts himself up in his own pride.

在那些目盲的時刻，與肉體的迷戀，或是與心靈的一時興起相比，神聖的召喚和豐富的忠誠果實，似乎毫無意義；這個人渴望著「過屬於自己的生活」，或者把自己封閉在自己的驕傲中。

“We all have defects. But our defects should never be a reason for us to turn away from God’s Love. Rather they should lead us to cling to that Love, seeking shelter in his divine goodness, as the old warriors did, by wearing their suits of armor. Our defense is the cry: ‘Here I am, because you have called me!’ Just because we discover how fragile we are, is no reason to run away from God. What we must do, is to attack our defects, precisely because we know how God trusts us.” St Josemaría

「我們都有缺陷。但是我們的缺陷，永遠不應該成為我們背離天主聖愛的理由。相反的，缺陷應該引導我們緊抓住那份愛，就像個老戰士一樣，藉由穿上他們的盔甲，來維護他神聖的良善。我們辯護地吶喊著：『我在這裡，因為祢呼喚了我！』只因為我們發現自己是多麼脆弱，就沒有理由逃避天主。我們必須做的是，攻擊我們的缺陷，正因為我們知道，天主是如何信任我們。」(聖施禮華)

We attack our defects by living in a continuous presence of God, to reject all temptations.

Image: Mother of Fair Love, Pray for us.

我們藉由生活在天主持續地臨在中，來攻擊我們的缺陷，拒絕所有的誘惑。

插圖：純愛之母，為我等祈!