167.8月7日麥子與莠子－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

We are told that the Church is holy. How can that be? We know her history well enough to know about all kinds of unholiness in the Church. Also, we know that we ourselves – members of the Church – are beset by sin. Still, in our Creeds we confess that the Church is holy. The parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-43) might shed some light on this doctrine. The parable describes how man would sow tares or cockle in his enemy’s wheat field.

我們被教導教會是聖潔的，這怎麼可能呢？我們非常瞭解她的歷史，瞭解在教會中的各種不聖潔行為。此外，我們也知道我們自己—教會的成員們—被罪惡所困擾著。儘管如此，在我們的信經中，我們承認教會是聖潔的。麥子和莠子的比喻（瑪13：24-43），可能會對這個教義會有所啟發。這個比喻描述了，仇人如何在家主的麥田裡，撒下莠子或雜草。

As our Lord makes clear, the Church – the children of the kingdom – is the good seed that the Father has sown in the world. Thus, the Church is holy. She is no mere human creation but the foundation and household of God, planted by his hand, established as the Body of Christ. The Church is a tree growing upside down, with her roots in heaven and her branches here on earth.

正如我主所明確指出的，教會—天國的子女們—是天父在世上播下的好種子。因此，教會是聖潔的。她不只是人類的創造物，而是天主的根基和家庭，由祂的手所栽種的，被建立為主基督的奧體。教會是一棵倒立生長的樹，她的根在天上，她的枝條在地上。

But the Church exists in a fallen world, and the enemy is active. As the parable makes clear, he sows bad seed AMONG the children of the kingdom. There is poison, in effect, even WITHIN the Church. The problem is the bad seed looks a lot like the good. So, the householder instructs his servants to wait: “Let them grow together until harvest.” At that point, he will be able to discern and to judge.

但是教會存在於一個墮落的世界，而仇人是活躍的。正如比喻所表明的，他在王國的孩子們中，播下了壞種子。實際上，即使在教會內部也有毒藥。問題是壞種子看起來很像好種子，於是，家主吩咐僕人等待：「讓兩樣一起長到收割的時候好了。」在收割時，他將能夠辨別和判斷。

A first lesson of the parable is that we shouldn’t be surprised by wickedness and dishonesty in the Church. Disappointed, grieved, and angry – yes. But not surprised. The existence of weeds among the wheat has been evident from the earliest years of the Church down to the present day.

這個比喻的教導是，我們不應該對教會中，發現到邪惡和不誠實感到驚訝。失望、悲傷及憤怒—會有的。但是並不驚訝。麥子中有莠子的存在，從初期教會到今天，都是顯而易見的。

The parable is also a lesson about God’s patience. The Father calls us to the highest standard, to holiness itself. But he is patient with us in our striving for it.

這個比喻，也是有關天主耐心的教導。天父召喚我們到達最高的標準，聖潔本身。但是祂對我們努力地奮鬥很有耐心。

There is a place for identifying and correcting those who have strayed. But it’s for the shepherds to do, not the sheep. This parable is addressed to the crowds, not the Apostles.

有一個地方，可以辨識及糾正那些迷路的人。但這是牧者做的事，而不是羊做的事。這個比喻是針對群眾的，而不是對宗徒的。

The bishops have a right to discipline because they have a duty to do so. Such discipline seeks the good of souls by clarifying teaching and preventing scandal. But when the shepherds don’t discipline, then members of the Church lose patience, take it upon themselves to uproot the cockle and pull up a lot of wheat with it.

主教們有訓戒權，因為他們有責任這樣做。這種訓戒藉由澄清教導和防止醜聞，來尋求靈魂的利益。但是，若是牧者不管教時，教會的成員就會失去耐心，自己來鏟除莠子，並因此拉出了很多麥子。

Are you wheat or a weed? We participate in God’s patience, when we neither judge someone a bad seed… nor presume that we are good. His grace is at work within each one of us, bidding us to turn to him and grow in holiness.

你是麥子還是莠子呢？我們參與天主的耐心，當我們既不判斷他人是壞種子時……也不假設我們是好的。祂的恩典，在我們每個人內工作，吩咐我們轉向祂，並在聖潔中成長。