52.4月14日聖體聖事－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

Our Lord remains with us in the tabernacle, and is solemnly exposed also, to be adored. I had never noticed Exodus 16:31-32:

“Now the house of Israel called its name *manna*; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. And Moses said, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: “Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

吾主在聖體龕中與我們同在，並且被莊嚴地彰顯出來，好被朝拜。我從來沒有注意到出谷記16：31-32這樣寫道：

「以色列家給這食物取名叫『瑪納』它像胡荽的種子那樣白，滋味好似蜜餅。梅瑟說：『上主這樣吩咐說：裝滿一『曷默耳』瑪納，留給你們的後代子孫，為使他們能看到我領你們出離埃及國時，在曠野裏養活你們的食物。』」

*Manna* is a forerunner to the Eucharist. It gave life in the desert as a gift from God to be eaten and save the people from starvation. Notice, however, that not all of it was meant, at least immediately, for eating. For the good of the people, manna was also meant to be *displayed*. The people would see and remember with gratitude how God had provided for them.

「瑪納」是聖體聖事的預象。在沙漠中，它賦予生命，作為天主的禮物，可以作為食物並拯救人們免於饑餓。然而，請注意，並非所有的都是為了解飢，至少立即的。為了人民的益處，「瑪納」也是用來「瞻仰」的。人們會感激地看見並記住，天主如何地提供他們食物。

I looked further into the Old Testament antecedents to the Eucharist. That is when I discovered the *Showbread*, which was special bread that God commanded the priests to prepare each week and place on an altar in the Holy of Holies. On the great festival days in Jerusalem, the priests would lift the bread up and show it to the people, announcing to the gathered faithful, “Behold how precious you are to God.” The Showbread was also called the Bread of the Presence, meaning it was a display of the miraculous face of God to His people. The people did not eat the bread. They looked at it.

我再進一步研讀了舊約中聖體聖事的預象。就在那時，我發現了「無酵餅」，這是天主命令司祭每周都要準備，並放在至聖所祭台上的特殊麵餅。在耶路撒冷的節日裡，司祭們會把餅舉起，展示給眾人，向聚集的信徒宣佈：「看哪！你們對天主而言是多麼珍貴啊！」「無酵餅」也被稱為臨在的麵餅，意思是它向天主的子民展示了天主奇特的面貌。人們並沒有吃麵餅，而他們瞻仰它。

God was teaching His people to gaze upon His presence, to linger with Him. He was establishing a communion with them through a beautiful, aesthetic display. He revealed His majesty, even if in a veiled manner, and in doing so, created a connection between Himself and His children.

天主教導祂的子民，要凝視祂的臨在，與祂偕行。祂藉由一種美麗、具美感的展示與他們建立共融。祂即使以一種隱晦的方式，揭示了自己的尊威，並以此在祂和自己的子女之間建立了關係。

Our faith is not meant to be limited to what is functional.

我們的信仰，並不局限於機能性的事物。

Yes, of course, the primary purpose of the Eucharist is to be eaten. This is what Christ desires, that we consume Him and become more like Him in both His death and His life. But there’s a reason the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a mysterious, overlapping set of beautiful symbols. The Eucharist is the mystery of our faith, a precious jewel, and it won’t do to narrow the Blessed Sacrament down to the functional act of eating.

Perhaps we could say that there are two ways to eat —with the mouth and with the eyes. Equally important is that in the Eucharist, Christ is looking back at you.

是的，當然，聖體聖事的主要目的是被領受。這就是主基督所希望的，我們消化祂，並在祂的死亡和生命中，變得更肖似祂。但是，彌撒聖祭是一項奧蹟、重疊呈現著美麗的象徵是有其原因的。聖體聖事是我們信仰的奧秘，是一顆珍貴的珠寶，並且不能狹隘地將聖體縮小到為滿足進食的功能，這是不對的。

也許我們可以說有兩種領受方式—用口及用眼睛。同樣重要的是，在聖體聖事中，主基督正在看著你。