79.5月11日聖體龕－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

Tabernacle – Have you wondered why we have tabernacles in our churches at all? They are not there by accident. What is their purpose? Yes, they are Our Lord’s answer to the plea at Emmaus, “remain with us, Lord.”

聖體龕－你是否想過為什麼我們的教會裡有聖體龕？它們會在那裡不是偶然的。它們的目的是什麼呢？是的，它們是我主對厄瑪烏邀請的回應：「主啊！請與我們住下吧！」

First, although we cannot see him, except in faith, Jesus has a mouth he can speak through, eyes he can see with, a Heart he can love through. Despite his silence and stillness in the tabernacle, Jesus Christ speaks and acts.

首先，雖然我們看不見祂，除非憑信德，但主耶穌有一張嘴，祂可以說話，祂可以用眼睛看，祂有一顆能夠愛的心。儘管主耶穌基督在聖體龕裡沉默和靜止著，但祂會說話與行動。

Second, what is Jesus doing in the tabernacle? He is – he says – “to be.” He does not add any other verb that will specify the aim, the way, or the duration of the act of being. Do not assume that he is there just for consoling, illuminating, healing, feeding … but first simply that he is there. … I assure you, very few words will express more activity, and more love, than the verb, to be.

其次，主耶穌在聖體龕裡做什麼呢？祂說，祂是「存在。」祂沒有添加任何其他動詞，來指定存在行為的目的、方式或持續的時間。不要以為祂在那裡只是為了安慰、照亮、治癒、餵養……但首先只是祂在那裡。…我向你保證，很少有個詞能比動詞來表達，更多的活動和更多的愛。

Then, third, Jesus, in the tabernacle, looks at me. He looks at me always. He looks at me everywhere. He looks at me as if he doesn’t even have anyone else to look at but me. Why? Our Lord is like a mother gazing at her sleeping boy. Inquire of the mother, who, without talking and barely breathing, spends hours next to her son as he sleeps. Why does she do this? She will answer, “I just want to look at my son.” … And do you know what causes her sadness? It is that she will not be able to follow her beloved son with her gaze, all the way through his life, now as a child and later as a man. Yet Our Lord can gaze on us always and everywhere, from the tabernacle, and he does.

第三，主耶穌在聖體龕裡看著我，祂總是看著我，祂在任何地方看著我。祂看著我，彷彿除了我，祂甚至沒有注意其他的人。為什麼？我主就像一位母親凝視著她熟睡的孩子。詢問這位母親，她沒有說話，幾乎沒有呼吸，在兒子睡覺時，在兒子旁邊停留了幾個小時。她為什麼要這樣做呢？她會回答：「我只想看看我的兒子。你知道是什麼原因，讓她的悲傷嗎？而是她將無法用她的目光，跟隨著她心愛的兒子，一直走過他的一生，現在作為一個孩子，後來成為一個男人。然而，我主可以隨時隨地從聖體龕注視我們，祂做到了。

Fourth, are there many important people who know you and who are interested in saying something to you? We have a much wiser, wealthier, and more powerful King who is waiting for us at any time of the day or night in the little palace of his tabernacle. He is there to say to each one of us, with interest and infinite love, the right word that we need to hear at that hour.

第四，是否有很多重要的人認識你，且有興趣對你說些什麼呢？我們有一位更聰明、更富有、更有能力的君王，祂白天或黑夜的任何時候，都在祂聖體龕的小宮殿裡等著我們。祂在那裡帶著興趣和無限的愛，對我們每個人說出，我們需要在當下，所要聽到的正確話語。