90.5月22日主基督臨在的新形式－白孟德神父（Fr. Charles Belmonte Lopez）語錄-譯者:林豪

The New Form of His Presence. Excerpts from Pope Benedict XVI

What do the Bible and the Liturgy tell us by saying that Jesus “was lifted up”? The verb “to lift up” was originally used in the Old Testament and refers to a royal enthronement. Thus, Christ’s Ascension means the enthronement of the Crucified and Risen Son of Man, the manifestation of God’s kingship over the world.

主基督臨在的新形式。摘錄教宗本篤十六世的解釋：

聖經和禮儀告訴我們，主耶穌「被高舉」是什麼意思呢？動詞「高舉」最初是用於舊約，指的是「登基王位」。因此，主基督的升天意味著被釘在十字架且復活的人子登基，彰顯天主對世界的王權。

Also, it is said that Jesus was “lifted up” (v. 9) and then, “taken up” (v. 11). The event is not described as a journey to on high but rather as an action of the power of God who introduces Jesus into the space of closeness to the Divine. The presence of the cloud that “took him out of their sight” (v. 9), recalls a very ancient image of Old Testament, the cloud of Sinai and above the tent of the Covenant in the desert, and the luminous cloud on the mountain of the Transfiguration.

此外，據說主耶穌被「高舉」（第9節），然後被「舉起」（第11節）。這個事件沒有被描述為作一次高處旅行，而是天主大能的行動，祂將主耶穌引入與天主親近的空間。雲的出現亦即「將祂帶離他們視線」（第9節），讓人們回想起舊約中一個非常古老的形象，西奈山和沙漠中約櫃的帳篷上方的雲，以及耶穌在山上顯聖容時發光的雲。

As Christ ascended into Heaven, the human being has entered into intimacy with God in a new and unheard-of way. “Heaven does not indicate a place above the stars but something far more daring and sublime: it indicates Christ himself, the divine Person who welcomes humanity fully and forever, the One in whom God and man are inseparably united forever. Man’s being in God: this is Heaven.

當主基督升天時，人類以一種前所未聞的新方式，與天主建立了親密關係。「天堂並不表示在高於星空的地方，而是更大膽和崇高的事物：它意指主基督自己，完全和永遠地歡迎人類的神聖位格，天主和人永遠不可分割地結合為一的那一位。人在天主內：『這就是天堂。』」

And we draw close to Heaven, indeed, we enter Heaven to the extent that we draw close to Jesus and enter into communion with him. The Solemnity of the Ascension invites us to be in profound communion with the dead and Risen Jesus, invisibly present in the life of each one of us.

而且，事實上我們親近天堂，進入天堂的程度，就是我們親近主耶穌並與祂共融。莊嚴的升天，邀請我們與死亡的主耶穌和復活的主耶穌進行深刻的共融，無形地存在於我們每個人的生命中。

The historical character of the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension helps us to recognize and understand the transcendent condition of the Church; she was not born and does not live to compensate for the absence of her Lord who has “disappeared.” On the contrary, the Church finds the reason for her existence and mission in the invisible presence of Jesus, a presence working through the power of his Spirit.

主基督復活和升天奧秘，其歷史特徵有助於我們認識和理解教會的超然狀況；她沒有誕生，也沒有活著來彌補她的主「消失」之離去。相反地，教會在主耶穌看不見的臨在中，找到她存在和使命的原因，主耶穌藉著聖神的力量工作。

In other words, the Church does not merely prepare for the return of an “absent” Jesus, but, on the contrary, lives and works to proclaim his “glorious presence,” that he was historically real, and living.

Madonna of Michelangelo

換言之，教會不僅為「離去」的主耶穌再次來臨而作準備；相反地，他們生活和工作，為宣揚祂「光榮的臨在」，祂存在於歷史上是真實的，並且是生活著。

插圖：米開朗基羅的聖母像