Day 14 – The Lost Tie, A Lost Life
Cantonese
Mandarin
English
In this distant country, we will starve even though we are surrounded by pleasures and riches, fame and power. It seems that all the world cannot satisfy our thirst.
The story of the Rich Young Man gives us a lot of insights into a person who is in his distant country wanting and thirsting. He wasn't content, even with all his possessions. He was thirsting for something bigger, and he knew he had to go to Jesus for a solution to his inner struggles. He made the right move, yet, the story ended with him going away sad, for he had many possessions. The story of the Rich Young Man invites us into a deeper reflection. (Matthew 19:16–30, Mark 10:17–31, Luke 18:18–30)
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him. "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
As we hold onto what we possess, we can easily miss the higher goals in life. God has given us the gifts to help us achieve higher goals. Every gift given has a purpose, and it has to be outwardly oriented. If we turn a gift inward for selfish motives, the gift will lose its purpose, leaving us sad like the rich young man.
Just as Jesus looked at the rich young man and loved him, our Heavenly Father also looks at us and loves us, and He awaits us to respond to His call, "Come back to me."
REFLECTION
In your life, are you hopping from one pursuit to the next, from one satisfaction to the next? Do you feel that you are in your distant country?
In what ways are you like the rich young man in the Bible?
TODAY'S PRAYER
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
If you find this reflection helpful and have not registered to receive our daily email, we invite you to sign up here. If you have a Facebook account and would like to share your thoughts there, we invite you to join this Facebook group .
最親愛的天主父，阿亞爸：我知道恩賜是為了他人的益處所賜予的，我也擁有為不少祢給的恩賜，物資使我負重吃力，請助我開懷釋負…，而當祢邀請我進入自己的心田去尋找和陪伴祢時，我卻無力回應祢。我的生命正充滿著我意識不到的盲點。請你賜予我一個更新及清晰的視野，使我有意識地每天歸向祢！
天主，我明白到祢踢予人的恩賜是去服服務他人，因有時看不到自己的盲點和執著，阻礙著自己的前進，沒有好好善用祢的恩賜。求祢增強我的信德和依賴，善用祢給我的塔冷通去成就祢的旨意。亞孟。
天地萬物乃至我們本身都是天主創造和至愛的，天主無形卻無處不在，他可以在天地萬物中當然亦在我們的每一個細胞內。當我們「遠離」他時就無法感受到他，就好像離開父家流浪遠方一樣，一旦我們「回心轉意」有了回歸父家的想法，他自然得以顯現，因為天父本身就和我們在一起，只是我們的無知讓我們忽略掉而已，所以說「心無法到達的地方，就是遠方⋯」，那種遠不是空間距離上的，而是心靈上的，心田農夫讓我們每天靜下心來，好好感受天父的愛，和天父永遠在一起，阿孟??
從前，我在做菜的時候心裡面想著天主，打掃屋子的時候心裡也想著天主。現在，即使在彌撒時或是在朝拜聖體時，心裡面卻想著新的計劃或設計，或是想著如何改良與朋友之間的關係⋯等等，這就是身在教堂心在遠方。卻還自己騙自己說我每天都有去聖堂祈禱呀！
這是因為已經養成了壞習慣，每天一點一點的溜走，不知不覺就已在遠方。
「就算我們知道心裡渴求的是天主，我們卻欠缺動力回到祂身邊」
仁慈的天父，懇求祢將我懶散的骨頭一片一片的撿起來，重新塑造我，我要回歸、我要擁抱祢！請給我力量～
聽完了今天的主題聲帶後，腦海不其然地浮現起廿多年前的生活境況，為追求自以為更高大的理想，卻漸漸失去了人生的方向，信仰的生活！
回想當年，每天只為生活營營役役，在會議廳、辦公室和社區中，出出入入，甚至有時忙得不可開交，連自己是誰也不知了，完全沈醉在每事必須要成功的漩渦裏，根本沒法控制到自己，最後連家人都好像不在自己身旁，倒個人似着了魔一樣，直到在選舉中落敗，感到窮途潦倒，才逐漸聽到上主的呼喚，邀請自己回歸父家！
的確，原來上主早已給了筆者最幸福的，就是這個家，一個不會放棄自己的家，太太和子女正等着筆者回家。噢！為何自己竟感受不到家的溫暖呢？
今日禱文正確道出我的心田在快將迷失前，尋回歸向上主的警醒。???♂️感謝阿爸父
很幸運地，我從以前的遠方，現在一天一天的走近了父家，感覺到父親的愛越來越濃厚，心中常有主的喜樂無法形容。願我能善用天主所賜的恩寵。
Like St. Augustine, we search for God. We don’t have peace untill we found it in Jesus.
When I sin, I am like the younger son wandering to the distant country.
Sometimes, I am like the rich young man in the Bible by not willing to give up everything to follow God completely.
在生活中,很多時都像多富少年一樣,、當要回應主時,都不能放下思慮而立刻回應主。