2015.05.10 撒瑪利亞婦人主日
聖禮儀 (二)：進入天堂的國度 講道 ：李亮神父 英文紀錄：貝克教授 翻譯：張奉書
今日我們會多談談聖禮儀，因為你們必須了解這才是我們真正的活動。華人喜歡參加活動，這不是壞事。我很開心也很訝異，今天大家有記得帶代禱名單，交給我親近的生者與亡者的名字，讓我們在聖禮儀中紀念他們。會後你們可以取回這些名單，下次再帶給我。這樣你們就會知道你們不是獨自前來，你們帶來了你的整個世界、你所有的家人和所有朋友。你會明白聖禮儀就是將你我連結合一，甚至在過世後也是如此。在聖禮儀中，我們與所愛的人同在，裡面沒有死亡。生者亡者一同聚在這裡。
就像我曾告訴你們的，聖禮儀是從昨天就開始，你事先要預備帶來的一點酒、一點麵包，這表示你在乎、關心這件事。把你手親自預備的東西帶來，將宇宙萬物獻給神。如你在經上所見所知，當門徒聚集在一起的時候，復活的耶穌向他們顯現。所以當我們也聚集在此地，為的是一同「成為」耶穌的身體。這也是我穿著祭司袍的原因，這是為了你，沒有你，我無法進行聖禮儀。
現在我會多解釋聖禮儀。因為我們在此地成為一體，成為耶穌基督的身體。祭司藉由念誦「福哉神的國度」開始聖禮儀。有些人用了非常謬誤的方式試圖認識聖禮儀，像是「這是我們進入天國的象徵」。這大錯特錯，這是種柏拉圖式的說法，而這裡我們說的和「象徵」無關。人們領受的餅與酒不是耶穌基督的象徵，它們「就是」耶穌基督的聖體、寶血。你們若要了解聖禮儀，必須閱讀啟示錄第五章～第七章，這是我這個不配的祭司，給你們的作業。閱讀啟示錄，因為這就是了解聖禮儀的方法。使徒約翰看見天開了，他看見天上的聖禮儀，也就是現在我們所進行的。而那個聖禮儀的部分內容也就是我們今日在這個簡陋的地方所做的，藉由我這個不配的祭司來進行。
所以當我們說「天國」，我們進入天國，天國就在這裡。這不是一種象徵，是真實的。啟示錄中約翰看到天上聖禮儀的進行，那是真實的。
你也許會說你又沒看到。有些孩童，或是比較單純純潔的人，他們看見餅酒成為血肉。我的屬靈父親聖徒Porphyrios就可看到，很多其他人也有這樣的經驗，在東正教這是很一般的。我沒有看到，是因為我不夠好。但我們沒有看到的事，並不表示就不是真的。
所以我們進入天國，或說我們將天國帶到這地。若允許我用現代的詞彙，也就是將我們的空間與時間轉化成神的空間與時間，也就是神的國度。所以當我們開始聖禮儀，我們就處在天堂，雖然就某種觀點看來，我們仍在這簡陋之地。天國不是柏拉圖式的地方：所有的人都是哲學家，談論著聖經或是禱告。天國不是那樣的，而是我們把整個世界帶進了天國。這是為什麼我們開始的禱告是祈求世界和平、風調雨順、作物豐收等萬事。所以我們把我們每天的一切帶進了天國。我們不會假裝天國除了禱告以外什麼也沒有，那是虛假的想像。這是為何我們帶來了餅與酒、擺上了世間的果實，我們將我們所掛念的、擔憂的、關心的一切都帶來。這是為何你會看見聖禮儀一開始，祭司會為萬事萬物祈求。現在我會很快地大致性說明，下周會說更多細節。
啟示錄中提到神的話語和羔羊從祭壇中出現。因此祭司拿著福音書繞著教會而行。這不是象徵，而是如同啟示錄，神的話語出現了。你能看見發生在這裡的對話。我們將擁有的東西帶給神。什麼是我們所關心的，無非是有食物可吃，有份工作。而神的話語出現，進入與我們的對話之中。
如我所說，你在啟示錄中看見羔羊來到祭壇的中間，所以祭司前來，並開始小進堂禮。倘若有位主教在這裡，並不是由主教開始聖禮儀，主教會站在教會的中央，安靜的默念禱詞。如同在啟示錄中，羔羊進入祭壇，現在主教來到祭壇開始獻祭，主教不是耶穌基督的象徵（symbol），而是耶穌基督的圖像（icon）。聖禮儀就是主教和所有人，前往天國的入口。
接著，眾人吟唱：「聖哉，上帝，聖哉全能者，聖哉不朽者,憐憫我們」。如同在啟示錄中天使與眾聖徒向聖三一獻上的讚美詩。所以我們的歌聲與天國的讚美詩合而為一。接著是神的「道/話語」開始說話，這就是為何我們在此刻開始誦讀福音書。首先祂說話，理論上我應該在這時開始講道，但是很多信徒這時後都還沒到教堂。在這之後，我們將安放好福音書。我們打開九折聖布，這塊聖布讓祭司可以在任何家中或任何地點舉行勝禮儀。接下來是大進堂禮。你可以在這聖像畫中（神父指著教堂的壁畫）看見大進堂禮，耶穌就是大祭司，祂是獻祭者，也是被獻祭者。現在我們吟唱著詩歌，我們代表著天使，也與天使一同獻祭，用我們的敬拜與禱告一同獻祭給那位被殺的羔羊，如同啟示錄所記載的。
我這樣說是因為有些人能不明白，誤以為這一切只是耶穌基督葬禮的象徵，這是錯誤的想法。如同啟示錄，你可以在聖禮儀中看見從榮耀中進入更大的榮耀，直到進入真正的獻祭。這也是為何祭司禱告、眾人禱告，說：「忘卻一切世上掛慮」，現在我們走向神。再次的走向神，現在我們在神面前，心意更新變化，為神獻上一切。彼此合一，我們必須要禱告。為能有共同的信仰一起禱告，所以我們一起誦唸信經。真正的正教徒就必須明白這一切我所說明的事。光是說：「我向神禱告」是不夠的，每個人都能向神祈禱。但是參與聖禮儀只能以正確的信仰來完成，這也是為何我們一同誦念信經。
接著非常重要的是祭司會說：「平安與你們同在」，接著是榮耀神。這是為何這時會眾說：「這是合適且正確的」。那是天國祭壇下靈魂的聲音，說著:「向你獻上尊榮與讚美，這是合適且正確的。」我們該怎麼做，就是一起獻上敬拜。你要記得：你無法自己一個人走向神，這是不可能的。你無法僅僅帶著自己孤單的個體性，走向那共存、三一的神。因為孤單的個體性就是地獄。很糟的是有些人會說自己家中也有聖像畫，所以可以在家自己禱告就好，不必來教會和弟兄姐妹一起敬拜，那樣的信仰方式其實就是地獄。
在這樣的狀況下，我們開始真正的獻祭。我們藉著禱告與那些在天國祭壇之下的人合一。我們相信那些我們所愛的亡者也在這裡。
我會停在這裡，我不要長篇大道，只是要解釋現在我們做的正是聖禮儀的一部份，在下周我會繼續向你們解釋其他部分。我想要你們看看我們放在YouTube上面的影片。
我再次提醒你們，我希望下周你們可以帶點麵包給我。我沒有要很多，一點點就可以。還要帶你們所愛之人的代禱名單。所以我不會把這些名單留著。你可以帶一小片麵包一點點酒。我不要一整瓶酒，你不要想一次帶一瓶，好像盡了義務，以後就不用帶了。這無關義務。你在足球館，你沒有打球，你只是看球。但你來這裡可不是來看我表演。你也不是來這裡讓自己形而上的憂慮得到安慰，告訴自己：「萬一真的有神的話怎麼辦？我還是來教會好了，這樣就交差啦！」不是這樣。如果這樣還不如當個無神論者，那還更誠實一點。就像你今日看到的一樣，你來這裡參與聖禮儀，遞上代禱名單，帶著成為耶穌基督身體與寶血的餅酒。麵包你可以在便利商店買，我只會切一小塊。雖然我不配，我還是會做聖餐麵包，我會用傳統的方法做聖餐麵包，並蓋上刻著「耶穌基督凱旋得勝」的印記。但我也會在你帶來的麵包中取一小塊，為你所愛的人放在這裡，包括生者與亡者，放在聖餐杯中。
我希望聖禮儀漸漸可真的成為你生活的中心。願聖三一的神保守我們眾人。
2015.05.10 Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
Liturgy II : Entering into the Kingdom of Heaven
Sermon: Fr. Jonah
Transcript: Prof. Baker
Today I will talk more about the Liturgy because you must understand that here is our real activity. The Chinese people want to participate in activities, and this is not bad, and I was happily surprised that some people brought their names . You can take these lists back and give them to me next time. This way, you can know that you do not come here alone; you bring all your world and all your family, all your friends. And you understand that the Liturgy is what unites us, even after death because there is no Death in the Liturgy with our beloved people. The living and the dead are all here, together.
As I told you, the Liturgy starts on the previous day, when you prepare what you brought, a little bit of wine or a little bit of bread. And this is caring; something that you do with your own hands is bringing and offering the universe to God. As you know and as you see in the Bible, Jesus appears to His disciples when they are together, and so we come here together to make the body of Jesus Christ. And this is why I can wear these robes. It is because of you; without you I could not do the Liturgy.
Now I will explain a little more about the Liturgy to you. Because we are here as one, to make the body of Jesus Christ., the priest starts the Liturgy by saying, “Blessed is the kingdom of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Some people try to understand the Liturgy in a very wrong way, with symbols, like “this is the symbol that we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. This is very wrong. This is a Platonic way, and here we do not speak about symbols. The bread and the wine that the people receive are not a symbol of Jesus Christ; they are the real body of Jesus Christ. So, to understand the Liturgy you must read, and you should take it as your assignment from me, such a bad person and such a bad priest, to study the 5th and 6th chapters of the Revelation, because this is the way to understand the Liturgy. John saw the heavens open and he saw the Liturgy of Heaven, which is happening now. And part of that Liturgy is what we are doing today, with such a poor place and such a bad priest.
So, when we say, “the Kingdom of Heaven,” we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, and the Kingdom of Heaven is here. It is not a symbol, but it is real. If you read in John, it is the Liturgy of Heaven that is going on. It is real. You will say, but I don’t see it. We also have the bread and the wine and some people, maybe kids or people who are very innocent or pure, they see these as the Body and Blood. My spiritual father, Saint Porphyrios saw this way and many others also do. It is very common in the Orthodox Church for people to see this way. I don’t see that way; I am very bad. But just because we don’t see it this way does not mean that it is not real.
So, we enter, or we bring the Kingdom of Heaven here. Let’s say, if I’m allowed to use modern terms, to transform our space and time to the space and time of God: the Kingdom of Heaven. So when we start the Liturgy we are in Paradise, though from one point of view we are still in this poor place. And then the Kingdom of Heaven is not a Platonic place, where people are philosophers and they speak about the Bible or praying and so on. It’s not like that. But we bring all the world to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is why we start with prayers for the peace of the world, for good air, for the fruits of the earth: everything. So we bring all of our everyday life to the Kingdom of Heaven. So, we don’t’ pretend that the Kingdom is a place of prayer and nothing else; that would be a fake. This is why we offer the bread and the wine, the fruits of the earth, so we bring our anxieties, our cares. So this is why you see the priest starting to pray for everything in the beginning of the Liturgy. So now I will say to you very quickly and in the abstract, and then after the Liturgy next week I will say to you in more detail.
And reading all those things, in the Revelations it says that from the altar comes the Lamb with His Word, so the priest takes the Gospel and walks around the church. This is not a symbol, but it is as in the Revelations, the Word of God comes out. And you can see the dialogue that is . We bring to God what we have. What is it that we care about? It is having food to eat and having a job. And the Word of God comes out and enters into dialogue with us.
And as I say, you see in the Revelations, that the Lamb comes in the middle of the Altar. So the priest comes and then the Small Entrance happens. Because if there is a bishop, he does not start the Liturgy. If the bishop comes here, or when he came, as you saw, he is there, in the center of the church, without doing anything, just saying prayers silently to himself. So when the Lamb comes in (the Book of Revelations), because it is not a symbol of Jesus Christ, it is a picture, an icon of Jesus Christ, the bishop now comes to the altar to start the offering. Really, the Liturgy is this entrance of the bishop and all the others to the Kingdom of Heaven.
And then, as we see in the Revelations, everybody is saying “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us,” is the hymn of the angels, the hymn of the saints to the Holy Trinity. And so we unite our voices to these voices in the Kingdom of Heaven. And then it is the Word of God that speaks, which is why we read the Gospel at this point. First He speaks, and theoretically I should give the sermon at this time, not now, but many people have not arrived by this time.
After this, we take out the Gospel and we open this cloth that enables the priest to do the Liturgy in any house or anywhere, and then we have the Great Entrance. You see the Great Entrance in this picture here ; Jesus is the high priest and it is He who is offered and he who offers. Now we sing the hymn that we represent the angels, we are with the angels who enter to offer to the Lamb, which is slaughtered in the Revelations, to offer the due worship and prayer together.
I say this because some people don’t understand and they say, “Oh, this is a symbol of the funeral of Jesus Christ,” or other things that are theologically wrong. It is, as you see in the Revelations, going from glory to stronger glory, and going to the real offering now. This is why the prayers of the priest, and of course of the people, say to forget about anything else; now we go to God. But going to God again, now we come with a changed mind for everything before God. And being united, we must pray; but how to pray with the same faith? And this is why we say the Creed. Everybody can come to the Church, but to be a real Orthodox, he must know all these things that I say. It is not enough just to say, “I pray to God.” Everybody can pray to God. But to do this it must be done with the proper faith, which is why we say the Creed all together.
And then it is very important that the priest says peace to everybody, and then to glorify God. And this is why the people at this point say, “It is proper and right.” And these words are from the Bible. They are the voice of the souls of the people who are under the altar in Heaven, who say, “It is proper and right to offer to you both glory and worship.” How? Together. You must remember: you cannot go to God alone; you cannot. You cannot go to God, who is coexistence, who is the Trinity, just to bring your individuality there; that would be Hell. That is why it is very bad when some people say they “have icons and can pray at home, so why should they come to the church? I don’t need you.” That is Hell.
So, in this context we start the real offering. We unite our prayers with those who are under the altar. And we believe that our beloved departed people are also there.
I will stop here because I don’t want to make a long lesson, but just to explain to you what is going on in one part of the Liturgy and next Sunday I will say more to you. And I would like you to see those videos that we put on YouTube.
Once more I say to you that I expect you to again bring me some bread. I don’t ask for very much, just a little bit. And bring your list of beloved people since I will not keep these lists, so that I can commemorate these people. You can bring a small piece of bread or a little wine. I don’t want a bottle. You should not think that you have given a whole bottle and then your duty is done. It is not a duty. You must understand that when you to a football stadium you are not playing, you are just watching. But you do not come here to watch me give a performance. And you also do not come to calm down your metaphysical worries, thinking, “In case there is a God, then I’m covered because I’ve come to church.” It’s not that. It’s better to be atheist; it’s more honest. So you come to participate by giving your list of names and some small thing that will be with the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ, as you saw today. And as you saw, even this bread that you could buy in any 7-11 , from it I can cut a little piece. Although I’m a very bad priest, but I can make the bread or somebody else can make the bread in the traditional way, with a stamp. But I can also take a little piece and put it in for the your beloved, both living and dead, and put it in the holy chalice.
I hope that gradually the Liturgy could be really the center of your life. May the Holy Trinity protect all of us.
