Father Anthony Ho 何庭耀神父

昨天是將臨期第三主日，禮儀主題是「喜樂」。有些神父主持彌撒時，穿上桃紅的祭披，祭台旁燃點桃紅色的將臨期蠟燭。

追求喜樂

人，是渴望喜樂。聖多瑪斯.阿奎諾St. Thomas Aquinas指出，人真正的喜樂來自滿全；但滿全不可能從財富、美貌、權力或聲譽獲得，而只能從無限美善的天主內分享。

聖多瑪斯續稱：主觀來說，至尊的喜樂是在於人因達到被受造的目的，以享受滿全及滿足的境界。客觀來說，至尊的喜樂是實在擁有那能滿全人的善。天主就是我們客觀的至尊喜樂。而我們主觀的至尊喜樂是在於在光榮中擁有天主和享見天主。

天堂前奏

現實生命中，我們可享有某程度的喜樂，但不能享有完滿的喜樂；人只能在天堂上，從天主得到完滿的喜樂。在世上，我們越愛天主，就越喜樂。

聖人是世上最喜樂的人。守天主誡命 ——— 愛主愛人———是喜樂的秘抉。「喜樂」並非德行，而是愛德的果實。

一九八九年弟茂.杜能神父Fr.

Advent is the season of hope and expectation. Hope is a supernatural virtue by which we expect, with a firm confidence, because of God's fidelity to His promises, life everlasting and the means of attaining it.

Hence, the principle object of hope is eternal happiness, and the secondary object of hope is the means of attaining eternal happiness. Glory and grace are the objects of hope.

In God we trust

The mercy of God is the reason for our hope.

We have just begun the season of Advent, to prepare for the coming of Christ. During this time we use the Advent wreath, with three purple candles and one rose candle.

These candles symbolize the four weeks of Advent. They are also symbols of faith, hope, charity, and joy. In these four weeks we will explore these four spiritual topics as preparation for Christmas.

Over the last three weeks we have been looking at different approved apparitions. This time we are looking at the apparitions of Our Lady of Soufanieh in Damascus, Syria. This private revelation has been approved by both Catholic and Orthodox bishops.

On Nov. 22, 1982, Mirna, a newly wedded young lady, prayed for her sick sister-in-law, Layla. Oil exuded from Mirna's hands, and Layla was cured. On Nov. 27, oil started to exude from an icon of Our Lady at Mirna's home.