Day 6 #Light #顯明 Friday December 2 ‘We will be a more luminous epiphany of the love of Christ not only when we love, but when we recognize Christ present in the loving hearts of others, whatever their beliefs or understanding of God’. 自己心中有愛時，固然能顯明基督的愛，就是看出別人充滿愛心，儼然有基督同在的時候（無論其信仰為何、對上帝認識有多少），我們依然可以彰顯基督的愛，藉以榮神益人。 Dr. Peter H. C. Ay, President of St. John’s University lights the first candle of this year’s Advent Wreath. Continue reading Advent Word, Day 6 ‘light’
Day 5 #proclaim #宣告 Thursday December 1 ‘The gospel Jesus proclaims is that in God’s economy everyone will be fed, but we have to be willing to share from the riches that God has given us. In order to do that we have to stop and recognize the goodness that God has given us in our lives’. 耶穌所宣告的福音是，在神的經綸中，每個人都能得到足夠的餵養，只是，我們必須樂意分享從神而來的財富。為了實現此理想，你我必須停下腳步，看清楚神在我們的生命中所賦予的美善。 Proclaim the Good News, today is Advent Calendar Day One ~ let the countdown begin! Christmas is coming! Continue reading Advent Word, Day 5 ‘proclaim’
Day 4 #listen #聆聽 Wednesday November 30 ‘On the cross, exposed and vulnerable, Jesus draws the whole world in a loving embrace. Everything hangs, everyone is held here. Jesus holds the people of Charlestown and Ferguson and Baltimore and all around the globe. Jesus listens to the grieving and grappling, the terrorized and troubled, the frightened and crying. Jesus listens to all the heartache, all the questions. On the cross Jesus bears the weight, the weight of the world, holding us all in his wounded hands’. 被釘在十字架上，那軟弱之身毫無遮掩的耶穌，吸引著全世界進入祂愛的懷抱。所有的人、事、物都蒙受祂的擁抱及關懷，包括居住在查爾斯敦、佛格森、巴爾的摩，還有其他各地的人，他們的悲傷、苦悶、驚恐、困擾、害怕、以及呼求，耶穌都聽見了。耶穌聽取每位傷痛者的心聲，也聆聽我們一切的問題。在十字架上，耶穌擔負世人的重擔，祂那被釘傷的雙手，還緊緊握住我們所有人。 Photo taken at 國立臺灣美術館 Taichung Art Museum Continue reading Advent Word, Day 4 ‘listen’
Day 3 #renew #更新 Tuesday November 29 ‘Christ is all in all. He is here symbolically in a stone altar. He is here sacramentally in bread and wine. He is here spiritually in hearts lifted up and returned to us renewed, transformed, consecrated’. 基督無所不在。祂在具有象徵意義的聖壇這裡，祂在聖餐禮所用的餅、酒這裡，祂在每一個屬靈的人心裡—-這些人的心，都因祂而提升、更新、轉化，分別為聖。 Advent Sunday 2016 at Advent Church, St. John’s University, Taiwan! Continue reading Advent Word, Day 3 ‘renew’
Day 2 #love #愛 Monday November 28 ‘Falling in love is one of the most profoundly spiritual experiences a person can have. By falling in love we discover our capacity for selflessness. We experience what it means to entrust ourselves, our souls and bodies, to another. When we fall in love as God does, we too will ultimately “stretch out [our] arms of love on the hard wood of the cross,” just as Jesus did’. 「戀愛」（墜入情網）可能是一個人最深刻的心靈體會。透過戀愛，我們發現自己擁有一種無私、忘我的精神：在身、心各方面，都把自己交託給對方。當我們能像「神愛世人」那樣，墜入「愛」中，我們就能效法耶穌，「在無情的十字架上，張開愛的雙手」。 Photo taken at the Juming Museum a few weeks ago…. Continue reading Advent Word, Day 2 ‘love’
Today is Advent Sunday! The first day of Advent Word 2016, a project supported by the Anglican Communion. Day 1: ‘shine’ 光輝 Sunday November 27 ‘Rather than experiencing the sorrows of our world as a source of desolation, hear the news as a clarion call, as motivation and clarification for what we are to be about as followers of Jesus Christ: to bear the beams of God’s love and light and life, especially to those who wouldn’t otherwise know it’. 與其把世界的悲傷視為荒涼之源，不如聽取福音信息。聽那到感人的號召，受其激勵、淨化，而成為耶穌基督的真信徒：披戴上帝的愛、光明、生命，並將這美好光輝傳揚四方，尤其傳給那些還在幽暗中「茫然不知所之」的人。 Meet Little Shine, the beloved grandson of Jerry and Jean, devoted church members of St. James’ Church, Taichung, where Jerry is … Continue reading Advent Word, Day 1 ‘shine’
Day 26: #receive #領受 Thursday December 24, Christmas Eve ‘It doesn’t matter that our lives, or our families or world are not perfect. What matters is that we make a space, no matter how small, for God in our hearts. When we do that, God will do the rest, and Christ will once more be born in the Bethlehem of our lives and the mangers of our hearts’. 我們的生命、家庭、或世界不完美，並不打緊；重要的是，要在心中開啟一個空間，讓神進駐。我們這麼做，上帝就會成全，而基督也會再次降臨，來到生命中的伯利恆，降生於你我心裡的馬槽中。 Today, the photo and the Advent Word meditation above match perfectly! This was taken last night as we went with our students from the St. John’s University Student Fellowship around the dormitories … Continue reading Advent Word, Day 26 ‘receive’
Day 25: #reflect #反映 Wednesday December 23 ‘Mary has much to teach us. Mary’s experience gives us the message that all is sacred, all creation is redeemed, all is a reflection of the glory of God’. 馬利亞值得我們多多學習。她的經歷，提供我們饒富意義的信息，那就是：一切都屬聖潔，所有受造者都已被［創造者］贖回；所有一切，都是上帝榮耀的反映。 Advent Church reflected in the windows of the new Advent Church Center this morning! Continue reading Advent Word, Day 25 ‘reflect’
Day 24: #pray #祈禱 Tuesday December 23 ‘Anyone who prays struggles with self-censorship. One of the best pieces of spiritual advice I ever received was to pray for anything that I desired, even if that desire seemed sinful – to begin integrating prayer with life as we actually experience it, rather than as we might wish it to be’. 祈禱的人自會努力自我檢視。我所領受的最佳屬靈建言之一，乃是為「心之所欲」而祈禱，哪怕那「心之所欲」看似不應該—唯願祈禱與生活相結合，一如人生最真實的體驗，而不是心中異想天開的奢望！ Busy busy busy today at SJU Chaplaincy 聖約翰科技大學校牧室! 900 Christmas cookies in 6 different flavours, 2 each for 360 SJU faculty & staff, 150 for Advent Church, all wrapped in ribbon with these Christmas greetings: ‘Glory to God in the highest … Continue reading Advent Word, Day 24 ‘pray’
Catherine Lee 