住在基督内

如果我问:你们现在住在哪里，你们可能会说，神父我们住在苏卡特（Sucat）、Bicuntan（皮古堂）、Manila（马尼拉）。你们的回答都没有错，这也表示你们住在不同的地方。
不过，今天的福音告诉我们，我们住在哪里？应住在哪里？住在哪里呢？那就是“住在基督内”。这里我们共同的住处。“住在我内”（μεινατε　εν　εμοι）是本日福音关键的词汇，出现八次，这说明这很重要。福音不断地强调我们要住在基督内，让基督住在我们内。那么，这是什么意思呢？简单来讲，就是与他亲密结合，勤领圣体，寻求他的旨意。“恶其所恶，好其所好”。
那么，如何“住在基督内”呢？非常巧合，我们可以在读经二中找到答案。读经二告诉我们住在基督内的方法。圣若望说：那遵守他命令的，就住在他内，天主也住在人内，即天主的诫命，基督新的诫命——爱的诫命。因此，住在基督内的方法就是遵守天主的诫命。
为什么作者要我们住在基督内呢？1、因为，没有基督我们一无所有，一无所是，一无所能。Christian without Christ is nothing。结果如何呢？干枯了，因为没有基督的生命，因此被投入火中， 2、圣史给我们指出，结果实（Bearing much fruit），爱德的果实。结果实是本日福音另一关键的词汇，一共出现六次。这也可以说是圣史强调住在基督内的原因。
让我们扪心自问：我住在基督内吗？我遵守天主的诫命，爱的诫命？我在生活中结爱德的果实了吗？


Living in Me

If I ask where you are living now，some of you might say I am living in Sucat, Father，other may say I am living in Bicutan，still others Manila.
However, today’s Gospel tells us where you should live, where you live, where is it? Living in Christ, that is, we should live in Christ; that is where we live. “Live, abide or remain in me” is a key phrase in today’s Gospel. It occurs eight times in all. It means it is very important for the evangelist to live in Christ, or let Christ live in him/us. What does it mean? It means to say that we have to seek God’s will and receive the Holy Communion frequently, and love what God, Jesus loves, and hate what Jesus hates etc.
How to live in Christ then? It is so coincident that we can find the answer in the second reading. It tells us the means to live in Christ. St. John says: “All who keep his commandments abide in him, and he in them, and by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.” That is, to keep God’s commandments and Jesus’ new Commandment; this is the way to live in Jesus Christ.
Lastly, why live in Jesus Christ? Once again, the Gospel shows us the answer:
1. Because without Christ, we are nothing, we can do nothing. That is why people tend to say that Christian without Christ is nothing (Christ-ian I am nothing). Far worse is that it will be burnt if one does not live in him. “If a man does not abide in me....fire and burned.”
2. Bear much fruit. This is another principal phrase, which occurs six times in this Gospel. Jesus says unless you live in me, you can bear much fruit; otherwise you can not.
Let us reflect on our own lives by asking these simple yet meaningful questions: Where am I living now? Do I live in Jesus? Do I keep God’s commandments? Do I bear fruit of charity in my life?