每年夏天我也會去教會的退修活動﹐過去我一直參加加西生活營﹐前前後後去了也差不多十年。不過加西營是給青年人的活動﹐近幾年我入營已覺得自己有代溝﹐特別是結婚後更加有隔漠﹐與還在讀中學大學的小朋友沒有什麼共同話題可以分享。於是今年老婆經朋友介紹下﹐帶我參加普世博愛運動(Focolare Movement)舉辨的瑪利亞之城(Mariapolis)﹐這是個以一家大細為主的避靜。參加者是加拿大主流教友﹐不再是華人教會的小圈子﹐不過我平時也是返英文教堂﹐所以也沒有特別的不習慣。

可能是我弧陋寡聞﹐以前從沒有聽過Focolare這個團體。入營後聽過簡介資料﹐才知在天主教內﹐這個組織的影響力﹐足以和Opus Dei分庭抗儷﹐在全球百多個地方有分會﹐成員人數超過十萬。Focolare的名字在意大利文中解作火爐﹐是1943年由Chiara Lubich女仕創立。她感應很特別的聖召﹐開僻結婚生仔﹐守獨身﹐出家做神父修女以外﹐第四條事奉主的道路。獨身成員群居生活共享財產﹐很字面地過早期教會的生活。與入修院出家過修道的生活不同﹐Focolare主張成員入世有正常職業﹐以身作則用生活見證去傳教。家庭成員是組織的第二線﹐與群居獨身成員互相關懷扶持﹐最重要是家庭成員培養組織的下一代﹐讓他們從小在Focolare的價值中成長﹐將來選擇成為家庭成員或獨身群居成員﹐把組織薪火相傳延續下去。為平衡天主教以男性為主的神職體系﹐Focolare主張教會女性的一面﹐以聖母瑪莉亞為榜樣﹐宣揚以愛去普世合一﹐與其他宗教對話交流﹐並強調為主受苦的意義。教宗更頒命Focolare的主席一職﹐永遠只能由女性擔任﹐以保持組織女性化的獨質。獨身群居其實也不是新鮮事物﹐我國早已有姑婆屋的傳統。想不到Chiara四個金蘭姊妹﹐當年在意大利鄉下的姑婆屋﹐竟然可以發展為跨國的姑婆組織﹐還發明男姑婆屋給男性獨身成員居住。

在入營前老婆在網上看過些Focolare的資料﹐有些網頁說這個組織是Cult﹐利用高壓洗腦方式傳教招攬成 。群居成員要共享財產﹐也有騙財或共產主義之嫌。這個營在Trinity Western University舉行﹐大學趁學生放暑假﹐把宿舍和演講廳出租給不同團體搞活動賺外快﹐退修營在正當地方舉辨讓我們放心不少。營友有不同族裔背景﹐來自不同溫哥華的天主教會﹐也有些人從阿省﹐沙省或西雅圖專程過來﹐全部人都很友善很正常。他們大慨比一般主流天主教徒熱情﹐但不至於去到華人小教堂基督教徒的地步。營友一家大細來參加的居多﹐也有些是未結婚還未生仔的Focolare第二代。像我們白撞去參加的人很少﹐因為Mariapolis從不在教會宣傳﹐只靠朋友間的口碑一個傳一個。加拿大西岸的姑婆屋有四個姑婆﹐兩個教師一個社工一個做醫院﹐看上去不似嫁不出才要做姑婆﹐不說出來還以為是普通的中女熟女剩女。可能她們真的有做修女以外的特別聖召﹐才參加Focolare發誓獨身事奉主。

退修營的活動是很例牌﹐每天有彌撒﹐有講員講聖經金句﹐有上台見證式分享也有一般小組分享﹐報告交流其他各地Focolare的近況﹐當然還有些無聊的康樂活動。唯一有些不同的地方﹐是有幾個環節播創辨人的DVD。她看起來是個慈祥的白髮老婆婆﹐不過聽她講話又不覺得她特別有領袖魅力﹐演講內容太多為空洞的教會常用述語。說起來這類講話在天主教比較少聽到﹐但在基督教時聽到我也懂說。但我見有些營友竟然在抄筆記﹐情況有點與基督教的相似。另外可能因為是家庭營的關係﹐節目很鬆動有很多空閒時間。最有趣是最後一晚有小朋友才藝表演﹐不同年齡組別的小朋友唱歌跳舞娛樂大家。

基本上除了最後的小朋友表演外﹐每個可以坐下來的環節我都在打盹。領袖講話時睡得特別甜﹐可能是意大利原文voice over英文配音很有催眠效果之故。營內沒有上網沒有電視﹐我每天都早睡早起﹐竟然白天還可以不停打瞌睡﹐好像患上了渴睡症一樣。入營前我在不停趕公司project﹐又飛去印度又飛落美國﹐每天早晨和晚上也要開會﹐連續兩個月過著香港式的打工生活﹐實在令人吃不消。耶穌在聖經說過﹕「凡勞苦和負重擔的，你們都到我跟前來，我要使你們安息。」 這個退修營讓我可以切斷網絡﹐於下一切好好地休息。老婆也知道那些演講不是我那杯茶﹐她很體貼地沒有叫醒我強迫我聽﹐只是在我發出太大聲浪時拍我不要影響別人。我對那些膚淺的演講內容沒有興趣﹐倒好奇跨國姑婆組織的發蹟史和神學根據。幾天下來我在演講中場休息時間﹐打書釘讀完Chiara的自傳訪問。我對Focolare在理論上的認識﹐分分鐘比那些聽演講很努力抄筆記的人還多。

退修營撞正世界杯﹐幸好在大學飯堂有電視直播﹐我才不至錯失荷蘭對西班牙的冠軍戰。避修營的節目編排完全沒有考慮球迷的需要﹐星期天的彌撒與世界杯同時開場。彌撒每個星期也可以看﹐世界杯四年才一次﹐我會選擇看那個十分明顯。打到下半場彌撒散場﹐電視機前也開始越來越多人。西班牙是天主教國家﹐營友中不少人有西球牙血統﹐西班牙在加時入球﹐歡呼聲響遍整個飯堂﹐氣氛與在酒吧看不遑多讓﹐只差在沒有啤酒。

從這五天四夜的經驗來看﹐Focolare應該是正當組織﹐網上那些指控不實。看一個組織是否有邪教傾向﹐看他們如何教育小朋友最清楚。營內的小朋友看起來都是好孩子﹐年紀小的是好是壞還不清楚﹐但我和幾個年紀大點的小朋友傾談﹐他們是在Focolara長大的第二代﹐全部都能升讀到大學﹐讀醫生工程教師等等。他們不讀那些以賺錢為上的學科﹐而讀以幫助人別為目的學科。那些學科雖不能賺大錢﹐好歹那些也是專業學科﹐足夠保障生活安定衣食無憂。隨著中女剩女人口漸多﹐姑婆屋也漸為人所接受。Focolare很強調要入世傳福音﹐不要標奇立異劃聖潔高地固步自封﹐不理神學根據這些沒有答案的問題﹐他們在世俗人眼中完全是正常人﹐換一句話說邪教之說便不攻自破了。不過短期內我不想再去Mariapolis﹐因為退修營實在太沉悶。將來我有小朋友﹐我應該會帶他們來參加。一來讓小朋友多認識耶穌是好事﹐二來至少在那裏結交壞朋友的機會少些。

電台節目初稿(3 – 5 minutes)

出場人物簡介﹕
小明 – 剛從基督教轉到天主教的慕道班新丁
小強 – 小明由細玩到大的朋友﹐無特定信仰背景﹐不一定要信天主教

場景﹕ 小明與小強相約出來喝珍珠奶茶聊天

小強﹕ 聽說你最近轉了教會﹐習不習慣新的教會呀﹖
小明﹕ 慕道班OK啦﹐新的教會幾好﹐不過…
小強﹕ 不過乜野呀。
小明﹕ 不過自從我轉了教會後﹐我以前團契的朋友便沒有和我來往了。
小強﹕ 有D咁既事
小明﹕ 以前我地個個星期除了去教堂外﹐還打波睇戲食飯無所不談﹐感情好得像一家人﹐還以兄弟姊妹相稱。豈不知我退出返團契後﹐竟然連電話都沒有一個。
小強﹕ 哈~ 乜你無聽過一句說話咩﹐團契之內冇真朋友
小明﹕ 此話怎說﹖
小強﹕ 看來你誤解了團契的真正意思了。團契fellowship是指一班志同道合的人fellows走在一起﹐沒有負擔沒有承諾﹐大家要開心又有共同目標才會響埋一齊。Fellowship的大前題是以個人利益為出發點﹐合則來不合則去﹐正所謂道不同﹐就不相為謀嘛。團契中的友誼是基於返同一間教會﹐你轉了教會都已經不是那個圈子的人﹐他們和你疏遠也是很自然的事。
小明﹕ 但他們不是我的朋友嗎﹖
小強﹕ 真正的友誼是無私的關懷﹐把朋友放在第一位﹐真正的朋友關心對方真正的快樂﹐希望看著對方朝好的方向成長。你團契的那些所謂朋友﹐你話佢地關心自己所謂的靈命成長多些﹐還是關心你這個朋友多些﹖
小明﹕ 講下講下﹐好似又係喎。有時同佢地講自己唔開心野﹐換來幾句行貨到死的問候﹐都唔知佢地係真係關心我﹐定係交功課做個好教徒的角色。
小強﹕ 不過又唔好一竹篙打一船人﹐fellowship也可以發展出真正的friendship﹐任何友誼也要踏出第一步嘛。不過對團契的朋友﹐唔好期望咁高﹐費時期望高大﹐失望越大喇。
小明﹕ 咦~ 咁你同我係fellowship定friendship呀﹖
小強﹕ 我同你由細玩到大﹐睇住你大睇住你壞﹐梗係friendship喇。竟然咁好朋友﹐今餐就你請啦。
小明﹕ 嘩~ 你真係夠晒好朋友咯。

原本以為結了婚便不用去加西﹐結果還是給老婆捉了入營﹐分別只是今年我們睡夫婦房﹐不用跟其他小朋友睡碌架床。不過我倒寧可與大伙兒一起睡﹐我不怕小朋友遲睡談天擾我清夢﹐也不怕小肥仔打鼻鼾的嘈音。只是夫婦房在飯堂的地窖﹐沒有窗戶只靠一把抽氣扇通風﹐空氣很燜焗令人很不舒服。今年天氣又特別冷﹐我帶了睡袋夜半還是冷醒好幾次﹐每天起床時好像沒有睡覺一樣。早知反正也睡不好﹐倒不如去和小朋友的夜半玩耍聊天好了﹐不過不知他們受不受我這個叔叔玩。

最幾個星期剛從印度回來﹐接著又忙於新居裝修﹐在營中又睡不好。人太累連靜下來反思的精力也沒有﹐在營中我不由自主地爭取每一個睡眠機會。彌撒坐著會睡覺跪著會睡覺﹐唱歌讚美崇拜時站著也會睡覺。明供聖體有柔和的泰澤音樂﹐我更索性倒臥在地上熟睡﹐有幾次情不自禁地打鼻鼾﹐要老婆拍醒我以免嘈到別人。連加西營的戲肉神父那三個演講﹐我也完全在半昏迷渡過。今年講者陳永超神父零三年也來過。當年他才剛剛進鐸升神父不久﹐講道還很幼嫩有點不著邊際。今年雖然我在矇矓間沒有留心他講道的內容﹐不過我感覺他比六年前講道充實很多﹐可能這便是人生經驗吧。今年加西的主題是「以愛為証」﹐超神父圍繞這個主題的講道﹐我完全沒有留下位何印象﹐或許有空可以問人借錄音來重聽。

今年大會搞手新人事新作風﹐上一代的搞手已完全退下火線﹐忙生仔忙湊仔﹐今年的加西很年青化﹐節目內容亦很照顧小朋友。大幅減少悶人的靈修時間﹐把以往兩晚靜禱唸經壓縮為一晚。不會有空檔時間﹐便加插音樂崇拜﹐開大聲浪向營友疲勞轟炸﹐寧可放半小時小息讓他們自己各自各玩。小組動活很有意思﹐大伙兒一起做勞作建一個房子。大會提供十多種勞作材料﹐大家先商量好用那七種再去拿材料。特別之處是大會反行其道﹐偏偏給你沒有選擇的那些材料﹐喻意天父為我們準備的道路﹐不一定是我們想要走的道路。大家拿著那些原先被拋棄的材料﹐發揮創意精神共心協力﹐建出來的房子不一定比原本想像的遜色。勞作後是小組分享﹐大慨每個人也有類似的經歷﹐說起來有點感懷身世。

我最欣賞神父問與答的環節﹐對著十多二十歲的少年講愛德信德很虛無飄緲﹐倒不如說些與他們生活息息相關的內容。大會很花心思拍了些半搞笑半認真的短片﹐藉此探討講粗口﹐考試出貓﹐說別人是非﹐同性戀婚姻﹐同居和婚前性行為的問題。談論那些題目甚有難度﹐一方面教會有教會的道德立場﹐另一方面很容易流於說教惹人反感。超神父把分寸捉得恰到好處﹐輕鬆地好好笑回答問題之飾﹐又不失向青少年灌輸正確(教會)的道德觀念。最重要是他不會用大石砸死蟹的方法﹐一味說這是罪那是罪不許做﹐而是深入淺出地說明為什麼做那些事情不好﹐教會觀點關心的到底是什麼道德考慮。當然不會所有人也認同教會的說法(我便是其中一人)﹐但至少可以讓青少年從多一個角度思考問題。不過超神父其實也有些古惑﹐有些很難很刁鑽的問題﹐他沒有正面回答只是說說笑話輕輕帶過。最扺死是有人問超神父﹐如果有朋友要變性﹐身為天主教徒應讓怎麼做。超神父回答說﹐千萬別跟他去戀性啊﹗

星期天晚上是分享會﹐請了些嘉賓來講見證。往年在營火旁搞分享會﹐今年因為天雨關係要在室內進途。要一班小朋友坐定定聽分享是沒有可能﹐所以大會搞搞新意思。把燈關掉派螢光棒給大家﹐唱些節奏強勁旋律快的崇拜歌﹐大伙又跳又叫很開心﹐司儀又落力搞笑營做氣氛﹐唱歌和分享見證相隔﹐讓整晚也沒有冷場。一來氣氛很好大家情緒高脹二來有個嘉賓我也認識﹐十月便入修院當修女﹐三來下午講道睡足了精神﹐我沒有睡覺很留心聽分享。要去當修女那個朋友的分享很大路﹐有高薪厚職和麻煩男朋友但找不到生命意義﹐最後在耶穌中才找到愛。我認識她時她已經辭工全職當義工﹐幫助在市中心妓女﹐希望她們迷途知返。我說笑要在她入修院前﹐帶她去食好野。一來入了修院恐怕沒有美食﹐二來我想用美食引她還俗﹐看看她是否還是六根未淨﹐扺受不往美食的誘惑。另外是一個分享是個當事工的婆婆﹐談她和丈夫結婚三十多年來﹐聖經為基礎的相處之道﹐是一個活生生愛的見證。我想到我和老婆七老八十時﹐手牽手在小朋友前分享婚姻之道﹐會是多麼浪漫的畫面啊。

以下內容給給老婆censor掉﹕ 去年結婚後渡蜜月不用去加西﹐在我們婚禮中加西的朋友幫了很大忙。婚後一年也很忙﹐還未有機會出來敘舊。今次去加西可以順便還人情債﹐分派曬好的相片和多謝咭。想不到只是一年不見﹐去年還是一對出席我們婚禮的朋友﹐今年卻已經分了手。幸好多口問句才派多謝咭﹐不然他們收到咭便會很尷尬。還有我自己也擺烏龍﹐同桌吃飯時以為有新朋友﹐介紹自己還不忘加句Pat是我老婆﹐怎料那個朋友原來有出席我們的婚禮﹐怎麼我完全沒有印象。今年自己我結了婚﹐便可以向其他還未結婚的小情侶施壓﹐追問他們何時結婚。吃飯時大家很有興趣知我如何向老婆求婚﹐我也很開心和大家起說熱氣球的故事。不過可苦了被我施壓要結婚的小男友﹐讓他的小女友期望求婚要很浪漫。人老了開始有代溝﹐過了會與新朋友侃膝長談的年紀﹐亦對認識小妹妹沒有興趣。我倒是努力幫另一個沒有女朋友的老鬼﹐看看能不能扯紅線製造姻緣。不過今年的搞手全部是我的後輩﹐當年他們初次入營時我已經帶小組。小朋友可能會覺得我為老不尊﹐怎麼完全沒有長輩應有屬靈的好榜樣﹐不過沒有人比我高輩份可以說三道四﹐我倒也樂得耳根清靜。只是老婆和認識我多年的何神父偶然會哦我兩句。我總是回答說我其實很spiritual﹐很有spirit同很嘈。

English Translation: (Thanks to WCCCLC team)

At first, I didn’t expect myself to be coming to WCCCLC, now that I am married. However, it’s my wife who got me to come here. This year, instead of sleeping in the bunk beds with the other “kids”, my wife and I shared a room all by ourselves. If you ask me, though, I would actually prefer to live together with the rest of the camper; I don’t really mind the noise from the younger roommates who decide to chat overnight, nor do I mind the snoring from other people. It’s just that the room we had was situated at the basement of the dining hall – our room had no windows, only a small fan to keep the air circulated in the room. The stuffiness just made it uncomfortable for me. Moreover, it was way colder than any other years at this camp site, so despite wrapping myself in my sleeping bag, the coldness woke me up many times during the night. It seemed that I haven’t slept at all the next day. If I knew I wouldn’t get some good rest, I would rather stay up late and talk and play with the “kids” – if they don’t mind this uncle.

“There was a lot going on in my life lately – I just came back a few weeks ago from a business trip in India, and then had to stress out on the renovations of our new place. Not having a good rest in camp meant that I was constantly tired, and didn’t get the chance to truly do some self reflections. I would grab every opportunity for a quick nap: I could actually fall asleep in mass, even when I was kneeling; I could even found myself dozing off during praise and worship – while standing up. During eucharistic adoration, with the aid of some really soft music, I even slept laying on the ground! There were even times when I would snore out right, so Patricia would have to slap me awake so not to disturb the other campers. I was also half-dozing in all three Father’s Talks. This year’s speaker was Fr. Joseph Chan, who was the speaker for WCCCLC 2003. At that time he just became ordained, so I thought his talks then were a little on the inexperienced side. This year although I wasn’t paying full attention to his talks, I could feel that his talks were much more practical and fulfilling then those six years ago; maybe that’s what life experience would do to a person. All of Fr. Chan’s talks revolve around this year’s theme – “Dared to be a Witness of Love” – I couldn’t remember much from what he said, so maybe I will try asking if anyone had recorded the talks and could lend the recordings to me.

“This year’s organizers are brand new, even from a new generation. Those who helped organize the camp in the past had taken steps away – probably because they were too busy with their kids. The camp itself was geared towards younger campers, with activities that are more suitable for them. Gone were those long boring sessions of spiritual activities, and instead of having two nights of praying and meditation, they were compacted into one night. In the past, whenever there were slots of buffer time between programs, there would be praise and worship sessions, which I thought campers were just bombarded with loud music. This year, there were half-hour periods where campers could rest or just hangout with friends. In addition, the small group activities were really meaningful, one of which was the activity on Saturday morning when we had to build a house together. At first, we were presented with a list of 14 different craft supplies, and each group needed to decide on 7 that they would like to use for the house. What was really neat was that, when the groups went to claim their supplies, they were in turn given the other 7 that they had NOT chosen. The whole point of the activity was that a lot of the time God’s plans for us aren’t necessarily the plans that we have set for ourselves. At the end, everyone took the materials that they originally rejected, and with creativity and teamwork in the air, we actually built houses that I think would not be worse then if we had use the supplies that we ordered. After the activity, there were some group sharing, and I was a little bit touched that everyone had similar experiences.

“My favourite program in the camp is the Q&A session by Fr. Chan. Rather than talking about deep, philosophical issues about love and faith with the teens, why not discuss with them about issues that are practical to their lives? These issues revolved around swearing, cheating, gossiping, gay marriages, cohabitation, and pre-marital sex. Through video clips (filmed by the planning team, which were pretty hilarious), the campers got to expressed their views. I really felt that the questions asked by them were pretty difficult to answer. On one hand, people need to understand where the Church stands, and on the other hand, we didn’t want campers to feel that they were just being presented with rules after rules. However, Fr. Chan made the balance just right: not only did he present to the youths the correct views of the Church, but he did it in a funny way that made it easier to swallow, and the entire atmosphere was extremely relaxing. What I truly love in this activity was that Fr. Chan wasn’t talking down to us at all; he didn’t tell us that this is sinning and that is sinning. Instead, he taught us in detail why doing certain things may not be right, and that there are other moral issues within the bigger issues that the Church is more concerned with. It’s clear that not every camper would agree with everything Father said (me being one of them), but at least they now have another way of thinking about how to solve the problems that they may have. Although Fr. Chan was able to answer most questions, there were some that deemed too difficult, so he just made a joke out of it and let it go. One of them was this, ‘If you have a friend who decided to have surgery to change his gender, what should you do as a Catholic?’ To which he just answered, ‘Don’t follow suit!’

“There was a sharing session on Sunday night, and we invited a few guests to share their personal witness stories. Usually, we would have this program item outside around a camp fire, but this year it was raining, so we had to do it inside. I guess since it would be near impossible for the younger campers to sit for a long time just listening to somebody talk, the Core Team decided to add a new element to it, which was to embed the sharing session inside a concert gimmick. The lights were turned off, and every camper received a glo-stick. With some fast-paced songs sung by the music team, the energy level was brought through the roof. Everyone was jumping and having a ton of fun. With a combination of an MC who could stir up the atmosphere, the alternating of songs and sharing, everyone was engaged in the program thoroughly. I think this was the session that I was actually fully awoke in for a few reasons: First, the atmosphere was really good and everyone’s energy was high; Secondly, one of the girls who came in to share (who will be studying to become a nun in October) is a friend of mine; and lastly, I got plenty of rest after taking a nap during one of Father Chan’s talks. My friend who decided to become a nun shared her life story about having a high-paying job and a rather annoying boyfriend, but she wasn’t able to find the meaning of life until she had decided to follow Jesus. When I first met her, she already left her work and became a full-time volunteer, helping the prostitutes from the Downtown Eastside so that they could stop selling their bodies. I joked with her that since there would not be a lot of good food once she enters the convent, I would take her out for a feast. I also want to act as the devil and tempt her with good food, to see if she could really let go of this materialistic world (laugh). Anyway, the sharing session ended with a lady – who was married for thirty-plus years – who used the Bible as the base of her relationship with her husband which I thought was a true witness of love! How romantic it would be to imagine my wife and I, as an elderly couple holding hands, talking to youths about our marriage!

星期天剛參加了朋友小孩的領洗儀式﹐才發現原來我是第一次參觀嬰兒領洗。領洗的儀式很簡單﹐前半段神父照例讀經講道﹐我則照例打嗑睡。後半段父母抱著嬰兒上到祭台前﹐一個個像團麵粉的嬰孩﹐排著隊給神父洗禮。神父先把聖水倒在嬰兒頭上﹐再用油在額上劃十字聖號。有些嬰兒濕水覺得不舒服﹐便受驚大哭起來﹐不過父母親友倒在開心地笑。完成禮儀後自然是合照時間﹐親友前來拍照留念和逗玩嬰兒。

說起嬰兒領洗﹐我記起大學時代有些基督教朋友很反對嬰兒領洗。他們認為應該要信主才可以領洗﹐剛出生幾個月的嬰兒﹐連叫媽媽也不會﹐怎可能懂得信主呢。他們堅稱自己反對嬰兒領洗有聖經根據﹐倒不如說他們的神學理論對領洗的理解與天主教有很大的分別。領洗對於他們來說﹐只不過是信主的見證﹐一個洗淨未信前犯罪的儀式。由於他們認為先要信主認罪悔改才可以領洗﹐所以他們認為要成人才有資格領洗。不過也不是所有基督教都反對嬰兒領洗﹐聖公會﹐路德會﹐循道會則保留嬰兒領的傳統﹐反對嬰兒領的基督教主要是浸信會和福音派。

天主教對領洗有完全不同的神學理論。領洗並不只是一個儀式﹐而是一個聖事。聖事就是神在世上的工作﹐對領受聖事的人產生本質上客觀的改變。神透過領洗把聖靈給與嬰兒﹐嬰兒不需要相信甚至不需要懂得相信﹐已經可以領受聖靈。信主並不是領洗的必然條件﹐領洗是讓聖靈降臨在身上﹐讓聖靈開始祂的工作。也許基督教會的朋友抗議﹐認為聖靈臨在不信主的人身上不公平﹐他們要信了主才可以獨佔聖靈啊﹗這點就是天主教與基督教最大的分別。天主教不否認聖靈在任何人身上工作的可能﹐當然任何人包括信和不信的人。其實聖靈只能降臨在相信的人身上﹐在神學上也說不通﹐因為人不可能抗拒神恩典。總不成因為人作出是否相信的決定﹐就影響神如何安排聖靈在世上的工作吧。

在天主教中接受嬰兒領洗的人﹐懂事後還要參加道理班接受堅振禮﹐去再一次肯定自己的信仰。基督教則反過來倒行逆施﹐慕道者要先決志肯定自己的信仰﹐再參加道理班最後才領洗。基督教領洗妨忽是信仰的終結﹐領了洗可以便可大安旨意等入天堂。天主教領洗卻只是信仰的開始﹐踏出漫長成聖之路的第一步。