20210212 CHINESE NEW YEAR A TRULY CHRISTIAN FESTIVAL
12 February, 2021, Friday, Chinese New Year
Num 6:22-27
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Say to Aaron and his sons, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
24 The Lord bless you and keep you:
25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you:
26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
27 “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”
Psalms 90:1-17
1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place*
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man back to the dust,
and sayest, “Turn back, O children of men!”
4 For a thousand years in thy sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
5 Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream,
like grass which is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are consumed by thy anger;
by thy wrath we are overwhelmed.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,
our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days pass away under thy wrath,
our years come to an endf like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are threescore and ten,
or even by reason of strength fourscore;
yet their spang is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of thy anger,
and thy wrath according to the fear of thee?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on thy servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as thou hast afflicted us,
and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work be manifest to thy servants,
and thy glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish thou the work of our hands upon us,
yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
J ames 4:13-15
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain”; 14 whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that.”
Mt 6:31-34
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day.
CHINESE NEW YEAR A TRULY CHRISTIAN FESTIVAL
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [NUM 6:22-27; PS 90:1-17; JAMES 4:13-15; MT 6:31-34 ]
Chinese New Year is a Spring Festival. It is the end of a long winter and the beginning of spring. This is why the celebration of Chinese New Year often clashes with the season of Lent, which is also a spring religious festival, culminating in April where we see new life beginning. Indeed, we must not think that Chinese New Year is a pagan festival. Just as the Jews and the Christians inculturate the celebration of this season and give it a religious significance, we too must learn to bring out the Christian dimension of Chinese New Year.
Perhaps, there are some of us who might feel that Chinese New Year is paganistic simply because the symbols are unworthy of the biblical tradition. Indeed, most of the symbols are associated with worldly happiness especially wealth, posterity and longevity. These symbols could be decorations, clothing and food. Oranges are associated with gold. Red is associated with happiness and luck. Melon seeds symbolize long life. The New Year Cake symbolizes the sweetness of the year. Fish is the symbol of abundance because the Chinese Word for abundance means one has more than one needs. Peach Blossoms symbolize long life, romance and prosperity. Chinese also eat dumplings because they symbolize gold ingots and noodles for longevity.
Is the human desire for the blessings of wealth, posterity and longevity un-Christian? Of course, not. It is human to desire such blessings because God did not create us to suffering. He wants to give us the good things of life. In the bible, promise of blessings of wealth, posterity and longevity were always present. When God called Abraham, He promised him fame, land, descendants and nation, (Gn 12:2; 15:5). In the Covenant with Abraham, God said, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” (Gn 17:6-8) Indeed, until the time of Jesus, a man is considered righteous when he is blessed by God with health, prosperity and posterity. Such aspirations are natural, human and certainly not wrong unless it becomes excessive and inward-looking.
But perhaps, it is the superstitious attachment to the symbols that we feel uneasy about. In this sense, it has more to do with the attitude of the individual in their belief in the power of the symbols than simply just an expression of our desires. Certainly, most of us do not subscribe to all the symbols religiously. They are just nice thoughts and if we are blessed, we are certainly most thankful not because the power that is inherent in the use of such tokens but because God is the one that blesses us.
This is made clear in today’s scripture readings. God is the source of all our blessings. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “Say this to Aaron and his sons: ‘This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace.” In the gospel, Jesus made it clear, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” (cf Mt 6:26-30)
Nevertheless, clearly there is nothing morally or religiously wrong in the Chinese customs, traditions and the symbols. In fact, all these traditions are vehicles of the values of the gospel. Wealth is something the bible promised to those who walk the way of truth and justice. Without money we cannot survive. Posterity is also a promise made to Abraham. Health is also a blessing for long life; a sign of God’s blessings. Plenty of food and wine is a sign of God’s abundance. Forgiveness is central to the gospel especially the message of Christ. The Chinese would pray for their deceased ancestors at the beginning of the New Year. They would gather with family members on the eve of Chinese New Year for a reunion dinner. On the first day of the New Year, the young are to show respect to their elders by wishing them Happy New Year. All these traditions are certainly Christian values as well because the Lord gathered us together for a meal at every Eucharist and give us the fullness of life.
What is amiss is only when we seek prosperity and other things just for ourselves. What is erroneous is only when we become too individualistic and inward-looking. In fact, this can happen in any religious tradition or culture. Every person regardless of which religion we subscribe to always asks for material and temporal blessing. We can appreciate the Chinese’ concern about wealth because China was once a very poor country. But Chinese tradition is never individualistic. Emphasis is always on the community. Chinese meals are taken communally and we are seated in a round table so that everyone can communicate with each and all, rather than in a Western seating arrangement of a long table. The New Year’s Eve Dinner is often called a “steam boat” dinner because all are called to gather together for a family gathering. Conversely, Western cultures today have become too individualistic and concerned with the individual rather than the community. Emphasis is on my right, my freedom to do what I want, my aspirations and my needs. Often the emphasis on the individual is done at the expense of the larger community, especially in the exercise of individual freedoms, like free speech.
For this reason, besides seeking for material needs, what we must seek most of all is the life of the Kingdom. Jesus said, “Set your hearts in his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” This means to seek justice, peace and righteousness. We must seek the spiritual and moral values of the scriptures. Only when we live a righteous and charitable life, can we find peace and joy because we foster unity among all peoples. To find our happiness, we must seek happiness for all.
Indeed, in this Year of the Ox, we celebrate the diligence and self-sacrificing love of this Zodiac animal. Last year was the year of the rat. Ox came second only because he was being helpful to the rat. Legend goes like this. Long, long ago, there was no Chinese zodiac. Then, the Jade Emperor wanted to choose 12 animals to be his guards. Whoever passed through the Heavenly Gate would be given a higher ranking. So, the Twelve animals started on their way to the Heavenly Gate. Rat was the first one to set out. Along the way, he was hindered by a river. He had to stop and wait for the current to slow down. Fortunately, he saw an ox swimming across the river. He quickly jumped onto the Ox’s ear. The hardworking Ox was accommodating and simply allowed him to take a ride from him. After crossing the river, the Ox dashed towards the palace of the Jade Emperor. Then suddenly, the Rat jumped out of the Ox’s ear and ran to the feet of the Emperor. And so, he won the first place, and the Ox took the second place. He is a true Christian who sacrificed his interests for the good of others. We too must learn from the Ox to be generous and humble and be content with the second place in life. Oxen are useful for farming in an agricultural society and therefore contribute to the development of society. Like the ox, we must be diligent, persistent and honest. As we celebrate the Year of the Ox, we, too, must be industrious and be ready to help others. Of course, we must also be wise and not allow people to cheat us when doing good. Even so, so long as we have done good, it is good.
All glory must go to God alone. He must be the first place in our lives. When we are Christ-centered, we will find peace and joy wherever we are. It is in doing His will that will give us peace. St James reminds us, “You never know what will happen tomorrow; you are no more than a mist that is here for a little while and then disappears. The most you should ever say is: ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or that.'” So let us trust in His divine providence. Jesus said to His disciples: “Do not worry; do not say, ‘What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?’ It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.”
Indeed, we must live well. Success is more than worldly success. This is what the psalmist reminds us. “To your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday, come and gone, no more than a watch in the night. You sweep men away like a dream, like grass, which springs up in the morning. In the morning it springs up and flowers; by evening it withers and fades. Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart.” Let us pass on the right values of the Chinese traditions to our children so that they, too, can make sense of the gospel in their lives. Faith and culture at the end of the day are never separated. May our faith in Christ enrich our cultures even further by purifying our symbols and values.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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