20250129 RENEWING RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOD AND WITH OTHERS
29 January 2025, Wednesday, Lunar 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.”
Ps 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.
Col 3:12-17
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, 13 forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Matthew 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.
RENEWING RELATIONSHIPS WITH GOD AND WITH OTHERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [NUM 6:22-27; PS 90:1-17; COL 3:12-17; MATTHEW 6:31-34 ]
We are gathered here to celebrate Lunar New Year, a Spring festival celebrated not just by the Chinese but also by the Vietnamese and Koreans. Spring is the beginning of new life. This is why Lent and Easter always fall during the season of spring, about the same time when we celebrate Lunar New Year. However, this festival in Singapore has gone through much evolution that many have lost the purpose of the New Year Celebration, mainly because the younger generation is not brought up in the culture of our forefathers. What gave excitement for the New Year is also not as enticing for us today as it was for our forefathers, where there was abundant food, new clothes, and competition to see whose fire crackers burnt longer. For many Chinese, it is now simply a holiday which could be used for travelling or a staycation in one of the hotels so that we can avoid entertaining visitors coming to our house. But this is contrary to the spirit of the Lunar New Year celebration. It is fundamentally about relationships – renewing relationships, strengthening relationships and building new relationships.
Consequently, we need to rediscover the meaning of this celebration. In the first place, celebrating the New Year is an occasion for us to begin anew the way we want to live our life. It means letting go of the past, forgiving those who have offended us and forgiving ourselves for the mistakes we have made. St Paul in the second reading tells us, “bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.” Indeed, the first thing we do when we celebrate the New Year is to let the old year pass and give everyone a chance to begin everything anew, especially when it has to do with repairing relationships. Forgiveness is central to the celebration of the New Year. Without forgiveness, there is no way for us to have a fresh start for the New Year. The old year will continue to haunt us and prevent us from receiving the blessings of the New Year. When we do not forgive, we are hanging on to the past, and most of all, a negative past. What we should do is to let go, forgive and begin anew simply because we are human beings, imperfect in love, insecure and self-preservative.
Fortunately, I believe that whilst many Chinese customs have been abandoned by the modern generation of Chinese, this one tradition of having a reunion dinner is still largely kept by most families. Indeed, this is one of the most important highlights of the Lunar New Year Celebration. By coming together as a family for dinner, it is an occasion for the family to renew their relationships with each other. By coming together, it also means that we want to forgive whoever is going to celebrate the dinner with us. In the olden days, the meaning of reunion dinner was much richer because everyone in the house would be involved in the preparation of the food for that evening, which also brought them together. Today, because most adults are working, they do not have time to prepare the meal and so most dine out at restaurants. Still, the spirit of reunion is there – of wanting to share a common meal. This is what St Paul is asking us all to do, “And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.”
Another important aspect of the Lunar New Year celebration is the visitation, especially for the younger people to pay respects to their elders. Unfortunately, this tradition of visiting our loved ones and friends is gradually dying out because people want to be alone to rest. They do not like to welcome visitors because it is too tiring to entertain them. Yet, it is in this yearly visitation that we show our hospitality and love for those who come to visit us. We are called to go beyond ourselves to embrace others. It is a time to renew old ties and friendships. It is a time to strengthen our bonds with each other. As St Paul said, “Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” It is always a joy to know how each person is doing and how they have overcome trials in their lives. Indeed, renewing friendship and ties is a very important aspect of the New Year celebration.
What is also significant is that the food that we consume and things that are displayed and numbers that are used, are all symbolic of our hope for the New Year. If we have hot-pot, it is symbolic of the family gathering round the hot-pot sharing life and love together. And all the food, whether it is fish or Yu Sheng, are symbolic of success, prosperity and blessings. Indeed, in Chinese customs everything is given a symbol, such as oranges and abalone as symbols of gold and wealth, leek for us to have plenty of money, melon seeds as a symbol of fertility and progeny. We give ang-pows for good luck and the amount must be an even number, and better still, in eights, because it means fortune. In other words, it is our common wish that we have plenty for our sustenance, that we will be successful and prosperous in our work and business, and that our family will grow in strength and unity. These are basic aspirations of every human person and family.
Of course, for us Christians, we too can seek for all these things as well. But the gospel reminds us that we should trust in 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, what is more important for Jesus is for us to “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.” Seeking His righteousness means that we strive with His grace to live a righteous life, with regard to our relationships with our neighbours and with God. If we seek to live according to the gospel and the teaching of our Lord, we will be blessed with peace and joy. Trusting in divine providence does not mean that we do nothing but it means that we do our best according to the gifts we have been given and the opportunities offered to us. God will help us to grow and be happy in our life.
This year we celebrate the year of the snake. This zodiac sign reminds us often of the Evil One because the bible depicts the devil as a serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to fall from grace. The serpent acts swiftly and is also cunning in protecting itself and in attacking its enemies. The serpent is our enemy. But we can also learn from the snake as well because the bible also used the serpent as a symbol of repentance, healing and wisdom. It is significant that the snake is a medical sign that represents the medical profession and is often depicted as a staff with a snake or snakes coiled around it. (cf Num 21:4-9) This is why in the Book of Numbers, God told Moses to tell the people who were bitten by the serpents to look at the Bronze serpent lifted up on a pole and they will be healed. Jesus also taught His disciples to be as gentle as a dove but as wise as a serpent. (cf Mt 10:16) Consequently, we are called to learn the good qualities of a serpent, in being swift, and wise in protecting ourselves.
Finally, we are called to look up to Jesus who hung on the cross like the people who looked at the bronze serpent to find healing and mercy. We learn from Jesus to pray and forgive our enemies. The Lord told Moses, “This is how you are to bless the sons of Israel. 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.” So too, we must keep our eyes on the Lord so that we will always walk in the ways of truth and love. Seeing the face of God in Jesus will give us the strength to continue loving difficult people in our life. Seeing His face will give us the grace to persevere because we know that He is with us in our life journey. Indeed, let us pray with the psalmist, “Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart. Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever? Show pity on your servants. In the morning, fill us with your love; we shall exult and rejoice all our days. Show forth your work to your servants; let your glory shine on their children.”
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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