Numbers 6:22-27/ James 4:13-15/ Matthew 6:31-34
For the Chinese, the first day of the Lunar New Year is an important day.
Because if we can celebrate this day joyfully, then it may mean that we will also celebrate the rest of the days of the year joyfully.
And on this day, we come to Church for Mass because we want to give thanks to God and also to ask for His blessings. (And also to receive blessed oranges!)
Yes, today is a day of celebration and blessings as we greet and wish each other “Happy New Year”.
But actually, the celebrations already began last evening with the reunion dinner.
It’s the dinner of all dinners. Not only will there be plenty of sumptuous food.
But it is also food that has a meaning in the Chinese culture.
For eg, there will be “abalone” ($40 a can) but it has the symbolic meaning of fullness and plenty.
And then there is that black sea moss, which has the meaning of prosperity and wealth (and hopefully it can make the hair black again and even grow back again).
These are a couple of the symbolic foods that will appear at the reunion dinner table.
Of course the purpose is to raise our hopes for the new year ahead and to keep us feeling optimistic.
But as we know it, life is unpredictable, and when setbacks and disappointments come our way, we can’t help feeling pessimistic about life.
But of course, we can choose to be optimistic or be pessimistic. To be whichever is our choice.
Since it is the year of the horse, let me tell you a horse joke.
There is a pair of twins, similar in looks, but totally opposite in character.
One is a pessimist who is always complaining, whereas the other is an optimist.
Their father hoped to change the pessimistic twin to be like his optimistic brother.
Yet, at the same time, the father also wanted to test the optimism of the other twin.
So, on their birthday, the father filled the room of the pessimistic twin with all kinds of toys.
In the room of the optimistic twin, he filled it with horse manure.
When the twins came back from school, the father waited for them to go into their rooms and then see their reaction.
He entered the room of the pessimistic boy and found him crying.
When he asked him why, he replied: Oh, all these toys, they need so many batteries, and I have to change the batteries when they become flat. And then other boys will come to borrow my toys and even steal them. Oh, so many toys, so stressful.
The father sighed. He then went to the room of the optimistic twin and found him laughing gleefully.
When that twin saw the father, he said: Come on Dad, come on, bring it here. With so much horse manure, there must be a pony hiding somewhere.
Well, as we begin the Lunar New Year, we want to be optimistic that we will have the strength and the power of the horse.
But if we get the manure coming our way, then we have to rise from being just optimistic to have hope.
Hope goes beyond optimism. Hope is the anchor that we throw into the future and lets us pull the rope to step into the future (Pope Francis).
If hope is the anchor, then faith is the rope that is tied to it.
With faith and hope, let us celebrate this first day of the Lunar New Year, and may the Lord grant us the blessings of His Love.