Compared with other years, this year the Lunar New Year celebrations can actually go on for 15 days for Catholics, as the season of Lent is starting later, in fact, in two weeks’ time.
Even Valentine’s Day is outside of the season of Lent. If we can remember, last year’s Valentine’s Day was smack right on Ash Wednesday. It’s kind of funny to think of trying to have a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner with bread and water.
And talking about Valentine’s Day, and the other days of the year, there is this reflection about days:
If you marry the right person, every day is Valentine’s Day.
Marry the wrong person, every day is Good Friday.
Marry a lazy person, every day is Labour Day.
Marry a rich person, every day is New Year’s Day.
Marry an immature person, every day is Children’s Day.
Marry a cheater or liar, every day is April Fool’s Day.
And if you don’t get married, every day is Independence Day.
It is understandable that we wish and desire that every day will be a good and happy day. But we also know that it’s not going to be like that.
And we know by now that there is no rainbow without the rain, and there is no gain without the pain.
So as much as we greet each other with those Lunar New Year greetings and well-wishes such as “xin nian kuai le”, and “gong xi fa cai”, and as much as we really mean it, we also brace ourselves for difficult and tough times.
But with the eyes of faith, we will see opportunity in adversity and creativity in difficulty.
So when we read about what Jesus is saying in the gospel, we need to read it with the eyes of faith, and it is with the eyes of faith that we can see the truth of what Jesus is saying.
In short, Jesus is saying blessed are those who are poor, hungry, weeping and hated. At the same time, Jesus also said that woe will come to those who are rich, full, laughing and praised.
A cursory reading of the gospel text may lead us to start wondering about a few things. Is Jesus propagating poverty and a masochistic life-style? Is He having something against riches and wealth?
But with the eyes of faith, we can see that Jesus is teaching a truth of life here. He is not just challenging the ways and values of the world. He is also showing how God blesses His people.
And God’s blessings come down on those who are poor, hungry, weeping and who are hated. God is there for them and will bless them because God knows that they have no one to turn to and nothing else to rely on.
Whereas for those who are rich, full, laughing and praised, they are so wealthy, there is no more hunger in them. Everything seems easy and smooth and they have the high ratings.
So will they ever need God? Maybe, but God is just one of the options. But that option will be the direction when there is desperation.
So as we think about it, if wealth equals happiness then the rich should be playing on the streets, but only the poor kids do that.
If power ensures security, then the high-ranking officials should walk around unguarded. But it is the simple and little people who sleep soundly.
And if beauty and fame bring about ideal relationships, then celebrities should have the best marriages and families.
So what Jesus said in the gospel today makes us look at the adversities and difficulties of life and look at them with the eyes of faith.
And we want to believe that it is in the adversities and difficulties that God is going to rain down His blessings. Because it is in our adversities and difficulties that we become the poor, the hungry, the weeping and the hated. It is the very people that Jesus said that God will bless and bless abundantly.
And we see these people in the Bible. God put a baby in the arms of the 99 year-old Sarah, He parted the Red Sea for Moses, He closed the jaws of the lions for Daniel, He opened the prison for Peter.
They were in some kind of adversity and difficulty. They had no one else to turn to but to God. And God blessed them abundantly.
And we also know of people who faced adversity but saw opportunity, people who faced difficulty but were blessed with creativity.
So as much as we wish to be rich, full, laughing and praised, let us not be obsessed by it and fret that we don’t have it.
And when we face adversity and difficulty, let us not be in distress about it. Let us rejoice actually. Because it is then that God is blessing us abundantly.
May we have the eyes of faith to see it and know that we need only God and God alone.