James 4 : 13-15
Listen now, you who speak like this, “Today or tomorrow we will go off to this city and spend a year there; we will do business and make money.” You have no idea what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? No more than a mist which appears for a moment and then disappears.
Instead of this, you should say, “God willing, we will live and do this or that.”
Psalm 90 : 1-17
Lord, You have been our refuge through all generations. Before the mountains were formed, before You made the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity – You are God.
You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night. You sow them in their time, at dawn they peep out. In the morning they blossom, but the flower fades and withers in the evening.
Your fury consumes us like fire, and we are helpless before Your anger. Our evils lie before You, who scrutinize our hidden sins. Our days pass away in Your wrath; our years are gone in no time. Seventy years to our life or eighty if we are strong, yet most of them are sorrow and trouble; speeding by, they sweep us along.
Who knows the extent of Your anger? Who has seen the end of Your wrath? So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.
Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. Make joy endure as the misery did, and the years in which we were afflicted. Let Your work be seen by Your servants and Your glorious power by their children. May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us; may He prosper the work of our hands.
With regards to today, Sunday, 10 February 2013, which is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, in some areas where Chinese New Year is celebrated by Chinese people around the world, special Mass might be adopted instead, namely the Chinese New Year Day Mass with a different set of readings from the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time.
The vestments used are also red in colour, instead of the usual green (for Ordinary Time). Even though Sundays, like Sunday of the Ordinary Time should take precedence over other celebrations, even Feasts of Saints, it seems that although Chinese New Year is a cultural event and non-Christian in origin, but it is important enough for all the Chinese people, including Chinese Christians (Catholics) that in areas where Chinese New Year is celebrated, special dispensation for Chinese New Year Mass is allowed.
Note : Red is a very auspicious and preferred colour to the Chinese, and this is why, Chinese New Year, being the most important event in the Chinese calendar year, has red all over the place, and the red vestments used in the Mass represents this symbolism of Chinese New Year. It is also a colour of joy and love in the Catholic Church, also used mainly to represent martyrs, and God’s own Sacrifice out of His love for us on Good Friday. In addition, oranges are often given out after the Mass as a symbol of blessings for the new year, with the oranges being blessed by holy water prior to distribution. This custom is special, and only occurs in Chinese New Year Mass.
Numbers 6 : 22-27
Then YHVH spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons and say to them : This is how you shall bless the people of Israel; you shall say :
‘May YHVH bless you and keep you! May YHVH let His face shine on you and be gracious to you! May YHVH look kindly on you, and give you His peace!’
In that way shall they put my Name on the people of Israel and I will bless them.”
Luke 5 : 1-11
One day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around Him listening to the word of God, He caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There He sat and continued to teach to the crowd.
When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if You say so, I will lower the nets.”
This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both boats almost to the point of sinking.
Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons.
Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed Him, leaving everything.
1 Corinthians 15 : 1-11
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.
In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve.
Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest. Then He appeared to James and after that to all the apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me. For I am the last of the apostles, and I do not even deserve to be called an apostle. because I persecuted the Church of God.
Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace towards me has not been without fruit. Far from it, I have toiled more than all of them, although not I, rather the grace of God in me.
Now, whether it was I or they, this we preach and this you have believed.
(Alternative reading – shorter version, 1 Corinthians 3-8, 11)
In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve.
Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest. Then He appeared to James and after that to all the apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.
Now, whether it was I or they, this we preach and this you have believed.
Happy Chinese and Lunar New Year of the Year of our Lord 2013 to all those who celebrate it.
May God bless this upcoming year with abundant blessings and graces. God bless us all. Amen!
Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bc-3, 4-5, 7c-8
I thank You, o Lord, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.
For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.
O Lord, all kings on earth will give You praise, when they have heard Your words. They will celebrate the ways of the Lord, “Great is the glory of the Lord!”
With Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.
This article was excellently written, especially when trying to harmonise and find the common ground between the Chinese culture and the Christian faith, which although they have their fundamental differences, there are similarities that we should not ignore.
It is fitting indeed that Chinese New Year celebration this year falls on Sunday, 10 February 2013, which is also the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time, whose readings have parallels with the core of the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Please spend some time to read this article, and especially for Chinese Christians out there, to make the Chinese New Year celebrations we have, into a truly Christian celebration. Not just of partying and feasting, but also to show and spread love and joy, and sharing them with one another, giving thanks to Christ who made all things possible.
Pope Benedict XVI will canonise the blessed Martyrs of Otranto, 813 of them in total, whose skulls can still be seen in the Cathedral of Otranto behind the main altar. These martyrs lost their lives defending their faith during the Ottoman invasion and raid on southern Italy in 1480, 27 years after the fall of Constantinople.
These 813 brave martyrs chose death rather than turning their back on the Lord, and were massacred by the Ottomans by beheading on the hill after refusing conversion to Islam.
Mother Laura and Mother Lupita are Latin American saints-to-be, with Mother Laura being the very first Colombian saint, and Mother Lupita as the second Mexican saint. Mother Laura and Mother Lupita were noted for founding religious congregations, namely Missionaries of St. Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena, and Handmaids of Saint Margaret Mary and of the Poor respectively.
(Pope Benedict XVI has canonised 45 Saints to date, and with these new 815 Saints, in October 2013, Pope Benedict XVI will have canonised 860 new Saints of the Church. His predecessor, Pope John Paul II canonised 483 Saints during his Pontificate.)
Let us ask the intercession of these holy peoples, that as they are being recognised finally as saints, due to their merits in life, in defending the Faith, all of us too, can follow in their footsteps, in nurturing our faith and love of God. Amen.
(Update : Since Pope Benedict XVI will retire effective at the end of February 2013, we are waiting for the election and confirmation of the next Bishop of Rome to preside over this canonisation ceremony)
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 