Ascension Chinese Catholic Mission, Houston, TX
Wis 1:13-15, 2:23-24
Ps 30:2, 4, 5-6, 11, 12, 13
2 Cor 8:7, 9, 1
Lk 1:57-66, 80
I’m very happy to be able to celebrate this Mass of Thanksgiving at Ascension Chinese Church. For those of you who do not know who I am. I am Fr. Reuben Chen, 陳如濱神父. I am a newly ordained priest from the Diocese of Dallas and I grew up in Dallas. My home parish is the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chinese Parish. Our parishes have shared a long history together and I remember that when I was about 14 years old, our parish was being dedicated. And when the people were filing in, I saw many Chinese Catholics that I did not know. I asked who they were. I was told that they are from the Chinese Catholic Church in Houston, our sister parish. I was so surprised to hear that I had brothers and sisters in Christ that I did know about! Since then, I have to come to know and love the parishioners of Ascension, especially these last seven years. I would have never imagined myself 14 years ago standing here before you as a priest. But God has His mysterious and wonderful ways of working. I will be serving the Diocese of Dallas in the future and will officially start my ministry next week at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Plano, a suburb north of Dallas.
There is a common thread that links all of the passages today: it is HOPE. The first reading that comes from the book of Wisdom shows God’s original intention and entrance of sin to destroy that hope:
God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being and the creatures of the world are wholesome….But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world.
The Responsorial Psalm gives an answer that the Lord deserves praise because He has rescued us. All is not lost with death and sin in the world. Jesus has come to redeem it. In the second reading, Paul’s letter to the Corinthians assures the poor and the rich of the equality of abundance in Christ. There is no cause for despair, but rather hope in Christ Jesus. Finally, in the Gospel we have two stories of Jesus healing: one of a little girl who has died and a hemorrhaging woman.
The people surrounding the little girl have all given up hope; so much so that they say not to even trouble Jesus any more. They had lost hope, except for the girl’s father. Jesus’ response? “Do not be afraid; just have faith”. The woman who was afflicted with a horrible affliction also had hope in that all that she needed was to touch the hem of Christ’s garment and that she would be healed. And it happened.
All of these readings reflect the hope that we have as a people in God to take care of us and to watch over us. When we completely turn ourselves over to Him and His will, there is nothing to be afraid of – not even death himself. But what does this all mean for us as Christians… specifically, the Catholics here at Ascension Chinese Church?
One of the fundamental problems with the Chinese Community is the lack of Hope and Joy. We are a people that are “doers”. We have to do something to make something happen. If my kids are not making good grades, it’s because they are not doing enough. If I am not making enough money, it is because I am not working hard enough. If my spouse and I fight it is because they are not doing enough.
Everything depends on you or some other person and nothing depends on God. I am not saying that this is bad, but really it is a good thing. In fact, the only things get done in the parish is because there are “doers”. The problem is that the “doing” part is misdirected or not properly ordered.
Growing up, there were some parents that were not happy with their kids spending too much time at Church and not enough time studying. I have never heard of anyone failed because they prayed too much or spent too much time at Church. Nor did I ever hear Jesus say that scoring a perfect score on your SATs will get you into heaven. I am not saying that school is not important because it is very important. However, your salvation is MORE important.
The same thing with work and jobs. We are blessed to be in this country with pretty decent jobs, good education, and prosperity. Things can always be better, but when you look at it – we are better off than most others out there. However, is all this “doing” to further your faith and bring you closer to God or is it to have a more comfortable life? Even if you live to be 100 years old, how is that compared to eternity?! As “doers” that work and work and work and work and work, what is the end? What is the final goal that you have in mind? Where is your Hope and where is your Joy?
There is a temptation to work and to do so much that you do not have to worry about needing to Hope. You work so much so that everything is safe and secure: 不怕一万只怕万一. But when you do this, then there is no room for hope. No room for God to work in your life – no need to hope in God because you are relying on yourself.
Our faith is not a club or an activity that you do on Sunday. It is not just a social gathering for us to be good friends, buddy-buddy. For some the church is only that; and if that is all you can do, I hope you can trust in God to allow Him to stretch you. Our faith, our dedication to God is something that must be in every part of our daily lives from when we get up in the morning to when we go to bed at night and even through the night.
Hope becomes a part of you when you start living your life with God. You realize that 1.) You can’t do it on your own. 2.) God can really help you in this life and beyond. When you live without hope and you fail, you will blame yourself and all those around you and turn to anger. But when you live in hope, you have faith that God will bring all things to fulfillment – that He will provide and bring you out of your lowliness. If you are true to yourself and live authentically in life, you will have tried your best but not be disappointed in failure. When you are spiritually connected to God in every part of your life, there is this hope – which is very close to the virtue of faith – that God will be there and not let you down. As you begin to grow closer to God in hope, you will experience Joy. This Joy is not like happiness that is passing and fading away, but rather something that glows brilliantly out of you. When people see you, they know that you have joy.
Our best form of evangelization in the Church is our Joy. With faith and hope, I can walk around and people will ask why I am so happy and joyful. They will desire it too. Sure, I can go around and tell them to come to Church, but they may do it out of courtesy (客氣). We can be busy “doers” but do not forget your priorities – through our hope comes the rewards of the faith. We are saved in this of Hope as our scriptures so reveal to us. Christ desires us to trust in Him so that we can have an abundant life with Him. As we offer this Holy Eucharist today, let us renew our Hope in the Lord – especially in our difficult times politically, socially, spiritually, and bodily.
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