Our parish continues to celebrate the Lunar New Year today. All the masses in the morning began with a lion-dance leading the procession into the church. This year, there were 2 lions, one adult plus a cub. Their performance was very pleasing. The drum and gong were deafening. The atmosphere was very cheerful.
The gospel reading today was taken from the Beatitudes. Fr. Patrick Sun focused on just one of them.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
μακάριοι οἱ πεινῶντες καὶ διψῶντες τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ὅτι αὐτοὶ χορτασθήσονται. (Matthew 5:6)
Of course he did not indulge on the Greek. He took a different course. He sampled a few historical and current figures who were born in the Year of the Ox to illustrate how they fought for righteousness.
The first historical figure he cited was Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). He was best known for his work, the Divine Comedy. Dante was inevitably involved in the politics of Florence at that time. Fr. Patrick said that Dante fought hard for a greater democracy in the Italian feudal system. Though he failed and was exiled, he left behind a great legacy in the Divine Comedy, a theological as well as literature treasure. Dante insisted on using Italian instead of Latin.
The next figure is Barack Obama, born on August 4, 1961. We don't need much recommendation about him. His recent criticism of the CEO's in the Wall Street is enough to demonstrate his sense of righteousness. It was shameful of these people to pocket huge sum of bonus while other people are still suffering from the financial crisis. Yet, Fr. Patrick has reservation on some of the policies of Obama. It is against the Church moral teaching that he subsidizes abortion. He prayed that in time, Obama may change his course.
The last figure was Charlie Chaplin (1889-1977). He was a famous comedian. Yet, his comedies were actually criticisms of the exploitation of workers and of tyranny. Fr. Patrick described Charlie as a freedom fighter for the welfare of the workers. As far as social justice is concerned, Charlie did a great job in his station as a comedian. We too should cooperate with God to realize righteousness in our particular situations. We too shall be satisfied.
Dear Lord, when disasters strike, the poor and the needy will suffer most. We pray that not only shall we be generous in lending a helping hand, but we shall also stand firm in making righteousness prevail. Amen.
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