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Father Peter Zhai, director, archdiocesan Chinese Ministry, is seen with retired Bishop Ignatius Wang at the outdoor Chinese New Year Mass Feb. 20, 2021, at St. Anne of the Sunset Church, San Francisco. Bishop Wang was ordained in China in 1959 and has made the Chinese New Year Mass a regular spot on his liturgical calendar. (Photo by Dennis Callahan/Catholic San Francisco)
February 22, 2021
Tom Burke
Chinese New Year was celebrated Feb. 20, 2021, with a noon Mass in the parking lot of St. Anne of the Sunset Parish in San Francisco.
Divine Word Father Peter Zhai, archdiocesan director of Chinese Ministry, was principal celebrant and homilist. Father Daniel Nascimento, pastor of St. Anne and Father Dominic Savio Lee, chaplain to the Chinese Ministry, concelebrated. Deacon Simon Tsui assisted. Retired Bishop Ignatius Wang, who was born and ordained in China, was present in the sanctuary.
The Mass, prayed in Mandarin and Cantonese, had an in-person assembly of about 100 people all wearing masks and socially distanced over much of the parking lot. The liturgy was also livestreamed. Chinese New Year’s Day was Feb 12, 2021, heralding the Year of the Ox. Among its traditions, the new year also has lucky colors, this year white, yellow, and green and lucky numbers, this year 1 and 4.
Father Zhai, who gave his homily in Chinese to commemorate the occasion and for benefit of an assembly who speak Chinese, summarized the exhortation in English for Catholic San Francisco: “Celebrating Chinese New Year is like celebrating the feast of Passover instituted by God through Moses in the book of Exodus, which, by recalling God’s saving grace, ensures the Israelites God’s continuous presence in their lives and ‘pass over’ the immanent threats. Our faith in Jesus is a faith in the paschal mysteries, that is to ‘pass over’ from one side to the other. It has been a long year since the pandemic started and the world family is longing for a deliverance from this catastrophe.
“At the beginning of the New Year,” Father Zhai continued. “We are gathered to remember and celebrate God’s goodness toward us, in faith and prayers offered in this New Year Eucharist, we ‘pass over’ from the darkness of the pandemic to the other side of faith, hope, joy and peace, because Jesus, the Paschal Lamb on the cross has destroyed enemies of sin and death and brought us eternal life. Jesus is the light leading us to ‘pass over’ the long tunnel of the pandemic into a bright future of the new year, 2021. Let us ask God to provide us endurance as we pray and anticipate the day when we will gather again in the house of God to praise and worship him.”
A huge part of the celebration is remembering the Chinese heritage and an Ancestors’ Shrine is prepared onsite for people to venerate. A prayer service took place at the shrine following the Mass. “Many volunteers from different Chinese communities help with the celebration,” Father Zhai said.
“Chinese New Year is always celebrated with gratitude and prayers,” Father Zhai told Catholic San Francisco. “Limited on its scales during the pandemic, nevertheless, the celebration offers an opportunity for the Chinese faithful to congregate to give thanks and praise to our loving God and offer our prayers for our families and the family of the world. We prayed for the universal church and church in China and our Pope Francis and our local bishops.”
Families enjoy reunion dinners to mark the new year and a large element of the archdiocesan celebration has been a banquet bringing several hundred families to the table. The banquet, beyond its place in the tradition of the occasion, also served as a fundraiser to help support the ministry office’s good works. It has been cancelled this year due to the pandemic. “We are having an annual appeal for Chinese Ministry since we cannot hold the banquet this year,” Father Zhai said.
To assist in the fundraiser or get information about Chinese Ministry, visit www.facebook.com/ccinsf; email zhaip@sfarch.org; call (415) 614-5575.