Indonesian Catholics were among those communities in the Diocese to celebrate the Lunar New Year with a special Mass on Feb. 6.
Members of the Indonesian Catholic community gathered at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Loma Linda, with some wearing traditional attire. Other Asian Pacific communities in the Diocese also celebrated the Lunar New Year that same day, including the Chinese Catholic community at Our Lady of Lourdes, Montclair, the Korean Catholic community at St. Andrew Kim Church in Riverside and the Vietnamese Catholic community at Our Lady of Hope in San Bernardino.
While the Indonesian community may be smaller in numbers than some of the other ethnic communities in the Diocese, it is no less faithful and thriving.
“We are a small local community, but we are a committed member of the Diocese of San Bernardino. We are a vibrant, joyful and welcoming Catholic community,” said Anne Cipta, leader for the Indonesian Catholic Community in the Diocese of San Bernardino (ICCDSB)’s spiritual/worship ministry and parishioner at The Holy Name of Jesus, Redlands.
Cipta said that most of the Indonesian Catholics live in cities such as Loma Linda, Redlands, Highland and Yucaipa. The community is “homed” at St. Joseph the Worker, Loma Linda, where there is an Indonesian Mass every other Sunday. The chaplain for the ICCDSB is Father Adrianus Budhi, who is also a chaplain at Riverside Community Hospital.
Aside from the bimonthly Masses, the Indonesian community comes together to celebrate other feast days and holidays, such as Easter, Christmas, Indonesian Independence Day and Fr. Budhi’s priesthood anniversary, and, of course, the Lunar New Year.
“Lunar New Year is an important traditional celebration that our community celebrates, and since the Indonesian Mass is the forum that our community uses to meet and gather regularly, it was a perfect occasion to celebrate at Mass,” said Cipta.
At the Lunar New Year Mass, the cultural celebrations included the blessing and distribution of oranges and the exchange of “angpao,” red envelopes containing money. Oranges symbolize hope, happiness and good fortune and angpao symbolizes love, prosperity and wisdom, Cipta said.
The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Alberto Rojas, and was also attended by Vicar General, Monsignor Gerard Lopez. S.T.L., and Sister Maria Jennifer Nguyen, L.H.C., Director of the Office of Asian Pacific Ministry.