Michigan parish celebrates Chinese New Year with Mass in Mandarin

On Feb. 3, 2025, at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Father John Yongli Chen will celebrate an evening Mass in Mandarin, his native language, in recognition of the Chinese New Year. Chen is pastor of St. Ann Parish in Ortonville, Michigan. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Fr. John Yongli Chen

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jan 19, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

This year, Jan. 29 marks the Lunar New Year, a 15-day annual celebration in China and Asian communities that begins with the new moon and falls somewhere between Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 on Western calendars. Many Chinese Catholics celebrate by attending Mass to thank God for blessings received and a parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is preparing to do just that.

On Feb. 3 at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Father John Yongli Chen will celebrate an evening Mass in Mandarin, his native language, to welcome in the Chinese New Year. A dinner and live traditional Chinese music will follow at the parish, which is in the Diocese of Lansing.

Chen is pastor of St. Ann Parish in Ortonville, Michigan, and was invited by Father William Ashbaugh, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle, to celebrate the New Year Mass with the Chinese community there.

The symbols of the Lunar New Year, including the animals of the Chinese zodiac, are incorporated into Masses. Dance, gifts, and prayers for the dead also characterize the celebration.

Chen was ordained in China in 2011 and became pastor of St. Ann in 2023. He began his seminary studies in Xinjiang and completed them at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. He holds a doctorate in theology from St. Paul University in Ottawa, Canada, and taught theology and philosophy at the National Seminary in China.

In an interview with CNA, Chen said life for Catholics and other Christians in China can be difficult. Describing the process known as sinicization, or government control of Church functions, he said this means “everything is under the guidance of communist ideology. My family must apply for a permit to go to church. Officials register them and decide whether to allow them permission.”

Chen recalled that in China, he and other students and faculty were forced to participate in a Mass celebrated by an illicitly ordained bishop of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which is controlled by China’s communist government but not recognized by the Catholic Church. When Chen refused to comply with communist mandates, his teaching career at the National Seminary in Beijing was terminated by the rector, who forced him to leave.

Recognizing the difficulties believers face in Xinjiang, his home province, and elsewhere in China, Chen lamented he cannot serve his countrymen. “I came from the other side of the world where the government persecutes religion. But don’t feel sorry for me. Be thankful as we suffer with Christ and celebrate our faith and Church that we share,” he said.

Chen said his parents and grandparents were faithful Catholics even though churches were scarce in Xinjiang. “We saw churches only in pictures while I was growing up,” he said, adding: “We prayed as a family and celebrated Mass in our ‘house church’ at home about six times a year. There were no parish churches, but we would sometimes go to other homes for worship.”

“That is what made us what we are today, and I want to share my experiences and the understanding of my faith with others,” he said.

Dr. L. Gregory Bloomquist of St. Paul University, who directed Chen’s thesis at St. Paul University, lauded his former student, writing that because of the priest’s persecution, he came to embody St. Paul, “becoming a child, as Jesus taught, in order to become like Christ and thus, in Father John’s case, a true father.”

Ann Arbor has a significant Chinese community, largely because of the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, which attracts students and professionals from around the world. 

St. Thomas Parish sponsored an Alpha course for Chinese inquirers in the fall of 2024, which Chen attended in November. This will be followed by a course in Scripture and then confirmation of catechumens at Easter. 

St. Thomas parishioner Monica Cai, whose husband, Dr. Peter Cai, practices medicine in Ann Arbor, said she and her husband have celebrated the Lunar New Year with his Christian parents ever since they married 15 years ago. “It’s a lot like Thanksgiving,” Cai said.

An American cradle Catholic and home-schooling mother, Cai said they always start the celebration and family reunion with prayer.

“Last year was the first time we celebrated a new year Mass with a large group of Chinese Catholics. Before the Alpha course, we didn’t know many Chinese people. We learned that there is a Chinese Catholic community that we didn’t know about. So we are really grateful to Alpha because it is a treasure trove of relationships that we wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

Chinese and Vietnamese expatriates, as well as other communities, celebrate the Lunar New Year. In Chinese neighborhoods in the U.S., including San Francisco, the day is marked by parades, feasting, and family reunions. Originally, what is also known as the Spring Festival was intended to honor ancestors and Chinese deities. This year will be the Year of the Snake.