By TARA CONNOLLY
Staff writer
The Vietnamese Catholic Community marked the Lunar New Year Feb. 10 at SS. Simon and Jude, Bethlehem, where they offered praise to God, remembered their ancestors and shared appreciation for family.
Bishop of Allentown Alfred Schlert was the principal celebrant at the bilingual Mass that paid tribute to the Lunar New Year, also known as Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, a festival that officially starts Feb. 5.
The celebration is the central celebration in Vietnamese culture because it pays respect to one’s ancestors and celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar. It is the major festival in Vietnam and, for even the most acculturated Vietnamese settled in other countries, it remains the major occasion on which to celebrate their Vietnamese heritage.
Before Mass, the faithful – dressed in traditional attire – participated in an outdoor procession before entering the church for the Rite of Inculturation, where they invited their ancestors to participate in the Mass.
Bishop Schlert then opened the Mass with a greeting in Vietnamese before the celebration that began the “Year of the Pig,” a mild and a lucky animal representing happiness, carefree fun, good fortune and wealth.
After the Gospel reading was proclaimed in Vietnamese and English, Bishop Schlert told the estimated 400 faithful that the Lunar Year is a time to wish good blessings to one another and a day for the Diocese to give thanks to God for the Vietnamese community.
“We also give thanks to God for priests and deacons evangelizing in Vietnam and South Asia. All of us in the Diocese of Allentown are beneficiaries of the strong faith instilled in the Vietnamese people,” he said.
“Vietnamese people enriched our country when they had to flee their homeland – often bringing with them only their faith and their possessions.”
He asked the faithful to begin the Lunar New Year by keeping in mind that possessions and material matter are unimportant.
“Rather, the most important things are what you and your ancestors brought – and that is your faith,” said Bishop Schlert.
He also advised the faithful to refrain from trying to control things they cannot control, and to trust in God and his goodness.
“It is also a time for us to resolve to pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life so more men and women – especially from families in the Vietnamese community who are so strong in the faith – will choose to serve the Church as priests and sisters,” he said.
Concelebrants were Monsignor William Baver, pastor; Father Abraham Ha, assistant pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Bethlehem; Father John Hutta, assistant pastor of Holy Rosary, Reading and Sacred Heart, West Reading; and Father George Kochuparambil (Father Johnson), pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians, Allentown.
