Traditional Mass heralds the Year of the Ox.
By EUGENE W. FIELDS
SANTA ANA – More than 1,500 Vietnamese Catholics attended a traditional Mass at the Vietnamese Catholic Center on Monday to celebrate the lunar New Year, also known as Tet.
The service was officiated by the Most Rev. Dominic M. Luong, auxiliary bishop of Orange, who is the only Vietnamese bishop in the United States. As with the rest of the service, Luong gave his homily, or sermon, completely in Vietnamese
"Basically I talked about three things," Luong said after the Mass. "We're in communion with the universal church throughout the world – I told them they needed to build up their family and community. Thirdly, I feel they have a duty to their motherland."
Luong said that Tet is a combination of America's Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and New Year's Day.
"It's a rite to our ancestors," Luong said. "We honor so many heroes and heroines who died for our country."
According to the lunar calendar, this is the Year of the Ox, which Luong said symbolizes strength and prosperity.
"In Vietnam, we call it the water buffalo," he said. "We use it to cultivate the fields. The more water buffalo you have, the more fields you have to cultivate."
At the end of Mass, parishioners received red envelopes, called li xi, or "lucky money." Inside was a slip of paper with a printed Biblical scripture and a $2 gift certificate to a local business.
"The amount of money really doesn't matter," said Alande Vu, who called in sick to work to attend the Mass. "It's a tradition of the church."
By EUGENE W. FIELDS
SANTA ANA – More than 1,500 Vietnamese Catholics attended a traditional Mass at the Vietnamese Catholic Center on Monday to celebrate the lunar New Year, also known as Tet.
The service was officiated by the Most Rev. Dominic M. Luong, auxiliary bishop of Orange, who is the only Vietnamese bishop in the United States. As with the rest of the service, Luong gave his homily, or sermon, completely in Vietnamese
"Basically I talked about three things," Luong said after the Mass. "We're in communion with the universal church throughout the world – I told them they needed to build up their family and community. Thirdly, I feel they have a duty to their motherland."
Luong said that Tet is a combination of America's Thanksgiving, Memorial Day and New Year's Day.
"It's a rite to our ancestors," Luong said. "We honor so many heroes and heroines who died for our country."
According to the lunar calendar, this is the Year of the Ox, which Luong said symbolizes strength and prosperity.
"In Vietnam, we call it the water buffalo," he said. "We use it to cultivate the fields. The more water buffalo you have, the more fields you have to cultivate."
At the end of Mass, parishioners received red envelopes, called li xi, or "lucky money." Inside was a slip of paper with a printed Biblical scripture and a $2 gift certificate to a local business.
"The amount of money really doesn't matter," said Alande Vu, who called in sick to work to attend the Mass. "It's a tradition of the church."