Vietnamese Catholics begin New Year with Tet Mass

KANSAS CITY — Six times during the celebration of Mass marking Tet, the lunar new year, the people of the Church of the Holy Martyrs Parish showered Bishop Robert W. Finn with applause.

The Vietnamese-American congregation that jammed their church to standing room only applauded at the opening of the Mass, when Bishop Finn expressed his honor of sharing the holiday feast with them.

They applauded his homily, in which he reminded them that God is always near.

They applauded after Communion, when parishioners Anthony Nguyen and Thuy Pham, in English and Vietnamese, told how the bishop, by his presence, honored them and demonstrated his love.

They applauded as children of the parish, Hanna Quynh Ly, Nguyenkha Nguyen and Tyler Le presented him with gifts. They applauded again when Bishop Finn thanked them. And they applauded once more, just before the final blessing, when Bishop Finn completed the distribution of hundreds of good-luck envelopes to children and older parishioners, each with a $1 bill.

Concelebrating with the pastor, Father Joseph Phan Trong Hanh, were newly ordained diocesan priest Father Duc Nguyen, and Father Francis Tran, a priest of the Congregation of Mother Co-Redemptrix in Carthage who assists the parish at weekend Masses.

In his homily, Bishop Finn told the parish how appropriate it was that the celebration of Mass kicks off their very special holiday of family gatherings, feasts, of honoring the past and present while praying for the future.

“How fitting it is once again for us to initiate this New Year thanking Almighty God for his gifts and graces, and humbly but confidently asking his blessings,” he said.

Noting the Genesis story of the God’s creation of the world in the first reading, Bishop Finn told the congregation that “nothing comes to be without his love and power.”

“We also acknowledge the providence of God which has kept us going even in the difficult and sad moments we experienced in the past year,” he said.

In the second reading, St. Paul told his followers to rejoice because the Lord is near.

“In every moment, in every joy, in all our trials, everything takes on a new dimension because God is near us,” the bishop said. “We begin the New Year at Holy Mass because we want him to be near us and to help us. Nothing that the coming year brings will be impossible because he remains always with us.”

The Gospel of the day had special personal meaning, Bishop Finn said. It contains the passage that the bishop chose as his motto: “Seek first the kingdom of God.”

“I chose this saying from Sacred Scripture because this was a favorite passage of my mother,” Bishop Finn said to a congregation filled with mothers, daughters, fathers, sons and grandparents.

“We know that there are many uncertainties in life, but if we seek first and above all to do God’s will and to follow his plan for us, then everything else will find its rightful place,” Bishop Finn said.

“If we seek to put God first in our lives, everything else will work out for us,” he said.

He thanked Father Joseph for the opportunity to celebrate Mass for Tet again this year.

“Let us together, as faithful sons and daughters of our heavenly Father, place all our gratitude and prayers in his hands,” Bishop Finn said.

“May Mary, our Mother, and the angels and saints help us to persevere in faith, hope and love,” he said. “May God bless each of you abundantly in the New Year.”