Sights & Sounds: Chinese Catholics celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival
The Chinese Catholic community in Harrison, NJ, joyfully celebrated the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept 20. Popularly known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, it fell this year on Sept. 25 according to the lunar calendar.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest celebration rooted in gratitude and serves as a symbol of family unity across East and Southeast Asia. In Chinese culture, the festival is specifically associated with family reunion. Families gather in the evening to appreciate the moon, since the festival falls on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, when the moon is at its fullest.
Sharing and enjoying mooncakes is one of the hallmark traditions of the festival. In Chinese culture, roundness symbolizes completeness and reunion; therefore, it is very important for families and friends to share round mooncakes during the festival as a sign of completeness and unity.
Worship, games, and mooncake
The community invited Fr. Timothy Graff, Secretary of Parish Mission and Vitality, and Director of Multicultural Affairs for the Archdiocese of Newark, to join the celebration.
To begin the festivities, Fr. John Teng Lin presided over a Mass at Holy Cross Church in Chinese, while Fr. Graff concelebrated in English. The choir, led by Paul Ng, sang Chinese Hymns with passion and exuberance.
After the Mass, the community gathered in the parish hall to continue the celebration. Organizers and volunteers prepared Chinese food and provided small gifts for their guests. The two priests were invited to cut the mooncake which was then shared among the community.
Games were also played, including a word-guessing game in both English and Chinese, as well as a tug-of-war contest. Everyone left the lively celebration with joyful and grateful hearts.
Sister Dong Hong Marie Zhang is the Liaison to the Chinese Community for the Archdiocese of Newark.
To learn more about the Archdiocese of Newark’s Chinese Catholic Apostolate, CLICK HERE.
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Featured image: The Chinese Catholic community gathered at Holy Cross Parish in Harrison, NJ, on Sept. 20 to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Photos courtesy Chinese Catholic community)
