Navhind Times

Mapusa, Aug 16: Novidade, the festival of the new harvest was celebrated on Friday in Mapusa and Siolim. The catholic brethren in many villages celebrate this festival?with the parish priests?cutting sheaves of the new corn symbolising the new harvest festival.

This feast coincides with the Independence Day on which the feast of Assumption?of Our Lady is also celebrated. In Mapusa parish priest of St Jerome Church, Fr Francisco Melo cut the new corn while in Siolim, Fr Britto Furtado of St Anthony Church, Siolim performed this act in the two fields at Bamonvaddo and Marna.

In his homily Fr Furtado highlighted the importance of all the three great feasts of this day. In the old testament prophet Joshua started this feast mainly with an aim to thank God for the new crop and also to emphasise the need of sharing our food with the less privileged people. With this in mind this festival reminds us that we should respect and avoid wasting food by thinking that not all people in the world are lucky to get to eat a square meal a day.  On this occasion various fruits, vegetables and rice that was brought by the congregation was blessed to be later distributed to the poor.