God works in mysterious ways! Born and raised in southern Vietnam, I was very much a wild and mischievous boy. Many times, I played hooky and roamed around the city looking for adventures or maybe starting trouble. Despite my maverick attitude, my parents often encouraged me to attend daily Mass. During Mass, I was always fascinated with what happens on the altar, even though I had not a clue what it was about. I wanted to be an altar server. Often, I went to Mass early to hang-out at the sacristy, hoping someone would invite me to serve Mass. Unfortunately, there was never a shortage of servers at our church, so I was never called in to serve. However, my yearning to be closer to the altar stayed ever since.
My family and I emigrated to Springfield, Massachusetts during the winter of 1992. Immediately, we became involved with the Vietnamese Catholic congregation here. After attending a few Masses, my yearning to be an altar server was burning again. Then one day, before Mass, an altar server approached me and asked if I would like to serve. I was very delighted! My dream came true! After some training, I put on the cassock and the cross, ready to serve the Lord. I was very proud to be an altar server!
In the late 1990s, a newly ordained young Vietnamese priest, Fr. Quynh, came to be the shepherd of our congregation. After seeing me as altar server and being involved in many church activities, he suggested to my parents that I may have a vocation to the priesthood. I was only in middle school and the idea of becoming a priest was something I could not understand. My parents, especially my mother, began to encourage me to pray for and think of the priesthood. Often, people in the congregation told me I would make a good priest. This message was often echoed by friends, youth ministers, and many others through out high school and college. Slowly, I began to accept this calling.
After college graduation, I accepted a well-paying job offer near Boston. I lived away from home for a year. Driving to Springfield to visit my family every weekend, I meditated on the Rosary and Our Father prayers. During Mass, I listened carefully to the Scripture proclamation, homily, and the Eucharistic prayers. It seemed like for the first time, I coud hear God talking to me through these beautiful words. When receiving communion, I was moved to tears by the love of Jesus. God has given me so much in life. How can I repay Him? I attended a silent Ignatius Spiritual Exercise retreat. During this retreat , I seriously began to contemplate the meaning of my own life. Then the thought occurred to me: I want to offer myself totally to God.
On my very first trip back to Vietnam after 14 years, my family and I toured our beautiful yet poor home country. It felt more like a pilgrimage as I learned the history of my people, traced my family roots, and asked God what my future is. I prayed for my vocation. At the end of this tour, we stayed in a small town, Pleiku, in the central high-lands of Vietnam. Here, I attended Mass and was immediately captivated by the spiritual aura of the priest. He preached a beautiful sermon to a group of children. There was much love and compassion in the words and sound of his voice as he talked to them. I thought to myself, I want to be this kind of priest. The next day, I was invited to have breakfast with him and his group of young seminarians. He introduced himself as a Salesian of Don Bosco.
A few months after returning to the U.S., I began research about the Salesians of Don Bosco. In September 2006, I attended a 4-day come-and-see at the Salesian formation house in Orange, New Jersey. Immediately, I fell in love with the Salesian's way of life.
On August 27, 2007, I was welcomed into the Salesian family. Studying, living, working, and praying in the Salesian way has grown my conviction that God is calling me to be a priest to work with the young and the poor. The Salesian way of life encourages me to pray and live in union with Jesus Christ; to ever strive for holiness.
Looking back in the past two years, I can see that I have learned and matured much with the Salesians of Don Bosco. More importantly, I can feel the presence of God in my life. He has guided me through this spiritual and human journey with the invitation to go deeper into union with Him.
In the Summer of 2007, while I was still working at a life insurance company as a System Specialist, I took a 3-week vacation to work at the Mary Help of Christian camp in Tampa, Florida. It was a wonderful experience to be at this camp. I was first impressed by the beauty and breadth of this place. It seemed and felt like heaven on earth for kids. There were so many activities like water-skiing, archery, horse-back riding, canoeing, kayaking, swimming and more. Even more impressive was the spiritual aura and joy of this camp. At the chapel, I saw a Salesian sister teaching kids how to worship and praise the Lord through singing and movements. When Mass began, the music would blast with joy as kids and adults alike got into the rhythm and gave their all to God in their movements and gestures.
Each day after camp, I had dinner with the community of St. Philip Residence. In this residence lived a group of Salesian lay brothers and priests. It is a retirement home for these brothers who have worked zealously most of their lives in the service of the young and the poor. Life there was calm and joyful. The brothers and priests were always cracking jokes and telling amusing stories at dinner. There was much laughter and friendship in this house.
As the youngest guy coming from a different cultural background, I felt welcome and accepted by everyone. Though in their late 70s and 80s with much signs of old age, they were at peace and showed much humility in this simple life. They were always kind and generous to me. Often reflecting on this experience, I could sense the holiness of these brothers. They impressed me much with their simple lifestyle and genuine affections toward everyone.
A few weeks later, I quit my job to join the Salesian formation community of Orange, New Jersey as a Pre-Novice. When I first visited this house, a year before entering, I felt the same joy and love among young Salesian priests, brothers, and candidates. But at last I was here after many years of wrestling with my vocation. There were many guys who were also new like me. This first year began the much needed growth in my life.
At first, I really felt the separation anxiety from my family, friends, and home town Springfield, MA. I grew up in a traditional Vietnamese home, worked with Vietnamese youths at nearby Vietnamese parish, and hung out with mostly Vietnamese friends. As you can see, even though I've been living in America most of my life, it felt like I just came into a new country. I felt a cultural shock. Many things were foreign to me here: to speak only in English, to work with and teach African-American, Latino, and white kids, to serve food to the homeless guys, to go in front of hundreds of kids to share my personal vocation story, to do tedious chores in the house, to get along with fellow companions of different ethnicity and temperaments, and to be bombarded with many different classes while visiting the many works of this Province. I was definitely out of my comfort zone. But I kept going because I knew the Lord had a mission for me. He wanted me to be in this Salesian family. So one day during Mass after receiving communion, I broke down in tears. It seemed I heard Jesus was telling me: "Don't be afraid, I love you...my love will wash away all your anxieties". So I prayed: "Lord, I offer up to you my family, friends, and all that is familiar to me. I want to follow you, please help me."
As the time to apply for the Novitiate was approaching, I was quite nervous because I had just gotten used to living in Orange and now, I had to start anew again in a different community. "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20) To follow Jesus, I must continue on. So, I wrote my letter of application and was soon accepted into Novitiate at Port Chester, NY.
During the summer before entering Novitiate, I worked at Camp Echo Bay in New Rochelle, NY. It was a fun and humbling experience. Being group leader of a dozen counselors and responsible for 140 campers from 4th to 6th grade was a great challenge! We started each morning with a prayer, a good morning talk and a cheer: "Pump, pump, pump it up, pump the Jesus spirit up..." or "God is good, all the time...all the time, God is Good...show Him some love!" Some campers were always joyful, others swing from mood to mood, and a few were always getting into troubles. Some counselors were on top of their game, while others needed some encouragement. From these campers and counselors, I've learned much lessons of life. It's so humbling to be an "adult" watching over the campers and to animate the counselors.
Novitiate began with a week long retreat. During this retreat, I heard God speaking to me through Scripture: "I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts." (Ezekiel 36:26). Throughout Novitiate I prayed for this grace, that Jesus would transform my stubborn heart into a kind and loving heart like his Sacred Heart. It's ironic that we have to be careful what we pray for, because God will answer our prayers. He answered my prayer by putting me in difficult situations with difficult people so to teach me how to love others; to love for the sake of others and to look beyond my own selfishness.
It was a year in learning to live the vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity so to imitate Christ. To live these vows is not easy, but I have made up my mind to follow Him in this way and He has made up his mind to help me. Christ gives me strength to overcome all temptations and weaknesses. While developing a deeper prayer life, I was immersed in classes and working with young people. It was there in Port Chester that I developed a greater appreciation for Salesian community life. Living in community, I could see how the Salesian's pedagogy of reason, religion, loving-kindness, and presence are so essential to living together. I am grateful to have lived with Salesians who truly exemplify this spirituality everyday.
Novitiate has helped me to examine closely how I relate to my brother Salesians, young people, as well as family and friends. I came to the realization that just by living my vocation to the best of my ability, I become a sign of hope and faith for others. Often among family, friends, and young people, I did not need to speak or do much, but by being present, listening, and smiling was enough to bring calmness and joy to them.
As in a blink of an eye, the year of Novitiate was ending and First Profession was only moments away. The few weeks leading up to First Profession, I was occupied with sending invitations, making the mass booklet, working at camp, closing personal bank accounts, seeing the doctor to ensure I was in good health, and tying up loose ends. The week before Profession, I was on retreat with fellow Salesians at the Marian Shrine in Stony Point, NY. Here, I experienced the family atmosphere and friendships with fellow professed Salesians; I felt very at home. Then, it was the day of Profession and to look down from the pulpit as I was proclaiming the Scripture and see all family members, Salesian confreres, Salesian Sisters, Cooperators, friends, and young people it was a touching experience. They all have come to pray for and encourage me to take this pivotal step in life. It was only 4 years ago, that I've expressed my desire to offer my life to God. Now, I was kneeling in His Church in front of Fr. Provincial professing: "...with complete freedom I offer myself totally to you..." I now belong totally to God. It is no longer I who live for myself, but God who lives in me and work through me.
I made my First Profession on August 16, 2009. Now as Post-Novice, for the next two years I will be studying philosophy and pre-theology at Seton Hall University in preparation for the priesthood some years from now. May you be encouraged by the love of Jesus to follow him now and always. Amen.
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