I had an opportunity to go back to visit my home country, Vietnam during 2014’s summer. It was good for me to be back after many years away from home and also it was a great time for me to be allowed to do my apostolate work during summer there. Although I was born and grew up in Saigon, when I came back, I realized that things have changed a lot since I was away from the city. I spent three weeks with my family. During that time, I just paid some visits to the altar-servers in the parish by joining with them in their weekly meetings. I was asked by them to give a short sharing of the Gospel in their meeting, because I was actually the one who initiated it when I was in charge of them, and that custom has been keeping up to the present.

The last week of June before I packed up my suitcase leaving Saigon for Cần Thơ, which is one of the municipal cities under the direct administration of the central government, (in Vietnam, the highest unit of administration is province, so both Saigon and Can Tho are equal to provinces), I spent that last week with the Assumptionists in our scholastic house. During that time, I had an opportunity to visit our orphanage Hoa Huệ, which means lilies in Vietnamese. The orphanage for boys was established by a lay woman, then passed to us to run and take care. It gathered all boys mostly from elementary school age with many situations. Some were abandoned by their poor parents. Some were left without any care because their parents were put into the prison. Some became street orphans. The orphanage was in charge by Brother Jean-Baptiste Nguyễn Ngọc Thắng, also appointed as the director of the orphanage. Now the orphanage is willing to receive any donations as well as contributions within and outside the country. I also visited two out of three houses for students run by the Assumptionists. These student houses are really a cradle for the Assumptionist vocations. Many our brothers have come from these houses. They were in charge by (temporarily vowed) Brother Antoine Nguyễn Hữu Thái, who also used to be a student from those houses. The students from every corner of the country coming to Saigon for study lived in a harmony and mutual love and support.

As I just explained, so Can Tho is a city but not as big and crowded as Saigon is, nevertheless, it is a central city. The parish I helped in my summer apostolate is Nhà Thờ Đức Mẹ Vô Nhiễm Nguyên Tội-Họ Đạo Lộ 20, which means in English the Church of the Immaculate Conception-Road 20 Parish.

Father Anthony Đặng Hữu Kha, pastor, knew Father Joachim Nguyễn Khương Duy, who is the “économe de Saigon Scolasticat Emmanuel D’Alzon” and also the one who assigned me there, when they studied in the UK and came to be friends.

Therefore that was why I was in Father Anthony Kha’s parish, because he needed an English language teacher for his summer school. The main work in the parish for me was to teach English for high school students, and it seemed to me that Father Kha wanted me to devote myself at the best for the summer English classes.

Besides, I also helped him to be in charge of the altar-servers and the liturgy, as well as the contribution of the holy communion during the Mass.

I used to work in the parish before, but this parish was a particular one. It was established over 60 years ago, but it was just revived two recent years by Father Kha.

The main reason for this according to the president of the parish council was the immigration of the parishioners. The parish is in fact welcoming and seeing off many parishioners moving in and out in some recent years. Before many activities in this parish has died out. And Father Kha had to work a lot to revive those activities.

During the last week of my summer apostolate, I joined a meeting between the pastor and the catechists for preparing the new catechism schedule for new school year, I noticed that only a few of them were present and some of them began to make an excuse to leave their class in the coming school year. It means that they will not be able to teach catechism for next year. The day I left the parish back to Saigon, I began to realize that many difficulties are waiting for Father Kha in his journey ahead.

Two months in Vietnam passed by in a moment. Three weeks with my family, one week with my brothers and four weeks in the parish have brought back many benefits for me.

The most beneficial experience I think for my own spiritual growth in my vocation as religious is I begin to realize the way I used to work with other people in my home parish in Saigon is different from the way I worked in Father Kha’s parish. It is not the fact that there is a huge difference between two parishes but rather it is the more humility and sympathy I have got in serving my brothers and sisters.

Brother Hoang Nguyen, A.A.
Student Brother
Assumptionist Center,
Brighton, MA