In Memory of Fr. Paul Nguyen Van Dong

This morning, Monday December 5, our Vietnamese brothers are gathered in Ba Ria (Vietnam) for the funeral Mass of Fr. Paul NGUYEN VAN DONG (37 years old) who was killed in a motor bike accident. He was one of the founding members of our Assumptionist mission in Vietnam and Master of novices.

It is a sad moment for his family, for his young Vietnamese brothers and for our Assumptionist mission in Asia.

Thank you for your prayers for Fr. Paul, for his family and for our frail communities in Asia.

Emmanuel d’Alzon community in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo had the joy of welcoming 12 new members, brothers who are joining the community in order to pursue their formation in Theology. Their number reminds us of the 12 apostles, chosen by Jesus Christ as his closest collaborators in announcing the Gospel.

As the Assumptionist Center in Brighton, MA continued its Sunday ‘conversations’ series, the most recent topic explored media and Assumptionist publications as a ministry serving the Church.

Historically, Church leaders have always had a special mandate from Jesus to proclaim, “that the Kingdom of God is at hand,” in every possible way, including and especially for us through the printed word. In today’s world of rapidly expanding means of technological communication, the publishing world is facing very difficult challenges.

The Assumptionists have always had a strong commitment to the ministry of the press in communicating the Good News. Since our earliest beginnings in France, our own publishing house, Bayard Press, has grown throughout the world, including here in the U.S.

WYD took place in Madrid this year. It was an opportunity for young people associated with the Assumption Family to gather around the Pope with other young people from around the entire world. All branches of the family were represented. We’ve contacted some of them to give us their impressions by way of a personal testimony.

On Sunday, October 30^th, a meeting of lay and religious Assumptionists took place in Mexico. hirty-four participants, lay men and women and religious came together from Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Spain, the United States and Mexico.

The main goal of the meeting was summarized in the following terms: “With the decisions of the 2011 General Chapter regarding the Lay-Religious Alliance as our starting point, we would like to provide guidelines appropriate for our Latin-American context that would help us to become men and women of faith and communion, in solidarity with the poor”.

“Sing and play music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:19-20)

Good and gracious God, we set aside this day to celebrate in a special way with all  who give You thanks for your many blessings, both spiritual and physical.
You have graced us abundantly during the past year and throughout our lives.
You have given us life to enjoy and to share in service to our brothers and sisters, especially with those who are in most need of Your blessings.
And so it is fitting that we give you praise and thanks today and everyday.
We pray this in the name of Jesus, Your Son.
Amen.

By abp. Charles J. Chaput

My theme focuses on Catholics and the American future. But sometimes the best way to look at the future is through the lens of the past.

One of the most sacred symbols of the Roman state was an altar to the goddess Victory. It stood in the Roman Senate for nearly 400 years. In a.d. 382, a Christian emperor removed the altar as idolatrous. Two years later, after his death, the pagan prefect of Rome—Quintus Aurelius Symmachus—wrote one of the most interesting letters of Late Antiquity. Addressing the new Christian emperor, Symmachus asked that the Altar of Victory be restored.

On Saturday, October 8, 2011, Most Rev. Gonzalo Gracía de Cortázar, bishop of Valparaíso, celebrated Mass in the parish church of Our Lady of Lourdes founded by the Assumptionists in 1911.

The Assumptionists arrived in this port city in February 1911, led by Fr. Gunfrid Darbois (brother of the first president of Assumption College, Fr. Thomas Darbois), and settled into the neighborhood known as Cerro de los Placeres which, at the time, had a small population  that had just begun to return because of the huge earthquake that occurred in 1906.

As it is every year, the feast of our three Assumptionist  Bulgarian martyrs is an opportunity to stop to reflect on the heritage that they have left not only to us who are called to work today in the Mission in Eastern Europe, but to every brother and sister of our Assumption Family and the Church at large.

Keeping alive their memory means rendering present among us these brothers whom the Church, by means of their beatification, considers to be a gift for all of Christianity. Praying to them, invoking their intercession, allows us to receive the spiritual support we need to make Christ alive in us and around us.