By Joseph Nguyen Thinh Phuoc, SDB

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 6 June 2019 -- The Province of Vietnam-Mongolia, the Family and the Parish community celebrated the Thanksgiving Mass of the newly ordained Father Joseph Le Quoc Hung SDB, and his classmate, Fr. Peter Pham Minh Tam, who are among the six Vietnamese SDBs in Sudan as ad gentes missionaries. Many priests, religious, members of the extended families of both sides [the Father and the Mother’s], together with a great number of friends, classmates did come to the event. It was a wonderful experience to see how many vocations had grown from this Christian community of average size.

The culture of vocation shines forth strongly as the parish is currently very grateful to God for more than 50 of their parishioners who have become priests (some are Salesians!] and many others who have become consecrated religious. Father Le’s family is certainly among those who have inspired their sons and daughters to make the best choice for a Christian.

In fact, not only Father Le, but two older brothers have also become priests in the Diocese of Ho Chi Minh. What a beautiful scene as the congregation looked up at the altar to see the main celebrant assisted side-by-side by his own blood brothers. Many youth leaders, representatives of Altar Servant Group expressed their appreciation of Fr. Le’s role model in the past as he was one of them. Inspired by the homily of the Salesian Novice Master, the whole congregation prayed that Fr. Le and Fr. Pham would become genuine pastors who have the smell of the sheep and that of Jesus too.

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