This is the weekend for our friend to be back with us. Fr. Dung should be back with us, and will he have a story to tell! Fr. Dung is returning from a pilgrimage he and his brother made to Vietnam. He did not ask for this holiday time. I asked him to make this pilgrimage. I asked him to do this for two reasons:
First, as many of you know, I have known Fr. Dung and his family for many years. I met Fr. Dung’s older brother, Fr. Michael Nguyen, in 1993, in Rome. Fr. Michael and I lived at the same college during our years of studies at the Pontificia Universitá Gregoriana (“the Greg”). It was during these years in Rome that I met a young lay student of theology... Dung Nguyen. He was living in Rome as a layman, as he discerned God’s call. By God’s grace, he responded to my invitation and became a seminarian (and a priest) for Atlanta. Since I care for Fr. Dung and his whole family, and since I know he may one day be a pastor (and no longer have the time for such a pilgrimage), I asked him to make this visit to his homeland... to see family he has not seen for 26 years. Secondly, I asked Fr. Dung to make this spiritual pilgrimage so that he might offer spiritual assistance to our parish. During his month-long pilgrimage, Fr. Dung has kept a kind of spiritual journal; and I hope that he took lots of pictures. He will find a time to schedule a presentation to the parish, to share the insights and gifts that the Lord allowed him during the pilgrimage. I’m guessing that you readily understand my first reason for asking him to make a pilgrimage back home: I care for Fr. Dung and knew that this would be a good thing for him and for his brother. But, what about this second reason: how does his pilgrimage help us at SJN, in our living of the faith-life?
Fr. Dung came to our country as a refugee from tyranny and as an immigrant looking to make a life here. He spoke little or no English. He had no knowledge of our culture and our customs. When he arrived, he was like a stranger in a strange land, and I am sure that he found this very difficult. On his arrival to the USA, he would have had very little in common with most of the parishioners of SJN... except for his love of the Catholic Church and his faith in God’s goodness.
In the twenty-six years that he has been with us, look at what has happened to him and through him. In his twenty-six years as an immigrant–then-citizen, look at what the Lord has done in him and through him. Now, I am not seeking to discuss the politics of “immigration reform”. That important debate is for political leaders to discuss and for your conscience to judge. Instead, I am seeking to speak in the name of the merciful Lord, and invite you to see the stranger... as neighbor. Fr. Dung was once a stranger; but now he is a brother to us and priest and servant – leader for us.
My hope and prayer is that the fruits of Fr. Dung’s pilgrimage will be evident in the way SJN welcomes all that come through our doors, with a welcome of heart-felt gratitude for the gifts they will offer us, for the way newcomers make SJN a more dynamic parish.
AMDG
Msgr. David
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