Priestly Ordination in Vietnam

By Fr. Mạng Lưới Thông Tin Gia đình Salêdiêng, SDB

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 22 July 2017 -- This is the reminder of the ordaining bishop, Most Reverend Alphonse Nguyen Huu Long, Coadjutor Bishop of Hung Hoa, to 7 newly ordained Salesian priests. The Sacerdotal Ordination took place at 8:00am on July 22, 2017 at Tam Hai Parish, Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City.

Present at the concelebrated Mass with Bishop Alphonse were Fr. Joseph Nguyen Van Quang, Superior of Vietnam-Mongolia Province and 80 other Salesian and Diocesan priests.

The celebration was also attended by religious men and women, parents of newly ordained priests, their relatives and friends, and some hundreds parishioners.

To begin, Bishop Alphonse invited the whole assembly to praise the Lord for the gift of 7 priests.

During the homily, the Bishop emphasized that “each Christian participates in the priestly, prophetic and kingly mission of Christ, but Jesus Christ, the High Priest, has chosen beloved disciples to become teachers and shepherds to lead His Flock. Priests are invited to serve the people of God as assistants of Bishops. Therefore, priest does not seek what belongs to him, but what belongs to Jesus Christ!”

The Bishop added: “While reflecting upon the laws of God, you should believe what you read, teach what you believe and put into practice what you teach. Particularly to identify yourselves with Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, you should dedicate yourself in praying to become missionaries of Christ and proclaim the Gospel of our salvation to all people; you should love and experience being loved so that you are able to spread that love to your brothers and sisters; you should have “smell of the sheep” to be close to them and care for them; you should be bearers of joy of Christ and Saint John Bosco to people.”

Before the final blessing, Fr. Joseph Quang, on behalf of the Province, thanked the ordaining bishop, guests, relatives and friends of the 7 newly ordained priests for attending this great event.

In his reply, Bishop Alphonse expressed his joy being part of the celebration. He hopes that in the future there will be more Salesians working in his diocese of Hung Hoa.

The celebration ended at 10:00am. The newly ordained priests were overwhelmed with joy and happiness in the midst of their confreres, parents, relatives and friends.

Newly ordained priests are:

• Fr. Joseph Phan Trung Hoan, SDB
• Fr. Peter Truong Van Hoan, SDB
• Fr. Dominic Savio Dinh Dinh Phung Linh, SDB
• Fr. Peter Nguyen Ngoc Luong, SDB
• Fr. John the Baptist Hoang Minh Thanh, SDB
• Fr. Paul Le Ngoc Thuc, SDB
• Fr. John Paul Tran Anh Tien, SDB

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