By Viet SC

Don Bosco Xuan Hiep, HCM, Vietnam, 2 August 2023 --Don Bosco Salesian Province Vietnam held its Provincial Community Day from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at Don Bosco Xuan Hiep Community in Vietnam. Attending the day were more than 300 Vietnamese Salesian members, some missionary members currently in Vietnam, novices, and pre-novices.

The Provincial Community Day program includes: Mass, handing over of letters of obedience, sports, family party, and congratulation section.

The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Peter Nguyen Van De. In the opening words, the Bishop expressed his joy at returning to the Salesian roof to share in the joy of the day of the family gathering. He is convinced of something as important as Saint Peter that the most precious thing that a community and an individual religious needs to share with others is Jesus Christ and Mary. With that in mind, he led the community in the Mass with a solemn and fervent atmosphere.

As the father, animator and administrator of the Province, Fr Provincial, Barnaba Le An Phong, shared cordially in the homily. He emphasized the love that each member gives to the others in the life of the community. According to him, brothers living together in the same community are not choices of personal preference but a gift that God sends to each person. Therefore, members can only truly live a life of religious witness when they accept each other in a spirit of faith and charity.

Before the end of Mass, the Provincial gave the 'letter of obedience' to the members. The giving and receiving of the 'letter of obedience' took place in a sacred setting, witnessed by the communion of all members, highlighting the spirit of obedience and familial love of a religious community.

After Mass, they had football exchanges between the Formation Communities, creating a vibrant and youthful atmosphere which is a prominent feature of the Salesians. Meanwhile, other members took the time to chat happily after not seeing each other for a long time.

The family meal that took place right after that was carefully prepared by the Salesians from the Rinaldi Theological Community, helping everyone have the conditions to continue to share joy with each other. After that, Bishop Peter said goodbye to everyone and invited all members to attend the conference for brothers and sisters with disabilities to be held in Thai Binh in December.

During the "Congratulations" section that took place in the Hall of the Theological Academy, all the members seemed to be standing on the same bridge connecting the generations. On that bridge, today, brothers in the province were introduced to each other and expressed their gratitude - congratulations to the fathers, brothers who professed their vows and those ordained priests for 25 years, 50 years. At the same time, also on this special day, Vice-Provincial Father Joseph Nguyen Kim Khanh spoke on behalf of the members of the Province to express his gratitude to Father Provincial for the hard sacrifices he has made for the province and for each member. Interspersed with the program were the musical performances.

The Provincial Community Day ended well with a song about Don Bosco - the common father in the Salesian mission.

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