Fr. Henry Nguyen, SCJ, province vocation director, reflects on his personal Eucharistic missionary journey. He and other members of our vocation team recently took part in the National Eucharistic Congress (National Eucharistic Revival) in Indianapolis July 17-21.
Fr. Henry writes…
My Eucharistic Missionary Journey has been a long time in the making since I joined the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement (VEYM.net) when I was eight years old, growing up in California. I have always attributed the VEYM for my vocation to the priesthood and religious life. At eight I could barely comprehend what it meant to receive the Eucharist and what my journey of faith would look like, but it led me to where I am today.
Prayer was always important in my household. I grew up praying every night with my father and my maternal grandparents (my mother passed away when I was two years old). We would gather around the home altar in our living room, praying for what had seemed to be hours every night. None of this really made sense to my younger self. For years, it seemed as if praying was a chore; I didn’t know what it really meant.
As I got older, I continued in religious ed classes as well as VEYM. At home, I prayed in Vietnamese as that was the primary language of our household. It wasn’t until my Confirmation retreat that my faith was truly shaken for the first time, trying to come to terms with where God was in my life and whether I truly felt His presence. It was during this time that I started praying in English and it just clicked. I was finally able to make peace with God, not realizing that peace was what I was looking for.
I slowly began to understand what the Eucharistic Jesus meant for me. As a young youth leader for VEYM, I remember being harsh and critical of youth members when it came to receiving the Eucharist and their reverence or lack of what I thought appropriate. I tried to teach them what the Eucharist meant to me and how it was a privilege for us to receive Jesus in this intimate way and the gift of being able to worship God without any restrictions and fears here in this country.
In my mid-20s, I found myself unfulfilled in my career and believed that I was made for more. I wasn’t sure of what that meant, but I wanted to give God a chance and see if the vocation to the priesthood and religious life was meant for me. This led me to discern with the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians). I fell in love with the community because of its communal devotion to the Eucharist and the Dehonians’ service to the poor, the outcasts, and the marginalized. Our founder, Fr. Dehon, stated that our mission “in a spirit of love and oblation, entailed Eucharistic adoration” (CST 31).
This sense of mission doesn’t only mean foreign missions but simply to go out into the world to proclaim God’s love.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege in taking part in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in a way I couldn’t have imagined. The pilgrimage made a stop at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, and I was asked to assist with the benediction and with a part of the procession towards St. Martin of Tours. It was a humbling experience to walk with others in this capacity. I remembered our Rule of Life that states that “In Eucharistic Adoration we want to deepen our union with the sacrifice of Christ for the reconciliation of all with God (CST 83).
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, IN, promoting our religious community in the Exhibit Hall of the Indiana Convention Center. I joined 50,000 other attendees from all parts of the world. It was beautiful to witness and to be part of a Eucharistic movement where we gathered for the Holy Mass, and spent time exploring our first vocation, the universal call to holiness. I think our Constitution No. 28 speaks of what happened this past weekend where “eager for the Lord’s intimacy, we search for the signs of His presence in the lives of people, where His saving love is active.” His presence is right in front of us, in the Eucharist and in each other. To partake in the Eucharistic procession through the streets of Indianapolis was a moving experience to show the world our faith and our love for Christ.
At our Dehonian vocation booth, attendees asked me what sets us apart from other communities and I told them that we “live out our union with Christ by our availability and our love for all, particularly for the lowly and for those who suffer” (CST 18). We are called to “get out of the sacristy” and to be among the people. We must bring Christ to others. In addition to our vocation booth, I joined the many other confessors to hear confessions, hoping to facilitate reconciliation. It was not simply my responsibility as a priest but also my honor to bring people closer to God.
“Rooted in our baptism and confirmation, our religious vocation is a gift especially given to glorify God and to witness to the primacy of the Kingdom” (CST 13). This reminds me of Cardinal Tagle’s homily at the Closing Mass of the Eucharistic Congress where he told us that “the gift we have received, we should give as a gift”.
We are not to keep Jesus for ourselves!
BELOW: A short video from our vocation team of their experience at the National Eucharistic Congress:
