PRIESTS What do you enjoy most in your ministry? In my parish, I like celebrating the sacraments with the faithful, especially Reconciliation. In vocation ministry, I like accompanying serious discerners, helping them toward an authentic response to God. I’m also a chaplain with the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement, one of my best ministry experiences to date.
What first drew you to religious life? The calling to serve. I have always centered my life around service; if it wasn’t with the church, it was with the local community.
Your favorite way to pray?
Moved by the power of the Eucharist FATHER DUY HENRY BUI NGUYEN, S.C.J. In his early teens Henry Nguyen thought of becoming a missionary. “I really didn’t know what that meant. I just felt called to it.” Fearful of where such a notion might lead, he squashed the idea, but it wouldn’t leave him. Fast forward a decade— during which he was immersed in the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement (VEYM)—and the idea returned full force. Through his VEYM involvement, he had met a Dehonian priest and liked the community’s emphasis on praying together before the Eucharist. Today he is a Dehonian priest himself, serving in Franklin, Wisconsin as an associate pastor and vocation minister.
COURTESY OF PRIESTS OF THE SACRED HEART (DEHONIANS)
68 | VISION 2025 | VocationNetwork.org
Spending time in front of the Eucharist, quiet oneon-one time with Jesus, being with him in both my wholeness and brokenness, just as I am.
What do you do for fun? I’m in a movie club. I also enjoy exploring the outdoors and hiking.
What do you appreciate about community living? Whenever I stay elsewhere, I notice something is missing, and that is my time with my confrères. This experience has solidified that religious life is for me.