Called to be a Eucharistic Community
By BRIAN WELTER,
Special to The B.C. Catholic

Clockwise: Father Joseph Nguyen, Ken Fong, Bob Mitchell, Conchita Bambilla.

"As a Eucharistic Church, our synod invites us to reflect and promote a new springtime of faith and Christian living. Since the Eucharist makes constantly present the Risen Christ, Who continues to give Himself to us, we are called to give ourselves to one another and His Church."

Father Joseph Phuong Nguyen, pastor of St. Andrew's Parish, wrote the above in the parish booklet Called to be a Eucharistic Community. He ended his thoughts with the words of Pope Benedict XVI: "Eucharist is the heart of Christian life and the source of the Church's evangelizing mission."

St. Andrew's held a Synod Sunday on May 20, using a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the different ministries and handing out to every parishioner the parish brochure, which briefly outlines the parish's own vision of the synod and the various ministries in which members can serve.

On the practical side, St. Andrew's recently promoted their part-time secretary, Alma A, to full-time, which follows the synod's call for priests to be freed from some administrative duties so that they can concentrate on spiritual leadership.

Bob Mitchell, involved in the leadership of the Knights of Columbus, the RCIA, and the Pastoral Council, noted that because of this, there are "a lot of spiritual-group meetings in the church that Father can now attend." Father Joseph added about all these groups, "We encourage them to have a good spiritual foundation. Each group has a spiritual caretaker," with whom Father Joseph works. "Otherwise, each group becomes too social."

As an interesting side of the spiritual work that the pastor does, and also as a part of the Philippine culture that is a big ingredient of St. Andrew's, Saturday has become a day for house blessings. "A house blessing is special," Father Joseph said, "and is an all-day celebration."

Conchita Bambilla, involved in leading the CWL, RCIA, and the Dominican Laity, added, "a house celebration gives people the chance to meet people and talk with them." The real party doesn't begin until the priest arrives and gives the blessing. No food is eaten until that time, so Father Joseph has both a spiritual and a more practical place at these important, community-building events.

Ken Fung, involved in the parish's RCIA, Bible Study (as leader), and Synod Committee, sees a practical fallout from Synod Proposition 1: "Father has more time for parishioners. Many Bible Study participants look forward to seeing Father. We long to have the priest with us, and to have his spiritual direction."

The synod called for more spiritual parishes, for example in Propositions 31 (Incorporate the Liturgy of the Hours into parish life), 43 (Establish parish spiritual life committees), and the above-mentioned first proposition. St. Andrew's is implementing this "spirit of spirituality."

St. Andrew's is increasing devotions by holding a Novena Mass every Tuesday night. Father Joseph is attempting to find a relic of St. Andrew.

As in many other active parishes, participation in the sacrament of reconciliation has grown tremendously. Previously, special twice a year penitential services had more priests than people, but women and men now pack these services, which last three hours and keep 10-12 priests busy. Mitchell noted, "People spend 40 minutes after confession in prayer. Priests are amazed by the number of people who come to confession."

With solid progress made thus far, the parish is keen to implement more synod propositions, such as No. 14: "Develop a formation program to train lay spiritual leaders to lead Scripture studies, workshops on prayer, and peer spiritual direction." The parish has appointed liaison, Fung and Bambilla, and is happy to send parishioners to Office of Religious Education conferences.

The parish, according to Father Joseph, "will be training CWL and Knights of Columbus spiritual conveners to make plans for the whole year. St. Andrew's is training leaders for each group."

Mitchell said, "St. Andrew's is better represented at conferences than any other parish in the city, and attends two-to-three conferences a year." The parish has a tradition of lay leadership, and will use this to develop lay spiritual leadership in the coming time.

Father Joseph added the parish "also invites people from the Office of Religious Education to give workshops for the catechists at least once a year."

Synod Proposition 31, "Incorporate the Liturgy of the Hours into parish life," started at St. Andrew's in the spring, with Lauds. At first only a few people came, but it has grown to about 15 people each morning. St. Andrew's will build on this by incorporating the Liturgy of the Hours into meetings of the CWL, the Knights of Columbus, and other parish groups in the evenings.

Synod Proposition 17, which calls for "evangelization projects, recognizing cultural and social diversity," is part of the pastoral plan of St. Andrew's.

According to Bambilla, St. Andrew's "is training spiritual leaders because we can only be good evangelists if we know what we're talking about. We plan to create a ministry for welcoming new immigrants and parishioners. We have to be culturally sensitive, because then people feel more welcome. They come to programs after hearing about them by word of mouth."

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The parish web site notes, “On November 29, 1992, three years after the fire (of October 1989), the new St. Andrew’s Church was completed, and it was blessed by Archbishop Adam Exner. Parishioners were so happy and joined the celebrations surrounding the consecration of the church.”

At a glance

A daring vocation

Father Joseph Phuong Nguyen

By BRIAN WELTER,
Special to The B.C. Catholic

Father Joseph Phuong Nguyen entered the minor seminary in Vietnam at the age of 11 and finished high school there. He also studied philosophy and theology for the priesthood in the country. At that time, however, the communists didn't allow Catholic ordinations. They considered anyone working for the Church, including as a lay or consecrated member, to be an enemy of the state.

Father Joseph decided to leave in the wave of boat people then seeking freedom elsewhere. On the first attempt, they almost sunk in the ocean before a "storm blew the boat back, so I was imprisoned," Father Joseph recounts. "On my second attempt, we were rescued by a German ship, which brought us to the Philippines."

He had a brother studying for the priesthood in Mission. After one year in the Philippines, he joined his brother and was ordained by Archbishop Adam Exner, OMI, on May 30, 1992.

Father Joseph comes from a family with a strong tradition of vocations: his great-uncles and an uncle were priests; his brother is a priest in the diocese of Hamilton; and two of his sisters are nuns, one in Portland and one in Vietnam.