Fr. Hien's Weekly Letter 10/23/22

My Dear Parishioners,
     To you who are reading this message, I am attending a Vietnamese priest conference in Garland/Dallas.  The name of this conference is called “Emmaus 9.”  It is operated by the Federation of Vietnamese Catholics in the United States.  As I have shared with you before, there are about 1,000 Vietnamese priests like myself who are serving in parishes in the United States with about 600 Vietnamese sisters.  Religious vocations among the Vietnamese people are very strong in Vietnam and throughout the world, including here in the United States, although most people in Vietnam are non-Catholic, with only about 8 percent Catholic.  Our Wichita diocese for example has ordained five priests:  Fr. Hung Pham, Fr. Binh Quoc, Fr. Cuong Scott Nguyen, Fr. Hien Nguyen and Fr. Ben Nhat Nguyen.  As many as that number of men from Wichita have joined religious orders such as the Dominicans priests.  There have been many young ladies from Wichita who have joined religious orders throughout the United States also. 
     There will be hundreds of priests attending this conference in Dallas, held once every three years for further education and priestly fraternity.  This is my third time attending this conference and I found that it has been fruitful to my ministry.  The first conference I attended was in Atlanta, Georgia in 2016.  The second conference was held in San Jose, California in 2019, with the nuncio of the United States as one of the main speakers.  Some of the speakers this year in Garland are Bishop Greg Kelly, Bishop Michael Olson, Bishop Kevin Vann, Bishop Thanh Nguyen, etc.  Please know that you will be in my heart and prayer every day at Holy Mass and during my prayer times.  Please don’t forget to pray daily and always make Sunday the Lord’s Day to receive God’s blessing and grace and love in you and for your family.  See you at Holy Mass, Fr. Hien
 
ALL SAINTS DAY: Tuesday, November 1st is a holyday of obligation (all Catholics are required to attend Mass on this day, unless they are seriously ill).  Masses are at 12noon and 5pm in English, and 6:30pm in Vietnamese.  All Souls Day: Viet & English Mass at 6:30pm, optional Mass.
MONTH OF NOVEMBER: We will pray for all souls at every Mass.  All Mass intentions will be for all souls, and your Mass stipends will benefit our parish ‘Building Fund.”  Please take an envelope (in your pew) and write all the deceased names of those among your family and friends so that they will be prayed for at every Mass in November (these names will be placed in front of the altar all month).  We love them and we will pray for them until they are in heaven.