On April 25-27, the Vietnam mission organized ongoing formation for the Vietnamese Oblate priests. This is the first time the Vietnam mission has held such ongoing formation. In previous gatherings which were combined with the annual retreat, the priests had little time for sharing pastoral experiences together. Seventeen Oblate priests in the Vietnam mission attended the session. Some were absent because of studies abroad.

With the theme “Living in communion for Mission”, Fr. Emmanuel TRAN QUANG KHUONG, the superior of the Vietnam mission, inspired all of us with the spirit of solidarity and the desire to implement our evangelical mission.

After the opening speech, Fr. Roland JACQUES, vice-provincial for the Vietnam Mission, shared with us the Oblate Charism which Our Founder received from the Holy Spirit. He helped us to deepen the Oblate spirit and provided more information on the calls to transformation from the recent 36th General Chapter (October 2016).

Fr. Roland’s presentation was made even more concrete by the mission superior’s sharing on pastoral ministry and his new vision for the future of the mission. With 70 Oblates, including 19 priests and 1 deacon, there is a promising and bright future for evangelization in Vietnam.

Fr. Dominic NGUYEN VAN LOC shared with us the document, “The Service of Authority and Obedience,” by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, which is meant to be practiced by every religious. He expressed that we should identify who we are, and how we can meet God.

This gathering was an opportunity for us to share what happened in the past so that we can sympathize and support each other. Our fervent desire is to establish missionary communities so as to bring fruitful results in the evangelization of Vietnam where our Oblates are present in 6 dioceses. (by Fr. Ðình THÁI, Vietnamese Oblate priest serving in the Hung Hóa diocese, a remote mountainous region in Vietnam. Translated into English by Scholastic Dao DUC MINH)