I am Huy (Joseph) Nguyen, born and raised in Vietnam. I came to the United States in 2014 with my whole family. My vocation journey is a circular journey in which God is patiently directing me to the vocation that He sees is best for me. My desire to be a priest started at a very early age. However, when I grew older, I got distracted and liked to do something else, for I thought I would never be worthy for the priesthood, which is such a high calling beyond my reach. Yet, I was quite active at my home parish in Vietnam: being a youth leader and catechist and volunteering for other activities at the parish. I experienced a strong call to a life of service, feeling energetic and enthusiastic about pouring myself out for any service at my parish.

Toward the end of high school, one day, I came to my friend’s house with other guys. Then her father told me, “The pastor had just announced the entry test to the diocese’s seminary. I think you can be a good priest. Why don’t you join the seminary?” After hearing it, my heart was burning and moving, though it was not the first time I heard this recommendation. Yet, I believe that God has His time, and thus that moment was the right time for me to courageously make the move. After praying about it, I decided to take the test. By the grace of God, I passed the test with the highest score, which qualified me to enter the seminary. I was at the seminary for two years and eight months in a parish, which was a remarkable and memorable time filled with joy, peace, and grace. My vocation to the priesthood and my desire to serve grew stronger after those years.

In 2014, I came to Washington State with my family. Since I was so happy with my vocation as a diocesan seminarian of my home diocese in Vietnam, I experienced that God still wanted me to continue with the diocese. After a few months of arrival, my diocese received a scholarship from Divine Word College Seminary in Iowa for me to study Philosophy. After three and half years there, I experienced God’s call to stay in the U.S rather than go back to Vietnam to serve my diocese in the future, especially through the advice of my bishop, who thought that my going back to Vietnam may not be a good fit because I had done most of my education and formation in the U.S. After a lot of prayer and discernment, I felt that God called me to try religious life at the moment. So, I joined the Divine Word Missionaries, at whose school I had been doing my study and formation.

After discerning with them for four years, God helped me to realize some challenges that a missionary vocation demands, especially being far away from home. By God’s providence, my family moved to Phoenix, and I came home for vacation last summer. The moment that I put my feet on this land, I inexplicably fell in love with it. I experienced a very strong call to commit my life to serve this diocese. After much prayer and careful discernment, I eventually decided to switch to the Diocese of Phoenix. I have felt very much at peace, and God continues to affirm my vocation through many signs. Now I am happy to return to my initial calling, diocesan vocation, and I am convinced that God is accompanying and directing me on this circular journey. Even though I have been moving around, I treasure all I have learned along the way, with the conviction that God has used those changes to prepare me for my future.

Stages of Formation for the Priesthood

Formation for the priesthood begins with a focus on the seminarian’s relationship with Jesus Christ. After becoming a disciple of Christ at his Baptism, formation allows a man to grow as a disciple who is discerning and preparing for ordained ministry. The gradual development of the future priest has holiness as its goal, to become configured to Christ, Head and Shepherd, Servant and Spouse.

While the 5th edition of the Program of Priestly Formation spoke of college seminary, pre-theology, and major seminary, the 6th edition, following the Ratio, speaks of stages. There are four stages of initial formation: Propaedeutic, Discipleship, Configuration, and Vocational Synthesis.

Propaedeutic

• Lays the foundation for the human and spiritual dimensions of formation.
• For those without a college degree (Associates or Bachelors), the seminarians will reside at the Nazareth House in Phoenix (near St. Gregory’s) for 1 or 2 years. This will then be followed by a Spirituality Year at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Convent in Scottsdale.
• For those with college degrees, they will be admitted into the Spirituality Year. After the completion of the Spirituality Year, the seminarian will enter the next stage of formation (the Discipleship Stage).

Discipleship

• In the Discipleship Stage, which has a minimum requirement of 2 years, there is a systematic and rigorous formation that stresses the core objective of growing in an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the life of meditation, contemplation, philosophical study, and the training of one’s character in Christian virtue.
• During this stage, the seminarian will undertake and complete his philosophical studies.

Configuration

• In the Configuration Stage, the seminarian models his life on the self-donation of Jesus Christ, Shepherd and Servant, as he prepares more immediately for Holy Orders.
• Reception of Candidacy, and conferral of the ministries of lector and acolyte occurs during this stage, marking the progressive deepening of this self-configuration to Christ in the liturgy, catechesis, evangelization, and active service to the poor.
• The end of this stage is marked by completion of all theological studies and formal seminary formation.

Vocational Synthesis

• The Vocational Synthesis Stage is the period of formation between diaconal and priestly ordinations.
• Once formal seminary formation has been completed, it is intended primarily as a time not of evaluation, but of integration and transition into one’s diocese or ecclesiastical entity in which the deacon is preparing to serve.
• This stage is a gradual realization of the cleric’s responsibility for the care of souls while he resides full-time in a pastoral setting (usually the parish where he will eventually serve upon priestly ordination).