Yesterday, Sat. May 24, our Archdiocese had the joy of ordaining another priest, Fr. Hung Le!  Please pray for him as he begins in priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.  Here is a little bit about him, in his own words:

“I am from a big farmer family in north Vietnam. My parents have ten children, I am the eighth. I have three older brothers, four older sisters (two of my sisters have passed away), two younger brothers. I grew up with a peaceful childhood in a Catholic family. My parents were very active members and leaders of the church in my village, so they raised their children in the way of their beliefs and according to what they thought was right therefore I grew up with a rich spiritual life. I went to the church in my village often with my parents and brothers, sister, usually in the evenings throughout the week to say a rosary or do Adoration. On the weekend, my parents brought us to the parish church to attend the Sunday Mass. As a part of my family tradition, on every big feast day in the liturgical calendar, my family had a party that helped us to rejoice and unite with the church. Raising us with these practices, my faith in God and the Catholic church gradually and naturally developed. In addition, the people in my village were all Catholic, and interestingly my home was in fact right next to the church. The yard of the church was the place where I hung out with my friends and that was also where I came to worship God and pray, so this is how the Church and the Catholic faith have become something very natural to me and became one of the most important parts of my childhood.

When I was in eighth grade, the pastor of my parish encouraged me to become a priest. Before that, when he baptized me, he told my parents that “this boy will become a priest.”

My dad was the leader of my village church. For almost 30 years, he has done so many things to build the church and the Catholic community in my village. I observed and in some ways I contributed to that process. These things with my dream about spreading the Gospel were my motivations in pursuing the priesthood.”

We are grateful to have another brother priest to serve in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.  Please also pray for more priestly vocations in our Archdiocese.

Peace,

-Fr. Kevin