 Tho
Bui |
 Long
Mai |
 Armando Pacheco |
 Gerry Rodriguez |
 Van
Tran |
 Al Vu |
 Steve
Way |
These young men have been studying the religious and Salesian Life since last August and are looking forward to making their first profession of vows on August 16th, the birthday of St. John Bosco (August 16, 1815) |
Along with thousands of refugees, my parents and I immigrated to the United States from Vietnam in 1975. I was only six months old at the time. We finally arrived in Camp Pendleton, CA, and were sponsored by a local parish, Our Lady of Fatima, in San Clemente. It was in San Clemente that I would spend the next 18 years. I attended San Clemente High School, and graduated in 1992. After high school, I began my college studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
At LMU I began to discern the idea of religious life. Although the Jesuits helped me understand my vocation, I still felt something lacking, not clicking. I then began my investigation into other religious congregations and came upon the Salesians. I was quickly contacted by Fr. John Roche, the vocation director. Two months after my initial contact with Fr. John he called me again and invited me to see the Salesian summer works (summer camps, youth centers, and clubs) in the San Francisco Bay Area. For a week and a half I began to witness the great ministry of the Salesians. It was through this visit that I knew that I wanted to be a part of this great "project."
In September of 1994 I made my application to the pre-novitiate program at De Sales Hall, Bellflower. Ever since then, my desire to "stay with Don Bosco" has grown. I have learned much about youth ministry and, above all, I have learned how much I love the Salesian Family.
I am constantly energized when I sit and talk with Salesians, religious and lay, about how Don Bosco has been a part of their lives. It is through these people that I see a great passion to serve needy young people and a great passion to bring God's love to them. What has impressed me the most is the great witness of faith that these men and women make and how this witness is being passed on to the young.
I recently helped give a retreat to a team of young people who ran SYLC (Salesian Youth Leadership Connection), and I was moved to see how much depth these young people have and a sense of their own Salesian spirituality. It is not only these particular young people, but many others like them who have been touched by someone within the Salesian family. I am hopeful that I will be able to plant the same Salesian seed among the young.
Through these experiences I am challenged to foster my own Salesian spirituality. I believe that it is this unique way of living out the Gospel message that attracts so many young people. I hope I can transmit some idea of the great Salesian men and women who have gone before us.
I was born in Mexico and was familiar with the Salesians there but never really met them. It wasn't until I came to Los Angeles to study English that I met a Salesian sister in East Los Angeles.
I did not know that a chemical engineer with artistic talents could join this wonderful congregation. So I met other Salesians who, little by little, influenced and "hooked" me. I just could not go back to my past life after becoming aware of the need in our society for educators of young people in all areas.
Being with the Salesians has enriched and increased my spiritual and personal life. It is wonderful being part of this great family.
I love being a Salesian.
Although my name is Gerardo, everyone and their dog call me "Gerry." I was born in Brownsville, Texas, where there is humidity you can drink and water you can't. My dad, Carlos Rodriguez, Jr. ,is retired and my mom, Felipa, works as a nurse at the community health clinic.
Upon graduating from high school in Brownsville, I attended the University of New Mexico/College of Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There I took several courses in nursing, chemistry and physics. After school, I became a licensed and certified physician assistant, specializing in surgery.
My association with the Salesians came about with help from the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Their vocation director suggested that I try the Salesians of St. John Bosco.
I enjoy (a lot) Star Trek and The X-Files, so that come Sunday night, it is common knowledge that for about two hours, I'm "busy." I also enjoy tennis, playing video games, reading a good mystery, science fiction or suspense novels; listening to Spanish music; playing the piano (begun at age 8)and horseback riding.
Please pray for me and my fellow novices as we labor in our summer apostolates and come to the end of our novitiate and prepare to take our first vows as Salesians. Peace.
Hello to all of my friends in the Salesian spirit. I was called by God on the day of my baptism to be a Christian and, in following Christ, to be a light to youth.
I grew up in a Salesian parish near Saigon, Vietnam. There I was influenced and exposed to Salesian spirituality. Now in the novitiate, I am reflecting on my call, and remembering those past years I lived near the Salesian priests and brothers who educated me by Don Bosco's methods. The Salesians approached us, the poor kids in the parish, with loving-kindness, religion, reason and common sense. There was fun, lots of fun, which all of us enjoyed by being with them. I learned to love Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and Mary Help of Christians. I realize that the Salesians and their devotions were part of my growing vocation. Today, I am called to the Salesian way of life to serve the needs of youth and bring them to Jesus in the same way those Salesians did by serving us in the true spirit of Don Bosco. I ask all of you to pray for me, so with the grace of God I can continue to embrace Don Bosco's mission to the young.
I was born in Vietnam and spent my early youth there. I have been living in the United States for almost seven years. My family currently resides in Stockton, California.
At the age of ten, I helped in my parish church as an altar boy. As a young boy I felt drawn to the Church and religious life. However, I could not pursue my vocation because the communist regime was very strict and would not allow people to enter religious life.
When I came to the U.S., I joined the youth group at my parish, St. Luke's in Stockton. I began teaching catechism and Vietnamese to the kids. I became a counselor for the youth group as well, working with them for one and a half years. The longer I worked for youth, the more I thought of my vocation. One day Father Tuan Nguyen, SDB, the associate pastor asked me to join the Salesians. He provided me with information about them and encouraged me to attend the "Don Bosco Weekend" at De Sales Hall, Bellflower, in April of 1994. Throughout this weekend, the Salesians invited me to "come and see" what the Salesian family is all about. What I saw and heard on this weekend made me feel that I wanted to be a part of the Salesian Family. I finally contacted the Salesian vocation director, Fr. John Roche, and I applied to enter the pre-novitiate program in August 1994.
Now I am a Salesian novice. It is my hope and prayer that I may more deeply understand how I can be an instrument of God so that in the future I will be able to introduce young people to Jesus Christ by sharing with them Don Bosco's Spirituality.
I am a twenty-three-year-old novice, originally from Vietnam. My family and I immigrated to the United States eighteen years ago and settled in Avondale, a community near New Orleans, LA.
After finishing high school, I attended Louisiana State University for two years. During this time I felt an emptiness within, and I wanted to do something different with my life. A childhood dream kept prodding me, and I decided to make it a reality. That dream was to join a seminary and become a priest.
I contacted a friend for information, and he suggested that I try the Salesians of Don Bosco. He believed that this order would be great for me because he knew how much I liked to work with kids and be around them. I joined, and ever since then my life hasn't been the same.
I am also attending Seton Hall University and pursuing a major in special/elementary education. Everything up until now has been a spiritual and delightful odyssey. Remember me in your prayers.
I hail from Pasadena, California. I have studied French and Spanish literature in college and prior to entering the novitiate was a teacher for nine years. Five of those years I taught junior high children English and reading in a parish grammar school. The last four years I taught literature, French, and Spanish at St. John Bosco High School, Bellflower, CA.
I first met the Salesians when I was teaching at the parish grammar school. Each of the junior high grades went on a day of retreat as a class during either Advent or Lent. These retreats were held at St. Joseph's Retreat Center in Rosemead, CA. Ironically, I now live there as a novice.
Looking to the future of the Salesian world, I see an increasing variety of ministries offered to meet the needs of the young we serve. I see also a greater involvement of other members of the Salesian Family. I eagerly anticipate the time when I can take part in this kind of collaboration in our various works.