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Jesus’ desert sojourn began right after receiving His baptism mission cross with the words:“You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Then it’s out in the desert for 40 days and nights. But was He really tempted? We don’t like to think of Jesus as being tempted. It’s almost sinful even to…

Last month I had the chance to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Vietnam with my relatives and friends. The Tết celebrations are very meaningful and joyful for us Vietnamese. I was whole-heartedly enjoying the celebrations with delicious food,givingand receiving the “lì xì” (red envelopes), offering well wishes, and celebrating many masses. This year, the…

One of the spiritual practices retained among the faithful in China is fasting. Whenever I return home to visit my family, I must observe the holy and nonnegotiable rule, which is to fast every Friday. If it is in the season of Lent, they fast both on Wednesdays and Fridays. In a jocular manner, I…

The theologian, David Tracy, says we need to name the moment we are living in to understand it. The present moment is not a vacuum. We are living our lives in and for the moment, and we need to name the moment. Two of the ways we can do this are prophetically and prayerfully. Old…

I have experienced S.V.D Family Feast celebrations at Techny and the Theologate communities. But the celebration of Family Feast at Riverside on Wednesday, January 11, was very special for me. What I really enjoyed about it was the fact that this meeting gave me a chance to meet so many S.V.D priests from so many…

On November 17, 2022, Fr. Benjamin Alforque, MSC, related his personal encounter of Christ in his Truth Talk presentation on Faith and Culture. Immediately, one may ask, how do these two words work together? Fr. Ben teaches us that Faith and Culture help to balance the influence of our response as Christians and human beings.…

It has been said that for us to see our own culture clearly, we must first try to understand another culture and then attempt to look at ourselves from that vantage point. From my own long experience as a missionary and anthropologist I know this to be very true. In our excellent SVD formation I…

My name is Thong Dinh Tran. I am a seminarian from Divine Word Missionaries (CTU) in Chicago. I greet you from Holy Rosary Cathedral where I am doing my CTP training this year. It has been almost five months since Fr Duong Nguyen, my supervisor at Holy Rosary, welcomed me to his parish. I have…

St. Jude Syro-Malabar Mission celebrated the Feast of their patron Saint St. Jude on 30 Sunday at Christ the Redeemer Church, Grand Terrace. It also marks the 5th anniversary of the mission. St. Jude Syro-Malabar Mission celebrated the feast of St. Jude its patron saint on Sunday with Holy Qurbana (Mass), unveiling and publishing of…

“Memories are so beautiful,” as the song goes. And it is so very true!  This was proven once again amid the bright lights, glitzy shows and glamor of Las Vegas by members of my novitiate class and others who were with me at various points in the process of my SVD formation.  We were all…