Dat Tran makes final promise as Paulist
by Stefani Manowski
September 13, 2010

Dat Q. Tran, CSP, signs the contract stating he is a Paulist for life. Vocations Director Father Paul Huesing, CSP (back right), Paulist President Father Michael B. McGarry and Novice Director Father John J. Behnke, CSP, look on.Dat Q. Tran, CSP, signs the contract stating he is a Paulist for life. Vocations Director Father Paul Huesing, CSP (back right), Paulist President Father Michael B. McGarry and Novice Director Father John J. Behnke, CSP, look on. ENLARGE PHOTO | START SLIDESHOW

Dat Q. Tran, CSP, makes his lifelong final promises with the Paulist Fathers.Dat Q. Tran, CSP, makes his lifelong final promises with the Paulist Fathers.ENLARGE PHOTO

Becoming a priest was always in consideration for Dat Q. Tran, CSP, but he resisted at first.

“I always jokingly told my friends that I’d join the seminary when I was 30 if I didn’t like my job and wasn’t in a relationship,” said Mr. Tran. “Thirty then was old to me.”

It may seem ironic, then, that just weeks after his 30th birthday, Mr. Tran took the final steps before priestly ordination Sept. 3-4 as he professed his final promise with the Paulist Fathers and was ordained a transitional deacon.

Mr. Tran’s Paulist brothers and family gathered in the chapel of St. Paul’s College in Washington, D.C., Sept. 3 for a Mass during which Mr. Tran was called forth to make his lifetime pledge as a member of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle.

Father Michael B. McGarry, Paulist president, stands with Dat Q. Tran after Mr. Tran's final promises with the Paulists.Father Michael B. McGarry, Paulist president, stands with Dat Q. Tran after Mr. Tran’s final promises with the Paulists. ENLARGE PHOTO

“Final promise is an extremely special event because it marks my commitment to the Paulists for life,” he said. “These men have challenged me, supported me, and inspired me to be greater. I am excited to live the rest of my life as a Paulist to further the mission of the community.”

During the homily, Paulist President Father Michael B. McGarry noted the temporary promises Mr. Tran made with the Paulists on his way to his final promise.

“Now you make this promise for the rest of your life,” Father McGarry said. “Only with God’s grace can you make such a promise. … Nothing is more important than preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ on this continent.”

Father McGarry presented Mr. Tran with a Paulist mission cross, a replica of the cross used by Paulist Founder and Servant of God Father Isaac T. Hecker. After the Mass, the congregation gathered around a beaming Mr. Tran as he signed his official contract with the Paulists and received a penny as payment for a lifetime of service.

Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF, of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., lays hands on Dat Q. Tran, CSP, as Mr. Tran is ordained a transitional deacon.Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF, of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., lays hands on Dat Q. Tran, CSP, as Mr. Tran is ordained a transitional deacon. ENLARGE PHOTO

The next morning, Sept. 4, Mr. Tran joined three other ordinandi to be ordained transitional deacons for their respective religious orders. Mr. Tran’s family and Paulist brothers supported Mr. Tran with their presence at the liturgy in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF, of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., was the main celebrant of the Mass and ordained the candidates.

“By coming here today, you show the acceptance of God’s love,” the bishop said during the homily. “God called you to life. God called you to his vocation.”

The ordination rite continued with the presentation of the candidates, election by the bishop and consent of the people, commitment to celibacy, examination of the candidates, promise of obedience, litany of the saints, laying on of hands and prayer of consecration.

Father John J. Behnke, Paulist master of novices and formation team member, stepped forward to invest the now Rev. Mr. Tran with his diaconal stole and dalmatic. Bishop Gonzales Valer presented the newly minted deacons with the Book of Gospels and greeted them with the kiss of peace. Rev. Mr. Tran then joined the bishop on the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

“The diaconate ordination is a great moment in my formation process because it is one step closer to the priesthood,” said Rev. Mr. Tran. “It is also one step closer to going out to do full-time ministry.”

Dat. Q Tran, CSP (far left), and three other ordinands lie prostrate as the Liturgy of the Saints is prayed during his Mass of ordination to the transitional diaconate.Dat. Q Tran, CSP (far left), and three other ordinands lie prostrate as the Liturgy of the Saints is prayed during his Mass of ordination to the transitional diaconate. ENLARGE PHOTO

Rev. Mr. Tran has come a long way from the boy who was too shy to become an altar server. He remembers praying with his mother as a child, and joining his five siblings in praying the rosary at bedtime. Rev. Mr. Tran was 7 years old when he emigrated from Vietnam to the United States with his family. The Trans attended Mass at both Vietnamese- and English-speaking parishes. Mr. Tran speaks conversational Vietnamese and Spanish thanks to two language immersion experiences during his formation.

It was his involvement in campus ministry at Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish at the University of California at Berkeley that led Rev. Mr. Tran to enter the Paulist novitiate in August 2004 after graduating in May 2004 with bachelor’s degrees in political science and American studies. The Paulists have seen to the pastoral care of the Berkeley community since 1907.

“I thought the Paulists at Berkeley were intelligent men who were good preachers,” recalled Mr. Tran. “Getting to know them more, I was attracted to the mission of evangelization – making America Catholic. And in order for us to be effective evangelizers to America, we also have to do reconciliation work which is an aspect of the Paulist mission that is very essential to the Catholic Church in the U.S. today.”

Dat Q. Tran, CSP (left), sits beside Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF.Dat Q. Tran, CSP (left), sits beside Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF. ENLARGE PHOTO

Although it was difficult to see the four other members of his novice class leave the Paulists, the formation experience has been “overall very good,” he said. Not only has he received the support of the Paulists and his fellow seminarians, Rev. Mr. Tran has pursued academic studies for the priesthood at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and gained hands-on ministerial experience at the Paulist foundations in Boulder, Col., Knoxville, Tenn., New York City and Austin, Tex.

Foundation ministry “enhanced my vocation,” said Rev. Mr. Tran. “I was able to learn and grow … As I reach the endpoint of Paulist formation to the priesthood, I feel the program has helped me identify the many gifts God has given me for ministry. I’ve matured into a new person.”

With a life of ministry and the constant support of his Paulist brothers to look forward to, Rev. Mr. Tran said best part of being a Paulist is “knowing that I have other men who hold the same vision as I do – to spread the Gospel and give it a voice in America.”

 

 

 
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Father John J. Behnke, CSP, invests Dat Q. Tran, CSP, with the stole and dalmatic after Rev. Mr. Trans's ordination as a transitional deacon.. <emBishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF, presents Rev. Mr. Dat Q. Tran, CSP, with the Book of Gospels during Rev. Mr. Tran's ordination as a transitional deacon.pty> Rev. Mr. Dat Q. Tran, CSP, smiles as Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF, accepts the gifts of bread and wine from Rev. Mr. Tran's parents. Dat Q. Tran, CSP (left), kneels as Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF, recites the prayer of consecration during Mr. Trans ordination to the transitional diaconate.
Dat Q. Tran, CSP, follows the cloud of incense as he processes into the Mass during which he will be ordained a transitional deacon in the Paulist Fathers Sept. 4 in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, SF, of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., accepts the promise of obedience of Dat Q. Tran, CSP, as Mr. Tran is ordained a transitional deacon.