youtube/watch?v=DS5sNqfG1tQ&feature=youtu.be □ VietCatholic Interviews Fr. Michael Quang Nguyen, SVD Perth, January 2013 1. VietCatholic/Lan-Vy: For quite a long time, nearly two years, we have not heard from you here at VietCatholic. Some readers have written to us asking about you. But we only know that you are no longer working in Melbourne. Can you let us know where your present ministry is? Michael Quang Nguyen, SVD: My dear readers from VietCatholic, the first words that I’d like to send to our readers, the staff members of VietCatholic and Lan-Vy is “The peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ be with you.” Also in the first days of 2013, I wish you a happy new year with good health and success. In December 2009, I finished my mission assignment in Melbourne, after which I requested to be transferred to the ministry in the desert of Central Australia, in a town called Alice Springs. Since then, for the past three years, I have become the modern day An Tiem (a famous character in the Vietnamese legend, who discovered the watermelon while living on a deserted island). However, I don’t live on an isolated island but in a desert with the scorching sun turning my Oriental black hair into a silvery white. I am still waiting for some birds to fly by and drop down some strange seeds for me to plant, and then grow into delicious watermelons, so I’d have reason to be requested back to the mainland. But so far, I haven’t seen anything other than snakes, insects, scorpions, poisonous red back spiders notoriously known for their deadly poison, and thousands of other nameless creatures that crawl into my room at night. I recall when my mother heard that I had been moved from the lively city of Melbourne for Alice Springs, she felt displeased and was worried that I must have done something naughty such as disobeying my superiors, thus causing me to be moved into the desert to work with the Aboriginal people. At the age of 90, however, her mind is still incredibly sharp, for she never miscalculates her money. Hence, one time while talking to her on the phone, I indirectly complained, “Mom… The SVD is a missionary congregation... Don’t be surprised if I am currently stationed in the desert working with Aboriginal people.” I only said these words, but she understood immediately why I moved to Alice Springs for another missionary assignment. Presently, I am living with the SVD community at the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church. This church was originally established in May 1929 by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, MSC. About ten years ago, I guess due to lack of personnel, the MSC withdrew from Central Australia, and turned over the ministry to the Divine Word Missionaries. In the parish, I serve as the Assistant Priest to a Polish SVD Parish Priest. Besides me, there is also and an Indonesian priest who is the Chaplain to the Aboriginal ministry. The SVD community here looks after two parishes, the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, and St. Teresa Church. St. Teresa is about an hour’s drive from the OLSH Church to the southwest. The road between the two churches is unpaved; as a result, whenever it rains, travelling between the two places becomes almost impassible. One might have to wait for sunshine when the road is dry. In the three years that I have been serving in this desert region, thanks to heavenly blessings and your constant prayers, my physical as well as spiritual health is abundant. I give thanks to God for the many prayers of VietCatholic readers. Besides the common cold now and then, I am very well, and above all, the missionary fire is energetically enkindled in my heart. 2. VietCatholic/Lan-Vy: Can you give us an idea of what your day in the Australian desert looks like? Michael Quang Nguyen, SVD: A typical day of my life in the desert is quite lively. In general I would celebrate Mass in the morning, if scheduled, followed by meetings: meeting with the parishioners, meeting with the members of the Interreligious in town, meeting with fellow priests, answering the phone if the secretary is not in his office, etc. In the morning, I would visit the Catholics in the Alice Spring Hospital, and in the afternoon drop by the Old Timers Village or Hetty Perkins, the two nursing homes in town for my weekly visit, or in the late afternoon stop by at the Alice Springs Prison to visit those who have gone down the wrong path. In the evening, I meet with other groups such as Legio Maria, Youth group, Bible group, St. Vincent de Paul, Parish Pastoral Council, or I teach Catechism classes. With these various activities, my day goes by quickly. But, there are also mornings where I don’t have any meetings, so I drive my car around the Aboriginal villages for pastoral activities; the farthest one is Yunedumu 289 kilometers east of Alice Springs. Closer villages include Gilleon Bore, Burt Creek, Corkwood, and Sandy Bore which lie along the Stuart Highway connecting Darwin and Adelaide. These pastoral trips may take one to four days. After finishing my work, I drive back to the home station at Alice Springs, where the routine activities again take place. 3. VietCatholic/Lan-Vy: Unfortunately, we have not had the opportunity to visit Alice Springs. Can you give us a picture of what this city looks like? Michael Quang Nguyen, SVD: Alice Springs is located in the Central Australian desert. There are about 28,000 inhabitants. In the summer, the temperature might reach to about 43-44 degrees Celcius. In the winter, the night temperature may fall to -1 or -2 degrees. Because it’s a small town, needless to say, everywhere I go, I bump into parishioners or friends, whether it’s taking a stroll on the street, going into a bookstore, a restaurant, or Department Store. Every where I go, I frequently hear my name called. Alice Springs is also a tourist town, where tourists from many countries come to visit. It is also a multi-cultural town, in which inhabitants include Aborigines, Caucasian Australians, Filipinos, Indians, Africans, and Pacifer Islanders. The Mass at Alice Springs is very special, in which people from various cultures stand together and respond in English. But after Mass, in front of the church, the Filipinos stand on one side, the Indians on the other. Caucasian Australians and other ethnic groups go to the parking lot and drive home. The Filipinos speak a mix of Tagalog and English. The Indians speak thier own languages. As for me, I stand in the middle. Once in a while, I drop by the Filipino group, speaking a few words to them. Then I move to the Indian group. It is interesting to listen to their conversation, to hear the stories of the Indian Catholics who are living far from home. As for Vietnamese in this town, there are only about ten families, three of which are Catholics. I am close to almost all of them. I often meet up with them for Vietnamese food – Spring rolls, Phở, Chick soup, Duck soup, Pork Intestine soup... Table of plenty! No matter if it’s Western New Year, Lunar New Year, or Christmas, we often get together for...food. A Vietnamese family here owns a restaurant called Hong Kong Restaurant. They are very welcoming of guests, especially the “orphaned” missionaries like me. On many occasions, returning from my trips to the Aboriginal villages, I would drop by the restaurant for a late tea. Alice Springs lies solitary in the middle of the desert. It is tiny compared to Melbourne. The main strip has a few shopping centers. Twenty minutes will take you through the CBD. That is why the people of Alice Springs are well known for their friendliness. When meeting one another, they shake hands and engage in conversation as if they’ve been friends all their life. When driving on the highway, the driver will often wave to the driver going the opposite way. Compared to the cities that I have lived in Saigon, San Jose, San Diego, Chicago, and Melbourne, I think that the people of Alice Springs are the most welcoming and friendly. 4. VietCatholic/Lan-Vy: Living among the aboriginals in the desert, have you had the experience of someone waking you up in the middle of the night to go hunting or build a camp fire with them? Michael Quang Nguyen, SVD: If speaking about activities with the Aboriginal people, there have been times in which I join in camp fires with them. The entire group goes into the desert just before the sun sets and has a Kangaroo BBQ. If we are lucky enough to have a moonless night, I can see a vast sky with a Milky Way galaxy stretched out before my eyes like a shiny river sparkling with millions of diamonds across the desert sky. It is extremely beautiful! Scenes such as this, people in the city will never get to see. Uniquely speaking, the Aboriginals here are not as boisterous as some other groups. They are quiet, but in that silence, there are thousands of things that they are communicating to one another. Actually they still preserve an ability to listen and recognize the meaning, the sound, and the language of silence that city people have lost. 5. VietCatholic/Lan-Vy: How are the lives of the Aboriginal people where you live? Michael Quang Nguyen, SVD: According to archaeological records, the Aboriginal people have been present on the Australian continent about 40,000 years. As you know, the Vietnamese civilization is only about 4,000 years. This number of 40,000 speaks of the impressive length of the Aboriginal people in Australia. I have attended seminars on the Aboriginal culture as well as read books, so I know that originally, the Aboriginal people of Central Australia were a nomadic people. They moved from place to place, hunting animals for food. Living in the desert, they depended on whatever nature provided for them. In the desert area where I am living now, there are plenty of bush bananas, bush tomatos, bush potatos, and other nutritious foods. This is the same situation as what our Vietnamese ancestors would say through the Proverb, “If heaven creates elephants, then heaven will also create grass.” In the Bible, before God created Adam, the Lord God had already created the Garden of Eden. In the same way, when God sent the Aboriginal people to Australia 40,000 years ago, the Lord God also gave them food provided by the land, for example, kangaroo, fish, bush fruits, and bush vegetables. The lives of the Aboriginal people were in general peaceful and happy. All of a sudden, their nomadic lives were altered by those who came from faraway lands leading to the story of the Stolen Generations. Just imagine our Vietnamese people living peacefully, then all of a sudden, foreigners came into our villages, took our children away, and sent them into orphanages to live. I make this comparison to help you picture a little bit the pain experienced by the Aboriginal people. This pain is still causing swelling and pus, and it will probably take some more time, whether long or short, before it starts to heal. Therefore, ministry with the Aboriginal people needs people who know how to listen without being judgmental, give without making calculations, be compassionate without making accusations, and share without holding back for oneself. 6. VietCatholic/Lan-Vy: What makes you most happy living in Alice Springs? Michael Quang Nguyen, SVD: The thing that makes me happy ever since I moved to Alice Springs is that both my physical and spiritual life have been blossomed and made great strides. Ever since I was ordained in 2002, more than ten years ago, I was preoccupied with teaching and seminarian formation. Towards the end of December 2009, my teaching ministry finished, and I moved to Alice Springs to begin my new ministry with the Aboriginal people in the Australian desert. Since then, I have taken regular trips with fellow Divine Word Missionaries into the Aboriginal villages. Some of my friends who are aware of my humorous personality often commented that the Aboriginal people would probably be very happy to meet a person like me. I ruminate about these comments for a while, and then respond, “I am not sure about this; however, what I am certain of is that each time I come back from a pastoral trip, I feel that I am happier than they are, because through the Aboriginal people, my missionary life has been profoundly enriched and become deeply meaningful. Truly speaking, in the seven years of teaching, I undboutedly learned many things. However, it has only been recently, from working with the Aboriginal people, that the reason why I left everything in 1991 to embark on the missionary journey has become real and tangible. If there was a question of who needs whom, I think honestly I have to admit that I need the Aboriginal people much more because without them, I would never have had the opportunity to experience my own missionary vocation... I guess because at heart, I am a missionary, my missionary life with the Aboriginal people of Australia has reenergized my spirit; indeed the unique ministry in the desert with the Aborginal has helped me to live and experience my missionary vocation. I think that I am greatly indebted to the Australian Aboriginal people. I need them and I love them. Before concluding this interview, once again, I would like to thank you, the VietCatholic readers, for your love and support for my writings, even if sometimes, the things I write do not make any sense, or are mediocre, or displeasing to some. May God continue to pour down blessings upon all the readers as well as the reporters and administrators of VietCatholic. May God bless the website of VietCatholic in its missionary endeavors, so that the Word of God can penetrate more deeply into the heart of each person. See you! And God bless! 7. VietCatholic/Lan-Vy: Thank you very much, Father, for your sincere sharings. Copyright @ 2013 by VietCatholic and Michael Nguyen, SVD
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 23:28:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015