Meet transitional deacon candidate Truong Pham

May 9, 2020

Twelve men will be ordained May 16 as transitional deacons, six for New Orleans

On May 16, 12 men will be ordained as transitional deacons – the final step before ordination to the priesthood next year – at a 10 a.m. Mass celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond at St. Louis Cathedral. Six of the transitional deacons will be ordained for the Archdiocese of New Orleans; the remaining six will be ordained for other dioceses in the U.S. and Africa. The Clarion Herald asked the diaconate candidates for the Archdiocese of New Orleans to reflect on their service, particularly in light of the coronavirus pandemic. They also were asked to reflect on the reasons they selected the person who will vest them with their deacon’s dalmatic during the Ordination Mass. The Mass will be broadcast live on WLAE-TV and live-streamed at nolacatholic.org.

Truong Pham

Age: 32
Home parish: Assumption of Mary, Avondale
Diaconate internship: St. Luke the Evangelist Parish, Slidell

Who will vest you and why did you select him?

Father Jeffrey Montz will vest me. He is probably one of the most spiritual, while still down-to-earth, priests I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He is well-suited as the director of eminary. I have been slowly learning from him over the years on different aspects of the spiritual life, things that are not only covered in textbooks but actually lived. There were a number of candidates who came to mind for me, but only one person can do the vesting, and God’s providence pointed me to Father Jeff.

What has your seminary discernment been like?

It has been the greatest joy as well as the greatest struggle. The formation of seminary is one that someone can just passively go through. I sometimes tell friends and family that I have more gray hair now than before entering seminary; however, I take it as a good thing because it is a sign that I have put effort into my formation, much more than anything I have ever done before.

I will sugarcoat it and say that seminary formation is like a walk in the park or a leisure picnic – it’s not – but discerning priesthood by entering formal discernment has been the single best decision I have ever made. The “yes” that I have given to God has been returned by many folds.

How challenging have the last two months been since the seminary went into lockdown? Do you have any thoughts about how the world may have changed?

To be honest, I feel a bit out of touch with the outside world by this point, not having set foot off of campus for a couple months. I miss not seeing friends and family, but my brothers and I are fervently praying each day that the church’s faithful would weather this storm and come out stronger. As seminarians, especially with the current circumstances, the one greatest gifts we can offer to the church is our prayer.

It has been very heartening to see seminarians at various hours of the day (and night) in front of the Blessed Sacrament. Even when individual seminarians may be experiencing personal struggles with the current situation (irregular academic schedules, constant reports about the virus, meetings concerning schedule changes, familial concerns, etc.), Notre Dame Seminary is still striving to maintain the integrity of an apostolic community.

What are you most looking forward to in your ministry as a deacon, knowing there still may be some restrictions on the size of the parish congregation for weeks or months?

I look forward to being able to exercise the office of deacon as enabled and entrusted by the church (giving blessings, assisting at the altar, preaching, teaching, etc.). What this entails, I entrust to the Lord. It’s probable that my first homily will be to a virtual congregation. I may need to take extra precautions when ministering to the sick.

Maybe I can minister to families only from the front steps of their homes. However, this is priesthood. Whatever the conditions happen to be in the setting of ministry, I pray to be able to stay faithful to the vocation that has been given to me.