Fr. Anthony Duc Le, SVD

Fr. Anthony Duc Le, SVD, was born in Vietnam and came to the United States with his family. Fr. Anthony entered the Divine Word Missionaries after completing his college education at the University  of California, Berkeley. He professed First Vows as a Divine Word Missionary in 2000 after completing his Novitiate in Techny, IL. Fr. Anthony was ordained a priest in 2006 and was assigned to Thailand as his first missionary assignment.

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” In almost every young person’s life, sooner or later you will encounter this all-important question.

When I was in junior high school, I would answer that I wanted to be an astronaut. A few years later, I said I wanted to be a writer. When I was in high school, I thought about being a psychologist. Once I entered college, I set out to be a doctor. But in the end, I became none of those things. I became a missionary. 

Being a missionary is probably not on the list of career choices for most young people, but it is one of the most challenging, rewarding and adventurous things that one can do in life.

After I was ordained a priest in 2006 in Chicago, I was sent to my first mission assignment in Thailand. When friends and family heard that I would be serving in Thailand, they said to me: “How are you going to learn to read that weird language? They don’t even write with ABCs. The words are all swirly.”

I arrived in Thailand in early 2007 and began Thai language studies. As it turned out, learning Thai was not all that bad. The more I got into the new language, the more I began to admire the beauty of it. The more I understood the language, the more I began to understand Thai culture and society. I appreciate the respectful way that Thai people put their hands in front of them to “wai” when greeting one another. I also understand how religion, superstition and traditions are all woven into the people’s way of thinking. I came to understand why so many Thai movies are of the scary genre. 

After I finished my Thai language study, I began to venture into the mission field in a small province in the northeast of Thailand called Nong Bua Lamphu. This province has only one Catholic Church, which is dedicated to St. Michael. It was built six years ago by another Divine Word Missionary, Brother Damien Lunders. Bro. Damien also built the Mother of Perpetual Help AIDS Center next to the church. 

In the six years the church has been open, six priests have worked here. I am the seventh. Everyone is hoping that I will serve here long enough to create stability for the small Catholic community and help it to develop. Out of sixty-five million people in Thailand, there are 300,000 Catholics–not even one half of one percent. In Nong Bua Lamphu province, there are only about twenty Catholic families.

I came to Nong Bua Lamphu on a hot April afternoon to take over the position of pastor. I live in a house next to an orphanage for children with HIV that is operated by the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa’s sisters. There are twenty-one children in the orphanage, nineteen boys and two girls ranging from five to fifteen years of age. 

Next to the church is the Mother of Perpetual Help AIDS Center and hospice. In the short time since I began my mission work in this province, I have come to realize that my decisions to follow the missionary vocation, and to choose Thailand as the first country in which I would serve after my final vows and priestly ordination, were decisions that must have occurred within God’s providence. 

Here I see what it is like for missionaries–Bro. Damien, the sisters and myself–to serve our brothers and sisters who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. It is very challenging but worthwhile work. We missionaries know in our hearts that the work of caring for people who are poor, who are often left out of society and feared by others, is exactly the kind of work that we as Christians and as missionaries should be doing. 

In fact, it is not just missionaries who feel this way. Those who collaborate in the work feel the same. A woman named Wasana, who takes care of the patients in the hospice, shared with me: “Right now, I am fully committed to serving the patients. I am proud to be able to help them regain their health and strength so that they can return to live happily in society, in their family and in the community. The smile of the patients is the source of strength for me to carry out my work.”

I understand what she means. When I first came to Nong Bua Lamphu, I saw Tum. He had been admitted to the hospice a short time before I arrived. Tum had lost the use of his legs and they were very thin. He used his arms to move about. I said to Bro. Damien, “Wow, he’s in really bad shape.” Bro. Damien replied: “You should have seen him when he first came. He couldn’t even feed himself. Now he’s eating and moving about on his own. That’s already a great improvement.” 

Gradually, through encouragement, a little pushing and medical treatment, Tum began to gain more strength. At first, he started to train himself using a walker. Now he is able to walk on his own. As he becomes stronger and more confident, the smiles appear more often as well. I think it is smiles like his that provide the energy for people like Wasana.  

Wasana, by the way, is not a Catholic. Yet almost every day, late at night, she goes into church to pray. She encourages the patients, whoever they are, to go to church to pray and ask for blessings.  

Besides hospice work, The Mother of Perpetual Help Center continues to expand its other outreach programs in the province. Every week, there are HIV/AIDS support group meetings. A cattle project provides families with HIV/AIDS with the means to make a living. There is a food assistance program and children receive school fees, uniforms and supplies. 

Because St. Michael Church is so closely connected with the Mother of Perpetual Help Center, the issue of HIV/AIDS is an important factor in pastoral work there. I feel a tremendous sense of happiness when I see people now come to church regularly who once were afraid to come to Mass because they would be near people with HIV.

I give God thanks that a young girl with HIV from the orphan’s home asked to be catechized and baptized. She comes up to proclaim the Scriptures during Mass or serve at the altar without being afraid that others will make fun of her. 

I give God thanks when teenagers in the parish declare they are not afraid of people with HIV, and they do not mind sitting and eating with their friends who are HIV-positive.

I feel a great sense of gratitude to God when I see people with HIV and without HIV sitting together, praying together and coming up to receive Holy Communion or blessings together.

I feel amazed that a Buddhist man in the hospital said to me, “Father, on weekdays, if you don’t have anyone to do the readings in Mass, I can come do them for you.”

Another man, named Chai, came from the Nong Khai province. He became infected with HIV because he frequented bars and brothels. Almost every afternoon, he comes to Mass. Since Chai is not a Catholic, he comes forward to receive a special blessing when it is time for Communion. Recently, he left the center to return to his home in Nong Khai because he felt strong again. He came to say good-bye to me, and I blessed him to send him off. As I walked into the rectory, I looked back and saw Chai standing to pray one more time before the statue of Jesus in front of the church. Chai never became Catholic, but I feel that as a result of his stay in the hospice, he came to have faith in God and knew that he could come to God for help and blessings.

As a priest and a missionary, it gives me great joy to see that, in so many ways, our small Catholic community in Nong Bua Lamphu is learning how to get over fears and prejudices in order to live out our Christian calling to be true witnesses to the love and unity of God. I think there is no better way to show others the true meaning of being followers of Jesus Christ than by demonstrating our love and acceptance of all people.

For me, the real essence of being a missionary is to make Christ known to others by words and actions. In the end, most of the people I encounter in my missionary life will not become Catholic or even think about becoming Catholic. In some way, I hope I have helped them know who Jesus Christ is and I hope that they know I do what I do because of him.