Fr. Duc Le, SVD

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For many young people, there is a sense of security in planning for their future, identifying the steps to achieve their goals and setting out to make it all a reality. Fr. Duc Le, SVD says he felt that way once, too, but his formation with the Society of the Divine Word taught him to be less rigid with his expectations about his future and to trust God’s plan for him.

Fr. Duc was born in Vietnam. He’s the oldest of five children from a deeply faith-filled family. After graduating from high school in 2006, he started discerning a religious vocation and learned about the Divine Word Missionaries. He continued thinking about religious life with the SVD as he attended college from 2007 to 2011. During that time, Fr. Duc says he noticed a big difference between the big city lifestyle and the quiet community where he was raised. Life was more convenient, with quick access to food, public transit and bars. For a short time, he felt tempted to abandon his vocation and trade it for a comfortable life in the city.

“But in the end, I thought about my time with the SVD events and activities, and I recognized that giving time to others more freely was a better way for me,” he said.

In 2012, he entered formation with the Divine Word Missionaries. Then in 2016, the formation board of Vietnam Province sent him to Australia to continue his theology studies. In Melbourne, Fr. Duc faced a series of challenges. The first was an essential need to communicate with the people around him. He found the language very difficult to understand. “People told jokes but I did not get it. People were smiling, and I did not know what was going on,” he said. Although it was hard at first, he says the experience helped prepare him for future ministries and provided valuable lessons.

Fr. Duc’s next big obstacle came right after he was ordained a deacon. He moved to Mary, Mother of the Church Parish for his pastoral placement and just a few days later, Sydney went into a lockdown because of the COVID pandemic. Even the churches were closed. Shortly after that, Fr. Duc was attending a retreat when the restrictions tightened even further – this time residents of the greater Sydney area were told they couldn’t travel more than 10 kilometers.

Instead of ministering to people in the parish, as he had expected, Fr. Duc found himself spending nearly all of his time at the main house where the head offices for the Province were located. That’s also where the elderly SVD members live. During that time, Fr. Duc helped out by assisting in liturgical matters, preaching at the small private chapel that senior SVDs attended and caring for the grounds. He also took over as the cook, since the travel restrictions prevented the usual chef from coming to work. He even learned how to give haircuts to the elderly SVD priests and brothers!

Fr. Duc said his experience in the midst of the pandemic was a clear example of missionary life. Divine Word Missionaries serve in liturgical matters, but he said their ministry goes far beyond that. All of their work is a response to the needs of the time.

Having professed Perpetual Vows as a Divine Word Missionary and being ordained to the priesthood in 2021, Fr. Duc was assigned to the Chicago Province. Today, he is responding to the needs of the SVD by serving as a vocation director in the United States.