Hoang Son Vu

Then when he was attending University, Hoang met a priest who liked table tennis and the two started playing the game together. The priest started mentoring Hoang and became his spiritual guide. The priest’s younger sister, who is a religious sister, also helped him find direction for his life. With their guidance, he gradually became more involved in the Church community. He joined the choir and felt inspired by their service to the poor. The sister asked him one day if he ever considered being a priest. He was surprised and felt challenged by her question. “I said ‘are you kidding me?’ I never thought about that before,” he said. He took a lot of time to consider the idea, explore religious life and discern whether it was something he felt called to pursue.

Hoang was seriously thinking about becoming a priest when he learned about the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). He entered formation in Nha Trang, Vietnam, and later immigrated to California with his family. Hoang made new friends in the United States and continued playing competitive table tennis. Still, he says he didn’t find real happiness with the party lifestyle that most of his peers enjoyed. He was winning matches and even taking home some prize money, but it felt like something was missing in his life.