1. Why is this Five Ways for two months? On Oct. 18, I fell down the final four steps in our indoor stairway at St. Mary’s Rectory, Georgetown, MA, breaking the humerus bone in my left shoulder. The Oblates brought me to our rehab center in Tewksbury the next day, and I have been slowly recovering. Dec. 1 is my final visit to the orthopedic specialist, so I hope to return to St. Mary’s on late Sunday, Dec. 7, to help with the holy day of Dec. 8. Prayers welcome for a complete healing.
2. Children and joy: Question: What kind of little girl was your mom? Answers. First, my mom was always my mom and not any of that other stuff. Second, I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy. Third, they say she used to be nice from Fr. Boucher, Father Gloat Gleanings, 2, p. 118.
3. On Thursday, Nov. 27, Pope Leo will visit Turkey, meeting Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, and other Christian leaders, to celebrate the 1700th anniversary of the Nicene Creed. Pope Leo just published an inspiring, short (6 pp. of text) Apostolic Letter, “In Unitate Fidei, on the 1700th Anniversary of the Council of Nicea.” The final, 12th paragraph is unusually joyful, full of the Holy Spirit and ecumenism. Please Google it, and pray for the safety of all, especially as the Pope goes to troubled Lebanon.
CNEWA (Catholic Near East Welfare Association), in its ONE magazine, will be with the pope and putting on the internet many photos. It too may be googled.
4. Yesterday we celebrated the feast of St. Andrew Dung-Lac and his 117 companion canonized saints, representing over 120,000 martyrs of Vietnam. The item below rejoices in how many young Vietnamese today are turning to Christianity. We Oblates of Mary Immaculate have many young members in Vietnam.
Many thanks to those who commented on the Sept. 30 Five Ways. It will soon be posted on the website Mission-Unity-Dialogue, http://www.harrywinter.org, which is slowly being improved. May we all have a happy and holy Thanksgiving.
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2025 at 08:06:53 AM EST
Subject: 5 Continents by 15: High Schoolers can be Missionaries Too!
Read the powerful witness of a young lay missionary in MISSION Magazine!
The Mission Is Love: The Church Among The Forgotten They are energetic. They are excited. But what truly defines the young Catholics in Vietnam is their deep devotion to the Eucharist. In the latest edition of MISSION magazine, we head to the young and vibrant Church in Vietnam. Even though the Church here is still fairly young, its youth Eucharistic movement has over 500,000 active members, children who attend Mass and participate in Eucharistic adoration daily. For a small village in the central highlands of Vietnam, 5 A.M. can be the loudest hour of the day. Locusts chirping at deafening levels, roosters crowing at the far corners of the cluster of brick and dirt homes, and the rustling of over 500 people making their way through dirt streets to the humble church sitting at the center of the village. Some walk, others are carried, others make their way in wheelchairs driven by hand-powered wheels. The priest preparing for Mass has visited countless times, knowing the faithful in the crowd are rarely able to celebrate the sacraments when he is home in Florida. He speaks Vietnamese with a handful of those who learned the common language, even though their families and communities speak one of the 54 known ethnic dialects in the area. Yet despite not being able to communicate verbally, they all share a common language: love. For the past 20 years, Father Tri Pham has quietly returned to this small village in Kon Tum, bringing food, medical care, and most importantly: the love of God in the Eucharist to hundreds of people suffering from leprosy. “What impacts me the most,” Father Tri said, “is their hunger for the Eucharist. Money is important, but it’s nothing compared to giving them the Bread of Life. When I celebrate Mass in these villages, the people light up with joy. That’s what stays with me.” The story of this Vietnamese-American priest is one of several in the Fall edition of MISSION Magazine that is focused on this Asian nation of 100 million inhabitants, 7 percent of whom are Catholics. The country has an estimated 8,000 priests and 10,000 seminarians, which means it has one of the highest vocations-per-capita rates in the world. The Church of Vietnam is also one that has suffered much, with an estimated 130,000 Vietnamese Catholics martyred for their faith and decades of communist repression. Want to Read More? Click Here! “Not everyone can go. But everyone can be a missionary.” We hope this issue of MISSION Magazine serves as a reminder of our Baptismal calling to be missionaries. Pope Leo XIV, who served most of his life as a missionary before being elected as the 266th successor of St. Peter, has reiterated this invitation from his very first remarks to the world, when overlooking St. Peter’s Square, he said: “Together, we must look for ways to be a missionary Church…to be missionaries.” Discover the Beauty of Pope Leo’s Missions: Subscribe Today!MISSION Magazine: Sharing Stories of the Missions since 1951. Subscribe to MISSION Magazine to receive more stories and celebrate the powerful, real, ongoing work of the Pope’s Missions across the globe. The Pontifical Mission Societies USA | 70 West 36th Street, 8th Floor | New York | NY | 10018 | 212-563-8700 UnsubscribeManage Preferences
