The Spring Session for the Transition to Ministry & Apostolic Community (TMAC ) program was held at Mother of Perpetual Help Retreat House in Houston.

There were a total of 21 participants, including Fathers Pete Schavitz, Bob Wojtek, and Dominic Pham. Fr. Dominic was chosen toaccompany the Extra-Patriam participants in the program when Fr. Thomas Ha was elected Vicar of the Vice Province.

The Unit breakdown was: 8 from Extra-Patriam, 8 from Baltimore, 1 from Canada, and 1 from Denver. With the permission of their Unit’s leadership, there were 4 absentees: Huy Vu and Chung Tran (Denver), Ken Stigner (Baltimore), and Viet Nguyen (Extra- Patriam).

Monday was the travel date, with folks arriving throughout the day and into the evening, when confreres gathered for some pizza and wings.

Tuesday began with the usual check-in format in three small groups. Fathers Pete, Bob and Dominic each accompanied one of the groups.

The theme for Tuesday afternoon and evening was “The Redemptorist Brother,” presented by Br. Jeffrey Rolle. He spoke about the Brothers in light of the recent General Chapter, and provided some historical perspectives in relation to the Brothers. He also shared some of his own personal history and experiences with the group.

Wednesday, the usual free day to get together and go out, has always been a good opportunity for recreation and bonding among the younger confreres. Some went to eat, others went to the movies or to NASA.

Fr. Dominic Long, Vice Provincial, presented the history of theExtra-Patriam Vice Province on Thursday. He spoke of the Vietnamese reality before the fall of Saigon in 1975, after the fall,
and the development of the Vietnamese Redemptorist Extra-Patriam Vice Province.

In the afternoon, we had an evaluation session to look at the various aspects of our time together. In general, we received positive feedback.

Various topics (and possible presenters) that surfaced for future meetings were: Preparation for Leadership –with a focus on preparing new pastors/superiors (Kevin Zubel, Ako Walker), Public Speaking (Maurice Nutt, Peter Hill), Multi-Cultural Ministry (Patrick Keyes), Liturgy and Music (Matt Allman, Kevin O’Neil, Mark Owen, Larry Lujan, John Schmidt), Marriage Counseling, Conflict Resolution (Bryan Silva, OMI), Work/Life Balance & Wellness, Youth/Young Adult Ministry (Santo Arrigo), LGBTQ Welcoming/Ministry (Gregory Wiest, Francis Gargani, Bryan Massingale), and Ministry to the Sick/Dying (Tony Bidgood).

At the Thursday Eucharist, we blessed Michael Cunningham and Ako Walker, who are completing their 5 years in the program. Thursday evening, in place of the usual Holy Hour, we celebrated the Reader’s Service of Vespers led by Br. Eumir Bautista (Ukranian Rite).

Later that evening, the host community of the Extra-Patriam confreres sponsored a Seafood Feast in honor of three participants: Deacon Nguyen Hai Dang, who was ordained to the priesthood on May 20; and two confreres celebrating their first anniversary of ordination to the priesthood.

Some lay folks as well as the students returning from the Student Gathering in Oconomowoc joined the festivities and helped put a dent into the abundance of crawfish, crabs, shrimp, corn on thecob, and sausage. A good time for all!

After Mass and breakfast on Friday morning, the exodus began as each one returned to his apostolic community. A number of TMAC participants as well as the Co-Directors of TMAC, Fathers Bob and Pete, stayed to share in the celebration of Deacon Hai’s ordination to the priesthood.

The next TMAC session has been scheduled November 13-17, in Houston.