With great joy and celebration, on Monday April 24, 2023, Thi My Dung Nguyen was admitted as a postulant to the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM). Several members of My Dung’s family joined her and the Winnipeg RNDM Sisters in giving thanks for God’s fidelity, and for My Dung’s response.
Together we prayed, in the words of Joyce Rupp, that God would continue to pour transforming love into our lives
“Like a spring rain falling into the open soil, so your love and ours is mixed and mingled into an energizing oneness.”
Together we acknowledged that God’s
“presence is the power we need to grow and to change.”
We asked that God’s companioning of My Dung, and of each of us, would
“bless us all with confidence and quiet strength as we embrace this new journey together.”1
The Scripture Reading for the ceremony was from 1 Samuel 3:1:9 – God’s call of Samuel – and was proclaimed in English and Vietnamese. As a response to the Reading, The Magnificat was sung in Vietnamese.
Following that, we blessed oil and anointed My Dung for service, praying that God would give her
“wisdom, strength and a discerning heart for this next step in her vocational journey.”
We asked that God would
“bring her to a deeper understanding of the Gospel way, in the light of your servant Euphrasie Barbier, and lead her to the joy of a life fully committed to you.”
Our prayers for My Dung were multiple: that she might find direction and the fulfillment of her heart’s desire in this community; that her joys and sorrows, hopes and fears find welcome and peace here; that she find in us, sisters of Euphrasie Barbier, faithful companions on her journey; that her family and our community become true friends all along the way; and that God, who is always for My Dung, always alongside her, and within her, be a constant guide and her deepest companion.
The community then gathered around My Dung, laid hands on her, and prayed for/with her as we sang Joe Wise’s song: “Bathe her in Your Love”:
Bathe her in Your love,
Clothe her in Your care.
Send her along
with the wind and a song
and the rains of the earth in her hair.
Fold her in Your arms. Hold her close once more.
Colour her life with the calm and the strife,
that brings us all onto the shore.
… Light her way back home. Love her as your own.
For thus she has been, and will be again,
and is now, forever, Amen.
Being a postulant is the first stage of becoming a Sister of Our Lady of the Missions. During this year, My Dung is living in community with other Sisters, and learning more about participating in an RNDM way of life. On a daily basis – involving communal prayer, study, and service – she further discerns her vocation to religious life. Welcome My Dung!!
1 Joyce Rupp. The Cup of Our Life: A Guide to Spiritual Growth. Ave Maria Press 1997 & 2012.
Veronica Dunne is a Sister of our Lady of the Missions (RNDM), who has primarily worked as an educator and counsellor in institutional and community based settings in Canada. She has also served with the RNDMs outside of Canada in Senegal, Peru, and Aotearoa New Zealand.
A 2002 Doctor of Ministry graduate from the University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto School of Theology at the University of Toronto, she subsequently served as director of the Doctor of Ministry program at St. Stephen’s College at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her current research interests are in eco-theology and cosmology, and their intersections with indigenous cosmologies and spiritualties.
She presently serves on the RNDM leadership team in Canada.
Thanks so much Veronica and Thuong…you have captured the power and spirit of this historical moment, for us and for My Dung. Welcome again, My Dung; may your journey be full of your heart’s desire.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing a beautiful celebration!
Sandy, thanks for sharing this with friends. Veronica, this is a very lovely article. Sounds like this was a truly beautiful celebration to welcome My Dung into such a faithful and creative community of women. My Dung, welcome – the RNDMs our wise, witty and wonderful women! You will find solid ground and fertile soil in your journey with them. In the words of J. Philip Newell – May you find God’s “Presence beckoning to you from the heart of life”.
Peace,
Charlene
Welcome, My Dung!
Congratulations, My Dung! May you continue to be enriched in your beautiful journey! ❤️