Wednesday August 01, 2018

Seed of faith grows into priesthood

Vocations

South Australia’s newest priest, Father Hau Le, writes about his path to the priesthood which he says has been possible through the growing awareness of God’s presence in his life, culminating in the ‘crescendo of ordination’.

Wednesday August 01, 2018

Wednesday August 01, 2018 Comments

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Growing up I enjoyed doing whatever kids enjoyed doing: sport, games, pranks, reading, movies and listening to music.

But underneath it all, there was a constant presence of God as prayer and Mass was practised regularly in our family, and I thank God for this as the faith had to start somewhere.

I became an altar boy in primary school and very soon, gone were the days of daydreaming in the pews as I served at the altar.

I had the best experience and although I did not understand it all, the reverence shown by the priest and all the people, made me realise that there was something greater here.

And since I enjoyed life as it was, to fathom that there was something greater still, piqued my interest.

Everything that I have done since those days in my childhood have been an attempt to discover God: the questioning of my faith, the studies that I undertook, and the participation in various Catholic groups and events.

Although, I have had my fair share of struggles and challenges, it seemed that the seed of faith planted at that young age had grown quietly behind the scenes.

I always found myself having frequent recourse to God in prayer and the sacraments.

Throughout this time, I realised that faith went far beyond the walls of the church through the witness to the faith of those around me: my parents, my sisters, my friends, the Christian Brothers at my school, the faithful, the religious, and the priests.

Living out their faith in a vocational way was something that inspired me.

All of these significant people were gathered together in one place on the day of my ordination, and in one glance you could say that my life flashed before my eyes, and at that moment I gladly died to myself in service to the people of God.