Dominican novices share vocation stories

Friday, Jul. 29, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — St. Catherine of Siena Newman Center hosted the Western Dominican Province novice master and five novices July 8-12 as part of the young men’s formation; they shared their stories during the weekend Masses.

St. Catherine of Siena Parish is served by priests from the Western Dominican Province.

Brother Joseph Marie Dinh, who was born in Saigon, Vietnam and lived there for 21 years, came to the United States arriving in Texas six years ago. He was raised Catholic but was not practicing; he preferred having fun with his friends, he said. In college he prayed for the perfect girlfriend, who came into his life. Then on the day his grandfather died, he remembered his words, “Don’t give up on God,” Brother Joseph said. 

“I didn’t know how to break up with my girlfriend, but when I told her I was thinking about becoming a priest, she said she wanted to become a religious sister,” Brother Joseph said, who then enrolled in theology classes and attended a Dominican discernment weekend, called a “Come and See.” 

Last year, after graduating from the University of Houston, he joined the Order of Preachers. 

On the other hand, Brother Columban Mary Hall, from Houston, Texas, was raised Catholic and thought about becoming a priest as a young boy, he said. As he was entering college, he got lost looking for the University of San Francisco. Seeing a Catholic church, he went inside for directions and to pray, he saw a group of men dressed in white praying vespers.

“I was transfixed. They were Dominican friars; that became my parish,” Brother Columban said. “The more involved in the parish I became, people would ask if I had thought about becoming a priest.” 

Through a vocations director, Brother Columban attended a Dominican Come and See, read about St. Dominic and “I was blown away by him. I wanted to join, but I was told to wait,” he said; after applying again, he was accepted. 

Brother Damien Dominic Nguyen also came to the U.S. from Saigon, arriving in San Francisco when he was 16. After high school he went to the University of California Berkeley to pursue a degree in electrical engineering and computer science.

When he was younger he attended weekly Mass and played the piano for the choir, but in his junior year of college he quit going to church, thinking it was a waste of time, he said. 

“After five months I started to miss Sunday Mass; I was filled with guilt and went to Confession,” he said. “It was one of the happiest days of my life. A friend of mine is a lay Dominican and I discerned with the Dominicans, started attending Mass, adoration and compline at St. Albert Parish and learning about the Dominicans and here I am.”

St. Albert Parish is a Dominican parish near UC Berkeley campus. 

Brother Scott Norgaard had been living his dream for two years working for a major consulting firm when he started to feel empty. Although he has a degree in economics from Arise University in Houston, Texas, and had a vision of owning his own consulting firm, he decided to look into the priesthood, remembering a Come and See he had attended in college, he said.

“I eventually met the Dominicans and their way of life really touched me,” he said. “Preaching and teaching for the conversion of people and the salvation of souls: What could be more important than that?”

Brother Patrick Rooney’s vocation was influenced by a lecture he heard as a high school junior by Catholic apologist Tim Staples, he said. Because he was interested in apologetics and philosophy, he attended Thomas Aquinas College in southern California. 

“My roommate wanted to become a priest,” Brother Patrick said. “He influenced me a lot and taught me to love the liturgy and Gregorian chant; I joined the choir. I wanted to become a monk, but I also wanted to be a philosopher. In the next few months I found out that I could be both in the Dominican Order, but disobedience was holding me back.” 

Brother Patrick was reluctant to take the vow of obedience because he thought he might get assigned to something boring, he said. “Then one day I prayed and put myself into the hands of the Church and I’ve been at peace ever since,” he said.