Dcn. Phúc's Blog: My Vocation Story (Part 4)

In Part 3 (https://dcnphuc2019.blogspot.com/2024/01/my-vocation-story-part-3-growing-in.html), I shared how God knew exactly what I needed to go in my newfound Catholic faith through ministries such as the Knights of Columbus and Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP). In this blog, I will share God's call to the diaconate.

As I prepared for the Easter Vigil in 2008, I was asked to choose a saint name. After much discernment, the Holy Spirit guided me in choosing Saint Andrew, the apostle, as my saint. What inspired me to choose Saint Andrew is this passage from the Gospel of Mark (Mk 1:14-20):

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."

I desire in my heart to lead others to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the same way that my wife and countless others led me to Christ. I desire to come and follow Jesus and become a "fisher of men". And in was in this spirit that God called me to the diaconate. Being a deacon in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ would be my second vocation, right after my vocation as a husband.

It was the fall of 2012 and I had just lost my job at a CPA firm. In the midst of looking for a job, I felt this peace envelop me. Then, at Mass one morning, Deacon Jack Murphy came to Saint Albert the Great to invite men in the parish (and their wives) to discern the diaconate. After Mass, a friend became up and said to me, "you are going to talk with Deacon Jack, right?" And so I did. One the drive home after Mass, I shared with Theresa that I felt God calling me to the diaconate. I got her blessing and we attended the Information Sessions at the Diocese of Austin Pastoral Center to learn more. Before long, we started the application and interview process that would take all of 2013.

It is interesting to me how God calls me to himself during the some of the darkest moments in my wife. Like when He called me home to Rome that December in 2006 or when He called me to discern the diaconate that December in 2012. In December of 2013, my wife and I lost our child due to a miscarriage. We named our child Jude. As we struggled to cope with our loss, we received a letter from Bishop Vasquez inviting us to start Diaconal Formation in January of 2014. . . we trusted in God and began our journey in Formation. . .