SVD student Tin Trinh professed his final vows as a Divine Word Missionary this month and was ordained to the Diaconate, as three of his confreres renewed their temporary vows.

With the nation’s borders open once more, Tin’s parents were able to join him for the special occasion, travelling from Vietnam to be part of the occasion.

Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, was chief celebrant at the profession of vows, while Bishop Terence Curtin, Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne, was the chief celebrant and ordaining bishop at the Diaconate ordination the following day.

“Today we have four young men, after some years of discernment – their own and the discernment of their formators and their superiors – who have decided to come before the Lord, and before us, to profess final vows and renewal of their temporary vows,” said Fr Rass.

“So, thank you Peter, Neftali and Cuong, and of course Tin, who will be professing his final vows today. Thank you for your generous response to the call towards consecrated life, through which, and you’ve started this already, you will continue to seek the features of the face of Jesus. His features - his chaste life, his life of poverty and the obedient one, Jesus the Christ. At the end of the day, we hope you will keep this memory alive in your missionary endeavour.”

Fr Rass said many people tend to view religious vows as simply renunciations, the giving up of things, but he believed they were much more than that.

“The evangelical vows of poverty, chastity and obedience are each in their own unique way, a response from the confreres here, from the candidates, an acceptance of the mystery of Christ lived out through the Church and society,” he said.

“So, what you will witness in a few moments time is really a courageous act, an act of charity, an act of love on their part. For the God who first loved them … and us. It takes guts for someone to profess these three simple evangelical vows. And in fact, these vows do not limit their freedom for those who have consecrated their lives. In fact, they make true freedom possible.

“For example, they will be professing their life of poverty. Poverty tends to free us from the burden of possessions, from materialism and creates a culture towards trusting dependence upon God. Chastity. Now chastity is not a magical thing, it is hard work! But again, it creates a movement or a culture towards total intimacy with God. And, of course, obedience frees us to serve God’s people, to go wherever the Superior asks you to go.

“So, such is the great mystery of love – they are caught up in this love of God and they’re making a personal response. It’s their own response to follow Jesus through this simple consecrated life.”

Speaking after his profession of vows, Tin told the congregation that he remembered telling his mother about his vocation during a visit home after finishing university.

“One day my mum asked me, ‘Are you not going to work? Are you going to just stay here?’ I told my mum, ‘Mum, I want to be a Religious’. My mum looked at me and said, ‘Have you got a fever?’” he recalled, smiling.

“And after 10 years in the Congregation, with nearly four years in Vietnam and more than six years in Australia, I look back and I call it Vocation Fever.”

Tin thanked his family for their support throughout his vocational journey, paying special tribute to his grandmothers, one of whom had passed away the previous week.

“I would also like to thank my father and mother for giving me this life and for raising me and for always supporting me in this vocation. Thanks to God for that gift in my life. And also, this celebration can’t have happened without the support of many people who are present here. So, I really would like to express my sincere gratitude for your presence, your support, your prayers and I’d like to mention some of the people here.”

Tin also thanked Fr Rass and the provincial council, along with his rector and formators, teachers at Yarra Theological Union and those who taught him English as well as the Indonesian and Vietnamese choirs who sang at the vows liturgy.

Tin will serve his diaconate in Melbourne before his priestly ordination, followed by his first missionary assignment in Taiwan.