An occasion of great joy

Bishop dedicates St. Andrew Dung-Lac Public Association church

By Dan McWilliams

One of the fastest-growing communities in the Diocese of Knoxville now has a church to call its own.

Bishop Mark Beckman on Aug. 23 dedicated a church on James Lane in Chattanooga for the St. Andrew Dung-Lac Public Association of the Faithful, a Vietnamese Catholic community founded in 2017, named then for St. Faustina, and now several hundred members strong. St. Andrew Dung-Lac is one of 117 Vietnamese martyrs.

The dedication Mass, during which the bishop blessed the holy water used to sprinkle the walls and the people and consecrated the altar, drew a standing-room-only gathering of the faithful.

Bishop John Tran, an auxiliary bishop of Atlanta, concelebrated the Mass along with Father Nick Tran of the St. Andrew Dung-Lac association and Father David Carter, rector of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga and moderator for the St. Andrew Dung-Lac community. Deacon Sean Smith, diocesan chancellor, and more than 20 additional priests and deacons took part in the Mass.

Father Andrew Crabtree and Deacon Hicks Armor served as masters of ceremonies. Women religious attended the Mass, as did members of the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth in their colorful uniforms. Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus from assemblies 1084 and 3250 provided an honor guard.

The new church for the Vietnamese Catholics was formerly St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church.

Bishop Beckman began the dedication Mass outside the front doors of the church.

“Enter the gates of the Lord with thanksgiving, His courts with songs of praise,” he said, quoting Psalm 100.

The bishop then blessed the water used in the dedication rite.

“O God, for whom every creature comes forth into the light of life, you accompany all people with such great love that not only o you nourish them with fatherly care, but you mercifully cleanse them of their sins with the dew of charity and constantly lead them back to Christ the head,” Bishop Beckman said. “For in your merciful plan, you established that those who descend as sinners into the sacred waters to die with Christ should rise free from guilt and be made His members, heirs with Him to an eternal reward.

“Sanctify, therefore, with your blessing this water which you have created, that, sprinkled on us and on the walls of this church, it may be a sign of the cleansing waters of salvation in which we have been washed in Christ and made a temple of your Spirit. Grant that, with all of our brothers and sisters who will celebrate the divine mysteries in this church, we may come at last to the heavenly Jerusalem, through Christ our Lord.”

The bishop spoke in his homily of the day’s Gospel reading from Matthew 16, where Jesus at Caesarea Philippi calls Peter to be the foundation of His Church.

“At the beginning of our liturgy today, we used holy water, blessed water, upon which we sprinkled you to remind you of your baptism in Christ and also to sprinkle the walls of this church, now to be dedicated to the glory of God,” Bishop Beckman said. “At the moment of your baptism, the Lord Jesus called you, each one of you, to follow Him. Just as He called Simon on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He said to him, ‘Simon, come and follow me.’ And we know that Simon and the others left behind their belongings, their homes, everything in their life that they were used to, to follow the Lord Jesus.

“And we arrive today at Caesarea Philippi, a most important place in the Gospel. In the Gospel of Mark, it is the great hinge. Who do you say that I am? And the Gospel of Matthew also heard today, a very important moment in the Gospels.”

That place in the Gospel is “so important that when I went to the Holy Land, I wanted to go to Caesarea Philippi,” the bishop said, before telling of his disappointment as “I looked over my list of places to see that Caesarea Philippi was not included. The second time I went, I said, I must go. And so, we all got on the bus one day and took a long ride together. It’s about as far away from Jerusalem as Jesus will go. And there, when we arrived, a place of great beauty, the base of Mount Hermon, where all the snow melts and the waters come down, eventually flowing into the river, down to the Sea of Galilee, then to the Dead Sea eventually.

“And we stood over this immense rock cliff, and I imagined at that moment Jesus looking at the Twelve Apostles and asking them that question: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ It was Simon who said, ‘You are the Christ, the son of the living God,’ and because of that, Jesus will say to him, ‘Simon, you are Petros, you are rock, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ As we stood before this immense stone cliff, it struck me that the disciples must have been astonished. This human being, this fisherman, is now rock. He is going to be the foundation of the Church? We know Peter’s humanity, don’t we? The only way that Simon Peter could really be the rock for the Church is because of the bond he shared with the Lord Jesus Christ, his faith, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

‘A resilient community of faith’

Those gathered for the dedication Mass hold the same belief, Bishop Beckman said, also pointing out an appropriate construction material in St. Andrew Dung-Lac Church.

“Brothers and sisters, we are here today because we believe Jesus is the Son of God, don’t we? He is the foundation of the Church. And because of that, Simon Peter became the cornerstone. I love the fact that we have so many stone columns today, a stone altar, because we are reminded that all of us are living stones. … They’re part of God’s holy people,” he said.

“And here in this place, all moments of our life will be touched by the sacred mystery of a God who chose to become human and feeds us with His own body and blood, very soon at this new altar to be consecrated for that sacred purpose. What a day of great joy. I know you all have waited a long time for this church, and thanks be to God we are here today celebrating this great mystery, and for that we can always say thank you for the many blessings and gifts of life.”

Bishop Tran followed Bishop Beckman and delivered a homily in Vietnamese on the Gospel reading.

At the end of Mass, before the community announcements were read, Bishop Beckman made what he called “the most important announcement.”

“St. Faustina is no longer the name of this community, but now it is St. Andrew Dung-Lac. So, by proclamation, the Vietnamese martyrs are now your patron saints,” he concluded, with a round of applause following his words.

Bishop Beckman said that “it is indeed also a true blessing to have so many people from throughout the world who have gathered here from all over the planet, literally. I also understand there are a few hundred people outside the church building as well, and I know that others have joined us on the livestream, so what a cause of joy today.”

Father Carter then took the microphone.

“Bishop Beckman, as the hopefully temporary moderator of the newly named St. Andrew Dung-Lac Public Association, we are so grateful for your presence and for consecrating this church and this altar for the use of this community,” he said. “What a joy it is to celebrate, and I thank Bishop Tran from Atlanta for his presence and his wisdom in helping us, and for being here today. I thank Father Nick Tran, who has led this community for many years, and my gratitude goes out to all in this community, for all the many who have helped to make this day a reality. There are too many to name, but you can see just by all of the things that are here, all of the things that you will experience today and have experienced today, many people came together.

“And it’s because this is a resilient community of faith who believe in Jesus Christ and have come together to worship Him and are strong in His name. And we are grateful to be a part of the Diocese of Knoxville as the St. Andrew Dung-Lac Public Association. Thank you, Bishop.”

Another ovation followed Father Carter’s remarks.

‘One of the happiest days for a diocesan shepherd’

A reception with plenty of Vietnamese food took place under tents outside the church after Mass.

Bishop Beckman spoke before the reception on how a church dedication is one of the happiest days for a diocesan shepherd and for the diocese itself.

“Absolutely—there was such joy in the place, and I feel like this is such an occasion of great joy, a reminder that all of us are living stones being built into the temple of God. This is a very sizable community, a few hundred it looks like,” he said. “Incredibly, apparently there were even a couple of hundred people outside the church who couldn’t even get in, so a very large gathering, people from all over the planet.”

The Chattanooga Vietnamese community’s patron is most important to them.

“St. Andrew Dung-Lac is one of the principal Vietnamese martyrs, he and his companions, so they mean a great deal to the Vietnamese community,” Bishop Beckman said.

Father Tran said that the St. Andrew Dung-Lac association has some 500 members.

“Most of them came here today,” he said. “We also have some people from Georgia, Atlanta, some people from New York, some people from Texas, Florida.”

According to Father Tran, the community worked quite hard to move from its previous meeting places to a church of its own.

“I do the best I can, but I think God blessed us,” he said.

St. Andrew Dung-Lac (1795-1839) was a Catholic convert who was canonized in 1988 by Pope St. John Paul II.

“He became Catholic, and he became a priest. He died for the Vietnamese, he died for the people, he died for Christ,” Father Tran said.

Father Carter spoke of his moderator role for the St. Andrew Dung-Lac association.

“The reason why I was asked to step into that role temporarily was to help the community to understand the canonical structures that have to be developed and processes and procedures and policies followed in order to advance them from a public association to a parish,” he said. “So, I’m there as a bridge builder, as someone who will assist them in learning how to be a parish and what are the ins and outs, the behind-the-scenes realities of the offices, the councils, the policies, the procedures that the person coming off the street wouldn’t otherwise know, and with the idea that I’m assisting them, I’m a servant to the community to help them to continue their arch or their trajectory of growth to eventually becoming a parish.”

Father Carter and Deacon Smith signed documents after Mass to formalize the name change from St. Faustina to St. Andrew Dung-Lac. Bishop Beckman also signed the formal papers, and Deacon Armor witnessed the signings.

“The mission for the Vietnamese that was originally established as a public association was under the patronage of St. Faustina, but that didn’t really have any connection to the Vietnamese culture, language, or anything like that,” Father Carter said. “And so the bishop thought to ask and the community very much responded in positive terms with a change of name from St. Faustina to St. Andrew Dung-Lac, one of the Vietnamese martyrs. And so that was partly what was going on in that document that was signed; it was the official declaration decree changing the name from St. Faustina to St. Andrew Dung-Lac.

“And then also a decree (was signed) providing for the current church that we now have to be the chapel, the official location of the new St. Andrew Dung-Lac Public Association.

Bishop Tran was invited to the dedication Mass by Bishop Beckman, Father Carter, and Deacon Armor. He said the Diocese of Knoxville shepherd allowed the Mass time to move from 4 to 6 p.m. so the Atlanta bishop could attend.

“For me, it’s certainly a blessing to be here,” he said.

Bishop Tran said the visit was his first to a Vietnamese community in the Diocese of Knoxville, which is also home to Divine Mercy Parish in Knoxville, a thriving group of Vietnamese faithful itself.

“I know that in various parts of the country and also in Atlanta, we just established a new parish in Atlanta, a Vietnamese parish, and now we have three,” Bishop Tran said. “I am so happy and grateful to Bishop Beckman for allowing the community to establish here. I hope and pray that they will continue to grow. The commitment of the parishioners today is very obvious but also the support of the surrounding Catholics, including priests. I saw some priests from Georgia who are here today, and so that’s a blessing.”

The bishop from Georgia said that Vietnamese Catholic communities are present in several states, some with more members than others.

“But even with a small number, they still want to celebrate Mass in Vietnamese, which is important for them, and also to worship in Vietnamese and to form a community,” Bishop Tran said.

The Vietnamese bishop came to the United States from a refugee camp at age 9 in 1975.

“I’m from Binh Gia near Saigon. And, luckily, my family escaped just a few days prior to the fall of Saigon,” he said. “And back in the ’50s, 1954, when the country was divided in two, my dad was sentenced to 18 years in prison. After three years, he escaped, went over to Laos, and then moved south and reunited with my mother. And there they had the five of us. But unfortunately, due to the war, my mother was killed when I was only 2 years old back in 1968. And then later on, my oldest brother also was killed.

“But that’s a story of war-torn countries, not only soldiers who died and certainly our U.S. service personnel, so many of our young men here from the U.S. that died for the freedom of South Vietnam. To be in this country today, I’m full of gratitude. And hopefully for all of us who are privileged to be here, we will give back not only to our Church but to our community here in the U.S. in various ways and to be productive citizens.”

 

Top photo: Bishops Mark Beckman and John Tran are joined by priests of the Diocese of Knoxville and the Archdiocese of Atlanta in celebrating the church dedication for the St. Andrew Dung-Lac Public Association of the Faithful.