Joke: The greedy man and the genie. A man is walking down the beach and comes across an old bottle. He picks it up, pulls out the cord, and out pops a genie. The genie says, "Thank you for freeing me from the bottle. In return, I will grant you three wishes." The man says "Great! I always dreamed of this and I know exactly what I want. First, I want one billion dollars in a Swiss bank account." Poof! There is a flash of light and a piece of paper with account numbers appears in his hand! He continues, "Next, I want a brand new red Ferrari right here." Poof! There is a flash of light and a bright red, brand-new Ferrari appears right next to him! He continues, "Finally, I want to be irresistible to women." Poof! There is a flash of light and he turns into a box of chocolates.

Being irresistible to women was a wrong wish, and because of that, he was turned into a box of chocolates. Perhaps, the kind of irresistible matter to the Pharisees and the Scribes in today’s Gospel is not about the irresistibleness to women, but rather the irresistibleness to power, the seats with higher honor, and the chair of Moses. Is there anything that is so irresistible to us in this walk of life? In other words, is there anything so attractive to us that can draw our attention away from following the Lord Jesus? This week of November, from November 1st through November 6th, is called Vocation Awareness Week throughout the United States. We are invited to pray for the increase of vocation to the priesthood and religious life in the life of the Catholic Church in America.

On my vocation to the priesthood, I was often asked by someone: What makes you want to study to become a priest? How do you know that you have a call? How long does it take to study to become a priest? What do priests usually do daily? There are many other questions, but I would like to focus on two questions based on my personal experience: What is a vocation call? And how does one know whether or not he or she has had a call to be a priest or live a religious life?

Vocation calls to priesthood or religious life is a discernment process. It isn’t limited to one year, two, three, or even ten years or more. It can be either at least seven years or nine years or more. Seven years for those who already possessed a bachelor's degree, and nine years for those who just graduated from high school. For me, it took me twenty-one years of discerning, and twenty-five years precisely to discern.

I was born and raised in a family of eight siblings, with me being the youngest. One of my sisters was a sister of the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament (SSS). I was influenced by my sister’s vocation, my pastor, and a seminarian in my early childhood at my parish back in Vietnam. My sister was talented with music, and in fact, she taught guitar and mandolin to the sisters in her convent. My pastor often shared his food with me, and the seminarian used to teach me some lessons on guitar so I could play for the children's choir at children's Mass in our parish.

After I graduated from High School, my pastor introduced me to go to seminary to study for the priest, but I was rejected simply because I had a sister living in America. Back then, there was no relationship between Vietnam and the United States of America. In Vietnam back then, for one to be accepted into a seminary to study for priest, one had to be approved by the government. I was refused by the government. I came to America in 1992 under the sponsorship of my sister. I came directly to this Diocese to apply to study for the priesthood, and once again, I was rejected simply because I didn’t have a High School Diploma in America. My High School Diploma in Vietnam didn’t translate well in America. Or rather, maybe, because my English was not adequate to study priesthood in America, so the vocation director at that time, Bishop Daniel Flores, bishop of Brownsville now, told me that to become a seminarian in America, one had to have a High School or GED diploma in America. I had zero English when I first came to America, and I told myself, “Forget it, I don’t think that I can study to get a GED since I had zero English.” This was my second rejection of studying for the priesthood.

A vocation call is not necessarily a verbal call, but rather, it is a series of discerning moments. They could even show up in the form of failure, misunderstanding, rejection or even just randomly stumbling on in life. But when God calls a person, he will equip the person. “Behind a vocation to the priesthood, there is always a mysterious hand of God leading and guiding the person,” Cardinal Pham Minh Man once said.

Three months after the second rejection after coming to America, I got my Ph.D. Oftentimes when I share this story, people are bewildered, wondering how a guy with close to zero English could obtain a Ph.D. in just 3 months. But unlike any other Ph.D., my Ph.D. didn’t require much education since it was just a Pizza Home Delivery title. After a few months of working on my first PhD, I decided to join Gary Job Corps Center in San Marcos to study towards an Electrician’s degree. I joined this school not knowing that it was a school for children under twenty-four years old, to give parents a place to send their children if they simply did not have enough time to take care of them or were unsure of what to do. It was run by the government, and because of that, everything in there was free. They also encouraged students to study for the GED. Anyone who graduated with a GED would reward us with $250. I studied the GED not because I wanted to go back to study for priesthood, but because I wanted that money. I graduated with an Electrician’s degree after fourteen months of study, and miraculously, I got my GED as well. For the total points for all five subjects in GED, one had to have at least 225 points. I took the tests, and I got exactly 225 points total for all five subjects. Later on, I reflected and I believed that God’s hand was on me.

After graduating with an electrician’s degree, I worked for Schill Electric Company as an electrician helper in Houston for a few months. I suddenly remembered that I had my GED now, so I decided to come back to this diocese to give it a try again. Bishop Daniel Flores had no other reason to reject me but to accept me. He sent me to Del Mar College to study English for over a year. He then sent me to Pontifical College of Josephinum in Columbus, OH, to study philosophy. Philosophy was another language for me. Since I was already struggling with the English language, I dropped out after a year of studying philosophy. This time it was my rejection, the third rejection.

God didn’t give up on me even though I gave up on him this third time. I told myself that I needed to wipe off my mind with the thought of becoming a priest and move on with a secular life. I studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Memphis, UofM, and I worked at the FedEx headquarters in Memphis, TN. I was an analysis technician at FedEx, and I had a girlfriend at that time. I would not ask for more in those years. Life was happy and fulfilled.

There was a good friend, he’s also a priest for this diocese. He constantly texted and talked to me for several years. On the day that Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, had resigned in 2002 in response to the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal that Cardinal Law covered up some of his priests in his archdiocese of Boston. On those sad days for the Catholic Church of America, I decided to go back to the diocese to study for priest again. Once again, I was welcomed back and studied from 2004 to 2011. I was ordained to the priesthood for this diocese on June 11, 2011, under the imposition of hands of Bishop Mulvey, Bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.

Was my journey of discernment to priesthood fun? Perhaps not. Was it challenged in discerning God’s call? Absolutely, yes. Had I ever doubted in my discernment for the priesthood? Surely yes. The day that I decided to resign from my work at FedEx, my co-workers tried to stop me. One of them even said to me, “Look at the Cardinal Law from Boston. Why don’t you study to become a preacher? You can preach and have a wife at the same time, which can help you stay away from trouble.” Even during all these difficulties, challenges, doubts, and many other stumbling blocks in my discerning for the priesthood, I still, somehow, discovered a sense of peace and joy in my discernment for the priesthood.

Just as the Scribes and the Pharisees were irresistible to the power, to higher honor seats, and the chair of Moses, God was irresistible to me in guiding me and leading me in my discernment to the priesthood even though I, many times at that, resisted to follow his call. Our young brothers and sisters, have you ever had any moment of resisting to respond to God’s call in your life? Resisting creates tension. Have you ever experienced tension when, at times, you were thinking of responding to God’s call for priesthood or religious life? Tension often blocks our mind from having a clear mind to decide. Have you ever had any moment of don’t know what to do? Either to study to become a priest or to marry and have a family life? Either to study to become a priest or to be an engineer, doctor, architect, lawyer, or whatever profession that is. Fear, anxiety, and worry often blur our vision and dull our minds. Have you ever had any fear, anxiety, and worry when you put thoughts into discernment for the priesthood or religious life? We might distance ourselves from God, but he’s always near to us. If you’ve ever run into vocation discernment thoughts, I’m always available to listen and to journey with you. The decision is yours.