Editor’s Note:
During the annual retreat for the brothers at the Studium of the Vietnam Province of the Order, Brother Joseph Quy Nguyen, OP, wrote a letter to Brother Timothy Radcliffe, OP, asking him to share his thoughts on the role of young Dominican brothers in the as missionaries in the Order. In response to this request, Br Timothy sent the brothers a letter in which he encouraged them to be ready to be sent forth to “preach the Gospel to the whole world.”
Although the Dominican Province of Vietnam is still young, it has the largest number of members within the Order. Meanwhile, many older provinces in Europe are facing a severe vocation crisis, with the average age of their members steadily increasing. To maintain the communal life and mission of the Dominicans, some provinces in Europe have called for the collaboration of the Vietnamese Province, thus inviting the brothers to serve as missionaries on a global scale. In his letter, Br Timothy addresses the difficulty of leaving one’s homeland to carry out the mission in a foreign land. Yet, he says, “seeking happiness and fulfillment always means leaving a house that is too small and discovering a greater identity with strangers… We are all called into the vast home of the Kingdom of God.”
In addition to the challenges that Br Timothy mentions in his letter, it is also important to note several other challenges the brothers would face as missionaries in an international environment. These challenges include acquiring the ability to communicate in different languages, and more importantly, to integrate into the life and mission in different cultures. In Europe in particular, which was once the cradle of Christianity, the brothers would encounter a way of living the faith and practicing Christianity that seems rather ‘dry’ and ‘rational,’ in stark contrast to the vibrant emotional and festive expressions of the faith found in Vietnam. Furthermore, in Western countries, the brothers will confront the reality that many Christians have abandoned religious practice with an increasing number of faithful leaving the Church, as well as the growing wave of anti-Catholic sentiment.
Below is the content of Br Timothy’s letter to the brothers at the Studium.
Blackfriars, Oxford, The United Kingdom
August 11th 2024
My Dear Brothers,
I wish that I could be with you for your meeting in Vietnam. I have such happy memories of my visits to your beautiful country, especially during the General Chapter of Biên Hòa in 2019. We all received a marvellous welcome and we did not want leave! The whole of the Dominican Family made us feel at home.
I gather that one of the topics you will be considering is: “The Young Dominican Friars in Vietnam and Missionary Work within the Order.” We have need of you to preach the gospel throughout the world. The missionary is always someone who dares to leave home so as to preach the gospel of God’s Kingdom in which all will be welcome in God’s home. He or she bears the hope of a larger home in which everyone will belong and all barriers will fall.
It is hard to leave home and live far away from one’s own people with their way of life, all one’s beloved relatives and even one’s own native food. I am sure that my brother Jordan must have found that sometimes. We certainly miss him!
Have courage! At the beginning of the new millennium St John Paul II wrote to the Church Duc in altum, “Go out into the depths.” It was an invitation to have missionary courage. The Church only exist because people dared to leave home and preach the gospel. Think of those martyrs who founded the Church in Vietnam. Many came from distant lands and died far from home. If we never get out of our comfort zone, we shall never live. We shall die of boredom.
Finding happiness and fulfilment always means leaving a home which is too small for us and finding a larger identity with strangers. Each of you has taken the brave step of leaving your family to join the Province or a congregation of Dominican sisters. But we are all called into the vast home of God’s Kingdom in which, St Paul tells us, ‘there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is no longer slave or free, male nor female for all of you are one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3.28). This is the great joy of discovering our larger identity in Christ. When I went to Oxford as a young student in 1967 – a long time ago! – I remember the pleasure of living with brothers from Rwanda and Mexico. I discovered a little more of who I am!
We are brothers and sisters of Brother Dominic! Our global fraternity is a little sign of the fraternity to which all are called in Christ. Fratelli tutti! Of course, it will be tough and you will miss your families and sometimes be homesick, but that will be nothing compared to the joy of preaching the gospel and discovering new friends and becoming alive!
Jesus sent his disciples to preach the gospel to all nations (Matthew 28.10). We also go to receive the gifts that every culture bears. The earliest disciples sent out from Jerusalem received the gifts of Greek and Roman wisdom. Today’s world is ever more divided by narrow identities of nationalism and prejudice. We need each other gifts and wisdom. We need you, my brothers and sisters!
Keep me in your prayers.
Your brother in St Dominic,
Br Timothy
