This Sunday we will have a reception for Fr. Tri Nguyen to formally welcome him to Saint Brigid as our new parochial vicar.  Details concerning the reception can be found in the Church bulletin and on the parish website.  Fr. Tri has been ordained a priest for two years and has previously served at Saint Peter Chanel in Roswell.  Fr. Tri is a native of Viet Nam and comes from a family of three children.  He graduated from Seton Hall University with a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education and theology.  Fr. Tri also earned a Master of Arts degree from Georgia State University in applied linguistics and in teaching English as a second language.  He has taught and counseled young people in various schools in the Atlanta area.  He studied with the Salesians of the Saint John Bosco Society before applying for seminary training and formation with the Archdiocese of Atlanta, and later attended Saint Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.  

As previously reported in the Georgia Bulletin, growing up in Viet Nam, Fr. Tri said that the Franciscan priests and sisters at his local parish were an early inspiration to him.  He arrived in the United States in 1993 and participated in the Eucharistic Youth Movement, an international organization for youth and young adults that is very active in the Vietnamese community.  This group aided him in his discernment of his vocation to the priesthood.  He is very thankful to his devoted family which resides in Atlanta, a faithful home parish of Our Lady of Vietnam in Riverdale, and the great education and faith formation he received from the Salesian order and from the Benedictine fathers at Saint Vincent.

Fr. Tri has described priesthood as a wonderful vocation, with a vast number of priests all over the world who faithfully serve the people of God and serve the Church in their priestly ministries.  He feels blessed to be a priest in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.  He is very excited and hopeful for the lively faith and the rapid growth of the Catholic Church in the Atlanta Archdiocese.  He is thankful for the spiritual vitality that is evident in the Saint Brigid faith community and wants to do his part to enhance it in any way possible.  Fr. Tri will work closely with our adult and teen faith formation ministries and will put his teaching gifts to good use. 

 Please pray for Fr. Tri and welcome him to our faith community.