On Saturday, July 13, and Sunday, June 14, 2024, our parish will welcome Fr. Vincent Tuan Vu from the Diocese of Long Xuyen, Vietnam. Fr. Tuan Vu will preside over the 5 p.m. Vigil Mass at St. Mary, 8 a.m. Mass at St. Mary and the 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Nicholas. At all Masses, we will hold a special collection for the Missionary Catholic Appeal (Mission Cooperation Plan) to benefit the Long Xuyen Diocese. In preparation for this visit and appeal, Fr. Vincent Lam Nguyen, Long Xuyen Missionary Catholic Appeal Coordinator, has shared with us the following profile of his diocese.

"The Diocese of Long Xuyen covers two provinces of An Giang and Kien Giang plus parts of two districts that belong to the City of Can Tho. This region is located in the most south-western corner of Vietnam in the Mekong Delta that shares a border with Cambodia.

​"The Long Xuyen Diocese currently has over 236,213 faithful among approximately 4.2 million people, or 5.58%, lower than the national average. It spreads out to 196 parishes in a region of about 6,500 square miles. We currently have 337 priests, including 35 religious ones, about 367 religious sisters, 133 religious brothers, 122 seminarians, 166 preparatory students, and nearly 1,634 catechists.

"In 1954, the population of the faithful in this area was about 30,000. That was before the influx of the Catholic political refugees from North Vietnam moving into this fertile farming land. The official church records indicate that the above number increased to 93,739 in 1964. Again, we are caring for over 236,000 faithful today.

"Vietnam’s population nationwide is shifting from countryside to more industrial cities or further into isolated rural lands. The latter is of our most concern, since many Catholics are migrating away from their home parishes to the new land where there are neither churches nor catechetical schools.
The Long Xuyen Diocese has to build up to 5 chapels and many classrooms each year to accommodate these new Catholic Communities. We also must train many new catechists and evangelization volunteers for our efforts of the New Evangelization.

"WE NEED YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT!

"Please let us be the extension of your arms to help these poor brothers and sisters of ours as well as reaching out to the non-Christians in the region who are hungry for the GOOD NEWS of CHRIST and the LOVE of GOD.

​"100% of the funds generated from your generosity will be utilized for the above purposes."

“One of our wishes is to turn this chapel [above] into a new one as in the photo below.”

Last year, during the Parish Pastoral Council’s initial discernment of the Mass schedule, it was suggested that our parish hold only one Saturday Vigil Mass each week. However, the Council could not determine at which church this one Mass should be held. Fr. Jean-Philippe suggested we retain both Vigil Masses until the discernment of the location could be revisited in 2024.

The Liturgy Commission did revisit the issue and, after much discernment, recommended a single 5 p.m. Mass, with the location of that Mass rotating between the two churches. Together with Fr. Jean-Philippe, both the Parish Pastoral Council and Parish Finance Council approved this recommendation. Therefore, beginning this August, St. John XXIII Parish will hold only one 5 p.m. Saturday Vigil Mass.

From April 1 to September 30, the Vigil Mass will be held at St. Mary Church. From October 1 to March 31, the Vigil Mass will be held at St. Nicholas Church.

The reasons for making this change are as follows:

• Consolidating both Vigil Masses into one location will afford a fuller and more active congregation.
• As for the schedule, having a clean delineation of Vigil Mass location—six months at each church—will reduce week-to-week confusion about which church is holding the Mass.
• Holding the Vigil Mass at St. Mary in the warmer months will allow all to benefit from the air conditioning.
• Financially speaking, not needing to heat both churches every Saturday can help save money and reduce our deficit.
• Also, it will be easier to schedule a priest for one Vigil Mass than for two. This will become increasingly important, as we foresee a slow reduction in priests available to assist at all Masses over the coming years.
• Finally, while one church holds the Vigil Mass, the other will remain available for early evening weddings and quinceañeras!

While the parish leadership endorses this proposal for the benefit of our parish, we recognize that there is no perfect solution. As we continue our journey as St. John XXIII Parish, we ask for your kindness and patience as we travel through what, to some, may feel like a painful transition.

To share concerns or ideas about this change, please reach out to Fr. Jean-Philippe. He will share your feedback with other parish leaders.

St. John XXIII – Pray for us!

We’re updating our parishioner database, and we need your help! If any of the following changed in the past three years, please complete and return a contact information update form by Sunday, June 16.

• Name
• Address
• Phone Number
• Email
• Other (e.g., you added a new family member)

If you’re not sure if anything changed, go ahead and fill out a form anyway! Paper forms are available in both churches. If you want to make things even easier, simply click the button above to fill out the form online! All changes must be submitted by Sunday, June 16.

While this effort isn’t only about the SJ23 Parish Directory, timely and accurate updates will go a long way toward helping us get the directory out the door. We know this process has taken longer than anyone would prefer, and we apologize. Between staffing changes and other administrative difficulties, things were delayed. However, Faith and Yolanda met with the company representative this week to start getting everything back on track! Our hope is to have your directory ready for pickup in early August. We thank you for your cooperation, grace, and patience.