An abundant fatherhood: Take 5 with Father Linh Nguyen
Father Linh Nguyen stands in St. George Church in Fort Worth. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
HE IS: Father Linh Nguyen, pastor of St. George Church in Fort Worth. He has also served as parochial vicar of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Keller.
NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR: Fr. Nguyen was baptized at St. George Church and was raised at Christ the King Church, about three blocks away.
He explained, “My childhood home is a couple blocks down from here. This is where the vocation began. All that nurturing, that fostering from the local community, from my family and extended family got me to this point. Being back here to serve and work with the people who still live in this area, and inspire the next generation of vocations, is a great honor and privilege.”
GROWING UP: Weeknights they prayed as a family, and his parents dedicated Sundays to serving God, bringing their three children to choir practice at 8:30 a.m., Mass, faith formation, and Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement, lasting through late afternoon.
The long Sundays weren’t an obligation, he said. “I loved every moment about it because that was where I found the most joy.”
FATHER OF MANY: As a child, Fr. Nguyen told his cousin he wanted 50 kids. His vocation, he said, was God’s way of answering that desire.
ORDAINED: May 22, 2021, at St. Patrick Cathedral with five other men, the largest ordination class in the history of the diocese.
POWER OF PRAYER: Celebrating Mass, praying the Liturgy of the Hours, and keeping a holy hour helps him “feed and nourish my day; stop and breathe and center myself again; orient my eyes back to Christ.”
JOYS OF PRIESTHOOD: Fr. Nguyen appreciates being with people through all the different moments of life.
One day stands out in particular. In the morning, he baptized the first grandson of a family he knew well, and in the afternoon, he celebrated the funeral of his beloved grandmother.
“To welcome a new child into new life in Christ, then to come home and bury my grandmother — to celebrate and have that connection to the beginning of life and faith and the ending moments of faith — is beautiful,” he remembered.
SCHOOL DAYS: Fr. Nguyen can often be found in the halls and classrooms of St. George Catholic School. “Wherever I can squeeze in more time, it’s always the best,” he said.
He hopes the students see “the love of Christ radiate in the people who care for them, and God cares for them much more than we do. They can turn to God in any moment, good or bad.”
TRUSTWORTHY TRIO: Fr. Nguyen has three favorite saints: Saint Peter, for overcoming weakness and doubt with faith and perseverance; Saint John Paul II, for bringing joy and humanity into his priesthood; and Saint Teresa of Calcutta, “who reminds me that theology has to have a face, has to have a person that we serve and minister to.”
HEALING WOUNDS: One of his favorite places to serve the faithful is in the confessional, for many reasons.
“To be in the confessional in the person of Christ; to be able to absolve someone of their sins; to help them continue to grow and to receive the graces they need in their moments of weakness and frailty and brokenness; to know that God loves them unconditionally; to help them mend that relationship and continue to strive for holiness, for virtue; to continue to fight and overcome those temptations and sin in their life, is still tremendous to me.”