UNCLE BOB LETTER FROM VIETNAM: OCTOBER 2022
Dear friends. Greetings from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) Vietnam.
I hope you are doing ok, and staying dry at least. You must be sick and tired of rain, but I hope that none of you or your loved ones have been affected by the floods. Here in Saigon it is nearing the end of the rainy(monsoon) season…but that is a bit of a moveable feast. Thus, the weather is getting cooler 25-29! However, Central Vietnam bears the brunt of monsoon season with lots of flooding, landslides etc. Meanwhile, tourists have begun coming in good numbers again. Despite Covid being under control, the wearing of masks is compulsory in many situations, including on your motor bike! I guess, with traffic the way it is, one can spend a lot of time side by side in traffic jams! Still, many wear their masks while exercising in the park.
I am fine and the students are well into the semester. My visa only lasts 30 days, so off I go with one of the men, armed with my Cambodian e-visa, pay the bribe to leave Vietnam, bribe to get into Cambodia, toilet stop in the casino on the C side of the border, bribe to depart C, bribe to get back into Vietnam. Interesting. However, for the next visa, I will do a quick trip to our men in the Philippines...less bribes, maybe?
October is a crazily busy month here for the MSC. The community is scattered across a number of smaller houses, but the good news is that the local government has finally approved the next stage of our scholasticate (the place already has a beautiful chapel etc) eventually allowing us to house all the students together.
Some of the events have included: gathering for student’s feast day (John XXIII); recollection days for all; reflection for final vows men; ongoing formation; and on Chevalier day, the 21st, we gathered with Lay MSC and MSC sisters, to begin the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of our foundation here. Plans are well advanced for activities over the next twelve months, the prayer has been written and prayed, logo done, T shirts printed…it’s on for young and old.
October is not over yet: The Provincial returns for a week; a renovated student house is blessed; three men to be ordained deacons on the 30th. It’s a miracle that the students keep up with their studies. Some are doing 9 subjects!
How keeping sane? The goodness of the men; contemplation/prayer; walks in the nearby park, where I found a bed of blue hydrangeas…shades of Coogee.
Take care. God bless. Spare us a prayer when you can. Love. Uncle Bob
