The Province Vocation Office and Vocation Central have a few new faces in 2008. Fr. Thi Pham, SCJ, is now director of the office and Fr. Mark Mastin, SCJ, will soon join him.
A Vietnamese immigrant, Fr. Thi came to the United States when he was a child and settled with his family in San Antonio. Soon after high school graduation in 1995, he was a candidate with the Priests of the Sacred Heart. Fr. Thi professed first vows in 2002 and did his seminary studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
No stranger to Hales Corners, he did a year of pastoral ministry at St. Martin of Tours before completing his theology studies.
He was ordained to the diaconate in 2006 and the priesthood on February 17, 2007. As a deacon and then as a newly ordained priest, Fr. Thi ministered at Christ the King parish in Southaven, Miss.
Talking about his new assignment, he said that he was "shocked and overwhelmed" when Fr. Tom Cassidy asked him to consider taking over the vocation office. "I had been ordained for less than a year and was just getting into the parish routine, but I said ‘Yes' to the provincial even though I am not sure what direction that ‘yes' will take me. I believe that this ministry will give me the opportunity to serve the Church as a whole as well as my community."
When Fr. Tom first talked to Fr. Thi about vocation ministry, Fr. Thi said that the "image that first came to my mind was the call of Jesus to his first disciples: Peter, James, and John. They were fishermen and they were able to let go of everything to respond to Jesus' call. I hope that like those first disciples, I can let go of everything and say ‘yes' to the needs of the province."
Fr. Thi continued, saying that he hopes that others join him in saying "yes." "Promoting vocations is the responsibility of every baptized Christian, we all must say ‘yes' to promoting vocations. The job of vocations does not depend on any one person, but on all of us –– all SCJs and the entire Church. If we are truly disciples of Jesus, we are called to bring the Good News to the world by our words and actions.
"I urge each SCJ to think about the future of the Church and the community; I urge each person to say ‘yes' to promoting vocations."
Newly ordained
As noted above, Fr. Mark will be joining the vocation team later this year. Anyone who has taken the long road in pursuing their vocation can relate to Fr. Mark who was just ordained to the priesthood in 2007.
Fr. first studied with the Priests of the Sacred Heart as a high school freshman at the now closed Divine Heart Seminary in Donaldson, Ind. As did many, Fr. Mark entered the minor seminary planning to continue through to novitiate, vows, philosophy and theology. He envisioned that at this point in his life he would have been in ordained ministry for about 20 years.
But plans don't always go as planned.
When he was 21, Fr. Mark's father died. Fr. Mark changed his education track to business, eventually getting a graduate degree from DePaul University in Chicago. Soon, he had a well-paying job in manufacturing that allowed him to help his mother with the financial needs of his seven younger brothers and sisters.
He still felt called to serve the Church, but assumed that his vocation was outside of ordained ministry. Fr. Mark was active in youth work and choir.
"But after spending some 20 years in the corporate world, I decided to find a more fruitful way to live my life," said Fr. Mark. He revisited his earlier call to the Church and applied to be a priesthood candidate with the Diocese of Joliet, Ill.
Via the diocesan path, Fr. Mark became reacquainted with the Priests of the Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart School of Theology, owned and operated by the Priests of the Sacred Heart, specializes in the preparation of "second-career" vocations. The bishop of Joliet told Fr. Mark that it would be a good match. And so it was –– but not the match that Fr. Mark envisioned.
He reconnected with the SCJs and as he continued to discern his call to ordained ministry, he came to realize that the call was to ordained ministry with the Priests of the Sacred Heart. Almost 20 years after he left the SCJ formation program he was once again applying for candidacy.
"I found so many parallels in the SCJs' spirituality and my way of life," he said.
In 2003, Fr. Mark professed his first vows with the community. On June 31, 2007, he was ordained to the diaconate.
Before ordination to the priesthood, he did a year of pastoral ministry at Christ the King parish in Southaven, Miss. There, he worked with many victims of Hurricane Katrina. It was because of his connection to the people of Mississippi that he had his diaconate ordination at Christ the King. Returning to his family roots in the Cincinnati area, Fr. Mark was ordained to the priesthood December 15 at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, KY (across the river from Cincinnati). His first Mass was at Mother of God Church, also in Covington.
