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Hi! I am Long Nyugen, a third year candidate for the Priest of the Sacred Heart. I spent twenty-three years under the Southern sun along the winding bayou of Lafourche Parish. Although questions about whether or not I would like to give religious life a try has dawned on me several times during my childhood, I never gave much thought to it.  

More than three years ago, I was a senior at NSU in Thibodaux, Louisiana; roaming around campus, wondering what my future would look like 5 or 10 years from now. At the time, I wanted to pursue a vocation in the social work and thus wanted to explore professions in mass communications as well. I did have an extra year in which I received grants from the government after all. Perhaps, a few years from then I would be working in those fields, maybe not. Those writing courses in news media were a pain but nevertheless it serves many benefits for me now. Back in the day, I was running around campus looking for a story for the campus newspaper. If it weren't for mass communication, I would not have discovered God's nudging at me for something deeper than what the above vocations can offer. I felt God's presence, and it was strong, in my life through some odd sequence of events with my college friends. Through such experiences, I told myself that I would sure like to give religious life my best shot. I inquired and came to be with the Priest of the Sacred Heart within the winter 2002 and summer 2003 time period. Through further sequences of events I found myself in odd ministries in the Chicago area and twice in South Dakota.

As reporter, I was looking for a story but our Creator was actually giving me a story. If our faith matures as our journey with Our Creator deepens, I suppose our vocation stories would never be the same sweet and stagnant story of how we were praying in the chapel one day when God dashed down from heavens and ask that we give religious life a try. It is always changing, redefined into something better, and adopts another source of energy that gives it life. This is certainly the case with me. True, Brother Timothy Lafleur was a prominent figure in my religious background. He ministered to me like no other in this world and the time I spent with him will not count for nothing but the pivot of my vocation now includes more than just my past. What did Tim spark inside of me? I suppose no one will ever know. Whatever it may be, it rolls with every punch, the people that I meet and the experiences I encounter - joy, happiness, suffering or pain. At the end of the day, it finds renewal in whatever state it's in.

“that you may look back and strengthen your sisters and brothers."

I can possibly go into detail about the biblical context or explain the agreed upon meaning of this line but then I would have to give you a good 10-1 5 pages, double-spaced, term paper. Nah!! Perhaps, I give much meaning to this line because it is a line of encouragement and instruction. It requires a response!! On another note, these are just words on the page. What matters most is that it is fulfilled through our lives as Christians.

My time with the community now includes being a student at Catholic Theological Union. I am a second year Masters of Pastoral Studies student and volunteering at St. Vincent DePaul Center.