Bishop Joseph's 23rd Anniversary as a Priest

As you can imagine, anniversaries are just as important here in Vietnam as they are in the States. As it was Bishop Joseph's 23rd anniversary as a priest, there was a bit of a festive air at dinner. That includes wine and beer.

 This is Fr. An, a priest of the diocese, with special guest Fr. John. Fr. John was born in Phat Diem diocese but his family had to flee the north in 1954. He now lives in the House of Studies in Saigon where I spent my first night in Vietnam five days ago. Fr. John and Bishop Joseph are old friends from the days when the bishop was a seminarian and Fr. John taught. For the next four months, Fr. John will teach biblical studies to the adult catechists in the diocese.

Fr. Hien telling jokes to warm up the crowd.

The seminarians and workers of the diocese.

More seminarians along with the sisters who work for the diocese.

Fr. Khue honoring the bishop for his twenty-three years of service to the church. We found out it took the bishop eleven years of study to be ordained.

The traditional giving of the flowers. Nice ones, too.

Bishop Joseph thanking us all for being there. This was all very informal and done with lots of laughter. While the Vietnamese take their ceremonies seriously, they do not take each other seriously. Lots of fun was had by all...especially after the wine and beer.