Serving with Humility and Joy: a Regnum Christi Family’s Story During the Jubilee of Deacons

Did you know that there are diocesan deacons who are also part of Regnum Christi? The Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation says: “Today this spiritual family consists of single and married lay men and women, consecrated lay men and women, diocesan seminarians, deacons, priests, and religious and priests of the Legionaries of Christ, each living according to their vocation, as members of one body (see 1 Corinthians 12:12-29), collaborating in a common mission.” (RC Statutes preamble, §4)

What is it like for a permanent deacon when his son is a brother preparing for the priesthood as a Legionary of Christ? We interviewed Deacon Steve Nguyen, a permanent deacon and the father of Br. Max Nguyen, LC, a religious brother studying theology and a soon-to-be deacon. While the Legionaries of Christ do not have the permanent diaconate but only a transitional one, being a deacon is a very important step on their path to the priesthood.

The Jubilee of Deacons, which is being celebrated from February 21^st to 23^rd in Rome, takes on special importance for Deacon Steve, who describes how his journey began at a World Youth Day and within Regnum Christi. Deacon Steve is serving as a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas.

Deacon Steve, how did you decide to become a permanent deacon?

Called to Serve. This is how a deacon begins his journey—called to serve Christ and his Church. It was almost 14 years ago when I entered the diaconate formation, and now I have been serving Christ and His Church as a permanent deacon for almost eight years. Looking back, Christ has been preparing me for this vocation since I was a little boy (6 or 7 years old). Christ placed in my heart the desire to serve—diakonia—through several events in my life. I can mention a few of them here.

In 1975, my family and I were forced to flee our beloved country of Vietnam. We were part of the largest American evacuation in history, called Operation Frequent Wind. We left in haste without luggage, money, or any possessions. As I sat on a packed cargo platform waiting to be transported out to the USS Midway with the hot sun beating down and everyone looking so tired and weary, I saw a man carrying several jugs of water, going around and giving it to as many people as he could, me included. I could not understand why he did not drink any himself. I found out later that he was a Catholic priest ministering to his people. I knew at that moment that I wanted to serve God’s people just like this priest.

When I was a senior in college, I went to the first World Youth Day in the United States with my campus ministry group. (And at which my future wife was also present.) It was held in Denver in 1993. During this incredible event, the words of Pope St. John Paul II spoke to me deeply. He told the nearly one million youth attending the event:

 

“Do not be afraid to go out on the streets and into the public places”

“This is no time to be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the time to preach it from the rooftops”

“Do not be afraid to break out of comfortable and routine modes of living”

“Invite everyone you meet to the banquet which God has prepared for his people”

 

It was then and there that my future wife and I decided that we wanted to live and raise our family in service and mission to Jesus Christ and His Church. Personally, I felt a strong calling to service, but I did not know at the time how to accomplish that.

Somewhere in the middle of the Y2K decade, I went on an Ignatian Spiritual Exercises with the Legionaries of Christ in Lincoln, Nebraska. My wife and I have been Regnum Christi members for thirty years. On one of the weekend retreats, I saw a man in a deacon stole and dalmatic. This was the first time I really saw a deacon. I had no idea such a vocation existed. I watched him closely as he proclaimed the Gospel and served at the Altar with such reverence and love for the liturgy. My heart was moved with a strong desire to serve Christ in this way. I could not immediately follow this desire mainly because I was so busy with raising a family, working on Regnum Christi apostolates, and the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, did not have a permanent diaconate program at the time. But the Lord kept that desire burning in my heart.

“My heart was moved with a strong desire to serve Christ in this way.”

Several years later, the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, started their first group for the permanent diaconate. I didn’t apply because I did not think I was good enough to qualify to serve as Christ’s deacon. In 2011, while getting ready to serve as a Master of Ceremonies for the Easter Vigil Mass at our parish, a parishioner who was a football player for the Kansas City Chiefs and who was present at Mass saw me in a cassock and surplice and without knowing what I held in my heart said that I should think about being a deacon. This sealed it for me. I applied to the permanent deaconate program the following Spring and entered formation in the Fall of 2011.

What was your family’s reaction when you shared the news?

We had just had our sixth baby, who was born in January of that year. I needed to submit my application by the end of spring to be admitted in the fall. But we had a busy family schedule and a lot of questions about how everything would work. I would have to be gone one weekend a month for the next five years. And of course, I would only go into the diaconate program with my wife’s consent. We would only do this together. We took this decision to prayer and Adoration. Over those weeks I came to understand that deep in her heart, she knew this was a new calling for our marriage and family. My wife has been a rock and a source of encouragement through all my formation, ordination, and my ministry now that I am a deacon. It seemed that for the most part my children were excited about our decision but unsure how it would all work out.

 

Deacon Steve baptizes his first grandchild

How do you serve the Church as a permanent deacon?

Currently, I am serving as a permanent deacon at the parish our family has attended for decades, St. Ann. Besides serving as deacon of the Word and Altar at Mass, I preach the homily once a month. I do many baptisms, prepare couples for marriage, train servers and Eucharistic ministers, and lead Exposition/Adoration/Benediction. Occasionally I do weddings (without Mass) and funeral committals. I’m involved in men’s ministry, Knights of Columbus, RCIA/OCIA, and school visits. Additionally, I serve as vice-chair on the Board of Trustees for a Catholic High School, and I am also a chaplain for a Kansas City chapter of Life-Giving Wounds, a ministry for Adult Children of Divorce.

You have a son on the path to priesthood, but before priesthood, he must first become a deacon. What would you tell your son about the importance and richness of the diaconate?

I would say that being a deacon is to conform our hearts to the Heart of Christ the Servant. It is there that the spirituality of a deacon, the diaconal life, and its ministry are rooted in the intimacy of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is in this interior life with Jesus that we learn to live in abandonment to Providence, in service, in the sacrament of the present moment, and to live out the Servant Mysteries in this broken world today. Take this time to live the diaconate life to its fullest before priesthood.

Could you share an experience that has positively impacted you as a permanent deacon?

Performing baptisms is one of my favorite diaconate ministries. I love talking to and explaining to the parents and their family about this amazing Sacrament of Initiation and then seeing their faces as I pour water over the child and bring a new soul into the family of God. I am blessed to have been able to baptize all my grandchildren and I’m looking forward to doing more baptisms.

Thank you, Deacon Steve. Br. Max, what was your reaction on hearing that your dad would enter the permanent diaconate?

I think I was a little confused at first. It was not really on my radar since I was already in my own discernment process with the Legionaries of Christ at Sacred Heart Apostolic School, so it was something like, “Wait, so my dad is going to beat me to the diaconate?” and “Where did this idea come from…?” But jokes aside, I understood that this was important to him and at the same time, it was not especially surprising since both my parents have been active in our parish community for many years. As he expressed in his response, it seemed that if he and mom discerned this was the next step they were called to, it was a calling in a way for the whole family. Also, in the five or so years that he completed his studies for the diaconate, I was impressed by the level of commitment and discernment that my parents continued to work with as the implications of this next stage became clearer.

What does it mean for you that your dad is a permanent deacon?

I’m not sure how common it is that one’s dad becomes a deacon while at the same time preparing oneself for the priesthood and Holy Orders. So, it seems to be a unique situation, but it is also reassuring that it opens another area in which my dad can offer me advice from his own experience—this time pastoral and ministerial—in a way that I did not imagine was possible before. As a member of a religious congregation, I always knew I could rely on the advice of my brother Legionary priests as well as my parents, but of course one’s relationship with his father never stops having a special meaning. I hope I can imitate his enthusiasm for service and his dedication to those around him.

 

Brother Max Nguyen, LC

Since you will be a deacon before you are ordained a priest, do you think that knowing that your dad is a deacon will inspire you to live your transitional diaconate in a special way?

This is something that crossed my mind in the years after he was ordained a deacon, I believe. I think I used to imagine the diaconate as a stepping-stone to the priesthood, partially because for us it is a transitional phase of a year or so. Seeing my dad live out his calling as a deacon has helped me reflect that it is transitional not just because it is a juridical or formal step, but because Christ and the Church first called the apostles and all priests to service, from the moment of the washing of the feet in the Gospel. In fact, priests still possess this call to service, which is not left behind when they are ordained priests. This is so important to the sacrament of Holy Orders that one cannot “skip” straight to the priesthood but must learn and embody the servant-leadership of Christ as an obligatory step. My dad, among other deacons, helps represent Christ in this service in a permanent way in the Church, which seems to add to the overall depth, harmony, and effectiveness of the universal Church.

(Feature Image: Br. Max Nguyen with his parents, Deacon Steve and Leah Nguyen.)