Threshold Winter 2009

Hoping in the Kingdom: A Life in War and Peace

The sisters may not have known exactly what they were saying, and the attempts to say it were probably not the most successful, but the enthusiasm with which they tried to say it more than made up for their ability.

As Sister Maria Nguyen celebrated her twenty-fifth anniversary of monastic profession on Saturday, August 15 at the Mount, the festivities recognized the bi-cultural dimensions of her life. The monastic choir was joined by a Vietnamese youth choir, and songs and other elements of the Mass were done in both English and Vietnamese.

Liturgical rituals, bright native garb and music, and the wonderful foods that were brought for the reception, were reminders that sisters come from many backgrounds and experiences, but witness to the unity of all the peoples of the earth and the importance of welcoming them.

For anyone who enters a monastic community, there is a new culture to be learned, but some have farther to go than others. When Sister Maria Nguyen came to Mount St. Scholastica, she had even more adaptations to face than most sisters. She had come as a teenager to the United States from her war torn home in Vietnam and bravely adapted to college life at Benedictine College in Atchison. Then it was into the world of work and life in a country which had both caused her to lose her home and yet offered her a new and safer one.

Sister Maria has straddled two worlds and devoted herself energetically to both. The presence of of a very large contingent of Vietnamese people recognized the importance of Sister Maria in the faith life of her people. She is a well known speaker and leader for youth groups throughout the country and has played an active role in the Vietnamese Catholic community. Representatives came from many parts of the country to pay tribute to her faith and faithfulness. This vital ministry is in addition to her caring ministry to people of all races and faiths as a medical social worker at KC Dialysis and Kidney Transplant Center.

Sister Maria’s joyful personality and deep commitment to her monastic life are the firm foundation which have sustained her through great trials and tremendous life changes to a spiritual peace that, after twenty-five years, continues to grow and thrive.

Sister Maria renews her monastic profession by
her gesture of “Suscipe” before the altar.


At the offertory of Mass, members of Sister Maria’s family
carry long sticks of incense to be placed in brass incense urns
around the altar. A Vietnamese choir, many wearing the uniform
of the Vietnamese Eucharistc Youth Group, sings the offertory hymn.