Dear friends,

Happy new year 2024! I hope you have had a good start to the year. 

Personally, I had a wonderful three weeks in Vietnam celebrating thanksgiving Masses with my family, friends and the community there. It was important for me to go back to my roots and give thanks to God for my family and the land in which I grew up. I was touched by the warm and affectionate welcome they gave me. I went back to Vietnam with a number of priests and friends from Australia and they too were overwhelmed with the hospitality and the friendliness of the people. The scripture says that no prophet is welcomed in their hometown, but it was certainly not in my case. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to go back to my home country to visit my family and give thanks following the ordination to the priesthood. My heart is full having able to stop and give thanks for the gift of life and vocation. I feel much more ready to embrace the journey ahead having done that. 

I have now settled in with my new appointment as assistant priest at St Peter’s Epping. I have received a very warm welcome from the parishioners. The foundation stone of St Peter’s Church was laid in 1865. Until 1910, the parish was administered under the Coburg and Heidelberg Missions. Epping is still a growing parish with new developments around Wollert. There are three primary schools with the fourth planned to open in 2025. St Monica’s Secondary College is located in Epping so is the Northern Hospital. There are four aged care facilities that the parish either administer Mass or Communion Service. So, there are plenty opportunities to be involved and to learn. There is still so much to learn and grow as a pastor and minister of the Gospel and I’m ready to embrace all that this appointment will bring. 

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my time at Camberwell, Balwyn Deepdene, Surrey Hills Wattle Park. I had a wonderful year with you, and I loved every minute of it. It was a big year for me, finishing my studies with a theological synthesis in the first semester and being ordained in November. It was a year of growth both as a person and a minister of Word and Sacrament. To be able to celebrate my first thanksgiving Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church was a special moment. I leave the parish with wonderful memories and learning experiences. 

Thank you for welcoming me into your wonderful communities and the care you gave me. As priests, we don’t stay in the same place forever and so it is hard to say goodbye, especially when you have built a genuine connection with people. Such is the nature of who we are. But the people of Camberwell, Balwyn Deepdene, Surrey Hills Wattle Park will never be far from my heart. I will always look back at my time with you with affection and wonderful memories to cherish. 

I thank the parish staff for their support and guidance. I enjoyed working with each one of them and learned so much from their professionalism and their wealth of experience in parish life. I owe them a great debt for putting up with me (I’m known for arriving in the office late ☺) and their help especially with my ordination. I’m most grateful to Fr Brendan for being a great mentor and the most delightful company at the presbytery. Brendan was always caring and encouraging in all that I do whether it’s study, preaching, or cooking. I will surely miss living and working with Brendan but I’m grateful to have spent a year with him, not everyone is lucky to have that opportunity. I would like to also thank Fr Hoang for his support and friendship over my time there. 

I wish each of you every blessing for the new year, and I pray that the parish community will continue to be a wonderful place of welcome, rest, hospitality, and growth for all who come into contact with it, as indeed you already are. 

By Fr Tien Tran

Published: 16 February 2024