Andrew Nguyen Dinh Thang (left) shares his experience in faith at a Cursillo gathering on Nov. 28 in Hue. Vietnam has 15,400 Cursillo members from 22 dioceses out of the country's 27 dioceses. (Photo: UCA News)
In the past, Andrew Nguyen Dinh Thang was notorious for trading in second-hand motorbikes in Vietnam’s central province of Thua Thien Hue.
Thang bought old scooters at low prices, refitted them with parts he got from thieves and sold them at high prices. He would fight with other traders for customers.
The 48-year-old father of three admitted that although his dishonest business went against Catholic teaching, he could not leave the highly profitable business as other people also did the same for a living.
He said he had a terrible conscience about his trade and did not dare to receive the Eucharist for fear of God’s punishment.
In 2017 he decided to change his life and abandoned his business after attending a retreat at his parish and joining the local Cursillo Movement.
“We pray with the rosary each day and the Cross stations on Fridays, attend daily Mass, visit patients and provide food for people in need,” said Thang, who now sells electrical equipment for a living. They and other people clean village paths at the weekend.
Thang, who comes from Cau Hai Parish in Phu Loc district, said his four-member group meet to make action plans on a weekly basis.
Cursillo members actively encourage Catholic families who have stopped faith practice to return to the Church, offer monthly food to followers of other faiths, volunteer to repair people’s houses damaged during severe floods in October and donate blood to victims of road accidents.
“I try to make friends with all people and follow the motto ‘holding Christ in one hand and people in the other hand’,” he said.
Anthony Le Huu Dat, another Cursillo member from Chan Xuan Parish, gave up alcohol after he joined the Cursillo Movement in 2018. In the past he weighed only 39 kilograms, took to drink, slept on roads the worse for drink many times and was hospitalized for illnesses relating to boozing.
UCAN News