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Friday, March 29, 2024

Deacon Tran put aside medical ambitions for ‘spiritual surgery’

More than a decade ago, Deacon Tim Tran had set his career path and was on his way to fulfilling it at the University of Minnesota.

“I always wanted to be a cardiologist,” said Deacon Tran, 29, who grew up attending St. Anne-St. Joseph Hien in Minneapolis. “I had shadowed a couple cardiologists already. That was my goal: I wanted to be a heart surgeon.”

He planned to get a degree in chemistry and then pursue medical school.

“To be honest, I never thought about becoming a priest,” he said.

That changed about halfway through his undergraduate program. He had been active as a youth leader at his parish, and kept serving in that role during college. One day, one of the other youth leaders asked him if he had ever thought about becoming a priest.

Deacon Tran’s reaction: “You’re absolutely nuts.”

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The youth leader persisted, Deacon Tran recalled, and told him, “You should think about it, because you have some gifts that might make a good priest. Just think about it.”

Those last words are why Deacon Tran will be at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul May 30 to be ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He will move from caring for the physical heart to caring for the spiritual one.

Deacon Tran did finish his undergraduate program and with a chemistry degree in 2012. He also took the Medical College Admission Test — just because he already had paid for it and was curious about how he would score. But, he never finished his application for medical school and instead applied to The St. Paul Seminary to begin formation that fall. He took a year-and-a-half break in 2015 for extra discernment, then returned to the seminary in 2016 more sure of his calling.

As he looks back on his life, Deacon Tran believes seeds of a priestly vocation were sown during his time in the parish youth group, both as a participant and a leader.

“You know, I loved youth ministry,” he said. “It was a big passion of mine, and I really had the desire to give back. That was the reason why I wanted to become a youth leader, because I had received so much through my youth leaders all throughout my childhood. So, I had all this dedication to give.”

He now will take that passion into his priestly ministry, where he looks forward to celebrating the sacraments — and especially the Mass.

“I’m also really looking forward just to walking (with) and accompanying people … through their life, their struggles, and just to really preach the Gospel, just to let them know how much God really loves them and how much he cares for them, and that he never abandons them,” he said. “There’s a lot of people suffering out there, whether it be physical or mental or spiritual. And, I just want to be a father to them.”

That was the passion he discovered when he left the seminary in January 2015 to, as he put it, “re-discern” his vocation. After having such a strong desire to be a doctor, he wanted to be sure that God was, in fact, calling him to give that up and become a priest instead. A key moment came during a Mass for the youth group he was leading. The priest asked everyone to take a deep look into their heart and tell the Lord what they were feeling.

For Deacon Tran, it was exhaustion, from his running away from God’s call to the priesthood, he said.

“It was very clear from that point on — at that Mass — that the Lord wanted me to come back (to the seminary),” Deacon Tran said. “I just looked forward and never looked back. And, I’ve never been at more peace in my life.”

As he looks ahead to life as a priest, he sees value in both his chemistry degree and his desire to be a doctor.

“I’m going to be doing a … type of spiritual surgery, through the confessional, through my priestly ministry,” he said. “I’ll be able to help cure a lot of souls, by God’s grace. And, I really see that. I pray that he can use these hands and give me the tools I need to do some kind of spiritual surgery, and help people to be healed and also to encounter God’s loving mercy.”

 


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