“I’m open to whatever surprises God has in store for me,” Tripp said. “I look forward to it all.”
Tripp first felt called to the priesthood after experiencing his Confirmation retreat. He continued discerning throughout his remaining two years of high school and into his college years. Though he knew he wanted to serve as a priest, he was not sure whether he was being called to serve as a diocesan priest or religious priest.
“At first I was thinking about joining a diocese in Nebraska, but whenever I would pray a voice kept calling me home,” Tripp said.
After graduating from college, he entered formation for the Diocese of San Bernardino. He first started studying at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, TX, but later transferred to St. John Seminary, Camarillo.
“This has been a process of growth, a deepening of my understanding of what the priesthood really means and an understanding of myself as a person,” Tripp said.
While first thinking about joining the priesthood at age 11, Dang didn’t truly pursue his calling until he moved from Vietnam to the United States in 1999.
“It was the year 2000 when I met Father Nick Nguyen, a Divine Word Missionary who came to my home parish to recruit young men to be missionaries,” Dang said. “Sitting in the pew and listening to what he shared from the ambo just before the Mass ended, the desire of becoming a priest came back to me.”
He entered the Divine Word College Seminary in Iowa in 2001 and remained there for eight years. While on a silent retreat, however, he says he felt God calling him to the diocesan priesthood rather than the religious priesthood. In 2009 he entered Blessed Junipero Serra House of Formation in Grand Terrace and continued his formation for the priesthood. Later he continued his studies at Assumption Seminary and St. John Seminary.
Dang credits his internship year serving at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, La Quinta with preparing him for life after seminary.
“After living so many years at different seminaries, I got used to living in community,” Dang said. “At my intern parish, I was asked to live by myself in a regular house in which I felt so lonely and isolated for a couple of weeks. Thanks be to God, it did not take me that long to adapt to that kind of lifestyle.”
Tripp served his internship year at Our Lady of Hope, San Bernardino. While a challenging experience, he is glad to have served at the parish.
“It really gave me a more realistic appreciation of what diocesan priesthood is like,” Tripp said. “Even at the seminary, we have a romanticized view of the priesthood. This helped me see the other side of the priesthood, the administrative side.”
Tripp says he is looking forward to finally being able to serve the people, celebrate Mass and the Sacraments, especially hearing confessions.
“That sacrament has had a powerful impact in my life,” Tripp said. “Now I’ll be able to experience the other side of it. Be there to help others encounter the mercy of God.”
Dang is also looking forward to getting to know the people at his first assignment and beginning to experience parish life as a priest.
“I just want to be a simple priest by working hand-in-hand with the pastor or pastoral coordinator to build a healthy parish,” Dang said. “It is not my ministry, but it is the ministry of God.”