Ngắm Đứng (Standing Meditation) As An Instrument For Missionary Evangelization In Today’s Vietnam

Abstract

In his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis precisely said: “Popular piety enables us to see how the faith, once received, becomes embodied in a culture and is constantly passed on” (EG., 123). The Pope also greatly encouraged the Church to use popular piety as today’s “evangelizing power.” Ngắm Đứng (Standing Meditation) is a famous and precious Catholic popular devotion which is practiced only in Vietnam since the seventeenth century. It is a special and profound way of expressing faith in God, particularly Jesus Christ, of the Vietnamese people. This presentation is generally an example of an approach to doing contextual theology with sensitivity to local practices of popular devotion. Particularly, the researcher focuses on Standing Meditation as a resource of theology in Vietnam’s context. In doing so, the researcher attempts to portray some possible images of Jesus and elaborate some dimensions of a popular Christian spirituality. In addition, concerning the call of the Church for mission, the researcher aims to promote Standing Meditation as an instrument of Evangelization in Vietnam today.

About the Speaker
A native of Nghe An Province, Vietnam, Fr. Anthony Nguyen Huy Quyen is a member of the Society of Divine Word. He obtained his Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Loyola School of Theology, Quezon City, Philippines. He is currently working in the parish and missionary area in Vinh Diocese. He is also teaching theology in some seminaries in Vietnam. His email address is [email protected]

About the Speaker

Fr. Bui Quang Minh, S.J. is the Director of Philosophy Program in Saint Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. His email address is [email protected]

About Conversations
Conversations is a theologico-cultural online Asian “coffee or tea room” where students and faculty can converse with each other in one and a half-hour monthly or bi-monthly meetings. This virtual space features students, faculty, or alumni sharing their theological reflections on select aspects of our respective Asian cultures in the Jesuit Conference of South Asia and the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific. Participating Jesuit Theological Centers are Jnana-Deepa Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune, India; Vidyajyoti College of Theology, New Delhi, India; St. Joseph Jesuit Scholasticate, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Wedabhakti Faculty of Theology and Faculty of Theology, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Loyola School of Theology, Quezon City, Philippines; Fu Jen Faculty of Theology of St. Robert Bellarmine, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate School of Theology, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea; Jesuit Scholasticate, Tokyo, Japan.