Fr. Hieu Chi Tran

Born: Vietnam.
Education: Claremont High School, Claremont; Cal Poly Pomona (degrees in business administration: telecommunication and international business marketing).

Prior occupation: Business consultant.
Home parish: Our Lady of the Assumption, Claremont.
Transitional Diaconate: St. Joseph, Pomona.
First Mass as priest: May 31, 7 p.m., Our Lady of the Assumption.
First Assignment: Sacred Heart, Lancaster.

"I discovered my vocation to the priesthood because a priest once asked me, 'Have you ever thought that you have a call to serve as a priest?' This was actually the motivation that triggered my curiosity and challenged me to look deeper into myself, which helped me to ask: 'What is it that God wants me to do with my life?' Since then, I began to search for the true meaning of life and began to discern. Through my discernment process, I found a new relationship, a relationship with God. This relationship fuels my heart with a desire to love God and God's people, to love with my full capacity as a human person, to love without reservation."