Her theology studies and her own Catholic faith have helped Sr. Trish Doan see that God can’t be imposed on a culture – He’s already present in every culture.
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Sister Rejane
This Random Nun Clip is brought to you by A Nun's Life Ministry. I'm Sister Rejane of A Nun's Life Ministry. Our guest today is Sister Trish Doan, a Sister of St. Joseph of Orange, who currently lives in Los Angeles, California, and is working on her master's degree in theology. Her life began in Vietnam during a time of war, upheaval, and unrest. Sister Trish left Vietnam at the approximate age of 12. She went to school and over the years had several different work experiences in engineering, in her family's restaurant, and in US immigration services.
Sister Rejane
And you're at Loyola--
Sister Trish
Marymount.
Sister Rejane
Marymount. And it's a master's, correct?
Sister Trish
Yes, it's a master's degree in theology, and I hope to specialize or to have a concentration in Asian theology.
Sister Rejane
That's great. Are you already starting on some of the specific coursework or research on Asian theology?
Sister Trish
I have been doing all the foundational classes. And next semester, I will have an independent study with one of the professors in the theology department on Asian theology. So that will be my first. And I think there's another course I may petition to take, an Asian perspective on the Bible. And I did take a class in faith and culture and my final research or portfolio was on water puppets, which is the Vietnamese. Only Vietnam has the water puppet. It started in the 11th century. Nowhere else in the world have water puppets.
Sister Rejane
Well, tell us more! What is the water puppet?
Sister Trish
My professor, my Old Testament Professor, Daniel Smith-Christopher, will be excited that I mentioned this, because I was in his Old Testament class. He sent me an email maybe three weeks into the course. And he said, "Trish, you are a St. Joseph sister, right? And your community will support you in your ministry, right?" [laughs] So I responded to him, yes. And he sent me a long letter saying, "Well, can you look into the water puppet? Because you can use water puppet to tell an Old Testament or a scripture story." So he sent me a link to the water puppet, which is a puppet that plays in water. And the puppeteer will stay behind the curtain and control the puppet. I mean, I knew about it. But I have never gone to see the show because this is from the northern part of Vietnam, and I'm from the southern and central part of Vietnam. So I would not know. But it's really neat. And it's very interesting. So I think I'm probably gonna do that. And he said, "Just think about Jonah and the fish!" [laughs] So if I tell him that I mentioned the water puppet, the Vietnamese water puppet, he will be really excited because he really wanted me to take a look and use water puppets to tell Bible stories. And I said to him, "You know, it takes a white man to tell me about my culture." [laughter] And he was just laughing.
Sister Rejane
The irony. [laughs]
Sister Trish
I appreciate that I learned so much about the water puppet. You know, God is in God is everywhere. And God Is in everything. And to bring God out of the culture, not to impose God on a culture -- because we know that God is in everything and everywhere. All we have to do is just bring God out. So in each culture, God is already there. So how do we bring God out from that culture? And that's what I learned from my faith and culture class.
Sister Rejane
That is beautiful. Oh my gosh, Sister Trish, that is so beautiful. How do we bring God out from our cultures?
Sister Trish
Yes. And I learned this in the course of my formation, my candidacy, my novitiate, and now. It's a funny thing. Before my vows, I had to have an invitation. So the sisters said, "Choose a picture for your invitation." So I got this picture of St. Joseph holding Jesus -- as a Vietnamese man. And I showed it to my friend, and I said, "Can you look at this and tell me who this is?" And he looked at that, and he said, "Ho Chi Minh." [laughs] And I said, "Oh, my God! This is St. Joseph!" Even our own Vietnamese, we cannot recognize St. Joseph in our own color skin or our own costume. Because we only accept God as a white God, white bearded man, European. So in taking the faith and culture, class, I learned that God is in our own culture, and we just have to realize that God has been with us from the very beginning -- not only since the missionaries came. But the missionaries came to make us aware of God. And so now, we have to bring God out from our culture.
Sister Rejane
Wow. That's powerful.
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This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.
