Faith
Father Vo Tran Gia Dinh, A.A. The Bamboo Theologian B Y S TEPHEN KOSTR ZEWA
T
o his Campus Ministry and Assumptionist colleagues, Father Vo Tran Gia Dinh, A.A., is known as the "bamboo theologian.” “I love the bamboo plant,” he says, “and its characteristics such as flexibility, tenacity, and strength – all of which tell me a lot of how I should live daily.” Those characteristics and his wealth of diverse life experiences have served him well thus far. Fr. Dinh was born the second child of three in Danang, Vietnam, in 1972. At the end of the Vietnam War, his father fled the country as a “boat person,” and landed in Australia. The rest of the family was forced to stay behind. From an early age, Fr. Dinh was an artist. “I love beauty in all its forms, and knew that I had the gift of art,” he said. He planned to pursue a career as an artist after high school, and shared his aspirations with a local parish priest. The priest suggested to Dinh that the life of priest is actually like that of an artist in its devotion to divine beauty. After careful consideration, Fr. Dinh began to understand the priest's words, and a desire to pursue the priesthood as an “agent of beauty” took root in him. He became a seminarian of the diocese of Dalat in 1989, and the people of the diocese became a second family for him. However, Fr. Dinh’s path to the priesthood was not without difficulty. “The goal of Seminary is to train the priest to manage a parish. It is a public work,” he notes. “But in a communist society, the government has the last word about who will be in work for the public, especially any public works with religious components.” After being denied permission several times, Fr. Dinh and the director and bishop of his diocese developed a plan for him to study overseas in the Philippines at East Asian Pastoral Institute (Ateneo de Manila University). It was there that he was introduced to the works of Fr. Emmanuel d’Alzon and the Assumptionist order. Some Vietnamese friends who were in Manila loaned Fr. Dinh a biography of Fr. d’Alzon. “After I read the book, many of Fr. d’Alzon’s statements and teachings would never leave me,” Fr. Dinh said. “I pondered on them and wanted to make them mine. Since then, the thoughts of Fr. d’Alzon about ‘Being a man of faith and a man of time’ are always in the forefront of each moment.” From that point, Fr. Dinh embraced d’Alzon’s teachings of faith, service and education. Of course, Fr. Dinh needed to discuss his calling with the bishop from Dalat. “I will never forget what he said to me,” Fr. Dinh said. “He told me ‘When the door was closed (in Vietnam), then God opened the window for me. Who am I to stop your flight?’. His words and generosity touched me. I then joined the Assumptionists.” His calling eventually brought him to the Worcester community of the Assumptionists and Assumption College. Today, as a member of Campus Ministry, Fr. Dinh is responsible for organizing the liturgical life of the College, and he helps the students develop their faith. He values this work as an opportunity to meet new students and share experiences. “Working with students keeps me young at heart, full of energy,” Fr. Dinh enthuses. “My favorite part is to see the potential of each stu-
18
Assumption College Magazine • Winter 2012
dent, and to have the privilege of being a part of that potential. Conversation with students brings me hope that they can contribute a wonderful stroke to the big picture and make it a better and more beautiful one.” His work at Assumption has enabled Fr. Dinh to take part in several missions and religious pilgrimages. In 2010, he returned to Vietnam with his regional superior, Father Dennis Gallagher, A.A. ’69, to visit the country’s three Assumptionist communities, as well as the bishop of Dalat and the members of Fr. Dinh’s family still living there. During their time in there, Fr. Dinh and Fr. Gallagher kept a journal of their trip for the Assumptionists, titled A Vietnamese Diary. Fr. Dinh writes movingly of his experiences as he rediscovers the country of his birth. “It was like a dream,” he recounts at one point.
“THE MORE I SHARE MY STORY, THE MORE FREEDOM I HAVE. SHARING SOMETHING AUTHENTIC IS AN ART OF LIVING AND BEAUTY.” —FATHER VO TRAN GIA DINH, A.A. Fr. Dinh is philosophical about this voyage. His chronicle allowed him the opportunity “to share … the place I love, the people I lived with, the work that gives me energy. I think that the more I share my story, the more freedom I have. When one reads it, one may understand more about me, where I come from and my passions and desire. For me, sharing something authentic is an art of living and beauty.” On April 2, 2011, Fr. Dinh’s years of study, service and pursuit of divine beauty culminated in his ordination to the priesthood at Assumption College’s Chapel of the Holy Spirit, where he became the first Asian Assumptionist priest in the United States. The Most Reverend Robert McManus, bishop of Worcester, performed the ordination, and the event was attended by former seminary classmates, brother Assumptionists, students, colleagues and several members of his family. The first reading of the service was done in Vietnamese by Fr. Dinh’s sister, Sr. Vo Tran Ngan Ha, RNDM, and the offering of the gifts by his other sister and her family. Music was provided by the Vietnamese community of Worcester. Following the liturgy, Fr. Dinh thanked everyone for coming to celebrate with him and asked for continued prayers. “My ordination is just the beginning,” he stated, “as I continue to fall in love with my vocation, a mystery of love, peace and beauty.” “Being a religious priest, it is so powerful and meaningful to me,” he notes quietly. “Being a priest also transforms the way I act, I think and I love. This is a privilege rather than a duty. There have been many moments where I have lived as a person in between God and my fellow people. With one hand I try to hold God’s hand very tight and the other embrace my people.”