By Mary Joy Rile

I was awakened one morning in awe by a flashback of my childhood dream of becoming an astronomer. I loved the study of the planets, the universe, and all heavenly bodies in my elementary years. Then followed my recollection of Fr Vinnie’s sharing the day before on the birth of the universe with the Big Bang Theory, leading to our own births. In a sense we all have the same birth through the call of God when he declared Jesus to be the Savior of the world. Was the universe truly working on births and dates and on how we all started to live in it?

We’re used to reading vocation stories where people tell us how the Call started, what the manifestations were and how they live the Call. But Anne Gubuan, the assistant editor, and I were to see vocation from a different perspective when we went to visit Fr Vincent Busch in Ozamiz City. The encounter started with corn being popped, coffee being brewed and a few jokes. It then went on to Fr Vinnie’s many stories, each seemingly different from the others but all coming together to weave a cohesive web.

Fr Vinnie shared that creation is a gift from God and mission is about expanding your point of view to include all creatures. He portrayed this on the recently released Christmas cards made by Subanen Crafts. His book Ang Damgo sa Mindanao (The Dream of Mindanao) with few words but many illustrations expresses the great concern of Mindanao. How he interconnected each painting in the book was very interesting.

The "First Noel" Cards 2012 by Father Vinnie

I was glad to learn as well of his Creation Mandala. Drawn in abstract style, the symbols intrigued me because of the meaning behind every piece. I was to know from Fr Vinnie that a circle is a mandala in itself! The designs and his poetry, the meaning behind each painting and even the size of a mandala fitting the drawing were striking. He showed us his first mandala though when he created it he didn’t know the Sanskrit word, which means ‘circle’.

He shared about the Creation Rosary emphasizing the role of Mary in salvation. He pointed out that while Mary’s Assumption and Coronation aren’t specifically mentioned in the Bible, that in Matthew 25:35-36, 'For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me,' Jesus is referring to Mary.

Fr Vinnie talked about Creation Spirituality, citing the late Fr Thomas Berry CP, an eco-theologian. My curiosity was truly hooked by this interesting topic, new to me. He spoke of vocation as something related to the work that we do and has nothing to do with our state of life. ‘Are you answering the call of the Spirit, bringing to life God and the universe? You understand a vocation when you see the universe as a gift, not as press materials,’ emphasized Fr Vinnie.

He expounded that the universe is a community of persons not a collection of things. And all things are part of the story of God’s great universe. ‘If you're connected with that, in any way, that's your vocation. Your struggle is to find out what your contribution is to the Great Work.

‘Vocation is also about how we are connected with the liturgy of God in the universe, which we rediscover all the time. Liturgy means “the work of the people”. For example, we don't pull farmers out of their land just to attend Mass. Tending their land has been their expression of celebrating a life with God, and that’s how they’re celebrating the Mass. Spirituality is not about sentimentality. When we remove it from doing then that’s only sentimentality and you take out the real meaning of vocation.’

I was overwhelmed by this. Fr Vinnie’s idea of vocation was new to me. But it was something to make me realize vocation in a deeper context, even closer to the Source. He views things from a different perspective, more connected to valuing Creation. I was amazed at how he put things in continuity, how we are related to one thing and another, demonstrating the web of life. It’s putting meaning in everything there is and in all that we do. For nothing has simply popped up without any purpose at all. It’s the mind of the Great Creator that makes everything meaningful. Reflected in the very mandala of our eyes are all these things, only if we care to see them. And vocation, after all, is not something apart from us, but is within us, since the beginning of our existence.

He showed us a precious painting encompassing all that he shared about creation and vocation. My dream as a young girl, my desire for greater communion with the Creator, my curiosity about life's unfolding miracles and the value of existence, the vocation to which I am truly called, were all awakened by a single encounter with Fr Vinnie. And I was delightfully surprised when he revealed that we have the same birthday. I already have a biological twin and I am amazed to know another kindred spirit.

Fr Vinnie, would you mind lecturing me more on Creation Spirituality?