Becoming the parish priest of Santa Teresa, an Aboriginal community near Alice Springs, has been a lesson in love for Fr Bosco Son SVD.
Fr Bosco, who was born and raised in Korea, took over as parish priest from Fr Jim Knight SVD in April and says that he received some valuable advice before setting out for Santa Teresa, which helped bring focus to his ministry in this remote Aboriginal community.
“I met the Provincial on one occasion before coming to Santa Teresa, in order to discuss the possibility of ministry in Central Australia with him,” he says.
“One of his comments to me was to ‘love the people of Santa Teresa’. I was really impressed by this comment.
“I would like to say that I really did try to love them when I came here. Eventually, this showed me how to love them and I will go on loving them.”
Fr Bosco was installed as Parish Priest on April 21 by Fr Jan Szweda SVD, who is Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart parish in Alice Springs and Episcopal Vicar for the Southern Region in the Diocese of Darwin. Fr Jim Knight SVD was also present.
He says the installation Mass was a wonderful occasion - very prayerful and full of meaningful local customs and Aboriginal tradition.
Fr Bosco was presented with a beautiful stole, as well as the baptismal font (a cradle with an Arrernte design), the Bible, Sacramentary, and Oil of the Sick.
“The stole is reversible and each side was painted by two local faithful ladies,” he says. “There are many symbols and signs on it and its design is unique. The symbols on the stole represent the Santa Teresa community, the people’s gathering, hills and water.
“One of the ladies explained to me that we are one in the Spirit of God and we need to help each other in relieving our thirst in many ways.”
A local woman, who is a traditional healer, smoked Fr Bosco during the Mass – a gesture which was followed by people’s prayer and blessing.
Fr Bosco says he was deeply touched by the occasion.
“To be honest, I was feeling the responsibilities of my actions and words, as well as feeling welcomed by the community of Santa Teresa.”
His installation as Parish Priest came 12 months after arriving in Santa Teresa as assistant priest in April 2012. Before that, he was acting as a relief priest at Mary, Mother of God Church, Macquarie Fields. He joined the Divine Word Missionaries in Korea in 2000 and spent two years in Ghana on the Overseas Training Program from 2004-2006, before coming to Australia in 2007 for further study. He was ordained in Melbourne on October 1, 2011.
Fr Bosco says his hope for his ministry in Santa Teresa is to go on loving the people.
“The hope that I have for my ministry here is that I will keep a strong faith relationship with all the people, living as a sower, not a harvester, and helping them to have a better life,” he says.