The SVD Lay Partners group in Marsfield is continuing its journey of growth and formation in SVD life and spirituality, with a recent presentation on the life of founder, St Arnold Janssen.

The presentation was delivered by Fr Frank Gerry SVD, who has rich experience in SVD formation, and Fr Dom Flores SVD, who is accompanying the Lay Partners group.

Mervyn Rodrigues, who is a part of the group, says that the presentation helped the Lay Partners learn a lot about the spirituality of St Arnold.

“Fr Frank shared the humble beginnings of the Society of the Divine Word and the life of St Arnold Janssen with us,” Mervyn says.

“Through his writings, St Arnold exhorts us to ‘Pray and beg the Lord for the harvest’. He then calls on the faithful to ‘Earnestly offer Sacrifice’.

“The celebration of the Holy Eucharist was also central to St Arnold’s spirituality.”

Mervyn says he was touched by the simple beginnings of the SVD house in Steyl, the Netherlands, in an old pub.

“In his memoirs, St Arnold wrote, ‘The simplicity of this beginning should not discourage us … if the seminary succeeds we will thank the grace of God. If nothing comes of it, we will humbly strike our breast and confess that we were not worthy of the grace’.

“Fr Frank brought St Arnold to life through these memoirs and planted the seeds in our minds.”

Fr Dom then led the group in a workshop where each Lay Partner contributed to the development of a mission statement for the Lay Partners’ group.

The statement reads: “We, the SVD Lay missionaries of Australia, trusting in the Divine Word, guided by the Holy Spirit, aspire to become Christ-like witnesses by sharing the Good News in service, unity and love”.

Fr Dom says it is now part of the group’s ongoing growth to ‘own’ their mission statement.

“Now that we have a tentative vision and mission statement, we have to own it and then we can make progress with concrete goals and objectives,” he says.

“With this group, we started as friends, and the Provincial Chapter asked us to let the Lay Partners’ group begin and let it grow. So we started like a seed without any expectation.

“Now we are in our second year and we are still letting things grow. But this mission statement will give us a firm direction for our growth.”

The workshop day concluded with the breaking of bread in fellowship, sharing foods from the various different cultures represented in the group.