In his Lenten Message this year, Pope Francis urged us to “… experience Lent with love”.

He was referring specifically to caring for those affected by the Coronavirus, but it’s a great invitation for us all to really enter into the season in a positive and meaningful way.

Temptations are a regular part of our lives. When I was still living in Macquarie Fields, five days a week, I’d go out in the morning and take an hour walk.

The person suffering with leprosy, in today’s Gospel, takes the initiative to come to Jesus, and in a way, puts the ball in Jesus’ court and says, “If you want to, you can cure me.”

The Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province, which is one of the 599 partner organisations to sign on to the UN Treaty to ban nuclear weapons, has joined Australia’s bishops in urging the federal government to sign onto the treaty, which came into force last week.

The majority of United Nations member states, including the Holy See, have signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Australia, however, has not yet become a signatory.

Ecuadorian SVD student Luis Robles has concluded his Overseas Training Program (OTP) in Australia, saying his time here was “a journey full of unexpected surprises and priceless experiences”.

Luis arrived in Australia on March 17, 2019, and apart from learning English, he also spent time in SVD communities in Sydney, Melbourne and Central Australia.

Divine Word Missionary communities throughout the AUS Province and the world have had much to celebrate in January, with the commemoration of two SVD saints – St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freinademetz.

St Arnold’s feast day was on January 15, the date of his death in 1909 in Steyl, Holland. He was the founder of the Divine Word Missionaries, as well as two orders of Religious Women, the Servant Sisters of the Holy Spirit and the Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration.

Happy New Year! I trust that as you receive this edition of In the Word, you are feeling rested and refreshed after a break over the Summer period.

As 2021 begins to unfold, it’s hard not to wonder what is in store for us after all the turmoil of 2020. And yet, our faith tells us it is better to take each day as it comes than to worry about the future.

One of the best experiences I had with my parents was when in 2011 I toured them for four weeks around Australia and New Zealand.

The first Sunday after the Solemnity of the Epiphany, we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. This feast day marks the end of the Christmas liturgical season.

Fr Joseph Reddy SVD has bid a fond farewell to parishioners at Mary, Mother of the Church parish in Macquarie Fields as he prepares to take up a new assignment in the Townsville Diocese.

Fr Joseph has been Assistant Priest at Macquarie Fields since April 2017 and says his time there taught him a lot.