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.

New Year greetings to all. It’s not too late to say that is it? Not if it’s still January, surely. Even though the Christmas-New Year break is well behind us and most of us are back in the swing of work and life.

And what a horrendous Summer break it was for so many Australians this year, as the bushfires raged and lives, homes, businesses and animals were lost. Our prayers are with all those who died and with their loved ones.

Lunar New Year is a time of celebration for many across Asia and the Divine Word Missionaries in Bangkok helped Vietnamese migrant workers in Thailand to mark the occasion with prayer and fellowship.

Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD says there are tens of thousands of Vietnamese migrant workers in Thailand, but many of them return to Vietnam to celebrate Lunar New Year because it is close and easy to do so.

Happy New Year! I hope that as we’re already in the last week of January, it’s not too late to say that. Although, of course, for our Asian friends, the New Year is still to come, so maybe I’m in time after all.

I’m not really one for New Year’s Resolutions. I mean, like most people, I’ll try to eat better and exercise more and all that, but really, I prefer to just try and stay open to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit in my life, and in this busy, noisy world, that can be a challenging enough resolution in itself.

As Barry Manilow’s song goes… “It’s just another new year’s eve. Let’s make it the best.” And with the New Year we are blessed with three occasions for this day.