SVD
Generalate

Dear confreres, lay associates, friends, collaborators, and benefactors,

A year has now passed since the great Jubilee celebrations commemorating the foundation of our Society of the Divine Word. As we mark our one hundred and fifty-first anniversary, we are once again invited to look back with gratitude on the year that has passed. We give thanks to God for the blessings we have received, and for His continued guidance and faithfulness to our Congregation and its mission. At the same time, we are invited to contemplate the present, with our eyes fixed on the future.

Our mission today brings us into communion with so many people who suffer the consequences of wars, natural disasters, and other calamities. It brings us into communion with those who are forced to leave their homelands because of poverty, persecution, or threats to their survival. And it brings us into communion with those who live in contexts marked by polarization, extremism, and intolerance. We are also called to welcome and stand in solidarity with those who feel abandoned, excluded, or wounded in their dignity.

The wounds of our time are not diminishing.
On the contrary, in many places, they seem to be becoming ever deeper.
In the face of this reality, we are invited to ask ourselves:

What is our place as Missionaries of the Divine Word?

What witness are we called to offer?

What does God want from us in this situation?

As a religious Congregation, we have a significant place in the Church.
We are one of the largest missionary congregations in terms of membership, and we are present in many countries and cultures. But numbers alone do not guarantee that our presence serves the People of God and all people of goodwill. We need to go beyond statistics. Our presence must become a testimony of communion.

At the heart of this communion is our relationship with Christ, the Divine Word. We have consecrated our lives to Him. Through Him, we have been called and sent to participate in the Missio Dei. Before we speak about God, we must remain with Him. We must listen to His Word and allow it to transform our lives.

Therefore, on this one hundred and fifty-first anniversary, I would like to invite all of us to rediscover the Word of God. It is in the Word that we encounter the Lord who calls us, gathers us, and sends us. In the Word, we learn once again to recognize His voice amid the many voices of our time. In it, we find light to discern the paths of mission, and strength to remain faithful when the journey becomes difficult.

Perhaps our commitment for the year ahead could be this: to go beyond our daily listening to the Scriptures in the liturgy, and to set aside personal and unhurried time to savour the Word of God. Even thirty sacred minutes each day would allow us to remain before the Word without haste. Thirty minutes to listen, to reflect, and to be with the Lord. Thirty minutes in the freedom and trust of someone sitting down to speak with a friend. The renewal we seek in our personal, communal, and missionary lives can begin precisely there: sitting once again at the feet of the Master and listening to Him.

Arnold Janssen lived through a time of profound change, uncertainty, and hardship. We, too, are living through a time of profound change and, very often, uncertainty. We do not know exactly what the future holds. But we can trust that God continues to act in history.

We may not yet perceive what God is doing. For this reason, the present moment calls us to attentive listening, discernment, and trust.

May the Divine Word, who took on our humanity and entered human history, renew in each one of us the joy of being His disciple and missionary.
May the Lord continue to bless our Society, our communities, our collaborators, our benefactors, and all those who, in different ways, are part of the great Arnoldus Family.

Thank you, and may God bless you all.

Fr. Superior General Anselmo R. Ribeiro, SVD