By Fr John Quang SVD

I have to admit that for quite some time I have not read many SVD publications. I feel I don’t find anything new. The familiar messages of multi/intercultural, international, dialogue(s), mission, ‘world is our parish’, ‘unity in diversity’… all sound too familiar from the novitiate days and almost slogan-like. It’s the same message, just under different packaging. Social justice and climate change! Oh yeah, great! Who would not stand up for such lofty ideas in this age of the globalisation, unless one is a bigot.

Like doubting Thomas, instead of taking ideas for granted, we must keep asking questions and re-examine what is passed on to us. Renew and revive!

I do not mean that the SVD message is useless. We are forgetful and slow learning creatures. We need to be reminded again and again of what we have learnt and yet not practised well. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to his disciples, not to teach anything new other than to remind them of what Jesus has already taught them.

Pope Francis in his latest book ‘Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future’ reflects on his experience over the long COVID lockdown. Seeing many popular Movements in response to the lockdown, he said the task of the Church is not to organise people. The Church is to collaborate and to accompany, not to paternalise people. Francis saw that the role of the Church also means to offer teaching and guidance, to illuminate the light of the gospel, awakening people to their dignity. People have the instinct to know what they need and to organise themselves (p.121) people don’t need us to be their social workers or social project inventors. Activism is not our call.

In light of what pope Francis said, I believe we SVDs, in order to be relevant in this fast-changing world, shouldn’t try to adapt ourselves to the worldly standard, but we do need the ability of critical thinking. We cannot simply keep shouting religious slogans, no matter how beautiful it may sound. Be a Thomas!

We need to rediscover our Biblical Dream. The Bible is full of dreams. The last book of the bible, Revelation, is also about a dream, not a human dream but a divine dream of a new heaven and new earth. It is a Biblical dream of a new creation. The Biblical dream is the encounter with the transcendent reality where we find our ultimate realisation, earthly connection to the divine realm and becoming what creation we are meant to be in God’s eyes.

While we have one foot firmly rooted in the real world, the other foot must engage in the dream to where we are called to be. The dream is like wings helping us fly high beyond ourselves, to a far better horizon.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, God has put us here not to be successful but to be faithful. For me, it is faithful to God’s dream, not our human dream that is only a shadow of God’s dream for us.

Indeed, when the dream is gone, it is such a lonely place.