The pandemic has thrown all our plans up in the air, forcing us to rely more on the providence of God.           

The title of 1864 oil-on-canvas painting by Edwin Landseer is “Man Proposes, God Disposes”. This saying is true today, in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Looking back to the last six months almost of all people in the world have had to make changes in their lives.

The coronavirus pandemic kept Emerald’s new priests away from their flock for a while but not from their garden, The Catholic Leader reports.

Divine Word Missionaries Fr Truc Quoc Phan and Fr Firminus (Yon) Wiryono are new to Emerald, in the Central Highlands of Queensland, and to Rockhampton diocese.

The SVD AUS Province is to receive a new member as soon as the pandemic allows, with Fr Tommy Lehan SVD due to take up a mission assignment in Thailand.

Fr Tommy was born in Boas, Indonesia in 1990 and raised in Atambua, the main city of the Belu district.

It was an emotional moment for Fr Prakash Menezes SVD when, after weeks of celebrating Mass in front of a phone camera at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart church in Alice Springs, he was finally able to look out and see his parishioners again.

The Northern Territory government relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions on Friday, May 15, and that very same day Fr Prakash celebrated Mass for the people.

If the coronavirus and the enforced social isolation that has come with it has taught us anything, it is that we are social creatures who crave connection.

When we were asked to stay at home it wasn’t shopping or consumption that we missed the most, rather it was visiting our family, hugging our parents, attending our niece’s first birthday party, hanging out with our workmates or enjoying a dinner with friends at a restaurant.

How does one be missionary in a pandemic, when we are being urged to stay home and not go out? It is a question that SVDs in the AUS Province have been asking and they’ve come up with some creative responses.

Firstly of course, the Divine Word Missionary priests have, like most other parish priests, been livestreaming their private Mass on social media, and they have also been ensuring community ties remain strong through various initiatives.

These days the whole world is in the fear of being in the grip of coronavirus and we have read about the tens of thousands of deaths reported from all over the world. Over the past weeks, new cases were being reported every day and leaders and the medical communities have been challenged to the utmost limit.

Places like churches, mosques, temples and synagogues where people go to find peace and consolation have been closed. One can ask the question, does God care for humanity? Why does God want to make human beings suffer?

The SVD senior confreres have written or shared a compilation of 'Prayers during this time of Pandemic'.

It is part of the Divine Word Missionaries commitment to reaching out to others, especially during this time when many have been feeling isolated and anxious. 

What strange and unsettling days we are living in. Within a matter of weeks our society has been rendered almost unrecognisable thanks to the spread of the coronavirus and the restrictions that are now in place to save lives.

In beautiful autumn weather we see many Australian beaches fenced off and deserted. Shopping centre shelves have been stripped, thousands of people have lost their jobs, churches are closed and even the footy has been cancelled. Where can we find hope in all of this?