Dear Friends,

Happy Easter! Christ is risen, he is risen indeed. Alleluia.

After our last two Easters where the communal celebration of this pinnacle of our faith life was severely limited due to COVID-19, what a joy it was to gather in numbers again to welcome the Risen Lord.

And, as we journey through the six-week long Easter season, we are immersed in the new life of the resurrection.

I always enjoy the readings of the Easter season because they show us the very human face of the apostles and the early Church – at first struggling to make sense of the reports of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and then, so alive with the faith that they could not fail to share it.

What made the difference in them? It was their encounter with the risen Lord. Whether it was the women at the tomb or the disciples on the road to Emmaus or Thomas who would not believe until he had seen Jesus for himself, it was the encounter with Christ that made all the difference.

Jesus’ constant refrain in his post-resurrection appearances is to tell his apostles not to be afraid. And, then his final commission to the apostles before his ascension: “Go out to all the world and share the Good News”.

This is our model for faith and mission too. Jesus strengthens our faith in our encounters with him, whether that be in encounters through Word or Sacrament, or even encounters through other people, perhaps a spouse or a family member or friend. And if we are open to those encounters, they will set us on fire with love for him and for all. Like the apostles, we will be so filled with the love and joy of Christ that we will be unable to keep from sharing it with others.

As Divine Word Missionaries, we take seriously Jesus’ great commission to go out and share the Good News with all the world. Indeed, the missionaries in our SVD Australia Province are from all over the world and this multiculturality is a defining feature of SVDs around the globe. We have encountered Jesus and been filled with his love and it’s this love we want to share with all, especially the most marginalised.

This great commission to go out to all the world and share the Good News is not restricted to those in vowed religious life though. All the baptised are called to share their faith and the place where faith is most often shared is in the family.

May we all be filled afresh with missionary fire this Easter season, as we live out the reality of our faith: He is Risen! Alleluia.

Yours in the Word,

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,

Provincial.