If one single word is used to describe the foundation upon which the whole Christian life is based, it is HOPE. Hope is the main theme running throughout the heart of the Bible, from Genesis down to Revelation.

Human hands open palm up worship. Eucharist Therapy Bless God Helping Repent Catholic Easter Lent Mind Pray. Christian Religion concept background. fighting and victory for godLast year I had finished a school Mass and after these Masses I always stand at the Church entrance and say goodbye to the pupils as they leave the Church, reflects Fr Clement Baffoe SVD. On this particular day, a prep student who was with his mother asked me an important question. The little boy looked at my face when leaving the Church and asked: “Are you Jesus?” I hastily replied: No! But Jesus is my friend. Both the mother and I had a laugh and they left.

The boy's question left me with many questions than answers. What has the little boy heard about Jesus? What did he see in me to then ask if I was Jesus? Is the boy searching for Jesus? And perhaps for the boy, who is this Jesus he’s been told about?

FCBCO SVD attendees 250Divine Word Missionaries who attended the recent Oceania Bishops’ Assembly in Fiji have described it as a hopeful, joyful experience of collegiality and synodality, where bishops listened to the cry of the earth and oceans along with the hopes and desires of Catholics across the region for the future of the Church.

Six SVD members attended the meeting – five bishops from Australia and Papua New Guinea and one priest, the AUS Province Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, who helped facilitate the gathering.

Fr Bill Burt Golden Jubilee of Ordination 2023 250Fr Bill Burt SVD marked his Golden Jubilee of priestly ordination recently with a “simple celebration” with confreres and friends at Melbourne’s Dorish Maru College.

It was fitting that Fr Bill’s celebration took place in an SVD formation house, given that he has worked in the formation area on several occasions over those 50 years of priesthood and missionary life.

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250As we all embark on the season of Lent, we Divine Word Missionaries of the Australia Province are also about to undertake our Provincial Chapter.

The theme of the Chapter is ‘“Your Light Must Shine Before Others” (Mt.5: 16): Faithful and Creative Disciples in a Wounded World’ and it is a theme which gives us much to reflect on.

Today is the First Sunday of Lent, and  today’s Gospel is taken from the opening of  Matthew, chapter 4.  We hear the well known, dramatic story of Jesus’ temptations in the desert which takes place before he begins his public ministry.

During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was asked, “How can we get rid of our enemies?” He then asked his generals about their war strategies so that they could win battles. Then Abraham Lincoln said, “We can get rid of our enemies by making them our friends”.

Jesus, through the Gospel this 6th Sunday of ordinary time, reminds us to live out our Christian life in the light of the moral values inspired and grounded on love, because God is love.

Sometimes I ponder what sin I regularly commit? We commit sins “in my thought, in my word and in what I have done” as we often confess and ask for God’s forgiveness before Mass.

Ukraine1 250The friends and partners in mission of the SVD Australia Province raised more than $70,000 in recent months for two special mission appeals – one to assist the people affected by the war in Ukraine and the other, to purchase a campervan for ministry to remote communities in Central Australia.

“We are very grateful for the generosity of people who donated to these special appeals,” says Mission Secretary Fr Viet Nguyen SVD.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Society of the Divine Word, Australia Province, acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, sky, and community.

We acknowledge their skin-groups, story-lines, traditions, religiosity and living cultures.

We pay respect to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Thailand, and Myanmar.

We are committed to building with them, a brighter future together.