After being ordained a deacon in Melbourne in March, Duc Le SVD eagerly arrived at Mary, Mother of the Church parish in Macquarie Fields for his pastoral placement in June, only to find that a few days after his arrival Sydney was plunged into COVID lockdown and the churches were closed.

A short time later, while Duc was undertaking a retreat at the SVD Provincial Centre in Marsfield, the restrictions were tightened and residents of greater Sydney were prevented from travelling more than 10km. Duc has been at Marsfield ever since, and says his diaconate, while unusual, has still been fruitful.

The annual SVD Mission Day, to take place on Saturday, October 2, is moving online this year and inviting participants to explore Australian Indigenous Culture. Mission and Spiritualties in an ecumenical context.

Fr Albano Da Costa SVD, who is Dean of Studies at the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College in Melbourne and a missiological theologian teaching at the University of Divinity, says the Mission Day program will invite responses to the book ‘Unbreakable Rock: Exploring the Mystery of Altyerre’ by Michael Bowden.

As this edition of In the Word lands in your inbox, I am preparing to represent the Divine Word Missionaries and the communities we serve at the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia, which begins on Sunday. Fr Prakash Menezes SVD, parish priest in Alice Springs, will also be attending as part of the Darwin Diocese’s delegation, due to his role as Episcopal Vicar for the Diocese’s Central Region.

Of course, none of the members of the Plenary Council have ever taken part in something like this before, as the last Australian Plenary Council was held in 1937, so there is both excitement and some trepidation at what is to come.

What a weird world it would be if we took today’s Gospel at face value! Jesus spoke about cutting-off body parts and plucking-out one’s eyes. Did he really mean that his followers should do this?

During his prime, Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight-boxing champion of the 60s and the 70s proclaimed one day, “I am the greatest! I am the greatest!” When he said this nobody tried to refute it, for during his time, he was indeed the greatest. 

Knowing who Jesus is and what following him means is something that each one of us as Christians needs to grow more deeply in every single day. It is a lifetime journey.

The Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province had cause for great celebration earlier this year when five young confreres from three different countries made their Final Profession of Vows and were ordained to the Diaconate.

The young men making their commitment in Melbourne were Nicholas Duc, Marius Razafimandimby, Francois D'Assise Andrianihantana, Edward Okletey Teye, and Hai Nguyen. They are from Ghana, Madagascar and Vietnam.

After 20 months being separated from his missionary assignment due to COVID border closures, Fr Toub Anisong Chanthavong SVD is set to return to Thailand with a thankful heart in September.

Fr Toub took the short trip from Thailand to Laos in December 2019 for three months of home leave with his family, but the worldwide pandemic prevented him from returning to his ministry for almost two years.

As I write this message, millions of Australians are once again living in COVID lockdown across New South Wales, the ACT, and Victoria. Gatherings are banned, families are separated and many people have either lost employment or taken a blow to their income. Of course, many are also suffering from the health effects of COVID and a significant number of people have died. We pray for them.

In amongst these challenges and difficulties we have been forced to continually adapt to the new circumstances we face. The SVD has also been called upon to adapt to new ways of doing things and in September we will hold our first ever online Provincial Assembly.

For some reason, it seems to be a part of human nature to delight in catching someone out! Putting another down is so common. By putting someone down, we raise ourselves up, and make ourselves seem better and brighter than the other.