“After hearing Jesus (as he taught in the synagogue at Capernaum), many of his followers said, ‘This is intolerable language! How could anyone accept it?”. (John 6:60)

Many years ago, I was reading an article on Catholic Digest. The title was “Why do I believe in the Assumption of Mary?” The author whom I can’t recall was a Protestant. His premise was that in the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah at the end of his life went to heaven body and soul in a chariot of fire while he left Elisha to carry on his ministry. So, he concluded that if this happened to Elijah, then why not to Mary who is the mother of Jesus.

A classic from Jesus today in the Gospel, the reassuring words, “So do not worry!” As we are celebrating the Solemnity of St Mary of the Cross today, the readings chosen for this celebration tell us of the life of Mary Mackillop, who in her life went through challenges and struggles but kept her faith alive in God and left the worries with God as well.

Maybe once in a while we have met some people who seemed to have everything in life; a good house, a flash car, a high-paying job, manage to travel around the world at a moment’s notice but somehow there’s something that is missing.

Members of the SVD AUS Province have been enjoying a time of reflection during July, as they took part in the annual Province retreat, which, due to the pandemic, was offered online this year by American biblical scholar, Fr van Thanh Nguyen SVD.

Fr van Thanh, who is Professor of New Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, deliver the retreat on the topic, ‘The Love of Christ Impels Us: A Retreat with Saint Paul and the 18^th General Chapter’, to confreres from Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar.

The current COVID pandemic has made it so much harder to reach out in ministry to others. This reaching out was something that I previously took completely for granted but now I can only make the best use of those ministerial opportunities that are available, within a seemingly never-ending cycle of lockdowns. So far, we have experienced five lockdowns in Melbourne and have just emerged somewhat from the latest one.

One can be tempted to lose hope that one’s ministry will ever return to those former, more “sunny” times. Some of my ministry, before COVID, had been helping out in neighbouring parishes as well as ministry at a large aged care facility.

The Divine Word Missionaries will have two members at the upcoming Plenary Council and both say they are looking forward to being a part of such a forward-looking and significant process for the Catholic Church in Australia.

Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, will be a member of the Plenary Council and attend its official sessions in October, as will Alice Springs Parish Priest, Fr Prakash Menezes SVD, who will be part of the Darwin Diocese’s delegation, due to his role as Episcopal Vicar for the Diocese’s Central Region.

There was a company, which was working in the forest and looking for a woodchopper. One day, two woodchoppers applied for the job. The manager said that they would only accept one. So he invited both of them to a test.

Each one of us, for sure, has stories or quotations from Holy Scripture that are very special. They may be linked to personal needs or simply to moments of personal enlightenment.

A new series of online video conversations featuring people of different faiths and belief systems aims to broaden the scope of interfaith dialogue.

Fr Thien Nguyen SVD, who is part of the initiative, says each of the conversations focuses on the basic, unifying exploration of one key topic – love – as lived and expressed by those being interviewed.