In John’s Gospel, this is what Jesus said to Martha as she was grieving the death of her brother Lazarus. 

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?

The gospel story for today begins with an interesting question: the disciples ask: has the man who was born blind sinned (and thus caused his own blindness) or have his parents sinned?  Jesus answers “neither”.

Many years ago, I was watching a TV show about newly wedded husband and wives. It was a fun show about how do you know your partner. They would have questions like, “What’s your favourite ice cream flavour?” “What’s your favourite footy team?”

 The Gospel reading of today speaks of the transfiguration of the Lord. Jesus’ appearance changed on the high mountain: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became dazzling white.

The desert was a symbol of deep significance for the Israelites as well as for early Christians.

Divine Word Missionaries in leadership positions throughout the AUS Province came together recently for a workshop to explore the role of leadership in a mission context and to share their experiences.

The workshop was held at the SVD provincial offices in Marsfield, Sydney, and included confreres from right across the province – Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar.

As you receive this edition of In the Word, we have just entered into the season of Lent, a time which calls us especially to look at how we can become closer to God and to our neighbour.

This is an important time of reflection and action for all Christians – a time of taking spiritual stock – and for us, as Divine Word Missionaries, it is a time to dig deep and consider afresh how we are meeting the needs of those we are called to accompany and serve.

Many years ago I read a Life of Jesus by the Scripture scholar Dominic Crossan.  There were many different lives of Jesus coming out at the time as the scholars tried to identify the “historical Jesus”.

When I was in my first year in the seminary, our Religious Education teacher challenged us to see who knew the Ten Commandments and who could recite them.