Christmas is the time when Jesus enters our lives in a special way. However this can be overshadowed by all the other activities at this time, like partying, shopping sprees and the giving of gifts. Also, I have now discovered that Christmas does not have to be a “once off” event for the year, but rather has an essential all year round character.

About 20 years ago I was asked to leave my beloved mission in Ghana in West Africa and return to Australia for Formation ministry. My mission in Ghana had been Parish work, in a very traditional area, where the people were subsistence farmers. After a time of local language learning I became very committed to my missionary work. For the most part this comprised going around, by motorbike, to the different villages for the purpose of basic catechesis as also for initiating development projects concerning the digging of wells and boreholes and for managing a Primary Health care project.

It was a stormy night along the east coast of Australia, but that didn’t stop the crowds attending Carols by Candlelight at various SVD centres.

Marsfield, in Sydney, the Multicultural Carols by Candlelight had to move from the lawns into the St Arnold Janssen Chapel and at St Maximilian Parish in Marsden, Brisbane, they were moved into the hall – but in both cases, the show went on! St Mark’s Parish at Inala also showcased their multicultural singing gifts at their Carols, as did other SVD parishes and communities around the country.

The new Governor of Nong Bua Lamphu in Thailand paid a visit to the SVD’s Mother of Perpetual Help Centre and Villa Marie Hospice recently – to celebrate a special birthday in his family.

Br Damien Lunders SVD says it is a common Thai custom on the birthday of a person, and in this case the wife of the Governor, to take food and gifts to a Centre such as the hospice or a children’s home.

The first SVD house in Myanmar has been officially blessed by Cardinal Charles Bo, in another significant milestone for the AUS Province’s newest missionary endeavour.

Named the Divine Word Centre, the house was blessed by the Cardinal following many months of hard work by confreres and local tradespeople to restore it to a habitable home.

As I bring you this greeting for the upcoming Christmas season, I have just arrived back home from the blessing of our new SVD house in Myanmar.

In my comments of thanksgiving on that occasion, I was moved to reflect on the incarnational aspect of the birth of this new missionary endeavour.

At 83  years of age, and recently given the all-clear by Sydney specialists after treatment for Leukaemia, Archbishop William Kurtz SVD has headed back to Papua New Guinea to continue his ministry of providing formation for catechists and “helping out” wherever he can.

Archbishop Kurtz, who retired as the Archbishop of Madang in 2010, says he could have returned home to Poland when he retired at 76, but after more than 50 years in PNG, he’d come to love the place and the people, and he wasn’t sure he could cope with the European winters.

It’s an unassuming building in suburban Melbourne, but Dorish Maru College, has been a powerhouse of missionary formation since it was established 30 years ago.

Dorish Maru College (DMC), the formation house of the Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province, opened its doors in 1988 and since that time has formed and trained hundreds of missionaries who are now serving all around the world.

Fr Nick de Groot SVD has hit the ground running on his new assignment to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart parish in Alice Springs, meeting the people and “soaking up the atmosphere” of the Central Australian community.

The new assignment came as somewhat of a surprise to Fr Nick, who had recently moved to the SVD’s Marsfield community to take up retirement.

Dear young people, I would like to reflect with you on the mission that we have received from Christ. In speaking to you, I also address all Christians who live out in the Church the adventure of their life as children of God. What leads me to speak to everyone through this conversation with you is the certainty that the Christian faith remains ever young when it is open to the mission that Christ entrusts to us. “Mission revitalizes faith” (Redemptoris Missio, 2), in the words of Saint John Paul II, a Pope who showed such great love and concern for young people.

The Synod to be held in Rome this coming October, the month of the missions, offers us an opportunity to understand more fully, in the light of faith, what the Lord Jesus wants to say to you young people, and, through you, to all Christian communities.

The month of October is always a big one for the SVD community as we take part in the worldwide celebration of World Mission Sunday and all the surrounding events.

This year, Pope Francis addressed his message for World Mission Day to young people, saying he would like to reflect with them “on the mission that we have received from Christ”.