Lent really crept up on us this year, didn’t it? It felt like we were no sooner waving a wistful farewell to the Christmas season when Ash Wednesday was upon us.

Now, we are well and truly in the midst of our Lenten journey – a journey that will take us all the way to Calvary and then, to the glory of Easter.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Today we enter the second week of Lent. Today's Gospel shows us the transfiguration of Jesus. Literally, transfiguration means a change of face.

Temptations are a regular part of our lives. When I was still living in Macquarie Fields, five days a week, I would go out in the morning and take an hour’s walk. Basically that was my exercise for the day.

Today, our Mother Church continues to remind us that Jesus is a compassionate and loving God to all who approach Him with open minds and hearts.

There’s a saying: “A good start is a job half done.” On this first day of Jesus’ public ministry this is not just a good start but also a rousing start.

Two SVD members from the Australia Province have recently returned from Europe where they took part in a Renewal Course which helped them re-charge their missionary batteries and return back to their ministry refreshed and re-invigorated.

Fr Viet Nguyen SVD, who is the Mission Secretary for the SVD AUS Province, travelled to Steyl in the Netherlands and Nemi, outside of Rome for the course, along with Fr John Quang SVD, who had been serving in a New Zealand parish.

Happy New Year! In this, our first edition of In the Word for 2024, I pray that the year ahead will be filled with God’s blessings for you.

Each new year begins with such promise. Perhaps you made a raft of resolutions, but as we reach the end of January they are starting to slip away. Fear not. At times like this, I am reminded of Mother Teresa’s words: God doesn’t require us to be successful, only faithful.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Have you ever felt amazed when you see something? If so, why do you feel amazed? Is it because the thing you see and observe is beyond your thinking?

One of the most important events in an Athletics competition is the relay race. And one of the most crucial moments of this race is the baton change.

A series of online academic presentations on the theme of ‘Mission and Dialogue Today’ which were hosted this year by the SVD Australia Province have been hailed a success with plans underway to do something similar in the future.

The Mission, Education and Research (MER) presentations ran from June to November and featured speakers from within the Province as well as overseas.