In his address to members of the Society of the Divine Word during their General Chapter last month, Pope Francis encouraged the missionaries to follow “the way of the Spirit” in the footsteps of their founder and to be prophets of hope in a war-torn world.
Pope Francis’ address came as the SVD prepares to celebrate the 150th anniversary of foundation of the congregation in 2025.
A new book on caring for our common home has been written and published for a Vietnamese audience, with a number of Divine Word Missionaries from the Australia Province and beyond contributing their knowledge and skills to it.
Entitled, ‘Caring for Our Common Home: A Christian Mission - A Human Responsibility’, the book was edited by Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD, who is a member of the Australia Province based in Bangkok.
In his Lenten Message for 2024, Pope Francis recalls that Lent "is a season of conversion, a time of freedom" because "God does not want subjects, but sons and daughters" and, citing the Book of Exodus, he emphasises that the Word of God addresses each one of us personally today: "I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery".
Along these lines, the Holy Father emphasises that "it is time to act, and in Lent to act also means to pause, to pause in prayer, in order to receive the word of God, to pause like the Samaritan in the presence of a wounded brother or sister" because "love of God and love of neighbour are one love".
Attending this consultative Synod as one of the 38 small group facilitators is a great honour and privilege – an experience of a lifetime, a Kairos experience! “Come to us, O Holy Spirit” is the consistent cry holding the synodal journey from many languages, cultures and Christian traditions under the leadership of Pope Francis, writes Fr Asaeli Rass SVD.
I am thrilled to be part of Pope Francis' dream towards a synodal Catholic Church that walks, prays, discerns together in the Holy Spirit. This is subjective, and yet I could openly express in appreciation how the Spirit is gently and surely leading the Catholic Church to a better space in the history of salvation.
This week I departed for Rome to take part in the Synod of Bishops on Synodality.
I have been appointed by Pope Francis to be a small group facilitator during the Synod discussions, and while I am certainly aware of the enormity of the task ahead, I am also honoured and excited to be a part of it.
The experience of being at Lisbon’s World Youth Day as chaplain for the North Queensland Catholic education offices pilgrim group was a gift that will be cherished for a long time for Fr Joseph Reddy SVD.
Fr Joseph, who is a parish priest in Townsville, said that being with faith-filled young people from around the world and listening to the words of Pope Francis to not be afraid and to be a welcoming Church for everyone helped nourish his own faith and send him home with refreshed spiritual vigour.
The Janssen Spirituality Centre in Boronia, Victoria, was host recently to a series of five workshops on interculturality, attended by both interested lay people and religious, including SVD students from Dorish Maru College.
The workshops were presented by Sr Cathy Solano RSM, who has a background in education and spent several years working in Africa. She also has a Master’s in Intercultural Studies from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.
The account in Luke’s gospel of Mary going to visit her cousin Elizabeth tells us that Our Lady “arose and went with haste” to share the joy she carried in her heart and in her womb, reflected Pope Francis in last Sunday’s Angelus address.
“She arose and went. In the last stretch of the journey of Advent, let us be guided by these two verbs. To arise and to go in haste: these are the two movements that Mary made and that she invites us also to make as Christmas approaches.”
This month’s celebration of the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, instituted by Pope Francis, struck a note with me and I’m sure for many others as well.
In my Pacific island culture, the elders in our families and in our villages are deeply honoured and I have beautiful memories of my grandparents and their special role in my life.
The SVD AUS Province is embracing the principles set out in Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato si’ by taking a series of small, practical steps to help protect the environment.
Recently, the Provincial Council and the Treasurer’s Office approved the installation of a 25.2KW solar panel array at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne.
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