Three retiring members of the SVD AUS Province Finance Advisory Committee have been presented with Papal Blessings in recognition for their work in helping the Province to provide good stewardship of its resources, in the service of Christ’s mission.

Peter Dent, Brian Rigney and Lou Youssef received the framed blessing from Pope Francis during a special presentation at Marsfield last month, as well as an official thank you letter from the SVD Superior-General, Fr Budi Kleden.

Imagine if you felt God called you to explore the possibility of becoming a Divine Word Missionary, but then a global pandemic meant you had to wait more than a year to fulfill that calling?

That’s exactly what happened to Christopher (Boss) Hiranrattanajinda Bhumbodin from Thailand and Aaron Ong from Brunei, who were both poised to enter the SVD AUS Province postulancy program last year when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the closure of international borders.

Who is Jesus Christ? This has been an age-old question that many people particularly theologians have tried to answer.

The Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province had cause for great celebration earlier this month when five young confreres from three different countries made their Final Profession of Vows and were ordained to the Diaconate.

The profession of vows and ordination to the Diaconate took place over the weekend of March 13-14 at St Paschal’s Chapel, Box Hill.

While many Australians hit the beach over the Summer holiday period, some SVD students at Dorish Maru College headed out to work – taking on jobs in fruit-picking and factory employment.

The Summer work experience is part of their program of missionary formation and enculturation, helping them to better understand and empathise with the working people they will serve.

Ecuadorian SVD student Luis Robles has concluded his Overseas Training Program (OTP) in Australia, saying his time here was “a journey full of unexpected surprises and priceless experiences”.

Luis arrived in Australia on March 17, 2019, and apart from learning English, he also spent time in SVD communities in Sydney, Melbourne and Central Australia.

Happy New Year! I trust that as you receive this edition of In the Word, you are feeling rested and refreshed after a break over the Summer period.

As 2021 begins to unfold, it’s hard not to wonder what is in store for us after all the turmoil of 2020. And yet, our faith tells us it is better to take each day as it comes than to worry about the future.

It was a full, joyous house at St Paschal’s Chapel, Box Hill earlier this month as two young Divine Word Missionaries, who have undertaken their formation in Australia, were ordained to the priesthood.

Toub Anisong Chanthavong, who is the first person from Laos to join the SVD, and Simon Dominguez Prospero from Mexico, were ordained by Archbishop Peter A. Comensoli and will now take up their first missionary assignments in the AUS Province and Central European Province respectively.

In the SVD Australian Province, attempts at being prophetic about Christ present in the people who have been pushed aside have taken various forms over the years. Prophetic indeed, when Divine Word Missionaries are trying to recognise the face of Christ in caring for asylum seekers and refugees (Melbourne & Bangkok), advocating for people living with AIDS (Thailand), ongoing support for the plight of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (Central Australia) and constantly raising funds to assist the many needed projects around the world (AUS Mission Office and MissionNZ).

Many have also dared to reach out in friendship to people at CANA communities in Sydney, who are suffering from loneliness, mental illness and addictions. The Missionaries also work in faith communities in more than 60 countries, with people of all faiths and none.

After nearly a decade holding the purse-strings of the SVD across the world, Fr Stephan Gerdes SVD has arrived in the AUS Province, ready for God to reveal his new mission assignment.

Fr Stephan, who was born and raised in Germany, has been Treasurer-General of the Society of the Divine Word, based in Rome since 2010 and before that was a missionary to Papua New Guinea.