Fr Kevin Cantwell SVD, who recently celebrated 65 years as a priest, says his vocation came to him as a bolt out of the blue, and once received, it never wavered, giving him a lifelong sense of certainty which he believes “must have been a matter of grace”.

“My vocation was solid from the moment I received it. It came to me one morning in just a minute or two. I didn’t think about it or weigh up the pros and cons or anything like that. I had no hesitation about it,” he said.

“You are part of our Tiwi people; you are part of our Tiwi family.” These were the words spoken by one of the Traditional Owners of the Tiwi Islands earlier this month during the official installation of Fr Niran Veigas SVD as parish priest on Bathurst Island.

Fr Niran was installed at Our Lady of Peace and St Therese - Wurrumiyanga, Tiwi Islands by Darwin Bishop Charles Gauci in an emotionally moving and culturally rich Mass almost two years after the Divine Word Missionaries arrived in the Tiwis.

The Divine Word Missionaries in the Indian state of Odisha are running a range of projects to support people living in the marginalised slum communities and to give them the education, skills, motivation, leadership animation, and financial assistance to help lift them out of poverty, reports Society Matters mission magazine.

Fr Rasal Xess SVD, the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Coordinator for the SVD India East Province (INE) said the urban poverty is characterised by exclusion, including inadequate and insecure housing and basic services, limited access to services like health, nutrition and water sanitation.

Fr Manh Le SVD has been a missionary with the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon and now Australia’s Indigenous peoples, on Palm Island, and his ongoing search into Indigenous spirituality recently led him to participate in an ecumenical conference exploring the role of the churches in Indigenous history since European settlement.

He said the Tribal Voice for Justice: An Indigenous Theological Revolution conference in Melbourne was an opportunity to delve deeper into his understanding of indigenous spirituality, and the need for ongoing personal and communal conversion in indigenous matters.

The Presentation Parish in Thailand celebrated its feast day recently with a special Mass and shared meal attended by the local bishop, parishioners and villagers, including people from other faiths.

The parish is situated on the banks of the Mekong River between the Thai-Laos borders and the villagers came together to decorate the church beautifully for the celebration and prepare special food to share together afterwards.

Members of the Divine Word Missionaries who are serving in the Good Shepherd Parish, Kirwan, in Townsville recently celebrated SVD Mission Weekend with parishioners.

The Mission Weekend also marked the postponed feast day celebrations of SVD founder, St Arnold Janssen.

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.

Fr Michael Nguyen SVD who has been teaching at the Good Shepherd Seminary in the Archdiocese of Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea this year, has been appointed Dean of Studies for the next academic year, and says he’s enjoying the “vibrant tapestry” of PNG, a place he now calls home.

Fr Michael, originally from Vietnam, is a member of the SVD Australia Province, working in Mount Hagen Archdiocese at the request of Bishop Douglas Young SVD.

The SVD confreres of the Queensland District gathered together for a week of fellowship, sharing, prayer and reflection recently, with a program focusing not only on their present mission experiences, but also paying tribute to SVD pioneer missionaries.

The members of the District gathered in Brisbane from their parishes in the Archdiocese of Brisbane, the Diocese of Townsville and the Diocese of Rockhampton.

As the Church celebrates World Mission Month in October, the Society of the Divine Word celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the canonisation of its two saints – Saint Arnold Janssen and Saint Joseph Freinademetz.

St Arnold founded the SVD in 1875 in Steyl, the Netherlands and went on to also establish two orders of Religious Sisters. St Joseph Freinademetz was one of the first two SVDs sent out on mission - to China. They were both canonised by Pope John Paul II on October 5, 2003, and on this anniversary, we share with you St John Paul’s homily from that occasion