Brother John Alting SVD has been a missionary in Papua New Guinea, Angola, Central Australia and Timor Leste and says while his experiences have been different in each place, there has been one common thread – the joy of being with the people.

Born and raised in Sydney, Br John says he was attracted to  the life of a religious from when he was a young man.

The SVD AUS Province is gearing up to celebrate World Mission Sunday this weekend, on October 21, and invites everyone to join in the celebrations.The SVD AUS Province is gearing up to celebrate World Mission Sunday this weekend, on October 21, and invites everyone to join in the celebrations.

Mission Secretary, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD, has prepared a special liturgy outline for parishes or church groups to use to mark this special day on the Church’s international calendar and it is downloadable from the Province’s website.

“Joy is all around. I just have to be open to it,” says Fr Truong Thong Le SVD, as he takes up his first missionary assignment in Thailand.

Fr Truong, who was born in Vietnam and raised in the United States, has recently arrived back in Thailand as a fully-fledged SVD missionary priest, after spending time there as a student as part of the SVD’s Overseas Training Program (OTP).

Does it surprise you to know that more than 120,000 people in Australia are homeless? The number seems small compared to the general population, until we remember that these are 120,000 people like you and me, but without any place to call Home. They do not have a roof over their heads, they do not know where the next meal will come from, and most importantly they do not have the means of support to help them get back on their feet.  

As the number of homeless people keeps increasing, this struggle has a corrosive effect on family life: the difficulty of finding a job, the impact on school children’s study. Being homeless affects a person’s capacity to contribute to society, as well as to benefit from it. Without an address, there can be no reference point for social services.

After 10 years as a  missionary in Kenya, Fr Mariusz Kubista SVD has arrived in Myanmar, saying he is keen to get to know the people and help establish the AUS Province’s  new mission in the south-east Asian nation.

“My hope personally is to fulfil the will of God,” he says. “But for the mission started here, I would say my hope is to reach out to people in their local language, both in the written and spoken form.”

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was among the special guests who attended the vibrant and colourful Multicultural Fiesta at St Mark’s Parish, Inala, recently.

The day was a celebration of the many different cultural groups who make up the St Mark’s community and included a multicultural Mass, followed by entertainment from different groups and the sharing of food from the many cultural groups present.

Divine Word Missionary communities around the AUS Province celebrated SVD Foundation Day on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary this month, marking 143 years since St Arnold Janssen opened the first SVD Mission House in Steyl, Holland. 

He could no doubt never have envisaged on that day that by 2018 the SVD would have more than 6000 members worldwide, serving in 80 countries, including a Province stretching from Australia to New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar.

Some days all of us surely wonder if what we’re doing in our day-to-day life is really making a difference for the Kingdom of God. We have frustrations and difficulties and we wonder if we’re on the right track.

But this month, as I reflected on the foundations of the Society of the Divine Word, I was reminded yet again, that we don’t have to see the end goal of what we’re doing. It is enough to pray, to do our best, and to do our bit.

Nowadays there are a lot of lamentations about fake news and post-truth politics where facts and truthfulness have seemingly taken a backseat to non-facts, alternative facts, and emotionally stirring rhetoric.

But fake news is no news. The serpent in the Garden of Eden whispered fake news to Eve to persuade her to eat the forbidden fruit.

Born in a small town in Madagascar, Marius Razafimandimby could not have imagined in his childhood that he would one day be living in Australia and completing his final studies towards becoming a Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) priest.Born in a small town in Madagascar, Marius Razafimandimby could not have imagined in his childhood that he would one day be living in Australia and completing his final studies towards becoming a Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) priest.

But, he says that coming across the world to complete his formation at the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College in Melbourne has broadened his horizons.
“Missionary life is a widening of everyone’s horizon,” he says.