Dear Friends,

Well, here we are, about to enter into the Paschal Triduum, those most sacred three days in which we immerse ourselves in the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

When I think of Easter, I think of hope. Hope that through the resurrection, the brokenness and the woundedness we see in our lives and in our world will not have the final word.

I’ve been travelling throughout our SVD Australia Province of late, visiting New Zealand and now Thailand and Myanmar. In all of our ministries in these places, I see our SVD members being signs of hope for the people they serve.

In New Zealand, our confreres work with large multicultural parish communities. Working collaboratively and synodally with the parishioners and the local diocese, they are at the grass roots of helping bring to life the kind of Church that Pope Francis dreams of, where everyone has a voice, and all work together for the kingdom of God.

In Thailand, the SVD have long been beacons of hope for people with HIV/AIDs through the Mother of Perpetual Help AIDS Centre, located in Nong Bua Lamphu, in the North-East of Thailand.

Extreme poverty, isolation and stigma all collude to make the situation very difficult for people in the north-east of Thailand with AIDS. Young parents die leaving orphaned children who are often also HIV infected. Since 1997 Mother of Perpetual Help Centre has been assisting babies and young children of HIV and poor families in Nong Bua Lamphu.

The Ban Mae Marie Home for Teenagers began as a home to care for orphans of AIDs, but has now been opened up for care of non-HIV-related teenagers and the elderly.

Along with these ministries, our SVD confreres in Thailand are working in teaching, migrant chaplaincy and academic research as well as in rural parishes, accompanying village people in the daily joys and struggles of life.

And in Myanmar, our confreres are working in very difficult situations in a country ravaged by civil war and unrest. They bring the hope of the resurrected Christ to their people in a range of concrete ways, not least, simply by being there with them.

Together with our many ministries of hope in Australia, in multicultural parishes, ministry with our First Nations peoples, missionary formation and so much more, I never fail to be inspired by my pastoral visits to our members. Increasingly, I’m inspired by their synodal approach to ministry, working together with their people to bring forth the kingdom in their part of the world.

This Easter, I will remember the many struggles of the poor and the marginalised, with whom we minister, but overwhelmingly, I will give thanks to God that those struggles do not have the last word. We are an Easter people, filled with hope for this life and for eternal life in God’s presence. There is no surer hope than this on which to live out our mission.

Wishing you a blessed Paschal Triduum and a joy-filled Easter season.

Yours in the Word,

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, Provincial.