Dear Friends,
As we celebrated World Mission Month in October, under Pope Francis’s theme: ‘Missionaries of Hope Among all Peoples’, the SVD Australia Province came together in Melbourne for the triennial Provincial Assembly, and it truly was a time of Missionary Hope.
With my term as Provincial drawing to a close, along with our 150th Jubilee Year celebrations, I came away from the Assembly with a grateful heart.
At the beginning of the gathering, I invited everyone to pause to remember with gratitude and humility the SVD’s 150 years of Witnessing to the Light, while at the same time acknowledging the shadows, challenges and woundedness that we have carried in the world and to express our sorrow and grief about that. This was also expressed in our Superior-General Fr Anselmo Ribeiro SVD’s message to the Assembly.
In my address, I thanked the members of the Province for entrusting me with the opportunity of leadership for the past six years. It’s been a rollercoaster, but God’s grace has sustained me and nourished me in the role, and I conclude my term with a very full heart indeed.
A Provincial Assembly is a wonderful opportunity for our confreres to meet face-to-face, which is a particular blessing for us in this Province, where we are spread across Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar, with some of us working in extremely remote locations. It was also a delight to have Sr Angela, the Provincial of the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, there with us as part of the Arnoldus Family. It was great to come together, listen to people’s struggles, joys and sorrows in a spirit of synodality.
In his message, Fr Anselmo called us to remain humble and to renew ourselves in light of our SVD charism, trusting in the Spirit to lead us in our missionary encounter with people and their lives.
We were also blessed to have former Superior-General, Fr Antonio Pernia SVD, with us. Fr Antonio gave an excellent reflection on ‘The SVD Missionary’ and then generously gave of his time in a lively question-and-answer session with the confreres.
Before moving into the discernment and strategic planning part of the Assembly, assisted by Br David Leary OFM, we heard from confreres who are ministering in various different contexts, with a special focus on our ministry with First Nations peoples and also in Myanmar.
After these days of listening and reflecting, Br David invited us review and critique our ministry and dream about the future, before making suggestions for measurable and achievable actions to bring those dreams to reality across the Province. These will be further considered by the new Provincial, Fr Boni Buahendri SVD, and his Provincial Council when they take the helm in the New Year.
While acknowledging the significant challenges being faced by our confreres in ministry with First Nations peoples, the Assembly reaffirmed our commitment to continuing with this ministry and providing the necessary support for confreres. The Assembly strongly felt this was where the Holy Spirit wants us to focus our energy and ministry.
A social cruise down the Yarra River then allowed us all to relax and enjoy each other’s company.
Overall, we give thanks to God that the Assembly was a beautiful time to be together as brothers, resulting in a renewed commitment and fresh energy for our missionary calling in the Australia Province.
Yours in the Word,
Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,
Provincial.