Generous response to special appeals already changing lives
The friends and partners in mission of the SVD Australia Province raised more than $70,000 in recent months for two special mission appeals – one to assist the people affected by the war in Ukraine and the other, to purchase a campervan for ministry to remote communities in Central Australia.
“We are very grateful for the generosity of people who donated to these special appeals,” says Mission Secretary Fr Viet Nguyen SVD.
SVD priests appointed to diocesan interfaith, ecumenical bodies
Two Divine Word Missionaries priests from the Australia Province have been appointed to diocesan ecumenical or interfaith bodies, to help promote dialogue and understanding among faith communities.
Fr Michael Hardie SVD has been appointed to the Parramatta Diocese Interfaith Commission while Fr Mikhael Loke SVD has been appointed to the reference group for the Brisbane Archdiocese Council for Ecumenism and Inter-religious Relations.
Acculturation course gives practical insights into new ways of life and mission
The newest arrivals in the SVD Australia Province have taken a deep-dive into Australian life, attending the province’s Summer Acculturation Program, which they welcomed as an opportunity to know more about the place and the people and also to grow further as missionaries.St Arnold Janssen feast day celebrated warmly by Tiwi Islanders
Divine Word Missionaries across the Australia Province celebrated the feast days of two SVD saints – St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freinademetz this month – and for the first time, the SVD founder’s feast was celebrated in the Tiwi Islands.
The SVD, founded by St Arnold in Steyl, Holland in 1875, took up ministry at Our Lady of Peace and St Theresa’s Parish on Bathurst Island last August, following decades of pastoral ministry there by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
Let us open ourselves to movement of the Holy Spirit in this New Year
Happy New Year! And welcome to the first edition of In the Word for 2023.
As you receive this Enews, I am in Fiji preparing to facilitate the meeting of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania. It is a crucial meeting for the bishops of our region and will cover many things, including the preparations for Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality. I ask for your prayers for the bishops’ discernment and also for me as I facilitate the meeting with the help of secretariat staff.
Emmanuel - Humanity refined
During the first three centuries of persecution, Christians didn’t celebrate the Christmas feast in the same way we celebrate it today, reflects Fr John Quang SVD.
They celebrated the feast of Emmanuel, God-is-with-us. That’s the essence, the crux of Christmas. It is not so much about a birthday, but rather about God the Creator becoming human like us in flesh and dwelling among us so that we may be saved. The word Jesus means ‘God saves’. As a result of God being among us and becoming one like us, we are saved.
New Provincial Councillors appointed for next triennium
The SVD Australia Province has three new Provincial Councillors to help provide collaborative leadership over the next three years.
The new Provincial Councillors were recently appointed by the SVD Superior-General, Fr Budi Kleden, following their nomination at the local level.
Carols & food parcels ring in joy of the season
The Advent period has been a tuneful and generous one around the SVD Australia Province, with a number of SVD parishes holding Christmas Carol events for the first time since COVID, and others preparing food hampers for those in need this Christmas season.
In Santa Teresa, Central Australia, the community held their first ever Carols event and their famous Christmas lights display took place in the usual spectacular fashion, lighting up the desert sky. On top of that, the isolated Indigenous community was also blessed to receive a brand new giant nativity scene.
Boy from the bush remembered as much-loved priest, missionary, family-member
Fr Jim Knight SVD has been remembered as a much-loved family-member and a wise and dedicated missionary priest, committed to those on the margins, especially to the people with whom he ministered in Papua New Guinea and Central Australia.
Fr Jim’s Funeral Mass was held earlier this month at the St Arnold Janssen Chapel in Marsfield, following his death in Sydney on November 24.
Let us celebrate Christmas with gratitude in our heart
As we prepare to celebrate the great feast of Christmas – the Nativity of our Lord, Jesus Christ - let us do so with gratitude in our heart for all that the Incarnation brings us.
When I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my priestly ordination this month, I was struck by the Advent focus on the coming of Emmanuel, ‘God with us’.