The SVD AUS Province has begun the work involved in joining the National Redress Scheme to support survivors of abuse by Church personnel, as part of its ongoing commitment to professional standards and safeguarding.

Fr Michael Hardie SVD, the Professional Standards Coordinator for the Province, has moved from Melbourne to the Provincial administrative centre in Marsfield, Sydney to take carriage of the work.

The SVD AUS Province is heading into a year of transition in 2019 with the election of the new Provincial and Provincial Council.

Fr Henry Adler SVD has served his two terms as Provincial and the process will soon get underway to elect his successor.

Divine Word Missionary communities throughout the AUS Province and the world have had much to celebrate in January, with the commemoration of two SVD saints – St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freinademetz.

St Arnold’s feast day was on January 15, the date of his death in 1909 in Steyl, Holland. He was the founder of the Divine Word Missionaries, as well as two orders of Religious Women, the Servant Sisters of the Holy Spirit and the Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration.

Fr Joseph Reddy SVD is heading to Panama next month with 24 young people from the Wollongong Diocese to take part in his first World Youth Day experience.

Fr Joseph, who is assistant priest at Mary Mother of the Church Parish in Macquarie Fields, will be a chaplain to the group, which is mostly made up of teachers, aged in their 20s, from Diocese of Wollongong schools.

It was a stormy night along the east coast of Australia, but that didn’t stop the crowds attending Carols by Candlelight at various SVD centres.

Marsfield, in Sydney, the Multicultural Carols by Candlelight had to move from the lawns into the St Arnold Janssen Chapel and at St Maximilian Parish in Marsden, Brisbane, they were moved into the hall – but in both cases, the show went on! St Mark’s Parish at Inala also showcased their multicultural singing gifts at their Carols, as did other SVD parishes and communities around the country.

As I bring you this greeting for the upcoming Christmas season, I have just arrived back home from the blessing of our new SVD house in Myanmar.

In my comments of thanksgiving on that occasion, I was moved to reflect on the incarnational aspect of the birth of this new missionary endeavour.

Christmas is the time when Jesus enters our lives in a special way. However this can be overshadowed by all the other activities at this time, like partying, shopping sprees and the giving of gifts. Also, I have now discovered that Christmas does not have to be a “once off” event for the year, but rather has an essential all year round character.

About 20 years ago I was asked to leave my beloved mission in Ghana in West Africa and return to Australia for Formation ministry. My mission in Ghana had been Parish work, in a very traditional area, where the people were subsistence farmers. After a time of local language learning I became very committed to my missionary work. For the most part this comprised going around, by motorbike, to the different villages for the purpose of basic catechesis as also for initiating development projects concerning the digging of wells and boreholes and for managing a Primary Health care project.

The new Governor of Nong Bua Lamphu in Thailand paid a visit to the SVD’s Mother of Perpetual Help Centre and Villa Marie Hospice recently – to celebrate a special birthday in his family.

Br Damien Lunders SVD says it is a common Thai custom on the birthday of a person, and in this case the wife of the Governor, to take food and gifts to a Centre such as the hospice or a children’s home.

The first SVD house in Myanmar has been officially blessed by Cardinal Charles Bo, in another significant milestone for the AUS Province’s newest missionary endeavour.

Named the Divine Word Centre, the house was blessed by the Cardinal following many months of hard work by confreres and local tradespeople to restore it to a habitable home.

It’s an unassuming building in suburban Melbourne, but Dorish Maru College, has been a powerhouse of missionary formation since it was established 30 years ago.

Dorish Maru College (DMC), the formation house of the Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province, opened its doors in 1988 and since that time has formed and trained hundreds of missionaries who are now serving all around the world.