The Superior General of the Divine Word Missionaries, Fr Heinz Kuluke, is visiting the AUS Province to spend time with the SVD missionaries here, to learn about their ministries and encourage them in their work.

Fr Heinz, who is based at the SVD headquarters in Rome, will visit Melbourne, Central Australia, Sydney, Brisbane and New Zealand. He has previously visited Thailand which is also part of the AUS Province.

SVD Brothers from across the Asia-Pacific region came together in Thailand this month for their regional assembly, which focused on topics including vocation promotion and the need for deep-rooted spirituality for Brothers in the hierarchical Church.

The meeting was hosted by the SVD AUS Province community at Nong Bua Lamphu in northern Thailand, which is home to two Brothers, Br Damien Lunders SVD and Br Ron Fratzke SVD.

The Divine Word Missionaries have confirmed their deep commitment to mission in Central Australia by purchasing a property in Alice Springs which will not only be a dwelling for confreres and visitors, but a house of spirituality and Indigenous theology for the whole community.

The house, named the Logos Spirituality Centre, was blessed by the SVD Superior General, Fr Heinz Kuluke, during his visit to the red centre last week.

As we approach the end of Mission Month for 2017, having celebrated World Mission Sunday on October 22, it’s a good time to reflect on what impact, if any, this worldwide focus on Mission has had on us.

The SVD AUS Province celebrated Mission Sunday with gusto in parishes and communities, with a joyful multicultural focus, which is so much at the heart of who we are as Divine Word Missionaries.

Many of us travel through life in search of God's love, sometimes unaware of the things around us that we need to help us find and experience that love. I am making that journey and learning many things about myself along the way. Come follow me on my journey!

Gone are the days, when I used to see people working on the farm, sharpening their axes and sickles. I barely understood the need to spend so much time on sharpening the instruments before putting them to work. Now I know that to get a good result, a lot of preparation is needed. And so it is with God's love; we need to be aware of what is necessary to gain the fullness of God's love.

Five members of the SVD AUS Province joined with missionaries from the provinces in the Asia-Pacific in Mumbai, India, recently to focus on the Society’s four Characteristic Dimensions.

The Characteristic Dimensions are Mission, Communications, Bible, and Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation (JPIC), and they form the four key priorities of the Society of the Divine Word, all around the world.

The first group of SVD Lay partners for the Australia Province has been launched in Marsfield during a celebration for the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary and SVD Foundation Day.

The 10 Lay pioneers joined in the celebrations and the Friday night dinner hosted by the SVD Marsfield community and the establishment of the group is being hailed as a milestone in the ongoing process of exploring the formalising of lay involvement with the Province.

The SVD AUS Province is gearing up to celebrate World Mission Sunday on October 22, with activities planned across the Province to mark this special day in the Church’s calendar, and resources available to share.

AUS Province Mission Secretary, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD says it has been a tradition of the Church since 1926 to set aside the penultimate Sunday in October each year to reflect on ‘Mission’.

The Dorish Maru College community and friends recently hosted a joyful jubilee celebration for four confreres who have notched up a combined total of 190 years of service as Divine Word Missionaries.

Fr Larry Nemer was celebrating 65 years in vows, while Br Martin de Porres Nono, Fr Sunil Nagothu and Fr Boni Buhaendri were marking 25 years.

Life is pretty good in Australia, or at least that’s the impression most of us would have, and compared with many countries in the world, it would be true. And yet, the latest figures show us that nearly 3 million Australians live in poverty, including 730,000 children.

This figure came to my attention as I read the Australian Bishops’ Social Justice Statement for 2017-18, entitled ‘Everyone’s Business: Developing an inclusive and sustainable economy’, which challenges us to always keep people at the centre of the economy.