• 100 Years at Epping
  • 100 Years at Epping
  • 100 Years at Epping
  • image
  • image
  • image
News & Events

Mariusz and Tuyen 150The Divine Word Missionaries team in Myanmar is taking the next step in preparing their engagement with the people, by immersing themselves in the local culture and in the Word of God.

Fr Tuyen Nguyen SVD, one of the team assigned to Myanmar, which is part of the AUS Province, is now living in a village among the people and really immersing himself in the language, culture and customs.

Prakash Finke Mass 2019 congregation 150When the small Central Australian community of Santa Teresa empties out every year on the Sunday of the June long weekend as the residents head out to watch all the action of the Finke Desert Race, Fr Prakash Menezes SVD knows exactly what to do – he takes Mass to the people, trackside.

The tradition started about 10 or 12 years ago, long before Fr Prakash arrived, but he is happy to keep it going.

Fr Gideon Awudi3 150A new SVD missionary has arrived in Australia from Ghana and is looking forward to doing God’s will among the people of the AUS Province.

Fr Gideon Awudi was ordained to the priesthood in August last year and this is his first assignment as a Divine Word Missionary.

Thursday, 27 June 2019 17:32

Taking time out to give thanks to God

Henry Headshot 2019 150 Light backgroundWith my time as Provincial drawing to a close at the end of this year, and still plenty of things to cross off the ‘to-do’ list, there hasn’t been much time for reflection on these past six years.

But as I write this column, it is a chance to take a few moments and consider what God has done in our Province and to give thanks for blessings received.

Holy Spirit brings freedom from fear 150 PixabayAfter the resurrection of Jesus the disciples hid themselves behind locked doors for fear of the authorities. Now one can lock oneself in a room because one believes that the world is unfriendly and hostile, and so prevent the world from entering the room, but then one also can’t get out. Since the crucifixion the disciples had bunched together behind locked doors in fear and anxiety. It must have been like hell.

However there is a way out of this terrible fear. Into this room of trapped people comes Jesus with his gift of peace and he says, “Peace be with you”.

Fr Kazimierz PNG 150When Fr Kazimierz Niezgoda SVD left Poland as a young man to be a missionary in Papua New Guinea he figured he would stay there his whole life, and now, 51 years after he arrived, he still has no plans to leave.

“I was committed,” he says. “I knew I would stay.”

Mozambique flood appeal family 150Small communities with a big heart have joined together to kick off the SVD African Hurricane Appeal, by donating generously to assist the recovery of people in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Mali, who had their homes and communities destroyed.

Mission Secretary, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD, says that some of the Divine Word Missionaries’ ethnic chaplaincy communities and parish and chapel communities were among the first to respond to the call for assistance.

Wednesday, 29 May 2019 16:11

Real reconciliation - the time is right

National Reconciliation Week Grounded in Truth 150National Reconciliation Week in Australia is observed in the last week in May, beginning this year on ‘Sorry Day’ (Sunday 26) and continuing through to the 3rd of June. The dates for NRW remain the same each year, yet they are not random: they commemorate two significant milestones on the reconciliation journey: the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

NRW in 2019 also coincides with the second anniversary of the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ – a statement issued by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders at their gathering in Central Australia in May, 2017.

Henry Headshot 2019 150 Light backgroundIt’s marvellous the power that words can have to focus our attention and efforts, especially when they are distilled down into a motto.

This has certainly been the case for me since learning of the new motto for the Society of the Divine Word: ‘Faithful to the Word, One with the People’.

Alice interfaith gathering Easter candle 150The various faith communities of Alice Springs came together recently for a time of prayer and shared grieving following the killings at a Christchurch mosque and at Sri Lankan churches and hotels.

The interfaith gathering was the initiative of the Catholic Parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, which hosted the event.

Page 37 of 77