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Boni Silver Jubilee of Ordination with premier 250Fr Boni Buahendri SVD this month marked the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood with a multicultural Mass and celebration hosted by the parishioners of St Mark’s Parish, Inala in Queensland.

Fr Boni said the celebration was a time to give thanks to God for his missionary vocation and to all the people he has journeyed with along the way.

Fr Jun JR Perez SVD 250Missionaries are well known for their willingness to live and serve in a variety of countries, and none more so than Fr Jun Perez SVD, who has arrived in Australia after missionary assignments which have taken him from Russia to Africa, South Korea and Thailand.

“You know the old saying,” he laughs. “Join the SVD and see the world!”

Palm Sunday 2023 Niran Bp Charles Hung 250When Fr Niran Veigas SVD answered his vocational call to become a missionary priest, he could not have foreseen himself ministering in Russia and now the Tiwi Islands, but the Indian-born priest is embracing the new challenge of getting to know the people and helping to make a difference in their lives.

Fr Niran was born and raised in a Catholic family in the city of Mangalore, in southwest India and says he began discerning the possibility of being a priest as a young boy.

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250Next week, from August 7-14, the Church in Australia will celebrate National Vocations Awareness Week, a time to shine a spotlight on how we choose to respond to God’s call in our life.

We all have a vocation – that is a path to knowing, loving and serving God in our life. Whether it be marriage or single life or a vocation to priestly or religious life, each vocation, given to us by God, is precious and to be valued.

Frank Brennan with Dianne Foster on Palm Island 250Well-known priest, lawyer and advocate, Fr Frank Brennan SJ visited Townsville and Palm Island recently and while there, presented information sessions to the local people about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Fr Manh Le SVD, parish priest at St Anne’s Parish on Palm Island, said Fr Frank’s visit, while primarily to attend a funeral for a local leader, was a great opportunity to share information on the Voice with the local Indigenous community.

Fr Jim Knight SVD 250Fr 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.

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250As 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’.

Fr John Quang SVD 250Working in a large, multicultural parish in the Wellington Archdiocese, New Zealand, has both challenges and joys, but for Fr John Quang SVD, it’s one of the best assignments he’s ever had.

“I love it in New Zealand. I’m really happy here,” he says.

Tin Trinh ordination 250The Divine Word Missionaries joyfully celebrated the Ordination to the Priesthood of Tin Minh Trinh SVD this month – and for the first time, the ordaining prelate was Bishop Tim Norton SVD, Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane.

The Ordination took place at St Christopher’s Parish, Syndal in Melbourne, where Tin has been serving as Deacon and featured contributions from the local Vietnamese community, in tribute to Tin’s home country.

Fr Clement Baffoe with school kids vertical 250After a long Victorian lockdown and months of uncertainty, on the 28th of November, 2020, I was ordained a priest in Melbourne, writes Fr Clement Baffoe SVD. This week, on the 28th of November, I have been ordained for two years. One month after my ordination, I was assigned to the Townsville Diocese. In fact, I was one of three confreres to be assigned to this new SVD mission in far North Queensland.

How then would I describe my two years as a priest? First and foremost, I must say it has been a time of grace, God’s goodness, mercy and great learning. From celebrating the normal weekday Masses, hearing confessions, visiting our schools to share quality time with our teachers and pupils whether in school Masses, liturgies or assemblies, visiting patients at the Townsville University Hospital, our two nursing homes, to celebrating baptisms, weddings and funerals, etc, it’s been a time of encountering God, myself and those to whom I minister.

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