Celebrating 150 Years: 1875 - 2025

Sep 8th Celebrations Townsville Group2 250On September 8, Good Shepherd Parish in Kirwan came alive with joy and spiritual fervour as the community gathered for two significant events: The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the inauguration of the 150th Jubilee celebrations of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD).

This special day was a powerful reminder of our unity in faith, our love for Mary, and our gratitude for the Global Missionary work of the SVDs.

Fr Gideon Awudi SVD 250I’m Gideon Awudi SVD, originally from Ghana but assigned to the Australia Province and I’m working in Townsville Diocese, North Queensland, Australia.

The Townsville Diocese at present is considering a new model of parish ministry in relation to ‘Becoming New in Christ.’ In this new model, parishes have been reconfigured, and the goal is to bring parish mission renewal in the diocese.

Cuong ordination with Anthony Le Duc Jubilee reflection 250On September 8, 2024, the Society of the Divine Word worldwide inaugurated the Jubilee Year celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding with the theme: "Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere, for Everyone." In the Australia Province, we marked this significant occasion with a simple yet profound opening ritual, featuring processions of the Bible, the globe, the Jubilee logo, and the Jubilee candle. Each symbol embodies the deep missionary spirituality of the SVD.

This ritual coincided with the priestly ordination of Cuong Quoc Dang, SVD, marking the beginning of his own journey as a missionary – a witness to the Light. My reflection on this Jubilee theme is deeply inspired by this event, particularly as it relates to our Australia Province. As Cuong Dang begins his journey of witnessing to the Light, it is worth considering several key principles that not only guide him but all of us, writes Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD.

Wednesday, 02 October 2024 12:23

Rockhampton Diocese welcomes SVD Jubilee Year

SVD Celebration 2 Rockhampton Central West 250

The Rockhampton Diocese's Central West cluster of parishes, under the care of Fr Van Bang Nguyen SVD, has celebrated the opening of the SVD's 150th anniversary celebrations.
 
The Diocesan Newsletter reported that the anniversary celebration included a procession of key symbols – a bible (for the Divine Word), a globe and the SVD banner (representing the entire world and the SVD priests and brothers who are currently ministering in 79 countries), and a candle (representing Christ’s light that they are guided by and try to share with others).

Gusty Siga 250The Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) are celebrating the Jubilee Year of 150 years under the theme "Witnessing the Light from Everywhere to Everyone".

In line with this, I as an SVD student in the Australia Province want to use this opportunity to reflect on my journey as a seminarian in the SVD and highlight how important formation is in the Divine Word Missionaryes to help the seminarians grow and be ready for their future mission, since the mission of the SVD is rooted in the call to spread the light of Christ universally, across cultural, social, and religious boundaries, writes Gusty Siga SVD.

 

Thailand Opening of Jubilee Year and 25th anniversary 250The Thailand-Myanmar District celebrated the Jubilee Opening on September 28, as part of the District’s celebration of its Silver Jubilee in Thailand (1999-2024).

The celebration took place at St Michael Archangel Church in Nong Bua Lamphu Province, NE Thailand.

Opening of 150th anniversary jubilee Logo globe etc 250The Divine Word Missionaries Australia Province launched the Jubilee Year for the 150th anniversary of the Society of the Divine Word this month, the first of many Sesquicentenary events to be held throughout the year.

The occasion in Melbourne was a double celebration, also featuring the priestly ordination of Cuong Quoc Dang SVD, who will continue the missionary legacy when he takes up his first assignment to Angola.

Bangkok anniversary opening Mass clergy 250Nearly 100 friends and benefactors gathered at the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) community in Bangkok on Sunday, September 15, to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of SVD’s presence in Thailand.

While the main celebration is scheduled to take place in Nong Bua Lamphu Province, northeastern Thailand, on September 28, the Bangkok community held a local event for those unable to make the 600 km journey to Nong Bua Lamphu.

Cuong Dang SVD is ordained by Bishop Tim Norton SVD at 150th Anniversary Mass 250SVD-ness. This sounds familiar to us, especially when we think of our identity which uniquely differentiates us from other religious congregations.  As we have recently inaugurated the Jubilee Year of the 150th anniversary of our beloved SVD, we, SVDs are all invited to celebrate this special milestone with much more awareness of strengthening and deepening our core identity as SVD religious missionaries.

This reflection is centred on a few essential aspects of living out our SVD-ness in the light of the Jubilee theme “Witnessing to the Light, from Everywhere for Everyone”.

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250We are very close to the opening of celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the Society of the Divine Word.

In the Australia Province the opening of the anniversary year on the SVD Foundation Day, September 8, will take place on the same day that we witness the ordination to the priesthood of Deacon Cuong Quoc Dang SVD in Melbourne.