There was this story of an old but sick man who won a huge prize from lotto. The relatives were afraid that if they broke this news, he might have a heart attack and die.

When seeing his chosen people turning away from Him and worshipping the golden calf made of their hands, God was full of wrath, dressing down Moses, “Your people whom you brought out of Egypt…” sounding like God is disowning his people.

For those, like me, who have ever played the game “Pokemon Go”, you might be able to relate with me. As far as I understand the game, you capture as many Pokemon monsters as you can.

Almost two years after his priestly ordination in Melbourne, Fr Clement Baffoe SVD was finally able to return to his home village in Ghana to celebrate his Thanksgiving Mass with family, friends and parish community members.

Fr Clement, who was assigned to the SVD Australia Province, and is currently serving in the Ministerial Region of the Good Shepherd in Townsville, Queensland, says the trip back home, after the long pandemic separation, was a graced opportunity to give thanks to God.

Just a few days before the recent national Homelessness Week (August 1-7), staff in the St Stephen’s Cathedral precinct in Brisbane’s CBD were invited to a meeting to learn more about those sleeping rough outside their offices, writes Bishop Tim Norton SVD in The Catholic Leader.

We weren’t sure how many staff would attend so it was a pleasant surprise to see about 100 employees come in during their lunch break to hear from homelessness outreach specialists.

The Divine Word Missionaries Australia Province has extended its commitment to being present in New Zealand and is ready to respond to any requests by bishops to provide more confreres as needed.

Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, undertook a Provincial Visitation to New Zealand earlier this month, and said he was “very impressed” by the ministry of the four confreres who are currently assigned there.

The halls of Dorish Maru College, the SVD’s formation house in Melbourne, are once again ringing with life following the arrival of five new missionary students – the first big intake since international borders re-opened after the pandemic.

The students are from Vietnam and China. Also arriving recently are two SVD priests, who are studying English before beginning their ministry.

After two years of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions in Melbourne, the SVD students finally got the opportunity to hit the road and travel out of Victoria as a formation community during the recent winter academic holidays.

The students from Dorish Maru College visited SVD parishes and confreres as well as the Holy Spirit Sisters, shared their vocational stories and spent time with families in Queensland and New South Wales, while also having the chance to explore some of what the different parts of Australia have to offer.

This past weekend, the Catholic Church in Australia marked Social Justice Sunday, and this year, the bishops chose to focus on the pressing issue of domestic and family violence.

We only to have to watch the news to know what a big problem this is in our community. And sadly, too many Australians, mostly women and children, have first-hand knowledge of the trauma of violence.

In 2018, I attended the episcopal ordination of Bishop Ewald Sedu, in Maumere. Maumere is a very Catholic town, on the very Catholic island of Flores, in very Christian eastern Indonesia.