It’s now the start of another liturgical year. This year is Year B, meaning that most of the gospel readings for Sundays will come from the Gospel according to Mark and also a good number of Sundays will be coming from the Gospel according to John.

We are about to begin the season of Advent, a time of waiting and preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ, both in the manger at Bethlehem and his second coming at the end of time.

As we look around our world at the serious situations of conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine and various other places, we know that we are more in need than ever of the coming of the Prince of Peace at Christmas.

In this feast of the Magi, the Church celebrates the welcoming of the nations to the scene of that first holy night: Mary, Joseph, and the child Jesus.

Happy New Year! And, with the New Year we are blessed with three occasions for this day. First, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary as Mother of God. Second, we also celebrate the Octave of Christmas and lastly, we celebrate the beginning of the New Year.

It’s difficult to say something about Christmas that has never been said before! Maybe, though, that’s not an issue, as at this special time of year, traditions are important.

During the first three centuries of persecution, Christians didn’t celebrate the Christmas feast in the same way we celebrate it today, reflects Fr John Quang SVD.

They celebrated the feast of Emmanuel, God-is-with-us. That’s the essence, the crux of Christmas. It is not so much about a birthday, but rather about God the Creator becoming human like us in flesh and dwelling among us so that we may be saved. The word Jesus means ‘God saves’. As a result of God being among us and becoming one like us, we are saved.

The SVD Australia Province has three new Provincial Councillors to help provide collaborative leadership over the next three years.

The new Provincial Councillors were recently appointed by the SVD Superior-General, Fr Budi Kleden, following their nomination at the local level.

The Advent period has been a tuneful and generous one around the SVD Australia Province, with a number of SVD parishes holding Christmas Carol events for the first time since COVID, and others preparing food hampers for those in need this Christmas season.

In Santa Teresa, Central Australia, the community held their first ever Carols event and their famous Christmas lights display took place in the usual spectacular fashion, lighting up the desert sky. On top of that, the isolated Indigenous community was also blessed to receive a brand new giant nativity scene.

As 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 20^th anniversary of my priestly ordination this month, I was struck by the Advent focus on the coming of Emmanuel, ‘God with us’.

There was a story of a man who was deeply devoted to St Joseph and when he died he was at the gates of heaven and being interviewed by St Peter. St Peter, after assessing the record of this man declined him entry to heaven straightaway, but the man argued that he was a St Joseph devotee.