National 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.

The Alice Springs parish is planning to mark two historical milestones while strengthening the fruits of reconciliation Pope Saint John Paul II spoke about during his visit there three decades ago.

Parish priest Fr Asaeli Raass SVD said the parish had much to celebrate this year with the 50th anniversary of their church – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart – and 90 years since the parish’s first priest, Fr James Long MSC, celebrated the first Catholic Mass on the land of the Arrernte people.

Fr Nick de Groot SVD has hit the ground running on his new assignment to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart parish in Alice Springs, meeting the people and “soaking up the atmosphere” of the Central Australian community.

The new assignment came as somewhat of a surprise to Fr Nick, who had recently moved to the SVD’s Marsfield community to take up retirement.

The Santa Teresa community in Central Australia celebrated its feast day – the feast of St Therese of Lisieux - recently in true Aussie fashion, by hosting a race meeting which attracted people from right around the local outback area.

The Santa Teresa Races are a fixture on the outback racing calendar and they are part of a weekend of celebrations for the feast day of the community’s patron saint.

The Santa Teresa Parish in Central Australia has been celebrating this month, with hard-working, but humble, parishioner Miriam Dieudonne being awarded a Service to Community Award from the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC).

Miriam was the winner of the Non-Indigenous category in the awards which recognise and celebrate the efforts of those involved in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ministry. Fellow long-time parishioner Bill Ryan was also awarded a certificate of recognition in the same category.

Reconciliation Week is observed in the last week in May. This year, it runs from Sunday May 27 through to the June 3, also coinciding with the first anniversary of the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart,’ issued by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders at their gathering in Central Australia in 2017.

The voiced essence of the Uluru Statement was the seeking of constitutional reforms to empower the First Peoples to take their rightful place in their own land: not tokenistic gestures of recognition, but true voices enshrined in the Constitution of Australia, with all peoples walking together into a better future.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish in Alice Springs has been finding new common ground through regular sharing of the Eucharist among members of the Arrernte indigenous community and the broader parish.

Historically, the Arrernte Catholic community, or Ngkarte Mikwekenhe community, has celebrated Mass at South Terrace Community Centre, across town from the main parish church. But since Holy Week last year, the two communities have been sharing the Eucharist together once a month.

The Divine Word Missionaries have confirmed their deep commitment to mission in Central Australia by purchasing a property in Alice Springs which will not only be a dwelling for confreres and visitors, but a house of spirituality and Indigenous theology for the whole community.

The house, named the Logos Spirituality Centre, was blessed by the SVD Superior General, Fr Heinz Kuluke, during his visit to the red centre last week.

Fr Vincent Mai SVD was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and since being assigned to the SVD AUS Province, has ministered in Alice Springs, Santa Teresa, and now Katherine, in the Northern Territory. Here Vincent shares his story, along with his hopes for his new parish assignment in the Top End.

"My hopes for ministry in Katherine are that, in my role as priest, I can share and proclaim the Good News for my sisters and brothers here as much as possible."

The Australian Indigenous celebration of NAIDOC Week this year was especially meaningful to me because of its theme, which was: “Our Languages Matter”. Perhaps it struck an extra chord with me because of our SVD parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Alice Springs being involved with the launch of the Arrernte Language Short Bible during NAIDOC Week, which, after 30 years in translation, was a wonderful achievement.

But further than that, it spoke to a truth that we, as Divine Word Missionaries give great priority to, and that is, that all languages certainly do matter to those people who speak them and they should matter to all who wish to engage with people of another culture.