Dear brothers and sisters, in the second and the third Sunday of Advent, the gospel talks about John the Baptist two times in row, calling us to prepare our heart, to make a straight way for the Lord.
At a Christmas Mass for children one year, I passed the statue of the baby Jesus among the children asking them to touch and feel it, then tell me their feeling about the newly born baby Jesus.
The birthday of our Mother Mary, 8th September, also marked the Foundation Day of the Society of the Divine Word.
In 2024 it also marked the opening of the SVD Sesquicentenary Jubilee (the year of celebrations leading up to their 150th anniversary in 2025), with the theme “Witnessing to the Light: from Everywhere for Everyone”, writes Fr Peter Bang SVD.
The SVD Australia Province has appointed Fr Nick de Groot SVD to take up the role of Province Ministry and Performance Appraiser in a move aimed at providing ongoing formation and “stirring the embers” of missionary service among the members of the Province.
Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD said the appointment fulfills a recommendation of the 2017 Royal Commission “that each religious institute implement mandatory national standards and undergo regular performance appraisals.”.
Missionary life in Central Australia is a world away from the cobblestones and church domes of Rome, but Fr Oliver Noclam SVD is about to make that transition as he takes up a new appointment for the Society of the Divine Word.
Fr Ollie, who is currently Parish Priest at Santa Teresa - Ltyentye Apurte, an Aboriginal community about 80km from Alice Springs, has been appointed as Assistant English Secretary at the SVD’s Generalate.
This Christmas will not only open a Jubilee Year for the Universal Church, declared by Pope Francis, but also comes as the Society of the Divine Word celebrates its 150th Jubilee Year.
The theme of the SVD Jubilee is ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone’ and that theme makes a great Christmas meditation, because it was on that first Christmas, more than 2000 years ago, that the Light of Christ came into our world. And we, as followers of Christ and missionaries, are witnesses to that Light.
If we want to achieve Peace, Justice must be served. If we want to live harmoniously with nature, we have to protect our environment, writes Fr Jun Perez SVD.
In the Gospel according to St Luke, we listen to the voice of the one (John the Baptist) crying out in the wilderness and calling us to prepare the way of the Lord.
The SVD’s formation house, Dorish Maru College, in Melbourne invited a large group of friends and supporters to its annual ‘Thanksgiving’ celebration to express the gratitude of students and staff for all those who’ve given assistance to the students in their formation this year.
Dorish Maru Rector, Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD said the guest list ranged from the staff of the college to those who tutored the students in English, those who helped them gain their driver’s licence or hosted them in their families or on their farms during their summer break.
Holy Family Catholic Parish is a big, vibrant, multicultural parish on Sydney’s south-western outskirts and while its people come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, they are one body in Christ and committed to continually growing as a missionary parish.
The parish is comprised of the two communities of Ingleburn and Minto. Fr Henry Adler SVD has been parish priest there since 2022.
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