This week is National Reconciliation Week and we in Australia are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum which gave Indigenous Australians the right to be counted as citizens in the Census. This year is also the 25th anniversary of the historic Mabo High Court Native Title decision.

Both of those events are rightfully celebrated as milestones in the life of our nation, but we’re all aware that much more needs to be done, both symbolically and on the ground in practical measures.

An enthusiastic contingent of SVD confreres and staff are gearing up for the Mission: One Heart, Many Voices conference in Sydney next month.

Fr Tim Norton SVD is even winging his way home from Nemi, Italy where he now works as Director of Courses at the SVD’s Centro ‘Ad Gentes, to act as co-emcee of the conference and share his perspectives on Mission and Interculturality.

Happy Easter to you! May the blessings of the Risen Lord be with you all.

I don’t know about you, but aside from the spiritual joy of the Easter season, I always seem to feel an extra spring in my step as well.

I love technology. It’s hard to remember now how I organised myself without the help of my digital diary, which I access on my iPad or phone. Boy, does it make life easy.

These days we hold meetings by video conference to save on airfares. And we are about to step up our communications by offering a refreshed new website and an SVD App.

When SVD student Binh Tanh Nguyen first arrived in Thailand from the United States, the first thing he did was take some time to learn the language, culture and customs of the Thai people – even though it was the country of his birth.

“I was born in Thailand in a refugee camp and raised from a wee lad in the US,” he says.

If you have a heart for Mission, there’s one date in 2017 you won’t want to miss – the Mission: One Heart Many Voices conference, which runs from May 15-17 in Sydney.

Fr Tim Norton SVD will return from Italy where he is working, to co-MC the event, and will bring with him valuable experience and a perspective on intercultural mission that will add to the facilitation of the conference.

Fr Bernadinus (Bedi) Asmon SVD, a young missionary from Indonesia, who undertook his formation in Australia, is now living and ministering in Brazil where he has discovered that music is the common language with the people he serves.

Fr Bedi, who spent five years studying in Australia, before his final vows and ordination in 2014, has been in Brazil since March 2015.

It is wonderful to be back with you, refreshed and rejuvenated after my recent home leave to Germany and Poland, and equally wonderful to arrive back just in time to celebrate World Mission Day.

Pope Francis reminds us in his Message for World Mission Day that this year is the 90th anniversary of this special day in the Church’s calendar which aims to celebrate the Church’s missionary nature, reinforce the call to Mission for all the baptised, and to raise awareness of and funds for missionary activity around the world.

For those who watch the Olympics, one of the so-called “blue ribbon” or glamour events is the 100-metre dash.

One of the great things about missionary life – and life in general – is the people you get to know along the way, and the richness they bring to your life.

Sr Rita Hassett rsm was one of those people who enriched the lives of many SVD missionaries, with her zest for life and her love for people and mission. Sr Rita died in her sleep recently, while in Alice Springs, working with us at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish.