As the Society of the Divine Word prepares for the 19^th General Chapter as well as its 150^th anniversary in 2025, the theme that has been chosen for reflection is, “Your Light Must Shine Before Others” (Mt 5:16): Faithful and Creative Disciples in a Wounded World.

As is indicative from the theme, there are many elements brought together to constitute the reality of today’s mission. How does this theme apply in our own Australian context? In this reflection, I would like to outline how the theme could be understood locally.

Building healthy parish communities is crucial if the Church is to become truly missional in today’s world, Fr Albano Da Costa said in his presentation for the first of the Divine Word Missionaries’ online lectures on mission.

The six-part ‘Mission and Dialogue Today’ lecture series is an education and ongoing formation initiative of the SVD Australia Province and attracted participants from around the country and around the world.

SVD Communications Coordinators from across the Asia-Pacific region gathered in Manila, the Philippines, recently to share ideas and resources for spreading the Good News in effective and innovative ways.

Communications Coordinator for the SVD Australia Province, Fr Joseph Reddy SVD, said the purpose of the gathering was “to enhance the communication skills and media learning of the SVD Provincial/Regional Communication Coordinators of the ASPAC Zone”.

The Mission, Education and Research team of the Divine Word Missionaries Australia Province invite you to join in a series of online lectures on the theme of 'Mission and Dialogue Today'.

There will be six online presentations spanning the latter half of 2023, with the first taking place on Monday, June 26.

In many Catholic houses, you will see a picture of the “Last Supper” and with it hopefully the names of the twelve apostles of Jesus.

Pentecost is a Feast of Hope. The conviction that God’s Resurrected Love is alive in this world, reflects Fr Nick de Groot SVD.

There is also the experience of the hunger by the people on the margins, not so much for doctrine and teachings, but for presence and dignity and walking together in this love of the Spirit.

Divine Word Missionaries played an active role in the ‘Mission: one heart, many voices’ conference, held in Sydney this month, offering presentations and reflections as part of three days of exploring the themes of truth-telling, reconciliation and synodality.

Bishop Tim Norton SVD, who was a keynote speaker at the conference which was presented by Catholic Mission and Catholic Religious Australia, invited those present to not only seek truth-telling at a national level, or in the Church, but also to look for truth-tellers in their own lives.

Many years ago I visited the parish of Santa Teresa, about an hour’s drive from Alice Springs. Travelling with me was a young man, Alexi, from Vanuatu who at that time had begun training to become a Divine Word Missionary. Alexi had a fantastic head of hair, a wonderful, very distinctive Afro.

We start the liturgy of the Easter Vigil with what is typically called Lucernarium, the service of light. The Pachal candle is lighted and brought, in the procession, to the centre of the church or of the chapel- signifying that Jesus Christ is the true light for the world. The Exsultet sings of the Paschal candle, praying that it "may persevere undimmed to overcome the darkness of this night".

The symbol of light is a significant element in all the liturgical celebrations of the Church. A symbol that is filled with many associations and meanings. I want to share with you three of them on this momentous and hopeful occasion of Easter, reflects SVD Superior-General Fr Budi Kleden.

Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD travelled to Argentina this month to attend the 10^th plenary assembly of the Catholic Biblical Federation, an experience he says which reaffirmed and gave fresh energy to his commitment to proclaiming the Word of God in a fragile world.

Fr Elmer, who is Rector of the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College, in Melbourne, attended the assembly in his capacity as coordinator of the Bible apostolate for the SVD Australia Province.