Christmas is the perfect time to thank all the friends, supporters and benefactors of The Divine Word Missionaries who by their generosity will give the gift of love to some of the poorest and most marginalised people in the world this Christmas Day.

Fr Henry Adler SVD, Mission Secretary for the SVD Australian Province, says that the Society’s missionaries, who are present on every continent of the world, will spend Christmas with the communities they serve, helping to bring Christ’s love to people who won’t enjoy a big celebration with lots of presents and all the trimmings.

The generosity of donors has enabled the Mission Office of the SVD Australian Province to send much-needed funds to help the people of the Philippines who lost their houses, livelihoods and stock in Typhoon Bopha, which wreaked havoc in December.

Mission Secretary Fr Henry Adler SVD says that the Australian Mission Office has responded to two requests for help from the Divine Word Missionaries in the Philippines.

Leading international missiologist, Fr Stephen Bevans SVD, will visit Australia this month to deliver a keynote address at the “Mission: one heart, many voices” conference in Sydney.

Fr Stephen is the Louis J. Luzbetak, SVD, Professor Mission and Culture at Chicago’s Catholic Theological Union and is a renowned teacher and author on Mission. As an SVD missionary he served for nine years (1972-1981) in the Philippines.

The suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand are a long way from home for Indian-born Fr Albano Da Costa SVD, but as a missionary, he has found himself at the cutting edge of a new model of ministry which aims to fill the gap left by dwindling priestly vocations.

Fr Albano works with two priests and two lay pastoral leaders from the Archdiocese of Wellington as part of a new expression of collaborative ministry.

The academic program is based at Box Hill in Melbourne, Victoria. Our students study philosophy and theology at the Yarra Theological Union. Those students who are able to meet the requirements will, in the course of their studies, earn a Masters of Theology Degree from the Melbourne College of Divinity.

During Novitiate the student discerns his vocation within the Society, which will lead him to making a public commitment to live according to the apostolic counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience, according to the Constitutions of the Society of the Divine Word. For the next 5-7 years, at the beginning of the academic year, (usually on March 25,) every SVD seminarian or brother in formation makes a commitment to live religious life according to the SVD Constitutions for one year. With the intention to commit oneself for life, assisted by professional formation personnel, his community and personal reflection and prayer, the student makes a choice to live religious life for one year. The temporary character of living religious life gives the student the freedom "to choose again," until he is ready to say his "Yes" for life, at the end of his initial religious formation.

The Novitiate provides a special time and environment for the nurturing of a growing vocation. The Novitiate builds upon what is already underway in a person’s life. It serves to mature and clarify a vocation in accordance with the religious lifestyle and the special charism of the SVD.

During this time, the Novice must deepen his understanding of and commitment to his own vocation. This is a time of serious personal and community discernment, the aim of which is to allow the novice to make a mature and free decision whereby he publicly commits himself to the religious missionary life of the Society as a student for the priesthood or for brotherhood in the SVD.

When a man first explores a call to life as a Divine Word Missionary, he will make contact with the Vocations Director, and after an initial period of inquiry and contact with the SVD, he will enter the Pre-Novitiate.

The pre-novitiate is seen as the first experience of community life for the candidate to the religious missionary vocation.

January is a time of thanksgiving and celebration for the Society of the Divine Word, as the worldwide community marks the feast days of two of the Society’s founding fathers, St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freidemantz.

St Arnold’s feast day is celebrated on January 15, while St Joseph’s is on January 28.

As the name implies, this is an apostolate that cares for the poor and the marginalized, as well as for the earth and all of creation.

In the Australian Province, this takes the form of caring for Asylum seekers and refugees, fighting against pollution, climate change and irresponsible exploitation of the land as well as seeking a more just distribution of economic prosperity, food, water, healthcare, education and resources.