Nowadays there are a lot of lamentations about fake news and post-truth politics where facts and truthfulness have seemingly taken a backseat to non-facts, alternative facts, and emotionally stirring rhetoric.

But fake news is no news. The serpent in the Garden of Eden whispered fake news to Eve to persuade her to eat the forbidden fruit.

Born in a small town in Madagascar, Marius Razafimandimby could not have imagined in his childhood that he would one day be living in Australia and completing his final studies towards becoming a Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) priest.Born in a small town in Madagascar, Marius Razafimandimby could not have imagined in his childhood that he would one day be living in Australia and completing his final studies towards becoming a Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) priest.

But, he says that coming across the world to complete his formation at the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College in Melbourne has broadened his horizons.
“Missionary life is a widening of everyone’s horizon,” he says.

The senior confreres of the SVD AUS Province might have stepped away from missionary duties in Papua New Guinea and other places, or full-time ministry in Australia, but you’ll still find most of them up and out of bed by 6am and continuing to pursue mission in different ways.

The seniors, who among them all have hundreds of years of missionary experience, live in the Province’s Marsfield community, pursuing their personal interests, various small ministry activities, and shared prayer and meals.

The new Director of the Janssen Spirituality Centre in Boronia, Fr Thien Nguyen SVD, says he is looking forward to helping bring to life the vision of the Centre as being a peaceful gathering place for people to share and celebrate their faiths and cultures.

Fr Thien says he will be working with the team at JSC to build on the work already underway to develop the original vision for the Centre as a place of welcome for interfaith and intercultural relations.

Pope Francis’ call for Church communities to provide a welcoming presence for migrants and refugees came to vibrant life at the SVD’s Marsfield community recently with the celebration of Multicultural Sunday.Pope Francis’ call for Church communities to provide a welcoming presence for migrants and refugees came to vibrant life at the SVD’s Marsfield community recently with the celebration of Multicultural Sunday.

The day began with Mass, followed by cultural performances by different ethnic groups. The celebration ended with a multicultural banquet under a clear blue sky.
Rector of the Marsfield Community, Fr Mikhael Loke says the day was timed to fit in with the worldwide celebration of Refugee and Migrant Sunday.

This month, the Church in Australia, and we in the Divine Word Missionaries, celebrated National Vocations Week.This is a week to celebrate all vocations, whether to marriage, the single life, priesthood or religious life and we often forget how intertwined all those different vocations are.

Marriage, of course, is the foundational vocation from which all others flow. It is within the loving embrace of family life and faith that the other vocations may take seed and grow. When people sometimes talk of a vocations crisis in the Church, I wonder if part of the problem isn’t really a crisis of marriage and family life. If this is the case, we must do all we can to support family life and help it flourish.

Born in a small town in Madagascar, Marius Razafimandimby could not have imagined in his childhood that he would one day be living in Australia and completing his final studies towards becoming a Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) priest.

But, he says that coming across the world to complete his formation at the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College in Melbourne has broadened his horizons.

What is a vocation? 

In this video to mark Vocations Awareness Week, Fr Bosco Son SVD and Fr Henry Adler SVD explore the different vocations of marriage, single life, and religious life.

Growing up in Madagascar in a community that could only celebrate Mass once every three months because of a shortage of priests, Andrianihantana Francois d’Assise felt the initial stirrings of a call to the priesthood.

It wasn’t until high school, when he joined a school holiday missionary activity conducted by a Divine Word Missionary (SVD) priest that he began to consider the idea of becoming a missionary priest.

Life is all about constantly looking forward and moving on. Be it on the road while you drive towards a destination or looking expectantly towards a career, the binding rule is the same: to keep constantly looking forward, while on the journey.

It was 3pm on 23rd July, upon the request of Br Martin, I embarked on a car journey to the Sydney Domestic Airport to pick up Fr. Olivier Svd. While on the journey, Br. Martin Svd pointed to the car in front of us and exclaimed, “This guy is in a hurry. He wants to reach his destination faster than others.” We noticed the driver overtaking the other vehicles and moving ahead with quick precision and speed, only to be held up by the next set of traffic lights!