To be effective in Mission, we need to take time, as Jesus did, to withdraw from the demands of our busy lives and connect again with the Living Water that sustains us, and that’s exactly what the members of the Australian Catholic Disability Council did in the desert around Alice Springs recently.

Fr Asaeli Raass SVD led a retreat for the Council based on the theme of spiritual dryness and living water – an experience made all the more meaningful by its focus on the cool, calm waterholes which are found in the desert country of Central Australia.

The Janssen Spirituality Centre in Boronia, Victoria, is enjoying a rebirth as a place for contemplative living and prayer, thanks to the collaborative efforts of members of the Divine Word Missionaries and the Holy Spirit Sisters.

A key focus of the Centre is the desire to create a place to nurture inter-religious dialogue and cross cultural activities.

Earlier this month, the Catholic Church in Australia celebrated National Vocations Awareness Week.

It’s a long way from Chicago to the dry red dust of Central Australia, but for SVD student Paul Aquino, the experience has opened up a whole new world to him and helped prepare him for his life as a Divine Word Missionary.

Paul is originally from the Philippines and is undergoing his SVD formation in Chicago. He came to the AUS Province  as part of the Overseas Training Program, a placement he has just completed.

The SVD commitment to walking with the poor and the marginalised is lived out in Australian suburbia, as well as overseas missions, and Fr Sunil Nagothu SVD and Fr Adrian Jenani SVD are enjoying both the joys and challenges of parish life in the Logan area of southern Brisbane.

Fr Sunil was appointed Parish Priest of St Maximilian Kolbe Parish, Kingston/Marsden, one year ago. 

Vietnamese and parish communities in Sydney and Brisbane have reached out with compassion, by raising funds to help those who lost young family members in a tragic bus accident while en route to an SVD youth camp in Thailand.

Last month, In the Word reported that 13 young Vietnamese people had been killed on their way to a camp to be held at the SVD parish of Nong Bua Lamphu (NBL) in northern Thailand.

Bible Sunday was celebrated in spectacular fashion at the St Arnold Janssen Chapel at Marsfield, in Sydney, with a multicultural dramatic presentation of some of the key scenes from John’s Gospel.

Entitled ‘You are the Messiah’, the script for the drama was prepared by a parishioner, Tim Lee and Fr Michael Quang Nguyen SVD, taking their inspiration from episodes in passages from John 1-4.

As I write this message, the world is in mourning for the people on board Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, which was shot down by missile over Ukraine. In the wake of such violence, we pray for the gentle repose of their souls, that they may rest in peace, with God, their loving creator.

The release of Pope Francis’ Message for World Mission Day marks the countdown to this world-wide celebration, set down for October 19.

In his message, the Holy Father reminds us that: “All the members of the Church are called to participate in this mission, for the Church is missionary by her very nature: she was ‘born to go forth’.”

When Fr Ennio Mantovani SVD set out from Europe as a young missionary priest in 1962 he planned to bring the light of the Gospel to the people of Papua New Guinea. When he arrived, he found the light was already there, in the people and the culture.

Now, over 50 years later, he has launched a new book in which he says his life as a missionary has taught him that God is present among all people, everywhere, loving them as he loves each and every person.