Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD loves his ministry with Vietnamese migrants in Bangkok, not only because he is able to serve these people on the margins and be part of their lives, but because he is also able to be a bridge to connect them with the larger church and the society in which they live.

Chaplaincy to Vietnamese migrants has recently moved from a volunteer ministry to one formally recognised by the Catholic Bishops of Thailand, a move he says which makes the ministry more systematic and effective.

The mandate we are given today, on the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, is to ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the good news to all creation.’

By the time this reflection appears in the newsletter, we are well into the Easter Season, in fact almost towards the end of it. However, the message of Easter which proclaims the Good News of the Resurrection of Christ is by no means a message that has an expiration date.

Indeed, the entire Christian religion is founded on this very message that must be ceaselessly proclaimed all year round. Day after day, year after year, generation after generation, Christians are asked to witness to the truth of the Christ event of suffering, death and resurrection.

Vietnamese Chaplains from across Australia came together in Sydney recently to discuss their ministry and to consider how Vietnamese Catholic communities can contribute their experience of faith life in Australia to the 2020 Plenary Council.

Fr Joseph Vu SVD, who is Chaplain to the Vietnamese community in Brisbane Archdiocese, says the chaplains gather every year to share with one another their activities, to listen and learn from each other, and to plan for the future.

The Bible is not a static collection of ancient works but the living Word of God which continues to speak to us today, so for Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD, a recent Biblical study course in the Philippines provided new insights which he is eager to share upon his return to Australia.

Fr Elmer is the Biblical Coordinator for the SVD AUS Province, and he took part in the course with two other new members of the Province, Fr Mariusz Kubista SVD, a Polish priest who has been in Kenya for some years and Fr Tuyen Nguyen SVD, from Vietnam, who has been in Argentina for 10 years. Both Fr Mariusz and Fr Tuyen were taking part in the Biblical study course in the Philippines to prepare them for their upcoming assignment teaching the Bible in Myanmar, the AUS Province’s newest mission.

Fr Bosco Son SVD’s new assignment at the bustling Macquarie Fields Parish couldn’t be further away from his previous ministry in the small indigenous community of Santa Teresa in Central Australia, but he says his aim remains the same – simply to the love the people.

“Before taking up my position at Santa Teresa, the former Provincial, Fr Tim Norton SVD, asked me to try to do two things: one was to try to love the people and the other was not to create a problem,” he says.

The people of Alice Springs were treated to a thought-provoking discussion recently when Fr Nick de Groot SVD delivered a presentation which posed the question, ‘Different Religions: friend or enemy?’

Fr Nick is the Director of the Janssen Centre for Spirituality in Boronia, Victoria, a retreat and hospitality centre with a special focus on being a place of welcome for interfaith and intercultural relations.

I have just returned from a trip to South-East Asia, taking in the Philippines, Thailand and Myanmar, the latter two countries of which are part of the SVD AUS Province.

Whenever I go to Thailand and visit our ministries there, I am struck by the reality of our commitment as Divine Word Missionaries to breaking down cultural and religious barriers.

It was a joyous time in Japan recently when two young men took their final vows as Divine Word Missionaries.

Joseph Hy SVD and Keiji Arata SVD both spent some time in the AUS Province during their formation, an experience they say had a big impact on their understanding of missionary life.

Life presents to us many Good Fridays, in the form of obstacles, helplessness and brokenness. But what brings us to Easter Sunday is our understanding that we don’t get upset with the little hardships in life because our life’s journey is like a road and difficulties are like humps. They help us to avoid dangerous accidents.

So, learning to enjoy the challenges of life and moving on is the key to eventually arriving at Easter.