Dear Friends,

Happy New Year! In this, our first edition of In the Word for 2024, I pray that the year ahead will be filled with God’s blessings for you.

Each new year begins with such promise. Perhaps you made a raft of resolutions, but as we reach the end of January they are starting to slip away. Fear not. At times like this, I am reminded of Mother Teresa’s words: God doesn’t require us to be successful, only faithful.

I have begun the New Year with a trip to Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. In PNG I attended the SVD Provincial Chapter as an observer. The Australian Province and the PNG Province of the SVD have such a long and interwoven history that it is always a joy to go there and meet old friends and listen to how the Province is travelling in this wonderfully culturally rich and sometimes challenging part of the world. As I listened to proceedings and learnt about the many pastoral works and missionary activities being undertaken, from remote parish ministry to tertiary education and much in between, I was struck by the faithful service and creative approach of so many. Always working together with the local people, the SVD confreres have amassed many decades of good will and their steady dedication to the mission is inspiring. I will return home enthused and buoyed by my experience there.

As this edition is published, I am in New Zealand, a part of our Australia Province, where once again, it is a delight to spend time with our confreres, hear of their joys and challenges, and observe their various ministries in mission promotion, parish ministry, migrant chaplaincy and so much more.

One of the great privileges of my role as Provincial is to spend time on the ground with missionaries in so many different pastoral situations. In our own Province, we have missionaries working in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Myanmar. Yet, in each of these unique situations, the mission is the same – to love the people and to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them.

As we set sail into a New Year, I ask you to continue to pray for our missionaries and support them in whatever way you can, both here in the Australia Province and in other SVD Provinces overseas.

We hope you’ll enjoy the snapshots of SVD life encapsulated in the stories we share, and we give thanks always for you, our partners in mission.

Yours in the Word,

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,

Provincial.

PHOTO: Fr Rass is pictured back row, right, attending the SVD's PNG Provincial Chapter meeting.