The Society of the Divine Word has this month celebrated the feast days of its two SVD saints, St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freinademetz, with the occasions taking on special significance during the SVD’s 150^th Jubilee Year.

The Australian Province of the Society of the Divine Word celebrated the feast days with special Masses and social gatherings of confreres, SSpS Sisters, parishioners, lay partners and partners in mission, while in Rome the day was marked by the release of a new book, entitled ‘Treasures of the Past and Experiences of the Present’.

Happy New Year to all and welcome to the first edition of ‘In the Word’ for 2025.

We are embarking on a big year, with the 150^th anniversary in September of the SVD’s Foundation by St Arnold Janssen, under the theme of Witnessing to the Light, and the Jubilee of Hope being celebrated across the Universal Church.

Advent and Christmas have been celebrated in a variety of different ways across the SVD Australia Province, from multicultural carols to Christmas lights, concerts to shared meals and gifts – all with the common theme of highlighting Jesus as the reason for the season.

From the Indigenous communities in the Tiwi Islands, Central Australia, Daly River and Balgo to city suburbs in Australia and New Zealand and across to villages in Thailand and Myanmar, the Province has expressed a range of different cultural celebrations of Christmas.

The SVD Australia Province has appointed Fr Nick de Groot SVD to take up the role of Province Ministry and Performance Appraiser in a move aimed at providing ongoing formation and “stirring the embers” of missionary service among the members of the Province.

Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD said the appointment fulfills a recommendation of the 2017 Royal Commission “that each religious institute implement mandatory national standards and undergo regular performance appraisals.”.

Missionary life in Central Australia is a world away from the cobblestones and church domes of Rome, but Fr Oliver Noclam SVD is about to make that transition as he takes up a new appointment for the Society of the Divine Word.

Fr Ollie, who is currently Parish Priest at Santa Teresa - Ltyentye Apurte, an Aboriginal community about 80km from Alice Springs, has been appointed as Assistant English Secretary at the SVD’s Generalate.

Bishop Tim Norton SVD has promised the people of the Kimberley that he wants to listen, heal, work, pray, and enjoy life together, as he was installed this month as the third Bishop of Broome in a liturgy rich with faith and culture.

Beginning with a traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony by Yarawu elders outside the church and a Welcome to Country by Erica Bernard, the local people, languages and cultures of the Kimberley played a central role in the installation Mass, which concluded with women elders leading a sung blessing over their new bishop. Local languages enriched the hymns and prayers.

This Christmas will not only open a Jubilee Year for the Universal Church, declared by Pope Francis, but also comes as the Society of the Divine Word celebrates its 150^th Jubilee Year.

The theme of the SVD Jubilee is ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone’ and that theme makes a great Christmas meditation, because it was on that first Christmas, more than 2000 years ago, that the Light of Christ came into our world. And we, as followers of Christ and missionaries, are witnesses to that Light.

The SVD’s formation house, Dorish Maru College, in Melbourne invited a large group of friends and supporters to its annual ‘Thanksgiving’ celebration to express the gratitude of students and staff for all those who’ve given assistance to the students in their formation this year.

Dorish Maru Rector, Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD said the guest list ranged from the staff of the college to those who tutored the students in English, those who helped them gain their driver’s licence or hosted them in their families or on their farms during their summer break.

Holy Family Catholic Parish is a big, vibrant, multicultural parish on Sydney’s south-western outskirts and while its people come from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, they are one body in Christ and committed to continually growing as a missionary parish.

The parish is comprised of the two communities of Ingleburn and Minto. Fr Henry Adler SVD has been parish priest there since 2022.

The SVD Australia Province launched its Jubilee Year Online Lecture Series this month, exploring the Jubilee theme, ‘Witnessing to the Light: From everywhere for everyone’ from the Biblical perspective.

The webinar featured a keynote presentation from Fr Wojciech Szypula SVD, the coordinator of the SVD Generalate Biblical Apostolate in Rome, with a response by Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD, coordinator of the Biblical Apostolate from the Australia Province.