As the Church in Australia celebrated National Vocations Awareness Week this month, the SVD Australia Province issued an invitation for people to join in celebrating the ordination to the priesthood of Shouzheng Peter Wang SVD in November.

Peter is currently serving as a deacon in Melbourne and his ordination to the priesthood will be the next step in a vocational journey which began back in his home country of China and brought him to Australia.

As Spring arrives, so too does the official celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of the founding by St Arnold Janssen of the Society of the Divine Word.

St Arnold founded his missionary society on September 8, 1875. Driven by prayer and a desire that all people should have the opportunity to know the Good News of Jesus Christ, he overcame much opposition to begin fulfilling his dream. From those humble beginnings, the SVD has flourished and grown to be the sixth biggest male religious order in the world, with nearly 6000 missionaries, from 76 nationalities, serving in 79 countries.

It was a triple celebration at St Maximilian Kolbe Parish, Marsden, recently when the community took part in the parish’s feast day, the annual Multicultural Day Mass and the installation of new parish priest, Fr John Quang SVD.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge presided at the Mass, which saw parishioners dressed in their cultural costumes, and was followed outside by a shared multicultural meal and entertainment.

The SVD Australia Province celebrated joyfully recently when Shouzheng Peter Wang SVD professed his perpetual vows as a Divine Word Missionary and was ordained to the diaconate.

Peter’s ordination as a deacon was the latest step in a vocational journey which began back in his home country of China and brought him to Australia.

Saints Peter and Paul Church in Lower Hutt, New Zealand has celebrated its 175^th anniversary, with a series of joyous jubilee events.

Parish Priest, Fr Raja Kommareddy SVD, said the celebrations, which took place over the whole weekend of June 28 and 29, marking the parish’s patronal feast, were a wonderful testimony to the community’s vibrant faith and multicultural richness.

A recent workshop for members of Religious Institutes highlighted the importance of good governance and administration within the Church, saying it must be aligned with mission and carried out with collaboration and transparency.

Several Divine Word Missionaries took part in the ‘Introduction to Ecclesial Governance and Administration’ workshop, which was an initiative of Catholic Religious Australia.

The Divine Word Missionaries’ annual retreats are now underway, with Augustinian priest, Fr Joseph Lam, leading the SVD Marsfield community in reflections on the theme, ‘Missionaries of Hope’.

Each district of the SVD AUS Province will have a week’s retreat, given by local presenters, providing spiritual nourishment and renewal for confreres.

The Emerald Parish in the Central Highlands of Queensland is a thriving faith community which also embraces a cluster of small country churches in a rural district renowned for its warm welcome and hospitality.

Parish Priest, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD and Assistant Priest, Fr Francois d’Assise Andrianihantana SVD, say they are very happy in the fast-growing community of Emerald and its more rural surrounds, where they’ve enjoyed getting to know the people, the land and the significant cattle farming enterprises that drive the region.

It seems that Pope Leo XIV has already endeared himself to the world, with his warm smile, calm demeanour and steady influence.

But if we listen carefully to his words, we find that behind that serene exterior, he is calling us to step up as Christians and missionaries and launch a revolution! Not a revolution of arms or violence, but a revolution of love.

The Australia Province’s coordinators of the SVD’s Four Characteristic Dimensions met recently in the Thailand-Myanmar District, sharing with the missionaries there an insight into the priorities and activities of each area – Mission, Bible Apostolate, Communications, and Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation.

The Thailand District Leader Br Ron Fratzke SVD said it was a happy coincidence that the District was having its retreat at the time, and the confreres were able to enjoy hearing more about the Characteristic Dimensions and sharing their own mission experience.