The Founding Generation of the Arnoldus Family has formed the inspiration for reflection at the annual Provincial retreats for members of the Divine Word Missionaries and Holy Spirit Sisters this year.

The retreats have been held in Thailand, Alice Springs, Boronia (Victoria) and Marsfield in Sydney, and have provided a much needed time for the prayer, reflection and recharging of the batteries that is so necessary for missionary life.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish in Alice Springs celebrated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday earlier this month with a Mass which was deeply imbued with the culture of the Arrernte people of Central Australia.

Parish Priest, Fr Asaeli Raass SVD, says the Mass was a great celebration of faith and culture, drawing from the theme for NAIDOC Week: “We all stand on Sacred Ground”.

The Divine Word Missionary community at Marsfield in Sydney hosted a day of intercultural hospitality when a group of students from a SVD school in Japan paid a visit.

The students, from Nanzan Primary School, located in the heart of Japan, in and around the city of Nagoya, are in Australia on a cultural visit, staying with Australian families and practising the English language.

It was an occasion of great joy when Chanthavong (Toub) Anisong took his first vows as a Divine Word Missionary, becoming the first person from Laos ever to do so.

Toub, who is joining the SVD AUS Province, took his vows in the Philippines, where he has been in the Novitiate. He is due to arrive in Australia next month for further studies and formation.

Papua New Guinea has long been home to Christian missionaries from all around the world, but now two young SVD missionaries from PNG are being sent out to Argentina – a development they say shows the growth and maturity of Christianity in their country.

Fr Vincent Guawi SVD and OTP student John Sine SVD will join nine other PNG-born SVD missionaries who are already on missionary assignments in far-off lands.

Internationality, or interculturality, is an essential element of the SVD charism, and a principal goal of mission should be the promotion of a truly multicultural Church, says former SVD Superior General, Fr Antonio Pernia.

Fr Antonio (Tony) made these points when addressing the SVD AUS Provincial Chapter held in Sydney this month.

The 2015 Provincial Chapter affirmed and confirmed the Province’s commitment to its current mission priorities, as well as a desire to strengthen and further enrich SVD community life.

AUS Provincial, Fr Henry Adler SVD, says the Chapter also highlighted a growing sensitivity and commitment towards living interculturally, both within the Society and in its outward mission.

There will be times where we don’t get along, and perhaps there will be times where we’re at each other’s throat. Yet, there will always be times where we come together. The SVD community in Thailand brings together men from different countries, backgrounds, and cultures.

From the mountains of Papua New Guinea to the East and West coasts of the United States to the desert of Australia to the islands of Indonesia and to the rice fields of Vietnam, we are rich in diversity

Dorish Maru College in Melbourne is well known as the SVD seminary and formation house for the AUS Province, but it is also a house of welcome for other missionaries who are undertaking further studies, or language studies to help them in mission assignments to a range of countries.

Rector of the House at Dorish Maru, Fr Michael Hardie SVD, says this hospitality and support is one way the AUS Province helps support the wider world of Mission.

It was a joyous occasion in Thailand recently when members of the SVD Thai District joined Bishop Joseph Luechai Thatwisai of Udon Thani Diocese to celebrate the restoration of the Thai Martyrs church in Thuan Kham.

After 10 years of neglect, without a priest, Fr Vinh The Tran SVD, who is pastor at a larger parish in the Ban Dung area took an interest in bringing the sacraments back to the almost 60 families who had been active parishioners at the little church.