The current COVID pandemic has made it so much harder to reach out in ministry to others. This reaching out was something that I previously took completely for granted but now I can only make the best use of those ministerial opportunities that are available, within a seemingly never-ending cycle of lockdowns. So far, we have experienced five lockdowns in Melbourne and have just emerged somewhat from the latest one.
One can be tempted to lose hope that one’s ministry will ever return to those former, more “sunny” times. Some of my ministry, before COVID, had been helping out in neighbouring parishes as well as ministry at a large aged care facility.
The Divine Word Missionaries will have two members at the upcoming Plenary Council and both say they are looking forward to being a part of such a forward-looking and significant process for the Catholic Church in Australia.
Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, will be a member of the Plenary Council and attend its official sessions in October, as will Alice Springs Parish Priest, Fr Prakash Menezes SVD, who will be part of the Darwin Diocese’s delegation, due to his role as Episcopal Vicar for the Diocese’s Central Region.
There was a company, which was working in the forest and looking for a woodchopper. One day, two woodchoppers applied for the job. The manager said that they would only accept one. So he invited both of them to a test.
Each one of us, for sure, has stories or quotations from Holy Scripture that are very special. They may be linked to personal needs or simply to moments of personal enlightenment.
A new series of online video conversations featuring people of different faiths and belief systems aims to broaden the scope of interfaith dialogue.
Fr Thien Nguyen SVD, who is part of the initiative, says each of the conversations focuses on the basic, unifying exploration of one key topic – love – as lived and expressed by those being interviewed.
Two Divine Word Missionary priests were installed as Parish Priest and Associate Pastor in a Townsville pastoral community last month in ceremony conducted by Bishop Timothy Harris who invoked the example of the Holy Trinity as a model for community and parish life.
Fr Joseph Reddy SVD and Fr Clement Baffoe SVD were installed as pastors of the Ministerial Region of the Good Shepherd in the coastal North Queensland city.
Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD may be serving in the middle of the Australian desert, but that remote location hasn’t stopped him being recently appointed as Coordinator of the Biblical Apostolate for the SVD Asia-Pacific Zone.
Fr Elmer, originally from the Philippines, is the Parish Priest of Santa Teresa in Central Australia and he is also the Biblical Coordinator for the SVD AUS Province.
Three retiring members of the SVD AUS Province Finance Advisory Committee have been presented with Papal Blessings in recognition for their work in helping the Province to provide good stewardship of its resources, in the service of Christ’s mission.
Peter Dent, Brian Rigney and Lou Youssef received the framed blessing from Pope Francis during a special presentation at Marsfield last month, as well as an official thank you letter from the SVD Superior-General, Fr Budi Kleden.
There was this story of a boy who was playing on a cruise liner with his alphabet blocks. Then in a few minutes, the ship encountered a storm.
This week is the 11th Sunday of ordinary time. We continue our journey of faith, from Sunday to Sunday, to be nourished by Christ through his Words.