In this day and age we may well ask what meaning and relevance such a season of the year could have for us. When I was young it was about “giving up something” like chocolates or biscuits.

Now, for me, it means more about being aware of certain attitudes and behaviours that need healing.

Have you ever asked yourself: What is the likelihood of me being born into this world? What is the chance of having someone with my appearance and personality on earth? Is there a mathematical calculation that would provide a specific answer to this question?

Believe it or not, some people have tried to give an answer to this question. One of these is Dr Ali Binazir who made the calculation based on the chance of two people meeting and falling in love and choosing one another as their life partner from all the possible lovers.

Marriage is a sacrament, a work of God, and a work of a man and a woman. It gives a couple the grace to live out in their lives the forgiving, understanding, committed, redeeming and transforming love God has for all of us.

Born in a small town in Madagascar, Marius Razafimandimby could not have imagined in his childhood that he would one day be living in Australia and completing his final studies towards becoming a Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) priest.Born in a small town in Madagascar, Marius Razafimandimby could not have imagined in his childhood that he would one day be living in Australia and completing his final studies towards becoming a Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) priest.

But, he says that coming across the world to complete his formation at the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College in Melbourne has broadened his horizons.
“Missionary life is a widening of everyone’s horizon,” he says.

This month, the Church in Australia, and we in the Divine Word Missionaries, celebrated National Vocations Week.This is a week to celebrate all vocations, whether to marriage, the single life, priesthood or religious life and we often forget how intertwined all those different vocations are.

Marriage, of course, is the foundational vocation from which all others flow. It is within the loving embrace of family life and faith that the other vocations may take seed and grow. When people sometimes talk of a vocations crisis in the Church, I wonder if part of the problem isn’t really a crisis of marriage and family life. If this is the case, we must do all we can to support family life and help it flourish.

Life is all about constantly looking forward and moving on. Be it on the road while you drive towards a destination or looking expectantly towards a career, the binding rule is the same: to keep constantly looking forward, while on the journey.

It was 3pm on 23rd July, upon the request of Br Martin, I embarked on a car journey to the Sydney Domestic Airport to pick up Fr. Olivier Svd. While on the journey, Br. Martin Svd pointed to the car in front of us and exclaimed, “This guy is in a hurry. He wants to reach his destination faster than others.” We noticed the driver overtaking the other vehicles and moving ahead with quick precision and speed, only to be held up by the next set of traffic lights! 

It is very unusual that a feast, other than a feast of Our Lord, would take the place of the Sunday liturgy. 

The image of the cross is one of the most popular and most powerful images that we see. Whenever we see the cross, for most of us, we feel some sort of solace and security that we’re assured that everything will be alright.

Fr Thuy Xuan Pham SVD celebrated nearly a quarter of a century in vows recently by taking a few months out and heading to Italy for a Renewal Course in which he says he sought to deepen his relationship with God, with the SVD, and with other people.

Fr Thuy was born and raised in Vietnam, but came to Australia to complete his formation as a Divine Word Missionary and took his vows in 1995 and was ordained here before being assigned to the AUS Province.

As the New Year rolls on, we plan resolutions to make some changes in life over the coming year. Often times, we fail to persist with the promises we made and find that the resolutions just made have been broken. It’s hard to consistently persist with our resolutions, but it’s not impossible. Amidst all the hustle and bustle of life what we often forget to include in our life is ‘the God particle’ which can enthuse us when we fail and raise us when we fall.

When God intervenes in our life, something surprising happens and we are dumbfounded. Many of the Biblical stalwarts were the same - they sought the hand of God in their life and God surprised them.