Dear Friends,

Are we shaping mission, or is mission shaping us? That’s one of the excellent questions that we reflected on during our recent Provincial Assembly and Chapter.

In previous eras, missionaries such as us would have been seen to be heading off, Bible in hand, to shape mission in foreign lands. Now, we know that actually, it is the mission that is shaping us. It is being with the people, listening to them, learning from them.

Fr John Prior SVD, a missionary in Indonesia, led us in this reflection during the days of our Assembly, and as a critical friend, pointed us to some of our strengths and weaknesses as a Province, reminding us what really matters.

He talked about being committed to mission and not pulling out of situations which are challenging or difficult. There was much of Pope Francis in his comments about being close to the people, really being among them, rather than going to them.

For us, being among the people here in the context of our Province has led us to a much deeper collaboration with our lay partners. Mission isn’t just in the hands of vowed Religious, but rather, it is in the hands of us all as a Church.

At our last Chapter meeting in 2015, we began moving in this direction with a tentative resolution to explore the possibility of establishing more formal relationships with our lay friends.

By 2018, the Spirit was well and truly leading the way. At our Assembly we were surrounded by our lay collaborators in SVD parishes, migrant ministries, ethnic communities, as well as professional staff. We are blessed by their Christian witness, their daily commitment to mission, and to the SVD ethos. It is clear that our way forward is inextricably linked with our lay friends.

So, led by the Spirit, our Chapter passed a firm resolution to work towards formalising SVD lay groups throughout the Province. We are excited about what the future might bring and where it might take us together.

Fr John also helped us to see the local, global and even cosmic context in which we do mission here in the AUS Province.

There are economic, political and cultural challenges, but the question we need to be asking is ‘where are we in all of this?’

“We have moved (or are moving from) a cross-cultural mission Society that helped shape mission, to a network of communities shaped by mission,” he said.

“We’ve moved from conqueror to dialogue partner.”

The issue, he said is not Who the mission is about. Jesus, the Divine Word is the Mission of God. Rather, the issue is: how are we to carry out Jesus’ mission here in our own time and place?

Having had this time of renewal and challenge, our Province is now moving forward, rooted in the Word, in dialogue with the communities we serve, the people we live among and the culture in which we live.

Yours in the Word,

Fr Henry Adler SVD,

Provincial