The first results from the latest Census have been released this week and they confirm that here in Australia, we are living in an increasingly diverse religious and cultural society.

The Census showed two key things that were already somewhat obvious to anybody who’s been paying attention to such things – the number of people identifying as being of ‘no religion’ has risen and the nation is becoming increasingly multicultural. What meaning can we take from this?

Fr Alejandro Jose De la Sotta Dominguez SVD is a long way from his home in Chile, but says the “incredible diversity of cultures” that he’s found at St Mark’s Parish, Inala is enriching his life, his faith and his ministry.

Fr Alejandro, who is relatively new to the AUS Province, is Acting Parish Priest at St Mark’s while Fr Stephen Pilly SVD enjoys his home leave in India.

One of the more difficult sayings of Jesus is in today’s gospel. “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted’ and it would obey you.”

In my family, one of my brothers in recent years has been given the title of “Deacon” by my other siblings. My brother is not actually a deacon, nor does he have any theological degrees or anything along this line.

He’s been nicknamed deacon by my siblings because of his apparent deep faith and devotion. He spends a lot of his time attending Mass, religious functions, and reading spiritual books when he is not working his normal job as an engineer in a well-known company. He also enjoys talking about religious matters in family get-togethers.