Today our Holy Mother Church celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The purpose of this feast is to focus our hearts and minds on the Cross of Christ.

Dear confreres, lay mission partners and staff,

With great joy I congratulate you on our 150th Jubilee and feast day of the birth of Our Lady.

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, following his resurrection, he gave his followers an instruction which has become known as the Great Commission: ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.’ (Mark 16:15).

As the Society of the Divine Word celebrates its 150^th Anniversary, it is useful to consider what that commission means for carrying out Christ’s mission. Of course, it means many things, but one thing it tells us clearly is this: Communication is Mission.

For those, like me, who have ever played the game “Pokemon Go”, you might be able to relate with me. As far as I understand the game, you capture as many Pokemon monsters as you can.

A year ago, we began the SVD Jubilee Year. Before the final event, which will mark the beginning of a new cycle in our history, I would like to address with affection and respect those who made possible the mission that we Divine Word Missionaries have carried out during these 150 years: our benefactors, collaborators and friends, writes SVD Superior-General Fr Anselmo Ribeiro.

The celebrations of this jubilee have allowed us to take up once again the original charism of Fr. Arnold Janssen, source of our identity and inspiration for our current mission. We also return to Steyl, the place chosen by our founder to establish a missionary house. This small village became the cradle of the first community, which over time transformed into a worldwide missionary congregation under the leadership of Fr. Arnold Janssen himself.

In 2018, I attended the episcopal ordination of Bishop Ewald Sedu, in Maumere. Maumere is a very Catholic town, on the very Catholic island of Flores, in very Christian eastern Indonesia. Not surprisingly, this ceremony was a very grand affair.

The SVD Marsfield community celebrated the 150^th anniversary of the Society of the Divine Word recently, in conjunction with the annual Multicultural Sunday event, highlighting one of the most foundational of SVD characteristics – interculturality.

Following weeks of rain in Sydney, the skies cleared for a day of shared prayer, cultural entertainment and a mouthwatering shared multicultural meal.

Communication is the essence of mission itself and is the task of every baptised Christian, Bishop Tim Norton SVD told participants in the 4^th SVD Australia Province Webinar to mark the 150^th anniversary of the founding of the Society of the Divine Word.

The webinar explored the theme: ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone - From a Social Communication Perspective.’

As the Church in Australia celebrated National Vocations Awareness Week this month, the SVD Australia Province issued an invitation for people to join in celebrating the ordination to the priesthood of Shouzheng Peter Wang SVD in November.

Peter is currently serving as a deacon in Melbourne and his ordination to the priesthood will be the next step in a vocational journey which began back in his home country of China and brought him to Australia.

It was a triple celebration at St Maximilian Kolbe Parish, Marsden, recently when the community took part in the parish’s feast day, the annual Multicultural Day Mass and the installation of new parish priest, Fr John Quang SVD.

Archbishop Mark Coleridge presided at the Mass, which saw parishioners dressed in their cultural costumes, and was followed outside by a shared multicultural meal and entertainment.