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Nativity scene made by Vietnamese migrants Bangkok 2023 250Christmas is being celebrated in a range of different ways throughout the SVD Australia Province, but at the centre of it all is the birth of the Christ-child in Bethlehem.

Several parishes across the Province held Christmas carol gatherings, while in others parishioners donated Christmas hampers for those in need, and in poorer parts of the Province, basic food staples were given to parishioners to help them celebrate.

Macquaried Fields Multicultural Day 2023 flags 250Parishioners of Mary Mother of the Church parish in Macquarie Fields came together recently for the first Multicultural Day celebration since before the COVID pandemic, carrying flags from more than 50 countries in a spectacular procession which highlighted the parish’s unity in cultural diversity.

The Multicultural Day has been a popular part of the parish’s tradition over many years and parishioners and visitors were delighted to see it return.

Fr Asaeli Rass SVD profile pic 250Whenever I hear the account of Pentecost day as told in the Acts of the Apostles, where the apostles, all filled with the Holy Spirit, are speaking in foreign languages, I think of our multicultural and intercultural SVD communities, where a great variety of languages are always present, but also a unity in the Spirit.

For most of the history of the SVD Australia Province, the Divine Word Missionaries have been blessed with a heterogeneous blend of confreres from different racial, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.

Acculturation Course 2023 250The newest arrivals in the SVD Australia Province have taken a deep-dive into Australian life, attending the province’s Summer Acculturation Program, which they welcomed as an opportunity to know more about the place and the people and also to grow further as missionaries.
 
The workshop ran over two weeks at the SVD’s retreat centre at St Leonard’s in Victoria. It was designed for all confreres who have recently arrived in the AUS Province, both students and priests.
 

Interculturality workshops JSC July 2022 250The Janssen Spirituality Centre in Boronia, Victoria, was host recently to a series of five workshops on interculturality, attended by both interested lay people and religious, including SVD students from Dorish Maru College.

The workshops were presented by Sr Cathy Solano RSM, who has a background in education and spent several years working in Africa. She also has a Master’s in Intercultural Studies from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago.

Henry Adler ingleburn 250The people of Holy Family Parish came together in Ingleburn recently to welcome their new parish priest, Fr Henry Adler SVD.

Holy Family Parish is a big, vibrant, multicultural parish on Sydney’s south-western outskirts, comprised of the two communities of Ingleburn and Minto.

Inala 65th anniversary Archbishop Coleridge with islanders 150The St Mark’s Inala community came together in all its multicultural richness recently at a special Mass to celebrate the 65th anniversary since the establishment of the parish.

The day was extra joyful because it marked the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that the church was filled to capacity.

Vietnamese Chaplaincy 150A new community centre for the Vietnamese Catholic Community of Brisbane will signal a new beginning, filled with hope, and promote an environment of faith, care for each other, and cultural enrichment.

The Vietnamese Catholic Community Centre development at Inala was put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, but is now back underway, with construction beginning on the church and the centre’s office.

Fr Trinold Asa with Indonesian Catholic Community 150Fr Trinold Asa SVD took up Indonesian Community Chaplaincy duties in Melbourne in June last year, but after only several months in the job, found he was having to find new ways of ministering to the people thanks to the city’s tough COVID lockdown.

He took over the chaplaincy role from Fr Boni Buahendri SVD and was enjoying getting out and meeting the people who make up Melbourne’s Indonesian Catholic Family (ICF).

Carols20191 150The air around Marsfield in Sydney was filled with Christmas song last week for the annual SVD Multicultural Carol Celebration.

On a beautiful evening, the various groups who make up the SVD community at Marsfield gathered to share their Christmas spirit and look forward to the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

In the spirit of reconciliation, the Society of the Divine Word, Australia Province, acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea, sky, and community.

We acknowledge their skin-groups, story-lines, traditions, religiosity and living cultures.

We pay respect to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all indigenous peoples of New Zealand, Thailand, and Myanmar.

We are committed to building with them, a brighter future together.