The summer holiday period saw the SVD seminarians from Dorish Maru College in Melbourne swap the classroom for a range of practical and pastoral experiences - from parish placements to work experience in jobs as diverse as farm worker, handyman and restaurant hand.

Formator of Scholastics, Fr Linh Nguyen SVD, said the summer placements aimed to give the students pastoral and workforce experience, as well as deepen their cultural understanding and English language skills.

Taking part in the Siloam Program for spiritual direction was “a journey of growth” for Fr Yon Wiryono SVD, which he says has not only helped him see the reality of his life through the lense of spirituality, but confirmed his call to help others see that reality in their lives, too.

Fr Yon, who is the Vocations Director for the SVD Australia Province, said the transformative experience of the program is already helping him in his ministry and priestly vocation.

The Central West Catholic Cluster is a grouping of parishes in North Queensland’s Rockhampton Diocese, where you will get a warm country welcome and lots of hospitality.

The Divine Word Missionaries took up pastoral care of the Central West Catholic Cluster last year, with the arrival of Fr Peter Bang SVD.

The Society of the Divine Word has this month celebrated the feast days of its two SVD saints, St Arnold Janssen and St Joseph Freinademetz, with the occasions taking on special significance during the SVD’s 150^th Jubilee Year.

The Australian Province of the Society of the Divine Word celebrated the feast days with special Masses and social gatherings of confreres, SSpS Sisters, parishioners, lay partners and partners in mission, while in Rome the day was marked by the release of a new book, entitled ‘Treasures of the Past and Experiences of the Present’.

Happy New Year to all and welcome to the first edition of ‘In the Word’ for 2025.

We are embarking on a big year, with the 150^th anniversary in September of the SVD’s Foundation by St Arnold Janssen, under the theme of Witnessing to the Light, and the Jubilee of Hope being celebrated across the Universal Church.

Advent and Christmas have been celebrated in a variety of different ways across the SVD Australia Province, from multicultural carols to Christmas lights, concerts to shared meals and gifts – all with the common theme of highlighting Jesus as the reason for the season.

From the Indigenous communities in the Tiwi Islands, Central Australia, Daly River and Balgo to city suburbs in Australia and New Zealand and across to villages in Thailand and Myanmar, the Province has expressed a range of different cultural celebrations of Christmas.

The SVD Australia Province has appointed Fr Nick de Groot SVD to take up the role of Province Ministry and Performance Appraiser in a move aimed at providing ongoing formation and “stirring the embers” of missionary service among the members of the Province.

Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD said the appointment fulfills a recommendation of the 2017 Royal Commission “that each religious institute implement mandatory national standards and undergo regular performance appraisals.”.

Missionary life in Central Australia is a world away from the cobblestones and church domes of Rome, but Fr Oliver Noclam SVD is about to make that transition as he takes up a new appointment for the Society of the Divine Word.

Fr Ollie, who is currently Parish Priest at Santa Teresa - Ltyentye Apurte, an Aboriginal community about 80km from Alice Springs, has been appointed as Assistant English Secretary at the SVD’s Generalate.

Bishop Tim Norton SVD has promised the people of the Kimberley that he wants to listen, heal, work, pray, and enjoy life together, as he was installed this month as the third Bishop of Broome in a liturgy rich with faith and culture.

Beginning with a traditional Aboriginal smoking ceremony by Yarawu elders outside the church and a Welcome to Country by Erica Bernard, the local people, languages and cultures of the Kimberley played a central role in the installation Mass, which concluded with women elders leading a sung blessing over their new bishop. Local languages enriched the hymns and prayers.

This Christmas will not only open a Jubilee Year for the Universal Church, declared by Pope Francis, but also comes as the Society of the Divine Word celebrates its 150^th Jubilee Year.

The theme of the SVD Jubilee is ‘Witnessing to the Light: From Everywhere for Everyone’ and that theme makes a great Christmas meditation, because it was on that first Christmas, more than 2000 years ago, that the Light of Christ came into our world. And we, as followers of Christ and missionaries, are witnesses to that Light.