By Debra Vermeer,
Communications Officer, SVD Australia Province
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 150th 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.
When Jesus gave his instruction to his followers, he was urging them to be proactive and energetic sharers of the Gospel. And the Gospel is good news indeed. The story that God loves us, that he sent his Son for us, to heal us and forgive us our sins and be the way back home to eternal life in God’s presence.
To share this story of love is the very essence of the SVD’s Jubilee Year theme: ‘Witnessing to the Light: From everywhere for everyone’. When we share the Good News of Jesus Christ, we are witnessing to His light. And when we go out to all the world to share the Gospel, we are embodying ‘From everywhere for everyone’.
In establishing his missionary society in 1875, St Arnold Janssen was responding to Christ’s commission. It was precisely his dream that Divine Word Missionaries would go out to all the world and tell the Good News of the Word made flesh – the Divine Word. Primarily, they would share the Good News by being present to the peoples to whom they were sent, and by loving the people with the heart of Christ. From this we can see that communication is not just words on paper, but it is first and foremost, a ministry of encounter.
In the 150 years since then, the Society of the Divine Word has indeed gone out to the all the world. From St Arnold’s humble beginnings, the SVD has flourished and grown to be the sixth biggest male religious order in the world, with nearly 6000 missionaries, from 76 nationalities, serving in 79 countries.
For the last 150 years and still today, SVD missionaries continue to respond to Jesus’ great commission. They tell the Good News of God’s love for us by going to the margins of society and living with, and serving, and loving those who are most forgotten or in need. They leave behind their home and family and enter into new cultures, often very different from their own. In doing so, they listen, observe, immerse, and learn about the new culture in which they are living and they share something of their own as well. This cultural exchange is known as interculturality, and it lies at the heart of the SVD charism. Knowing that God is present already among the people to whom they are sent, they seek to enter more deeply into his presence, together.
I have the privilege of working in communications for the SVD Australia Province, and sharing some of the stories of this ministry of encounter. In sharing these stories we are sharing the love of Jesus, made present in the faith communities our missionaries serve. Our hope is that in reading these stories or watching these videos or social media posts, people might themselves have an encounter with the love of Jesus, and feel stirred to respond. This is mission.
Whether it be a big, multicultural suburban parish in Australia or New Zealand, or a remote parish in Central Australia, the Kimberley or the Tiwi Islands, or a parish serving a small village in Thailand or Myanmar, or ethnic chaplaincies or missionary formation, the presence of God is palpable in these communities and as a communicator and a Christian, I can’t wait to share this Good News with others.
In this aged of rapid communications, when messages travel across the globe in an instant, we are asked to communicate not only with words, but with lives that reflect God’s truth, love and mercy. From every land and culture, God calls all Christians to be missionaries, connecting hearts, healing wounds and sharing the Good News with all. To do this, we have to be present with people wherever they are at, which is why we share our Province Communications both in the print and digital realms, through Society Matters magazine, the In the Word e-news publication, social media channels, and YouTube.
The 150th Jubilee Year has been an opportunity to give thanks for the Society of the Divine Word, to share the story of this missionary endeavour that continues to be such a vibrant and faith-filled presence across the globe, and to apply fresh vigour and creativity to how we, in the SVD Australia Province, remain faithful in our time and place to Christ’s instruction: ‘Go out to all the world and proclaim the good news to all creation’.
PHOTO: Debra accepts an award at the 2024 Australasian Catholic Press Association presentation for an article published in the SVD's 'In the Word' E-News.