The SVD Australia Province launched its Jubilee Year Online Lecture Series this month, exploring the Jubilee theme, ‘Witnessing to the Light: From everywhere for everyone’ from the Biblical perspective.

The webinar featured a keynote presentation from Fr Wojciech Szypula SVD, the coordinator of the SVD Generalate Biblical Apostolate in Rome, with a response by Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD, coordinator of the Biblical Apostolate from the Australia Province.

It attracted participants from people in Rome, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, as well as the Philippines and Australia.

In welcoming those taking part, the moderator, Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD, said the lecture series was part of the Society of the Divine Word’s year-long celebration of its 150^th anniversary.

Provincial of the Australia Province, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD also welcomed those taking part, as did Fr Fabián Mate Kalaluka, a member of the SVD General Council, on behalf of the Superior-General.

Fr Wojciech holds Doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Gregorian Pontifical University in Rome and has lectured extensively on Biblical subjects and taught courses across Africa and internationally.

He broke his lecture into three broad sections, including reflections on the concept of "your light," the phrase "from everywhere," and the phrase "for everyone", drawing on both Scripture and insights from the recent 19^th General Chapter of the SVD.

Referring to the Scripture which underlies the Jubilee Theme, Matthew 5:16, “So your light must shine before others”, Fr Wojciech said the passage appears right after Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount, the pinnacle of his teaching on discipleship.

“And there he uses two phrases, salt, you are salt of the earth, and you are light of the world. Salt is very clear. He talks about salt being insipid, not being salty anymore. That is about identity of the disciples.

“The light, your light must shine before others, refers to or defines the disciples’ mission, and therefore, what is that light that the disciples should or must shine upon the world? Clearly, it refers to the revelation that Jesus has just delivered, and they're living by it, and they're proclaiming that message entailed in the Beatitudes to the world.

“Therefore, the light that the disciples are asked to illuminate, to shine upon the world is not our light. Clearly, it's the light of Christ's revelation delivered to the world by the disciples.”

The Scripture passage clearly conveys that “we ourselves are not the light, but we are the reflectors, the mirrors of God’s light, never its source”.

“So, it’s the double dynamic of the light that comes from its source, from the Scripture, from God, but then it is our decision. It becomes our life, because it shines through us.”

Fr Wojciech said the role of Biblical ministry is to shine the light so that it centres on Christ, not on the messenger and so that ultimately it leads to an encounter.

Turning to the ‘From everywhere’ section of the Jubilee theme, Fr Wojciech said that at one level it refers to the fact that the SVD is the sixth biggest missionary congregation in the Church, with members representing 76 nationalities.

“So, clearly, on one level when we speak about being ‘From everywhere’ we’re talking about our SVD diversity. We’re talking about the sheer scope of nationalities that are included in our communities,” he said.

“And when we talk about ‘From everywhere’, yes, we are from everywhere, but are we from everywhere together? And if not, then the Scripture could and should and is capable of being that kind of gravity centre that makes ‘From everywhere’ coherent.”

Fr Wojciech said that Pope Francis, in his address to the SVD members attending the General Chapter, said that creative missionary activities are born of love for the Word of God.

“This insight, to me, perfectly encapsulates what the source and essence of an SVD identity should be, could be, ought to be, and that is, living relationship with the Word of God,” he said.

“And, so, I would postulate that if we want to make the love of God the core of our identity, the first thing must be an engagement with the Word of God beyond the prescribed daily readings, but rather, cultivated by the regular, systematic method of methodological scripture reading. It is this kind of encounter that actually leads to what I would call love.”

In speaking to the third section of the Jubilee theme, Fr Wojciech said that mission ‘for everyone’ clearly indicates the scope of Christian mission, and the title of the Divine Word Missionaries gives flesh to this mission.

“It’s a real grace that we have our mission defined in our very name,” he said.

“We realise that in dealing with the Word of God, the Bible, we are talking about the very heart of the Society of the Divine Word. The Biblical Apostolate forms an integral part of our heritage left to us by St Arnold (Janssen) and as Divine Word Missionaries we ought to make it a permanent trademark of our mission work.”

He said the General Chapter had urged each PRM (Province/Region/Mission) to develop a plan to implement the statement ‘Our name is our mission’ in a concrete, systematic, organised, sustainable and accountable way.

Fr Wojciech said the Chapter also recommended that the SVD’s Dei Verbum Biblical Pastoral Courses, usually held in Nemi, Italy, be developed and conducted in the various global zones and sub-zones under the guidance of zonal leadership in cooperation with the general Verbum coordinator.

He also suggested the SVD should consider having a full-time biblical coordinator in each PRM to strengthen the commitment to the biblical apostolate.

“Through unwavering dedication to the Biblical Apostolate, first of all, we affirm that our name truly is our mission, not a slogan, but we truly affirm that this is the case and then we respond to the hunger for the Word of God in the Church and in the world. And finally, we remain faithful to our SVD call and our SVD charism,” he said.

In responding, Fr Elmer thanked Fr Wojciech for his emphasis on the Word of God being at the heart of all SVD life and mission, enabling missionaries, from their diverse backgrounds, to come together in unity and share the light of Christ with everyone.

“I’ve always believed that everything we do – our mission, communication, and justice and peace and the integrity of creation, are always based on the Bible,” he said.

“And without the Bible as the foundation of our mission, then whatever we do becomes very problematic and even questionable as members of the Society of the Divine Word.”

He said that the SVD’s claim to be ‘From everywhere for everyone’ rests on the communion found in the Word of God.

“When we pride ourselves as a congregation consisting of members from 76 countries, we as a congregation must identify what binds us together and this is the love of the Word of God,” he said.

“That is why I think as Divine Word Missionaries, we must continually go back to the Word of God. We must continue reading it, preaching it, studying it, and most, importantly, living it in our own lives.

“It is a challenge to all of us SVDs and to our collaborators, to give utmost importance to the Biblical Apostolate … whether that be working with the poor, working with victims of injustice, or preserving the environment and all the other ministries that SVDs and their collaborators are involved in.”

The next Jubilee Online Presentation will be held in February 2025.