Dear Friends,
As you receive this edition of our ‘In the Word’ e-news, members of the SVD Australia Province are gathering together in Melbourne for a Provincial Assembly and the celebration of the closing of the 150th Jubilee Year of the Society of the Divine Word.
This coincides with the recent announcement that Fr Boni Buahendri SVD has been appointed as the next Provincial from January next year. All of these threads coming together at the same time are powerful reminders that mission is never stagnant. It is, guided by the Holy Spirit, always on the move.
About 70 members of the Province, from many different countries and cultures, have gathered here in Melbourne for the Assembly, where we will report on our ministries, discuss our missionary priorities, and outline a vision and mission for the next three-year period.
Fr Boni will have an opportunity to share his vision as the incoming Provincial as well as listen to the needs and concerns of the confreres. We will all have the chance to congratulate him on his appointment, pray for him as a Province, and wish him well in his new role.
A Provincial Assembly is, at its essence, a profoundly synodal gathering. It is about sharing our experiences as missionaries in the Province and deeply listening to one another as we honour that sharing.
Out of that deep listening, we can together start discerning paths forward, always open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Following the Assembly the SVD will co-host with the Australian Association for Mission Studies 'Missio Dei', an ecumenical mission symposium, which will conclude with the Closing Mass for the SVD’s 150th Jubilee Year.
Despite all the challenges surrounding us as we seek to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world today, I can’t help thinking that our founder, St Arnold Janssen, would be pleased if he could attend our Assembly this week.
We might not have everything exactly right or perfect, but when we come together like this and truly hear one another’s story it’s hard not to be encouraged by the missionary spirit and endeavour of SVD members in the Province, whether their ministry be in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand or Myanmar.
With my term as Provincial now in its final few months, I give thanks for all the faith, hope, love, tenacity and courage I’ve witnessed among the confreres as I’ve travelled around their ministries.
May God bless our Assembly abundantly. And in the words of St Arnold Janssen, “May the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all”.
Fr Asaeli Rass SVD,
Provincial.