I am not the first or the last to fall in love with the nature of Central Australia. Coming here after three months from the Clinical Pastoral Education Course and one month for a holiday, Santa Teresa Parish is where I hope to stay for a long time.

I remember the first night I came, I had a good sleep because of the quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Furthermore, I had a feeling of being settled.

As he farewells Thailand and the AUS Province to take up work with refugees in the German Province, Br Bernd Ruffing SVD recalls his ministry in Thailand as being a journey of friendship and relationship with the people.

“I tried to be a brother to those who needed someone who’d walk with them for some time,” he says.

The SVD AUS Province and the Timor Leste Region are exploring new possibilities for collaboration in a range of areas, including mission and formation.

SVD AUS Provincial, Fr Henry Adler, visited Timor Leste recently to learn more about their country, their missionary activity and to discuss where some opportunities might exist for collaboration.

Br Maurice Taylor SVD has been remembered as an exemplary religious, a dedicated teacher and administrator, but also as a man of deep prayerfulness.

Br Maurice, whose health began to decline about four years ago, died in hospital in Sydney this month, at the age of 81, with his last words to a nurse at his retirement village being: “I am at peace.”

The SVD Marsfield community recently celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of their friend and Arnoldus family member, Sr Josapha Lergessner SSpS.

Sr Josapha, together with SSpS sisters and friends, joined the SVD Marsfield community for a special Mass and dinner to mark the milestone of 60 years since she took her first vows as a Holy Spirit Missionary Sister.

Father John has invited me to speak in honour of St. Arnold Janssen, the founder of three missionary religious congregations: the Divine Word Missionaries, the Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters, and the Holy Spirit Sisters of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration.

We simply speak of him as Father Arnold. His feast day was last Friday.

The SVD AUS Provincial Council recently undertook a workshop and reflection day on Professional Standards, to ensure the leadership team continues to be well versed in current policies, procedures and requirements in this important area.

The reflection day was facilitated by Dr Sharon McCallum, a consultant on ethics, complaints management and professional standards, who says the program focused on the Church’s response to allegations of harm to children or vulnerable people.

February was a month of great celebration in the SVD AUS Province, as two confreres celebrated significant anniversaries of their vows, with Fr Frank Gerry SVD notching up 65 years as a Divine Word Missionary and Fr Michael Hardie SVD marking his 25th jubilee.

Fr Frank, who now lives in retirement, celebrated his jubilee with family in Brisbane, while Fr Michael shared the milestone with confreres at Dorish Maru College in Melbourne, where he is Rector.

SVD communities around the AUS Province celebrated their heritage in January with the feast days of the Divine Word Missionaries founder, St Arnold Janssen, and the first SVD to be sent out on mission, St Joseph Freinademetz.

St Arnold’s feast day is celebrated on January 15, while St Joseph’s is on January 28. Each community celebrated the feast days in different ways, with the celebration of the Eucharist uniting all in prayer and thanksgiving.

The academic year is getting underway at the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College, in Melbourne, with five new young missionaries from Vietnam, Ghana and Mexico joining the multicultural student mix as they take up language and theological studies.

Dorish Maru College is home to students from various countries who have come to the AUS Province to complete their formation and education as Divine Word Missionaries.