"'To live life to the full' - that has been my motto and is my driving force in continuously responding to God’s calling to me as a religious missionary priest of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD)."

As we celebrate Vocations Awareness Month, the Province's new Vocations Director, Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD shares with us his personal journey, from childhood illness to a nursing career and now life as a missionary priest.

Some people ask me, “Why are you a religious?”

“Well, God called me to religious life,” I answer.

“That’s it?” They ask further.

“Yup, that’s it,” I tell them.

Bible Sunday was celebrated in spectacular fashion at the St Arnold Janssen Chapel at Marsfield, in Sydney, with a multicultural dramatic presentation of some of the key scenes from John’s Gospel.

Entitled ‘You are the Messiah’, the script for the drama was prepared by a parishioner, Tim Lee and Fr Michael Quang Nguyen SVD, taking their inspiration from episodes in passages from John 1-4.

Vietnamese and parish communities in Sydney and Brisbane have reached out with compassion, by raising funds to help those who lost young family members in a tragic bus accident while en route to an SVD youth camp in Thailand.

Last month, In the Word reported that 13 young Vietnamese people had been killed on their way to a camp to be held at the SVD parish of Nong Bua Lamphu (NBL) in northern Thailand.

It’s a long way from Chicago to the dry red dust of Central Australia, but for SVD student Paul Aquino, the experience has opened up a whole new world to him and helped prepare him for his life as a Divine Word Missionary.

Paul is originally from the Philippines and is undergoing his SVD formation in Chicago. He came to the AUS Province  as part of the Overseas Training Program, a placement he has just completed.

The SVD commitment to walking with the poor and the marginalised is lived out in Australian suburbia, as well as overseas missions, and Fr Sunil Nagothu SVD and Fr Adrian Jenani SVD are enjoying both the joys and challenges of parish life in the Logan area of southern Brisbane.

Fr Sunil was appointed Parish Priest of St Maximilian Kolbe Parish, Kingston/Marsden, one year ago. 

The release of Pope Francis’ Message for World Mission Day marks the countdown to this world-wide celebration, set down for October 19.

In his message, the Holy Father reminds us that: “All the members of the Church are called to participate in this mission, for the Church is missionary by her very nature: she was ‘born to go forth’.”

When Fr Ennio Mantovani SVD set out from Europe as a young missionary priest in 1962 he planned to bring the light of the Gospel to the people of Papua New Guinea. When he arrived, he found the light was already there, in the people and the culture.

Now, over 50 years later, he has launched a new book in which he says his life as a missionary has taught him that God is present among all people, everywhere, loving them as he loves each and every person.

A joyful welcome to Fr Pham Dinh Tuan SVD who was installed as the new pastor of St Michael’s Church in Nong Bua Lamphu in northern Thailand recently, was soon overshadowed by the tragic news that 13 young Vietnamese people had been killed on their way to a camp to be held in the parish.

Fr Tuan was installed as parish priest at a Mass at St Michael's, followed by the traditional tying of strings around his wrists by parishioners as a goodwill gesture. 

After living with the Divine Word Missionaries in Sydney and Melbourne as a postulant, Steve Desveaux is packing his bags to undertake the next step of his vocational journey in the United States, a situation he describes as literally a dream come true.

Steve will undertake the novitiate program in Techny, Chicago, and says he is really looking forward to the challenge.