The Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters are celebrating 75 years of their presence in Brisbane this year, though the planned celebrations on the anniversary day, March 28, had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.T

Eighteen Holy Spirit Sisters, who were survivors of the Japanese prison camps and death ships in Papua New Guinea during World War II, arrived in Brisbane in May 1944, joining five others who had come earlier, after trekking for months across the mountains and valleys of PNG. Fifty-four of their Sisters had died tragically during the War.

We think of Pentecost as that special time when the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples in the upper room (Acts 2:1-13). Even though all the disciples were Galileans, they began to speak in many different languages which were, nonetheless, understood by the many people present. This came to be known as “speaking in tongues”. The Holy Spirit is indeed a Spirit of both diversity and unity, writes Fr Michael Knight SVD.

This is a very different outcome to a certain situation portrayed in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 11:1-9, in which people who speak the same language come together to build a tower (The Tower of Babel) that will supposedly reach heaven itself and make the people to be like gods.. To counter this sin of ego driven pride, God causes many languages to arise amongst those constructing the Tower and the result is that the whole project comes to an abrupt halt in complete and utter confusion.

Divine Word Missionary students and academics might have had their face-to-face lectures cancelled and all lessons moved online, but they are not letting the COVID-19 crisis dim their missionary zeal.

In fact, the students say that the coronavirus restrictions have forced them to adapt to changing circumstances and continue to reach out to people online, in person and in prayer, all of which are necessary attributes for a life of mission in the modern world.

The commitment of the Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province to building a culture of well-being and safety continues on a range of fronts, including an appraisal process for confreres.

The Provincial Council has asked 33 SVD members to initiate an appraisal process for themselves this year. Such a process was a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, and is also aimed at ensuring the well-being of missionaries in their ministry.

It was an emotional moment for Fr Prakash Menezes SVD when, after weeks of celebrating Mass in front of a phone camera at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart church in Alice Springs, he was finally able to look out and see his parishioners again.

The Northern Territory government relaxed its COVID-19 restrictions on Friday, May 15, and that very same day Fr Prakash celebrated Mass for the people.

If the coronavirus and the enforced social isolation that has come with it has taught us anything, it is that we are social creatures who crave connection.

When we were asked to stay at home it wasn’t shopping or consumption that we missed the most, rather it was visiting our family, hugging our parents, attending our niece’s first birthday party, hanging out with our workmates or enjoying a dinner with friends at a restaurant.

Happy Easter to you! We are still mid-way through the Easter season and there’s no doubt that we really needed Easter this year.

With lay people observing the sacred liturgies from their lounge rooms, instead of in churches, and longing to once again partake in the Eucharist, while priests celebrated private Masses streamed online, we were ready to be reminded again of the tomb-busting power of the resurrection in our lives and in the whole world.

How does one be missionary in a pandemic, when we are being urged to stay home and not go out? It is a question that SVDs in the AUS Province have been asking and they’ve come up with some creative responses.

Firstly of course, the Divine Word Missionary priests have, like most other parish priests, been livestreaming their private Mass on social media, and they have also been ensuring community ties remain strong through various initiatives.

As faith communities raced to adopt technology more than ever to provide pastoral outreach during the coronavirus pandemic, Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD was exploring the underpinnings of such activity in an international roundtable on religion and social communication in Thailand.

The 11^th International Roundtable of the Asian Research Centre for Religion and Social Communication (ARC) was held last month at St Louis College in Bangkok.

Fr Larry Nemer SVD says he can’t remember ever not wanting to be a priest, and as he celebrates his 60^th jubilee of priesthood, he says he gives thanks for a lifetime of priestly ministry doing what he loves – teaching.

Fr Larry, who now lives in retirement at the SVD Marsfield community, celebrated his jubilee this month with confreres.