If there’s one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us it is how deeply the globe is interconnected.

This interdependence is something I’ve been pondering on as Christians across the world prepare to join together over the next month to celebrate the Season of Creation.

Pope Francis’ visit to Thailand was a great opportunity for the Church in Thailand to invigorate its faith and to fire up the missionary dimension as the people celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Siam Mission, an SVD priest assigned to the country says.

Fr Truong Thong Le SVD was one of 11 Divine Word Missionaries from the AUS Province currently working in Thailand or Myanmar who took part in the events surrounding the Papal visit. They were also joined by an SVD priest from the Vietnam Province.

As we head into the Advent season of preparation and reflection, Pope Francis’ recent trips to Thailand and Japan illustrate for us yet again, one of the key messages of his papacy – we must be a Church that goes out to the margins.

Both Japan and Thailand are countries with only a tiny percentage of Christians, but Pope Francis travelled all the way from Rome to encourage and support them, as well as to meet with the leaders and people of other faiths.

The growth of the SVD lay partners groups around the world continues to bring fresh energy to the Society of the Divine Word, and one initiative they have undertaken is to promote an international ‘Prayer Bridge’ to mark the World Day of the Poor.

The worldwide prayer initiative was an idea conceived by the lay partners of the SVD in Germany and embraced by lay partners and SVD members in a range of countries and this year it will take place on Sunday, November 17.

The young people of St Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Marsden, Queensland, recently brought Pope Francis’ plea for ecological conversion to life when they hit the streets with garbage bags in hand, for Clean Up Australia Day.

“It was Laudato Si’ in action,” says Parish Priest, Fr Sunil Nagothu SVD, of the Pope’s encyclical on ‘Caring for our Common Home’.

Fr Joseph Reddy SVD was so moved by his pilgrimage to World Youth Day in Panama that he was inspired to capture his experience in poetry and we are proud to feature Fr Joseph's poem in this edition 'In the Word'.

Fr Joseph's pilgrim group from the Diocese of Wollongong, spent time in Peru before arriving in Panama for the World Youth Day event with Pope Francis and young people from across the world, all exploring the theme of Mary's big 'Yes' to God when she said, “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)

“Be it done to me according to your word.”

This wonderful fiat, this powerful ‘yes’ to God from the Blessed Virgin Mary was the theme explored by the young people of the world at World Youth Day in Panama in recent days and it reminds me that each of us has to continually make our own ‘yes’ if mission is to thrive in our world today.

Dear young people, I would like to reflect with you on the mission that we have received from Christ. In speaking to you, I also address all Christians who live out in the Church the adventure of their life as children of God. What leads me to speak to everyone through this conversation with you is the certainty that the Christian faith remains ever young when it is open to the mission that Christ entrusts to us. “Mission revitalizes faith” (Redemptoris Missio, 2), in the words of Saint John Paul II, a Pope who showed such great love and concern for young people.

The Synod to be held in Rome this coming October, the month of the missions, offers us an opportunity to understand more fully, in the light of faith, what the Lord Jesus wants to say to you young people, and, through you, to all Christian communities.

The month of October is always a big one for the SVD community as we take part in the worldwide celebration of World Mission Sunday and all the surrounding events.

This year, Pope Francis addressed his message for World Mission Day to young people, saying he would like to reflect with them “on the mission that we have received from Christ”.

The SVD AUS Province is gearing up to celebrate World Mission Sunday this weekend, on October 21, and invites everyone to join in the celebrations.The SVD AUS Province is gearing up to celebrate World Mission Sunday this weekend, on October 21, and invites everyone to join in the celebrations.

Mission Secretary, Fr Truc Quoc Phan SVD, has prepared a special liturgy outline for parishes or church groups to use to mark this special day on the Church’s international calendar and it is downloadable from the Province’s website.