In many Catholic houses, you will see a picture of the “Last Supper” and with it hopefully the names of the twelve apostles of Jesus.
Pentecost is a Feast of Hope. The conviction that God’s Resurrected Love is alive in this world, reflects Fr Nick de Groot SVD.
There is also the experience of the hunger by the people on the margins, not so much for doctrine and teachings, but for presence and dignity and walking together in this love of the Spirit.
Divine Word Missionaries played an active role in the ‘Mission: one heart, many voices’ conference, held in Sydney this month, offering presentations and reflections as part of three days of exploring the themes of truth-telling, reconciliation and synodality.
Bishop Tim Norton SVD, who was a keynote speaker at the conference which was presented by Catholic Mission and Catholic Religious Australia, invited those present to not only seek truth-telling at a national level, or in the Church, but also to look for truth-tellers in their own lives.
Many years ago I visited the parish of Santa Teresa, about an hour’s drive from Alice Springs. Travelling with me was a young man, Alexi, from Vanuatu who at that time had begun training to become a Divine Word Missionary. Alexi had a fantastic head of hair, a wonderful, very distinctive Afro.
We start the liturgy of the Easter Vigil with what is typically called Lucernarium, the service of light. The Pachal candle is lighted and brought, in the procession, to the centre of the church or of the chapel- signifying that Jesus Christ is the true light for the world. The Exsultet sings of the Paschal candle, praying that it "may persevere undimmed to overcome the darkness of this night".
The symbol of light is a significant element in all the liturgical celebrations of the Church. A symbol that is filled with many associations and meanings. I want to share with you three of them on this momentous and hopeful occasion of Easter, reflects SVD Superior-General Fr Budi Kleden.
Fr Elmer Ibarra SVD travelled to Argentina this month to attend the 10th plenary assembly of the Catholic Biblical Federation, an experience he says which reaffirmed and gave fresh energy to his commitment to proclaiming the Word of God in a fragile world.
Fr Elmer, who is Rector of the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College, in Melbourne, attended the assembly in his capacity as coordinator of the Bible apostolate for the SVD Australia Province.
The story of the Lord's appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is probably one of the best developed and deeply insightful of the appearance stories in the Gospels.
“Peace be with you.” This was the greeting of Jesus to his apostles on his first appearance after he rose from the dead. After that, his disciples were first astonished at seeing him, then he greeted them again, “Peace be with you”.
The Provincial Chapter was a positive, hopeful time of deliberation on the future priorities of the SVD Australia Province, with a focus on personal and communal renewal for mission, says Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass SVD.
The outcomes included a reaffirmation of the priority given to ministry in indigenous communities, as well as a renewed commitment to multicultural parish ministry and interfaith dialogue.
Many years ago, I was watching a TV show about newly wedded husband and wives. It was a fun show about how well do you know your partner. They would have questions like, “What’s your favourite ice cream flavour?” “What’s your favourite footy team?” “What’s your kind of food that you like your wife to cook for you?” Sometimes, both partners would get the answer correct and sometimes they would get it awfully wrong and that’s the fun part.