As we prepare to celebrate the great feast of Christmas – the Nativity of our Lord, Jesus Christ - let us do so with gratitude in our heart for all that the Incarnation brings us.

When I celebrated the 20^th anniversary of my priestly ordination this month, I was struck by the Advent focus on the coming of Emmanuel, ‘God with us’.

A recent conference hosted by the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania, called ‘Our Ocean Home’ was an example of synodality in action, according to SVD Provincial, Fr Asaeli Rass.

The online public event, hosted by Australian Catholic University (ACU) and supported by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, brought together the Bishops of Oceania with experts from the region for a synodal conference towards the General Assembly of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania (FCBCO) in February 2023.

Working in a large, multicultural parish in the Wellington Archdiocese, New Zealand, has both challenges and joys, but for Fr John Quang SVD, it’s one of the best assignments he’s ever had.

“I love it in New Zealand. I’m really happy here,” he says.

Students from the SVD formation house, Dorish Maru College, have closed their text-books for another academic year and are heading off to local parishes to gain first-hand pastoral and intercultural experience.

Seven newly arrived students who have been undertaking their English-language courses or their first year of Theology studies at Yarra Theological Union will participate in the SVD Students Summer Acculturation Program.

The Divine Word Missionaries joyfully celebrated the Ordination to the Priesthood of Tin Minh Trinh SVD this month – and for the first time, the ordaining prelate was Bishop Tim Norton SVD, Auxiliary Bishop of Brisbane.

The Ordination took place at St Christopher’s Parish, Syndal in Melbourne, where Tin has been serving as Deacon and featured contributions from the local Vietnamese community, in tribute to Tin’s home country.

After a long Victorian lockdown and months of uncertainty, on the 28^th of November, 2020, I was ordained a priest in Melbourne, writes Fr Clement Baffoe SVD. This week, on the 28^th of November, I have been ordained for two years. One month after my ordination, I was assigned to the Townsville Diocese. In fact, I was one of three confreres to be assigned to this new SVD mission in far North Queensland.

How then would I describe my two years as a priest? First and foremost, I must say it has been a time of grace, God’s goodness, mercy and great learning. From celebrating the normal weekday Masses, hearing confessions, visiting our schools to share quality time with our teachers and pupils whether in school Masses, liturgies or assemblies, visiting patients at the Townsville University Hospital, our two nursing homes, to celebrating baptisms, weddings and funerals, etc, it’s been a time of encountering God, myself and those to whom I minister.

The Janssen Spirituality Centre in Boronia, Victoria, is looking forward to sunny days ahead, for both visitors and residents, following the installation of solar panels on its roof.

The installation of the panels means that now all three of the larger SVD houses – at the Provincial Centre in Marsfield, Dorish Maru College in Melbourne and now the Janssen Centre – are largely producing their own electricity and requiring less fossil-fuel generated power.

As we head into the hectic time of year leading up to Christmas, the Church calendar gives us an opportunity to step back from all the busyness and take some time for prayer, reflection, and outreach.

Advent is a beautiful season of preparation for the great feast of the Nativity of our Lord and it is the perfect antidote to all the seasonal rushing, spending and partying.

In every age, discipleship has always been about adopting and living out a lifestyle that imitated Jesus and went against the cultural currents of the society, writes Fr Anthony Le Duc SVD.

While disciples are not removed from the social and cultural elements that make up the fabric of the society in which they live and work, they are expected to exhibit in words and deeds characteristics that can identify them as serving God’s kingdom – proclaiming the good news, calling people to repentance, working to promote values of harmony and justice, and making an option for the poor. These are the constants in the life of the disciples of Jesus and serve to determine their mission and vocation.

The SVD Mission Day, hosted by Dorish Maru College and Yarra Theological Union/University of Divinity, made a welcome return this month, following a two-year COVID hiatus, with speakers exploring the topic, ‘For a Missionary Church in a Wounded World’.

Keynote speaker at the Mission Day event was Fr Asaeli Rass SVD, Provincial. The Respondent was Sr Anne Jordan PBVM, of Cana Communities. The formal program was followed by Mass and a shared multicultural meal.