As we are coming closer to celebrate the birthday of Jesus we may have many past fond memories of Christmas in our lives. As we know it is a time of remembering friends and celebrating the season with gifts and good food. I wish to share with you one of the many occasions in my missionary life where I experienced extra joy at Christmas.

It was when I celebrated Christmas with prisoners for the first time. It was in 2006. After visiting the prisoners for more than 10 years I thought I should do something special for Christmas for the locked up friends of mine.

The SVD Lay Partners group at Marsfield recently took part in an international meeting of Lay Partners via Zoom, where they continued to deepen their formation and grow in understanding of their mission in the Arnoldus Family.

AUS Province Mission Secretary, Fr Viet Nguyen SVD says the meeting, hosted by the SVD Generalate in Rome included Lay Partners from SVD provinces in Asia and the Pacific.

A doctoral thesis by Fr Thien Nguyen SVD, which researched conversion from Christianity to Buddhism in Australia, found that such conversion was a complex and long process based more on dissatisfaction with the person’s Christian tradition rather than proselytisation.

Fr Thien, who graduated from Monash University with his PhD this month, says he hopes his research will help Church leaders to change their pastoral approach in caring for the faithful and encourage all believers to engage in dialogue across faiths.

As I write this message, Sydney has been placed into another ‘COVID lockdown’. The timing, just days out from Christmas has been a blow for many as interstate family Christmas celebrations have to be cancelled and many people face the prospect of celebrating alone.

Despite these challenges, it is my humble prayer that the celebration of Christmas lifts our hearts above present trials and difficulties as we recall the angelic proclamation: “To you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, who is Christ, the Lord.”

The AIDS Education Program run by the SVD’s Mother of Perpetual Help Centre in Thailand has expanded to include not only school students and teachers, but now parents and care-takers as well.

The program, based in Nong Bua Lamphu, in northeast Thailand, started 18 years ago with youth in schools and later included the training of teachers and other interested government personnel with the aim of giving AIDS awareness education to villagers and groups.

It was a joyful occasion for the Divine Word Missionaries last Saturday when three young men were ordained to the priesthood.

Adrianus Yohanes (John) Mai SVD, Clement Baffoe SVD, and Yosef Meda SVD were ordained in Melbourne by Auxiliary Bishop Terrence Curtin in front of a small congregation, thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, but an international audience, thanks to the event being live-streamed back home to their families.

Vietnamese SVD student Joseph Hoang Quoc Phan set off for Papua New Guinea as part of the Overseas Training Program wishing to gain experience “in a real mission area”, and, thanks to COVID-19 border restrictions, he got even more mission experience than he bargained for.

Joseph’s OTP training has reached its conclusion, but has been extended because of the pandemic-related international travel restrictions.

Here we are in Advent, the beginning of the new liturgical year, and oh boy, are we ready for a fresh start.

After a year which began with bushfires in Australia, then floods and of course the unexpected arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are weary and are looking to turn the page. Advent is the perfect season to slow down and re-set.

As we move toward the Australia Province Chapter in 2021, we reflect more deeply on our mission and spirituality. 

The Australia Province is set in many regions and its ministries have many characteristics, but there is one spirit of mission and at its heart is the Trinity.

The Divine Word Missionaries AUS Province recently joined the anti-nuclear fight by signing up to ICAN, the international body campaigning for the prohibition of nuclear weapons.

The move came as the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons reached the required 50 states parties for its entry into force, after Honduras ratified just one day after Jamaica and Nauru submitted their ratifications.