As I write this message, we are about to head into Advent and a new Church year. It’s always a good to time to slow down, reflect, look back on the year that’s been and look ahead to what is to come.

In Advent, we look ahead to the incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to his second coming. We recount the great story of Salvation History and God’s relationship with humanity, which reached its fulfilment when God became human in the form of the Christ child.

And it’s not just a recounting of the story. Rather, we are invited to really enter into the reality of the story. To place ourselves within it, and to be a part of it. If we do that, Advent can be life-changing.

As Christians, we are called to both remember and to constantly look forwards. We are a pilgrim people with a past, a present and a future.

This Advent, as we start the new Church year, and I look back over the past year and see where the Holy Spirit has been moving in our lives and in our mission here in the SVD AUS Province, three things come to mind.

They are: the preparations for our 2018 Provincial Chapter; our commitment over the last year to begin a new mission in Myanmar; and also the recent visit of our Superior General, Fr Heinz Kuluke.

The preparation for the Chapter has much in common with the season of Advent. It has been a time of prayer and also a time of waiting and getting ready. Each of the Districts within the Province has been holding their District Chapters. From this period of prayer and discernment, we are asking the Holy Spirit to guide us as we plan our priorities for the Province going forward.

The Myanmar mission, which was the result of an invitation by Cardinal Charles Bo for us to take up a Biblical Apostolate there, was also the fruit of prayer and discernment. As the year ends, we have begun preparations for our team of missionaries to take up their work there in the first half of next year. It’s becoming a reality and we are excited about the possibilities it will bring.

The visit of Fr Heinz was another Spirit-filled time. He came to spend time with the confreres and to encourage us in our mission in the AUS Province. He also came to thank our partners in mission, all who support us in so many different ways. And he came to simply be with the people we serve, whether that be in parishes, in Aboriginal communities or other settings. His visit grounded us in our history and identity, encouraged us in our present work, and inspired us to keep being attentive to where the Holy Spirit is calling us to be, namely with the poor and marginalised.

As I look back over the year I also see the Spirit at work in our growing commitment to ethnic chaplaincy, in our work in formation of new missionaries, in our love and care of multicultural and indigenous parishes and in our support of mission work in other countries.

This Advent, as we pray, reflect, and await the arrival of the Christ child at Christmas, I’ll be thanking God for all that has been and placing the year ahead in God’s hands.

May God bless your Advent.

Yours in the Word,
Fr Henry Adler SVD
Provincial