As we begin the season of Advent we enter into a time of prayer, reflection, waiting and preparing for the arrival of Jesus at Christmas.

At the same time, people in the United States have celebrated Thanksgiving this week. In our part of the world, Thanksgiving is not such a prevalent holiday, but it can prompt us to realise that we have much for which to give thanks, especially in the month of November when we remember in prayer those who have gone before us.

The SVD AUS Province marked All Soul’s Day this month by holding a special Remembrance Ritual for all confreres who lost loved ones during the pandemic and were not able to say goodbye in person.

In the ‘Pause to Remember’ ritual, Provincial Fr Asaeli Rass SVD invited some confreres from different countries to share their experience of loss during the period when people could not return home due to border closures.