Divine Word Missionaries

SVD Brothers

SVD Brothers

ASPAC Brothers Assembly 2011

See Also:
Bro. Alfonso J. Berger, svd.
▪ SVD Brothers’ Role in Today’s Church
▪ Fostering Fraternity in the Mission

he theme of the SVD Brothers Assembly was “SVD Brothers’ Role in Today’s Church”, held at Arnold Bhavan, Hyderabad, India from 23-26 August, 2011. The assembly was attended by 22 participants of the ASPAC Zone, Fr. William Burt (ASPAC Coordinator) and Br. Alfonso Berger (Generalate representative).

The following are the results of the assembly

1. Our role in the Church today is unique. We preach the Word of God mainly through countless acts of religious and professional services.
2. As religious missionaries, our work and prayer dimensions must be a source of ‘life-giving’ energy to self and others.
3. We serve the people of God through various charisms in the light of the Word as true prophets.
4. We, Brothers, need to involve more in eradicating injustice, corruption, and ignorance in the society at large.
5. We treasure our own vocation as ‘Religious Brothers’ and continue promoting Brothers’ vocation.

Recommendations:

1. We recommend rescheduling the frequency of the ASPAC Brothers Zonal Assembly for every five years, due to the following reasons:
   1. Financial constraints of the Society
   2. Giving more time for the implementation of the previous zonal assembly recommendations
2. We recommend to include the Zonal area Coordinator for Education-Formation, National Education Secretary of Formation from India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. We continue to support the participation of a representative from the Generalate in the ASPAC Brothers Assembly
3. We recommend that the on-going formation for higher studies (M.A. and/or Ph.D.), in line with the priorities of the province, be given to the Brothers for better performance in their given responsibilities.
4. We recommend periodical upgrading of skills and knowledge (seminars, short courses, etc.) for Brothers who have been at least five years in the field.
5. For brother vocation promotion, we recommend:
   1. committing ourselves to write life stories or articles for SVD Brothers Newsletter;
   2. use of materials given in the SVD Brothers Newsletter;
   3. sharing of other available materials with inter provincial vocation promoters.
   4. regularly do vocation promotion in schools and relevant institutions
6. We highly recommend training for brother formators; and exchange of brother formators within ASPAC zone wherever possible.
7. We recommend the evaluation of the implementation of the above-mentioned recommendations in two to three years by National Formation Coordinator