The WORD Among us

Vision

Sharing God’s Word

Mission:

The Word Among Us shares God’s Word by publishing biblical articles and meditations and by preaching teaching, counseling and praying for all those in need.

How it all started:

One great charism of the Society of the Divine Word is the founding of mission magazines from time to time. St. Arnold’s The Little Messenger of the Sacred Heart that carried both mission-related and devotional articles pioneered the SVD involvement in the field of the print media. The Word Among Us is an effort in the line of the Little Messenger of the Sacred Heart and its intention is to spread Jesus’ message by sharing his gospel with others. Just as the name of the Society of the Divine Rod comes from the prologue of the Gospel of John, the name of the magazine too has its origin in the same famous hymn: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn.1:14). The magazine is an instrument of the spirit that manifests Jesus’ presence in and to the people of God. By this the church’s ongoing mission of proclaiming the gospel to the world is continuing. The Word Among Us is a dream comes true. If communications especially the print medium have an influences on shaping the value systems in christen families, the Word Among Us addresses this need. The magazine inspires us to follow the daily Mass readings and helps us reflect on life through prayer, scripture and the teachings of the Church. The articles are rich resources for our spiritual lives and a benefit to families. These resources assist us in understanding and meditating the scripture and support us with sound, practical advice at family and social level on the living out of the Christian life. The most heartening aspect of this ministry is the responses of its readers. Response from people of different walks of life also give us an idea of how the Indian public perceives the activities of the Divine Word Missionaries in India. The magazine has become a remarkable success already in the first two years of its publication. With over 11000 copies in circulation all over Indian and aboard, the society’s image as the vehicle of the Divine Word is imprinted and sealed in the hearts of the Indian people.

The magazine is published bimonthly. It has a print run of 12000 copies presently. There are about 10000 subscribers, and the balance of 2000 copies is for promotional work and re-mailing a second copy to those who have not received the first one. The circulation manager takes care of promotion and circulation. He travels to parishes in different parts of India to raise subscriptions.

The American version of the Word Among Us based in Maryland, USA is the parent of the Indian version. This organization has the right to the title of the magazine The Word Among us in America. The Society of the Divine Word in India has full ownership with the regard to the Indian version of the Word Among Us published by us. The American organization has a team of writers spread all over the USA in writing articles and daily meditations based on the Mass reading of the day. These articles and meditations are strictly Catholic in nature and are forwarded to India after ecclesiastical corrections by eminent theologians. Every issue is composed of three articles based on a special biblical theme chosen for the particular issue, mediations for two months, and four general articles. The four general articles are usually concerning the life of a saint, a family or personal faith sharing a church teaching or any other congregational story or experience depending on what the editor has in hand for publication. Fr. Mathew deserves the credit for getting the publishing rights for the Indian edition of the Word Among Us magazine. Although initially it was an individual initiative supported by the provincial administration of the SVD INC province, soon the status of the Word Among us was clarified at various forums of INC province.  The province has established a Registered Society, namely, the Word Among Us, Society to publish and manage the affairs of the magazine. The province has given a suitable palace in our publication house, Satprakashan for its offices. For future expansion of the ministry, land was requested by the Word Among Us team at Palda and it was granted in principle.

The Word Among Us is a pastoral ministry in the line of communicating the gospel. Therefore it has two dimensions; the magazine and the ministry. The magazine is chiefly addressed to the laity. This involves continuous promotion especially in the parishes and the supervision of its distribution through agents. Ministry involves organizing prayer groups at parish and proves levels responding to prayer requests from people and listening to their problems and conducting prayer services and bible conventions all adhering to the Mission statement of the Word among Us.

We have a number of agents at different parishes and shops to make the magazine available to people. It is posted from Satprakashan at Rs. 2 per copy in India and Rs 55 abroad. The reduced mailing charge in India is due to the licenses obtained from the Registrar of Newspaper for India. Magazines in bundles are sent to agents who sell the single copies and they are paid 20% commission per copy. The employees of Satprakashan look after packing and mailing of the magazine at a amount fixed by the provincial. The price of a single copy is Rs. 30 and annual subscription is Rs. 150 in India and 750 abroad. The Word Among Us pays a rental amount of Rs. 180000 per year for three confers to Ishkant Sadan Community wing of Satprakashan and packing charges of Rs 8000 per month to Satprakashan.

The Word Among Us offers an excellent opportunity for the SVD in India to reach out to the masses especially the English speaking Christians even in places where SVDs are not present. It is an international magazine. It needs to go inter-provincial for its development and popularity among people. It is not just a magazine, but a ministry undertaken and owned by the divine Word missionaries. The ministry needs to be developed not only in the line of publication of magazine but also in the line of organizing prayer groups at various parts of the country conducting bible conventions and retreats in order to answer the needs of the people. Since the magazine is in English its present set up in a Hindi speaking area where Catholics are so few makes its promotion and growth difficult. The Provincial assemblies and chapters of INC spent several hours to discuss these suggestions and arrived at some conclusions and it should be respected while taking any fresh course of action for The Word Among Us.

Miles Stones:

06/07/2000      Fr. Mathew Chennakudy SVD proposes the magazine, ‘The Word Among Us’ to Fr. Provincial Chacko TJ SVD and he gives green signal to go ahead.

30/11/2001      A new bi-monthly periodical magazine, The Word Among Us is launched by the Province. Fr. Mathew Chennakudy SVD is appointed as the editor. He has also raised the initial resources required for its production.

02/01/2002      Auxiliary Bishop Bosco Penha recommends this magazine to the people of Mumbai.

04/02/2003      Quotation is received for Rajpal Toyota Qualis from the company for the vehicle to The Word Among Us.

05/10/2005      Fr. Provincial Durairaj SVD writes to the Director the Word Among Us with regard to every province having a confrere who will regularly promote the Word Among Us in one’s own province and inter-province venture.

05/10/2005      Fr. Mathew Chennakudy SVD proposes Fr. Sursingh Bandor SVD from INM province for the coordinator of Hindi edition of The Word Among Us after meeting him personally.

21/10/2005      Fr. Mathew Chennakudy SVD writes to the provincial Fr. Duriaraj SVD the proposal to establish a separate institution in itself by a tea of confreres exclusively engaged in its publication and promotion.

22/04/2006      Fr. Cherien Nereveettil from Kochi HMT Colony writes to Fr. Mathew Chennakudy SVD regarding Jesus Youth’s participation and support for the promotion of the Word Among Us.

28/04/2006      Fr. Provincial Durairaj SVD writes to the Director, Satprakashan regarding the Word among Us as an autonomous entity at Satprakashan as the resolution No.7 of the Provincial Chapter 2006.

16/01/2006      At the request of the INC Provincial Chapter 2003, Fr. Durairaj SVD, SVD, Fr. Varghese Nediakalayil SVD and Fr. Anbu Pushpa SVD visited the dioceses of Jhansi, had meetings with Bp. Fredrick D’Souza SJ for the possibility of opening a centre.

12/07/2006      Installation of the new team for the Word Among Us. Eucharist celebration presided over by Bp. George Anathil SVD and homilist was Fr. Durairaj SVD, the Provincial.

25/02/2007      Archbishop of Goa writes to Fr. Mathew Chennakudy SVD informing that he cannot give an official recommendation to the publicity of the magazine in the archdiocese since Daily Flash is chiefly meant of the building up of the local church in our archdiocese.

12/04/2007      The director writes to Archbishop of Goa for the permission of distribution at Goa

26/06/2009      The director writes to the Provincial Fr. Nicholas Martis SVD regarding an independent Community of the Word Among Us

12/10/2010      Bible Convention in Indore. It was directed and guided by Fr. Anil Dev IMS and his team from Varanasi at St. Paul Higher Secondary School, Indore. After a lot of anxious moments and uncertainty as to whether the Bible Mahotsav will go through due to the impending Ayodhya verdict and the imposition of Rule 144, the convention began a day late as the Rule 144 was lifted on the midnight of Oct.1. There was a sigh of relief and rejoicing among the organizers as the convention began with a simple inaugural function through the Celebration of the Word of God. Fr. Anil Dev IMS and his team from Varanasi preached the charismatic retreat cum healing ministry.

13/03/2011      Provincial INM, Stanislaus writes to Fr. Mathew Chennakudy SVD regarding future and implications of the proposals in not making as it interprovincial venture.

15/09/2011      Fr. Mathew Chennakudy SVD is transferred to INM Province by the Most Rev. Fr. Superior General, Antonio Pernia SVD

2012                Shifted to Satprachar Press premies.