It is coming close to  a year since the spiritual needs of the Slovak Community have been entrusted to fr. Henry Adler, SVD. He was nominated into this position by his Provincial of the Divine Word Missionaries fr. Timothy Norton.

Father Henry fits the Community in the style of our previous spiritual leaders frs. Emil Cerna, SVD and Viktor Stevko, SVD  his brother missionaries  by spreading the teachings of our Lord and above all with his humanitarian attitude whilst overcoming expected as well as unexpected obstacles in his work. He is the first one in to open wide the doors of our Slovak Catholic church, greeting everyone with open arms. His Sunday service is a spiritual experience, which was also appreciated by a visitor from Slovakia who upon return overseas sent him a vestment as a gift.  (see photo).

His Slovak religious language is very good. And why should it not be? Father Henry Fr. Henry was born in Poland and speaks the polish language, thus his ability to accommodate the Slovak language in the liturgy.
His fluency of languages is admiring. His unpretentious personality is on the outside  not disclosing much, but he is flexible and unburdened by conservative ways of interpretation of Lords teachings .In his hands during homily are often seen visual  electronic devices, or presently he is using a projection of prayers and images connected with the theme he is preaching about.

The result is a good response from the young believers. Children adore him though during the homily he often turns to them with questions, his way of keeping them mentally present on the given topic. Result of this is visible mostly during their service at the altar when their pious respect is obvious to all present.

Finally, and most important, Father Henry is a member of our Community. The manifestation of this is that when the mass is over he is not  leaving. He stays with us – his congregation – in our centre, and talks to people. Numerous visitors from Slovakia admire this  “phenomenon” as it is not “in” in their country.

Through the week Fr Henry works on articles for our website in spiritual preparation for the next Sunday mass. He is always present at most community activities. If necessary he also knows how to pull a rope (see photo).

Apart from all mentioned, father Henry also deputises his provincial fr. Timothy Norton. It is a position full of responsibilities and duties across Australia, sometimes even extended to Indonesia and the Philippines.

Father Henry will be from end of June on extended leave  in Europe . We wish him a very good holiday overseas which may include our homeland Slovakia. Visit of his brothers of the Divine World Missionaries in Nitra coincides with a magnificent celebration of 1150 years since the arrival of Sts. Cyril and Methodius.