An important aspect of religous life is the celebration of milestones such as the Golden Jubilee of religous profession. This is a time of remembering and rejoicing and renewing the commitment that has been such an important part of the life of the Sister and of the Congregation.
REFLECTION on GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATION.( 6th January, 1958– 6th January, 2008 )
26 Golden Jubilarians CelebrateThere was great rejoicing at Mary MacKillop Chapel, Mount Street, North Sydney as 26 Sisters of St Joseph gathered with families and friends on the 6th January to celebrate their 50 years of religious profession.
Mary MacKillop Chapel rang out with the traditional Josephite Hymn, ‘Josephite Holy’ as the Jubilarians processed into their celebration Eucharist on the Feast of the Epiphany. Cardinal Pell presided at the Eucharist and he was assisted by Bishops Jeremiah Coffey (Sale Diocese) and Bernard O’Grady (Solomon Islands) and a number of priests who were colleagues and friends of the Sisters.
The three Jubilarians who were unable to be present due to ill health were represented by three candles which were placed on the altar at the end of the procession. The five members of the group who had died were also remembered by a special candle which bore their names. Each Jubilarian had a candle which bore the words of Mary MacKillop which were the theme of the celebration ‘Gratitude is the memory of the heart.’
The readings were those of the Feast of the
The celebration had been preceded by a week of reflection and sharing and much laughter and storytelling as the Jubilarians gathered at Mary MacKillop Place where they had begun their novitiate in 1956 and made their life vows in 1964.
Singing had always been a great part of the journey and song was as strong means of remembering and thanking God both in private sessions and the Jubilee Eucharist itself.
This was the first group to move to the ‘new’ novitiate at Baulkham Hills in the middle of 1956 and had made their first profession there in 1958. To recall that part of the journey the group went to Baulkham Hills and had a wonderful day recalling the joys and struggles of setting up a new place and physically planting the trees and making grottos and fences etc. In the Chapel of the Spirituality Centre there, they celebrated Eucharist where, with each other and with others who had been part of their journey, they shared reflections on their changing experiences of religious life.
Sr Katrina Brill the Congregational Leader, spoke of the Jubilarian’s journey in term of a love story and also reflected on the vows in contemporary language (full text).
The group then gathered around the altar to renew their vows.
father Paul McCabe from Moree, in his homily (full text), challenged al
Sisters Therese Conroy and Mary Cooney brought the gits to the Altar on behalf of the Jubilarians
The journey of the Magi and the significance of their gifts was related to the Jubilarians’ journey and their experience in this time together by Sr Giovanni Farquer in the communion reflection. (full text) Cardinal Pell expressed appreciation to the Jubilarians on behalf of the Church and people they had served. This group reflected the present reality of the Josephites and contained Sisters working in Peru and Ireland as well as throughout Australia in many diverse ministries.
Six Irish sisters of this group had first come to Australia in 1954. Kathleen Murphy was unable to attend from Ireland due to ill health. Mary Cooney (NSW) Betty Keane(WA) Anne Hanrahan (Qld) Elizabeth McGoldrick (Ireland) Clare Keating (NSW) were all present. Betty, Anne and Clare also had Sisters who are Josephites present for the celebration as well as family members some of whom had come from Ireland.
Sr Juanita Scari expressed the appreciation and gratitude of the Jubilarians to all present and to all who had assisted them in their journey. .Juanita, orignally from Queensland, is now ministering in Peru.
The following comments were made by some of the Jubilarians of their time together:
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Epiphany and held great significance to the Jubilarians as this was the day when they had first pronouncd their vows and when they had made their final profession. Sisters Margaret Hehir and Pat Malone proclaimed these readings.
Much of the sharing was around Mary’s tomb and they used the symbols that had been part of their journey and sang the old Latin hymns such as the Moreno version of the Te Deum and the Magnificat and the Salve Joseph. 
l to reflect on Mary MacKillop’s vision and the faith that inspired her decisions; he noted that it had been the task of the Jubilarians ‘to carry the light of vowed religious life into the post-modern, to the post-1968 world’. In doing so, he said, ‘you have been extraordinarily faithful, innovative and courageous, and you have done things which Blessed Mary MacKillop could not have imagined’. He expressed appreciation to the Jubilarians not only for what they had done but for whom they had been as faith filled witnesses. 
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