Our Ministry

One of the reasons for the Josephites coming to Scotland was because Bishop Ian Murray of Argyll and the Isles wanted Mary MacKillop’s story and spirituality to be known by the Scottish people, especially in the Highlands- the birthplace of her parents. In anticipation of Mary being canonized for the universal Church, it is the hope of the Bishop that the people here will have some sense of connection to and ownership of Mary.

Accordingly, we have undertaken many journeys and met formally with various groups of people in an effort to build on the foundation laid by Sisters Magdalen (Rose) MacDonald and Patricia Keane and so bring Mary to the place of her ancestors. Informally we find that we are telling the story over and over on almost a daily basis. Fort William is a tourist area. When people, eg shop assistants, hear our accents, they usually assume that we are here on holiday and are surprised to learn that we are actually living in the area. The question then follows “What brought you here?” In response we tell them something of Mary’s story. There is always an immediate interest and further questions which lead us deeper into the story.

In less than twelve months our ministry has taken us, not only across our own diocese, but into the Archdiocese of Edinburgh and the diocese of Aberdeen. It was at Nairn in this latter diocese that we addressed a large group of parishioners in the parish meeting room – the very room in which Mary MacKillop slept when she was a guest of the parish priest during her visit to Scotland in 1873. Our visit here was historic too because on that occasion we officially enrolled our very first Scottish Josephite Associate – a lay woman who is deeply committed to living Mary’s Charism in her daily life. We have since returned, by invitation, to that parish and facilitated a day of prayer, reflection and sharing. We’ve also done similar sessions in our local parish.

We’ve become regular visitors to our local Catholic primary school. During Lent we did a number of sessions with a Lenten theme with several of the classes. We find that both the staff and students are very appreciative of our work with them. There is a fantastic spirit throughout the school and a sincere respect for others always so evident.