As an organisation that carries Mary MacKillop’s name in our title, we take very seriously the need to be faithful to her life and vision. Mary MacKillop was a woman of deep prayerfulness and trust in God. Mary’s exhortation to her Sisters to “do all the good that they could with the means at their disposal and then to leave the rest calmly to God” (1888), is a quote that has been mentioned a number of times in our staff meetings and gatherings.

The fact that Mary MacKillop was Australian is of great significance in our efforts to meet the spiritual needs of Australians. Archbishop Mark Coleridge on Mary MacKillop’s feast day in 2023 stated, “Australians will respond to religion, even enthusiastically, when it appears among them with the right kind of face, the human face we see in Bob (Maguire) and Mary (MacKillop), the face that reveals the God-with-us”.

Archbishop Coleridge described this expression of religion that Mary lived out as, “…not a wowser, on the side of the battler, action not words, sleeves rolled up, down to earth with mud on her nun’s boots, not judging or condemning, not tribal, but open to all”. This is the approach and tone that we want to embody. Mary excluded nobody, she was a great friend to people of other Christian denominations and faith traditions. We too offer our Ministry to all who wish to partake. We choose what programs we offer through a Josephite lens and all are welcome to participate.

The Mary MacKillop Spirituality Ministry is very much grounded in a spirituality of finding and becoming aware of the sacred which is at the heart of everyday life. Our programs are often designed with the goal of helping participants becoming more aware of the action of God in their lives. Mary MacKillop certainly had this ability. When writing to Father Julian Tenison Woods in 1869, she stated “I feel this presence of God at all times”. She later wrote “a certain sense of God’s wonderful love strengthens me”. (1873)

A very significant issue in our contemporary society is mental health challenges. Mary MacKillop’s co-founder Fr Julian in 1867 stated, “do all the good you can, and never see an evil without trying to remedy it”. Spirituality can provide meaning, purpose, transcendence, encounter and hope, all of which can contribute to stronger mental health. We are working hard to try and understand what the spirituality needs of Australians are and to meet these needs. This includes a formal research project that we have commissioned. Our programs are designed so that, ultimately, participants may encounter the risen Christ, who said “I am with you always, to the end of the age”. (Mt 28:20)

Eamonn Pollard
Director – Mary MacKillop Spirituality Ministry