Season of Creation – Journey into Wonder
August 27, 2025
The Season of Creation, an ecumenical event, begins with a World Day of Prayer on 1 September and concludes on the feast of St Francis of Assisi (patron saint of ecology) on 4 October. Sr Carmel Crameri rsj shares a reflection below.
The regal flight of the pelicans as they move across the sky is a sight of wonder.
Flying in the same direction
on the same flight path
with inbuilt instinct, towards the place of their inherited wisdom.
The inner reality of these majestic birds gives insight into a way of journey that teases one to gaze deeper into the hidden realities of life that surround us.
Everything in the Universe worked to give birth to the songline of these birds.
The Season of Creation is an invitation that challenges us to open our gaze to the soul of life in such a variety of ways.
Peace with Creation is a theme that goes beyond the human sense into the deep peace instilled in the sanctuary of all of life.
These majestic birds are reminders to be attentive to the sacred space in
the buzz of the bee giving music to the gum blossoms in competition with rainbow lorikeets,
the stillness of the bird dropping spider as she silently lives to produce, moving
to feed its sac in the depth of night.
The amazing Dancing Ladies orchid, as its gentle, beautiful flowers
stills the onlooker into a gaze of wonder astonished beauty.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention. Presence transcends the moment. Mary Oliver in her poem Mindful invites us into the wisdom and peace that surrounds us.
the untrimmable light of the world,
the oceans shine,
the prayers that are made out of grass.
Our invitation to be peace with Creation, is to be active agents of change – praying, acting and transforming our way of life living in oneness with creation and the Mystery of Divine reality.
beauty, music – these seem to be an expectation and awareness of a Great Presence.
Social Justice Sunday 2025: Signs of Hope on the Edge
August 25, 2025
2025-2026 Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Social Justice Statement: Signs of Hope on the Edge cover.
This year on Social Justice Sunday (31 August), the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Social Justice Statement: Signs of Hope on the Edge: Serving homeless people with mental ill-health, reminds us of the raw truth: homelessness and mental ill-health are deeply entwined crises. They leave thousands of Australians isolated, invisible, and suffering. Yet, at the heart of this year’s message is not despair, but hope. Hope that springs from encounter. Hope that is born when we choose to see, to notice, and to respond.
Mary MacKillop Today Community Grants Program 2026
August 11, 2025
Applications for the Mary MacKillop Today Community Grants Program 2026 (Sisters of Saint Joseph Stream only) will open at 9am on Monday 25 August and close at 5pm on Thursday 25 September 2025 (AEST).
Eligible projects under the Sisters of Saint Joseph (SOSJ) Stream may apply for grants up to $10,000 AUD to deliver small, life-changing projects that promote life-long learning for Australians at the margins.
Converging Pathways
August 10, 2025
Each month, the Pope asks for our prayers for a specific intention. In August, Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention is for mutual coexistence.
Pope Leo XIV’s first words to the world were words of peace. He has seen violence. He has, as we all have, watched nations torn apart by crises. He writes, “There are so many conflicts, so many wars; there is need to work for peace, to pray with trust in God, but also to work”. What can I do? As Pope he can speak to world leaders. “Thank God the voice of the Church is still important,” he writes. He invites us this month to join with him in prayer for peace, for dialogue, for bridges to peace. I am reading the Gospel of the small amount of yeast that causes the whole of the dough to be leavened. Our troubled planet needs leavening. Could this call to prayer be the yeast?
Fanning the Flame of Hope
August 9, 2025
As part of the Jubilee year celebrations for 2025, in which Mary MacKillop Place also celebrates 30 years since its opening, members of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Mary MacKillop Place and the broader community came together on the evening of Thursday 24 July, to celebrate the opening of a new exhibition at Mary MacKillop Place Museum.
Titled Fanning the Flame of Hope, the exhibition invites each of us to reflect on what it means to carry hope forward in our world today. Drawing inspiration from the remarkable life of Saint Mary MacKillop, the exhibition weaves together the historical and spiritual into a compelling and immersive experience. It is also a joyous journey back in time which revisits some of the milestones, memories and moments which have shaped the story of Mary MacKillop Place over the last three decades.
International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples
The United Nations was the institution that, in 1994, declared 9 August the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, thereby recognising their rights and their place in our ‘Common Home’ – the world.
This recognition is the result of valuing the contribution these peoples have made, and continue to make, by being guardians of nature and protecting their ancestral traditions. Their worldview has allowed them to keep their culture and customs alive, preserving the wisdom they have acquired over time.
Mary MacKillop: Role Model and Inspiration to the Josephite Companions
August 8, 2025
The liturgical feast of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, on Friday 8 August, confirms and proclaims worldwide that Mary MacKillop enjoys eternal peace, ‘nestled in the very heart’ of the God whom she loved and served so faithfully throughout her earthly life.
We can confidently pray for guidance through her intercession for our needs, both individually and collectively. This is something that the Sisters of Saint Joseph and those who seek to embrace the charism of Mary MacKillop in their daily lives, have always believed, well before her official canonisation.
Celebrating Mary MacKillop’s Charism in the Diocese of Toowoomba Catholic Schools
The charism of Saint Mary MacKillop continues to shape and inspire Catholic education across the Diocese of Toowoomba, particularly in its remote and rural schools. The Toowoomba Diocese is 487,000 m2 in size, covering the Darling Downs and South West region of Queensland from just east of the Great Dividing Range to the South Australia border.