Remembering Sister Anne Derwin

10 September 1949 – 23 June 2019

Sister Anne Derwin of the New South Wales Region died peacefully on 23 June 2019 at The Mater Hospital, North Sydney, NSW.

Anne, who became a Sister of Saint Joseph fifty years ago, trained as a teacher of Maths, Science and Religious Education. She taught these subjects at Saint Joseph’s East Gosford, Mount Saint Joseph’s, Milperra and Saint Joseph’s Kogarah, before becoming principal of the Milperra school. Subsequently, she was appointed to the New South Wales Province Leadership Team. Next, she spent six years as Provincial of the NSW Province of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and, at the end of her time in that role, moved on to the directorship of Saint Joseph’s Spirituality and Education Centre, Kincumber South.

She then undertook the management of Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney. Her time there was short-lived for in the year 2007, Anne was elected Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.  While she was in that role, she and the Sisters celebrated the canonisation of Saint Mary MacKillop and four Congregations of the Australian/New Zealand Federation of Sisters of Saint Joseph moved towards “fusion” with the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Her contribution to the Congregation she treasured and to religious women and men across Australia, through her presidency of Catholic Religious Australia, impacted in significant ways on the lives of many Religious Congregations and individuals.

Her term of office expired six years ago and since then Anne used her leadership skills and expertise as chair and member of several Boards, and acted as facilitator for Religious Congregations, especially during their Chapters and similar events.  As her health declined and she became physically weaker, she maintained her passion and interest in public and current affairs.  Even up to her last days, she continued her commentary and reflections on local and world events and, as her illness progressed, her family, friends and religious sisters gathered around her to give her support and share in her wisdom.

We continue to live in gratitude for her personal and leadership gifts, her organisational skills, and her sense of prayer and the presence of her God in her life.

The Mass of Christian Burial for Anne will be held at St Mary’s Church, Ridge Street, North Sydney, on Saturday 29 June at 10am and will be followed by the Rite of Committal at Macquarie Park Cemetery.  Saint Mary MacKillop’s funeral Mass was celebrated in this church almost exactly 110 years ago.

Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ

Bread of Presence… Corpus Christi.

My understanding and appreciation of the feast of Corpus Christi has been influenced over recent years by the writings of Teilhard de Chardin, Richard Rohr and Ilia Delio. This feast is for me a celebration of the all-encompassing Presence of Christ in the Universe. As a lover of nature and in my frequent experiences of walking in places of beauty I have an ever-deepening awareness that I am surrounded by the Body of Christ and that I live in the Body of Christ.

As Saint Paul writes…

Last year Richard Rohr had a series of meditations on the Eucharist. He spoke of those familiar words of Jesus, “This is My Body” and “This my Blood”. In his explanation he spoke of Jesus expressing his desire for us to be drawn into the reality that when we hear these words “This is My Body” we are being invited into an awareness of the sacredness of all humanity, of all creatures and all that exists.

Teilhard de Chardin expresses similar sentiments when he writes;

The words,“This is My Blood”  are a call  to recognise the presence of Christ suffering in our world today. The celebration of the Eucharist and the feast of Corpus Christi are a reminder to me to become the Bread of Christ’s presence and to appreciate the Source of this Presence in every encounter, and in all of creation.

The recent terrorist attack in Christchurch and the way people in New Zealand and the whole world responded have really given me a fuller appreciation of the Body of Christ.

In its aftermath we frequently heard the words:–

“The eyes of my heart were enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18) as I listened to and witnessed the daily outpouring of love through the donating of food and money, through stories of compassion, of people joining Muslims in Mosques, of hundreds of young and old gathering for Vigils,  Throughout the country there was a felt sense of deep empathy and a growing desire to be in communion with our Muslim brothers and sisters. I grew in a deeper appreciation of the Body of Christ manifest through the encounters of love which were nourishing and sustaining those whose lives were traumatised.

The feast of Corpus Christi awakens us to the truth expressed in the words of Saint Teresa of Avila:

Lyndall Brown rsj

Image Communion Wine Bread by Bouf16 obtained from pixabay. Used with permission.

Sisters of Saint Joseph Welcomed

Father Woods welcomes the Sisters of Saint Joseph at Port Adelaide, 23 June 1867.

On Tuesday, 25 June 1867, the following news item appeared in the Adelaide Advertiser. While the style of writing is not that of Father Woods himself, there is no doubt that he would have provided the information contained in it. Maybe, the writer was present in the church when Woods introduced the so-called sisters to the local congregation. What is clear is that Father Woods was canvassing for the Sisters of Saint Joseph, without mentioning that the two women from the boat were not easily recognisable as Sisters—they were very young and were dressed in black according to the style of the day. At no point did he mention the fact that there were just three Sisters of Saint Joseph, and that none of them had as yet become fully professed members of the Congregation.

What follows in the account of their first day in Adelaide as reported in the paper:

The Rev. Father Woods replied for the nuns:

After that matters moved quickly and, on the following Tuesday, 2 July, they took charge of the Cathedral Hall School in central Adelaide dressed in their newly-designed religious habits.

Early photo of Mary MacKillop in her religious habit

Julian Tenison Woods, 1866

St Francis Xavier's Cathedral Hall School 1867

SS Penola, the boat the Sisters travelled on

St Mary's Church, Port Adelaide

Refugee Week 2019

In 2019, Refugee Week will be held from Sunday 16 June to Saturday 22 June.

Here I sit, staring at a blank page, wondering what to write? It’s Refugee Week.

I visualise delightfully coloured cultural clothing of the migrant populations that have graced, our ‘bounteous plains,’ in the past. Being realistic, the WWII immigrants had many challenges after they arrived on our shores. Their blessing: they were not ‘unlawful maritime arrivals.’[1] They could come to Australia as a family!

Not so, ‘for those who’ve come across the seas’ in leaky old boats, seeking asylum!

I work with asylum seekers and refugees. They grace my life.

So many stories to tell. I quiver in shame.

Tonight, I met with a man who came to Australia 10 years ago. His application for his wife (technically ‘Partner’) and children’s visa was lodged with the Department in 2013. Six years ago! What could I say or do but acknowledge his pain, whilst recognising the graced accident of my birth in Australia.

A couple of weeks ago, I had frequent visits from a gentle man (let’s call him Ali), visiting from Sydney. Sr Pat Sealey rsj, our now retired Migration Agent, had completed the documentation for his Partner visa application. He has four children. Last year, Ali visited his family in a country other than the country from which he sought asylum. He has a fifth offspring now. She is almost four months old.

It’s time to practise some Ignatian contemplation. Ali had his phone (not the latest and greatest model) sitting on the edge of my desk. There I sat gazing at the proud and loving father gooing and gaahing into the phone to attract the attention of the baby. The baby in downtown Quetta, the father and his mobile in Adelaide. I could not help but wonder how successful the ‘bonding’ attempt will be, in the long term?

Me, the aging white woman, with bare arms and no scarf, met Ali’s nine-year-old daughter and his wife. Again, I whimpered an apology to mother and child. It’s my Country preventing the family living together. Their husband and father is a recognised ‘refugee.’

Why had Ali taken time off to travel to Adelaide, over and above, calling at the office in the hope of ‘good news’ about the family’s visa. He came to bury his mate, a man with whom he travelled to Australia, who had died of natural causes. Faithful to the friendship, he organised the burial, within their religious tradition, travelled three and a half hours from Adelaide, to retrieve the man’s effects and return them to family, overseas. Ali now intends to financially support his friend’s family, as well as his own.

Denise MacKay rsj

Visit the' Refugee Week' website

Trinity Sunday 2019

Trinity is all about relationship.

I would like to share my thoughts with you about this beautiful icon which hangs in the foyer of our aged care facility in Melbourne. Modelled on the Andrei Rublev 15th Century Russian icon ‘The Trinity’, this icon by Judith Mehr in 2016, invites us not only to come to the table, sit awhile and listen to the conversation, but also to reach out to comfort Omran, the young Syrian refugee. We are lured into this deep centre of persons with compassion and reassuring gentleness to this bloodied, tiny child.  He sits, embraced in the warmth of the three persons we call the one God.   Each one of us is invited to sit within this divine circle to join in the flow of mutual friendship and love.

Where would you put yourself in this picture?

Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury reminds us that the place ‘where God happens’  is ‘between each other’. [1] Where is that daily place where God happens for us in our neighbourhoods, with refugees, in church or where humanity is celebrated or diminished?

I feel grateful to the late Fr Denis Edwards who presented lectures to delegates at the 2013 General Chapter. From my notes I read again of how he spoke of Richard of St Victor of the 12th Century who referred to the Trinity as Father as Lover, the Son as the Beloved and the Holy Spirit as the love between them. He went on to explore the giving nature of God’s own self, the movement of mutual love and the experience of friendship as ways of understanding God.  God is always Trinity, beings giving and receiving; always Communion – always in motion.

Richard Rohr, in his recent online reflections on the Trinity writes:

Whatever is going on in God is a flow, a radical relatedness, a perfect communion between Three – a circle dance of love.  God is absolute friendship.  God is not just the dancer; God is the dance itself. [3]

‘God moves towards us so that we may move toward each other and thereby toward God. The way God comes to us is also our way to God and to each other: through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is our faith, confessed in creed and celebrated in the sacraments.’ [4]

What does this faith feel like when we live it?

Kerrie Cusack rsj

Footnotes:
[1] Rohan Williams: Where God Happens: Discovering Christ in One Another, New Seeds, Boston. 2005
[2] Simon Pedro Arnold OSB: LCWR Assembly 2018
[3] Richard Rohr: Daily Meditation, Trinity 5 May 2019  Meditations@cac.org
[4] Richard Rohr: Meditation, Practical Participation 13 May 2019  Meditations@cac.org

Painting entitled:“Omran Angels are Here’’  by Judith Mehr. Donated by Br Mark O’Connor on behalf of the O’Connor family in April 2017, provided by Kerrie Cusack rsj. Used with permission.

Pentecost

The feast of Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ. You’re invited to reflect on Pentecost, using the reflection provided below…

Pentecost

Spirit of God, come weave your dreams
In marrow, joints and in between
And sew them in our hearts.

Come, fathermother of the poor,
Our endless, overflowing store,
The source of all love’s arts.

You are our comfort unsurpassed,
Contentment, as when home at last,
Refreshment when we thirst.

When we’re burdened, you are rest,
Keen to give at our request
An energetic burst.

Share with us Christ’s consciousness
In whatever wilderness,
Send us, aim us true.

When we’re dull and unaware,
When we miss the mark, be there,
Guide our way anew.

In our souls’ most hidden reach,
There you breathe and there you teach,
Dark but flaming night.

In the garb of everyday
There you weave your gentle way:
Jesus’ mind and sight.

Bound by racing time and space
Human mind cannot keep pace;
In loving awe we bow.

Absolute, you are beyond us
Yet, within, the fire that bonds us;
Silent, you surround.

Susan Connelly rsj

Photo of stained glass window taken at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Hamilton VIC. Used with permission.

A Day in the Life: Pastoral Care Ministry

It is over twelve months since I left North Sydney, New South Wales and started my ministry in the St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – Northern Light Parish in South Australia.

The parish spans from Nuriootpa to Port Wakefield. I live at Hamley Bridge which is very central and anything from thirty to forty kilometres from home. We have eight Mass centres and have Mass twice a month and Liturgy of the Word with communion on the other Sundays. The lay people lead these sessions.

I do visiting in the different towns. On a Tuesday I go to the Hospital – Nursing Home here at Hamley. Here I participate in the activities: craft, cooking, sing-alongs, scrapbooking and card making. The cards are a great hit with the residents. We see the delight on their faces as they achieve something they can share with the nurses as they go back to their rooms. The best of these days is the interaction and laughs they receive from each other. Shrove Tuesday was a pancake making afternoon. “They were the best pancakes we have had.” some of them said.

We have a Mass once a month and it is Ecumenical. I have had the privilege of leading these when Father Mark is away.

When I first went there they asked what to call me and I said  “Maria is fine.” However someone said that Sr Maria sounds much nicer, so that is what I am.

I have been to a funeral of a resident with the staff. I was also invited on a bus trip to Tanunda to hear and see the pipe organ they have restored.

I also join the Kapunda ladies for a lunch each month when they get together. They are a great group. I have also been invited to talk on Mary MacKillop at a family gathering. It is a great parish and I am very lucky to be part of it.

Maria Hennekam rsj

Carrying on the Legacy

Carrying on the legacy of Australia’s first Saint.

Sister Kathy shares her story with Mary MacKillop Today about working with some of the most vulnerable and remote communities in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.

Saint Mary MacKillop believed in the power of education to lift communities out of poverty.

At Mary MacKillop Today, we are inspired by Australia’s first Saint to empower vulnerable people to realise their dignity through education, health and sustainable livelihoods. We work with communities in Australia and overseas, in Timor-Leste, Peru, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

A dedicated member of our team, Sister Kathy, has an inspiring story to tell.  She has spent twenty years living in Papua New Guinea and, more recently, two years in Timor-Leste.

Sister Kathy shared how she made the move between the two developing countries:

Sister Kathy is an incredibly resilient person. She wasn’t deterred by the shocking living conditions – she was motivated to get to work and overcome challenges.

It wasn’t long before Sister Kathy gained the confidence and the local know-how to connect with communities. One of our favourite things to hear her talk about is her outings with our Mobile Learning Centre – a colourful bus that travels to some of the most remote areas of Timor-Leste visiting schools, orphanages and disability centres. It’s filled with creative tools such as puppets and musical instruments to teach kids literacy and numeracy through fun workshops.

It is a slow process, taking many visits to the community but at the end of the process the children from this group are ready for “big school” and some dedicated community members have been trained how to continue this “ready for school work”, while the Mobile Learning Centre moves to begin again in another remote community.

Continue reading the article below:

Carrying on the Legacy of Australia's first Saint