Mary MacKillop, Patron of our Diocese of Port Pirie
March 18, 2024
In the Diocese of Port Pirie in South Australia, there’s a beautiful well-kept graveyard, some seven kilometres out of Port Augusta, with the stunning Flinders Ranges as its backdrop. In good times the roses bloom and the kangaroos keep the lawn mowed and the grave-sites company. But on the area’s outer edge are the older graves of early pioneers – no roses or lawn here, just a few Blackbutt Eucalyptus, Weeping Myall and Saltbush surviving in red, sandy Earth.
On one side is a huddle of three graves, the centre on being that of Sister Laurencia Honner who died as a result of a fire on 11 May 1878, aged eighteen years. The local newspaper described her funeral at the time, the long line of buggies snaking out of town to Stirling North. Notably there is no mention of the grieving Sisters of Saint Joseph, her companions in this isolated, treeless town. Nor do they note the presence of Mary MacKillop who had made the arduous journey of some 350 kilometres by Cobb and Co and then buggy to Port Augusta to be with Laurencia before she died. If we were ever unsure about where Mary MacKillop walked, we can be sure her footprints are here at the grave of Laurencia.
The Gift of Fusion – 10th Anniversary
“Ten years on and I thank God that we took the step when we did,” is one Sister’s observation as we give thanks on the 10th anniversary of the fusion of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Perthville with the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart.
The Josephite foundation at Perthville on 16 July 1872 was the first in New South Wales, after Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods responded to the request of Bishop Matthew Quinn. Four years later, the Josephite community painfully moved into two separate pathways when Bishop Quinn insisted on having a Diocesan Congregation at Perthville.
International Women’s Day – ‘Women at the Heart’
March 7, 2024
International Women’s Day, held annually on 8 March, is a global day that recognises the resilience, strength, and achievements of women from diverse backgrounds and cultures across the world. Acknowledging this important day allows Mary MacKillop Today to reflect on the invaluable contributions of women within the communities we support and the persistent challenges they still face.
Just like Saint Mary MacKillop, we go where the need is greatest, and even today, we see that women around the world continue to face gender-based discrimination, violence and inequality. Women and girls need equal access to education, healthcare, and employment opportunities to strengthen their ability to learn, earn and lead in their communities.
Habits of the Heart
Showing Off
Sr Adrienne, a Sister of Saint Joseph in Aotearoa New Zealand, shows off her green thumb.
My first profession was a change of habit, coming as it did in the latter part of my life.
JJAMM 2024
March 5, 2024
JJAMM (Joseph, Julian And Mary MacKillop) is a gathering of student leaders from Josephite secondary schools around Australia and New Zealand.
Learning, laughter, and leadership. The three core ingredients necessary to complete the JJAMM recipe. The JJAMM team was blessed to welcome twenty-five Josephite schools across Australia and New Zealand for a four-day leadership retreat like no other. We called attendees to cultivate their Josephite charism through the honouring of formidable leaders such as St Mary MacKillop, Fr Julian Tenison Woods, and St Joseph, and use their timeless legacy to inform their own dreams of social justice.
Josephite Justice Network Annual Report 2023
A Year of Growth and Courage
The Josephite Justice Network (JJN) consists of the congregations of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart and the Sisters of St Joseph, Lochinvar.
They are called to serve the mission of God in the spirit of their founders, Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods, especially with those who are oppressed or pushed to the edges of society.
Showing Off
February 26, 2024
Sr Lyn Raftery rsj
As the daughter of parents brought up in the Depression years and as part of a young post war family whose income was very basic it is part of my DNA to not waste anything.
Recycling is something to which I am naturally drawn. When the Sisters of Saint Joseph changed from traditional habits to wearing ordinary street clothes I chose to make or buy clothes from natural fibres – cotton, linen, wool and rayon rather than synthetic. I find these fabrics more comfortable to wear and they are better for the environment when disposed.
World Day of Prayer 2024
February 22, 2024
The World Day of Prayer has a long history. It begun in New York in 1887 by Mary Ellen Fairchild James as a day of prayer for home missions. Two years later it became prayer for world missions. It travelled to Canada in 1922, then to the British Isles in the 1930s. From 1927, the prayer day was known as the ‘Women’s World Day of Prayer’. After the Vatican Council in 1967, Catholic women united their ‘May Day of Prayer’ with the March ‘Women’s World Day of Prayer’ which then became the ‘World Day of Prayer’.
The aim of the World Day of Prayer is to become aware of other countries and cultures, especially those living in isolation, to pray for those countries, and to encourage women to offer and use their talents to better society.
Different countries have been given the responsibility of organising the theme and the prayer service each year. For this year, Palestine has prepared the prayer based on the theme, “I beg you… bear with one another in love”. (Ephesians Ch 4: 4-5). One would have to say how much we need this in our present environment!