Reporting on the Vagaries of Life
February 22, 2023
Report cards have always been a source of consternation for teachers, parents, and students of all ages.
People familiar with Mary MacKillop’s Portland story would remember the furore that arose from the efforts of Mr Cusack to impress the school inspector with some clever behind the scenes prompting and a quick switch of the more able students from Mary’s and Mary’s sister Annie’s classes. All to no avail when his deceit was uncovered. Strangely enough when Mary’s father Alexander exposed his folly loudly and vociferously through the local paper, the consequences fell down on Mary’s shoulders.
Tenth Anniversary of Te Kiritahitanga/Fusion
A document was received by the Sisters of St Joseph in Whanganui, New Zealand, and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Sydney, Australia on 22 February 2013. Coming from the Vatican, the words brought into reality a journey which had started many years before for the Whanganui Sisters.
When the first four Sisters arrived in Whanganui in 1880 from Perthville in New South Wales, the difficult events of the previous years were very fresh in their minds. However, they held the founding charism of Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods close as they began their ministries in this new country. As the small group grew, this charism was nurtured and developed in all their works. The desire expressed by Julian that one day all would be united seemed an almost impossible dream at that stage.
Ash Wednesday: Gateway to Lent
Ash Wednesday, this year beginning on 22 February, is the gateway to the season of Lent. The anointing with ashes, which is the key element of this day’s ritual, is a reminder of our responsibility as individuals and as communities to keep alive the discipleship that our baptism committed us to. The ritual of baptism also involves tracing a cross on our foreheads, albeit with fragrant oils rather than burnt ashes.
The ash etched onto our foreheads on Ash Wednesday is grittier and dirtier and less fragrant than the oils of baptism. This ‘gritty’ image is a ready depiction of our lives today, as Lent is a call for us to get rid of some of the grit that is preventing us from fully living our baptismal potential.
Goodbye Gippsland
February 14, 2023
After 120 years of faithful, loving service, on Tuesday 31 January, 22 sisters including Victoria-Tasmanian Regional Leader, Sr Sue McGuinness, made their way to St Joseph’s in Warragul, Victoria for a farewell from the Diocese of Sale.
Sr Madeleine White’s move to Melbourne at the end of 2022 marked the end of the Josephite presence in Gippsland. At the time, Bishop Greg Bennet expressed a wish to celebrate with and thank the sisters for their service to the Diocese. This was a day of joy and celebration but also tinged with sadness. Bishop Greg joked that he had failed his KPIs by losing the three last sisters in the Diocese after he arrived.
“We Say Sorry” – National Apology to Stolen Generations
February 13, 2023
Today (13 February) we commemorate the first-ever national apology made by a Prime Minister (Kevin Rudd) to initialise in 2008 the Australian Federal Government’s rehabilitation, justice, and reconciliation agenda for Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, and the tens of thousands of Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their families during Australia’s assimilation era.
The National Apology to Stolen Generations was a life-giving experience for all Australians who participated. The apology itself, with its strong foundation in the Young Christian Workers maxim of “see, judge, act”, provided a prophetic act of reconciliation.
Diamond Jubilee 2023 Reflection
February 8, 2023
The Jubilarians who recently celebrated their Diamond Jubilee in January, share a reflection inspired by Joyce Johnson Rouse’s ‘Stand on the Shoulders’ and Josh Groban’s ‘You Raise Me Up’.
Golden Jubilee 2023 Reflection
The seven Sisters celebrating their Golden Jubilee in 2023, gathered at Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel at North Sydney to celebrate with family, fellow Sisters and friends at their Mass of Thanksgiving on 5 January.
In welcoming those gathered to celebrate, the Celebrant Fr Mark McGuigan acknowledged the journey each Sister had undertaken to arrive at this day.
Waitangi Day 2023
February 5, 2023
Te Tiriti o Waitangi – Treaty of Waitangi signed in Aotearoa New Zealand
Seen as New Zealand’s founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840 at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands, in Te Ika a Maui, (the North Island) of Aotearoa (New Zealand). The document outlines the principles to which Māori Chiefs and British officials made a political agreement to form a nation-state and establish a government.
The Treaty was made and signed to deal with the quickly changing circumstances in New Zealand. More and more Europeans were acquiring land from the Māori to establish commercial operations. The settling population was rapidly growing, bringing along uncontrolled crime and violence. There was a perceived threat of French or USA colonisation and the British wanted to get in first.