Stars Can’t Shine Without Darkness

A Message for New Year’s Day 2021

On this New Year’s Day many will breathe a sigh of relief that 2020 is over! We’ve heard often that 2020 has been “a year like no other”, the word of choice being “unprecedented”.

It’s been a tough year, but has it really been a year ‘like no other’? In the 14^th Century 25 million people died in Europe from the bubonic plague at a time when medical services, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition were virtually unknown. 20 million people died in the four years of World War 1 at a time when antibiotics did not exist! In WW2 some 70-85 million died. 36 Million people have died since 1981 from AIDS/HIV, many from the poorest parts of our world.

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Christmas Message

A Christmas message from Congregational Leader Sr Monica Cavanagh.

These reassuring words from the Gospel of John ring out words of hope for a world preparing to celebrate Christmas in a different context. For many the possibility of gathering with family and friends will be difficult. Others, like Mary and Joseph, will be anxious, finding no room in the inn or a bed in a hospital as they struggle with COVID-19. Many like the shepherds will be afraid of what the future holds for them because COVID has left them without the financial and emotional support they need to live life to the full. Through the virtue of hope, we know that the light will shine in the darkness through the generous gift of love extended to our vulnerable brothers and sisters.

The deepest desire for our world as we come to celebrate the feast of Christmas in this COVID-19 year is that peace, hope and joy will find a place in each one’s life. For Christians believe that “in the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness … and guide our feet in the way of peace”.  (Luke 1:78-79) The Christmas event calls us to believe in the potential goodness of every human being.  It impels us to be the Christ-Light in our world through our acts of compassion, courage and advocacy.

May this Christmas gift you abundantly with joy and companionship, just as Mary and Joseph were gifted with the visit of the shepherds and the Magi. Let us be encouraged by the words of Mary MacKillop:

In this tenth year since the canonisation of Saint Mary MacKillop, the Congregational Leadership Team offers you these words of encouragement at Christmas:

Take fresh courage
As Mary and Joseph did stepping into the unknown
As the shepherds did when the angels appeared
As the Magi did in following the star.
As Saint Mary MacKillop did when faced with adversity.
May you be blessed with this same courage and know the peace and joy Christ brings this Christmas and always.

Sr Monica Cavanagh
Congregational Leader

Death of Alexander MacKillop 1868

Alexander MacKillop – a True Highlander.

Early this year, I stood at the graveside of Alexander MacKillop. Fresh native flowers were displayed, honouring the father of Mary MacKillop, and our group listened to the story of Alexander’s time in Hamilton. I realised that Alexander was being acknowledged for his life’s effort and his contribution to faith development in his adopted country, fathering a daughter who was to be declared Australia’s first saint. There was no sense he was a failure or unsuccessful as some may have thought. Alexander’s classic education in both Rome and Scotland enabled him to educate his children in a time and place where few children had the opportunity for schooling. Indeed, all Alexander’s children were highly literate, active and above all, each truly practised a living active faith based on Scottish Catholic tradition and heritage. Three of his children entered religious congregations.

Peter MacKillop arranged for his brother Alexander, after an amicable separation from Flora, to move to Peter’s property in the Hamilton area. Flora loved Alexander but eventually could not live with him. The MacKillops and Camerons who emigrated from Scotland drove sheep from New South Wales to the Western District of Victoria, or “Australia Felix” as it was called. Rolling hills reminded them of Scotland and the settlers named many local areas, such as Dunkeld, after familiar Scottish places as the scenery reminded them of their heritage.

It was a time of peace for Alexander, amid such beautiful new yet familiar scenery, with time for reflection and prayer. From Plains Station Dunkeld, he wrote to Donald who had let his father know he wished to join the Jesuits. When staying in Hamilton itself Donald had accommodation in the hotel, and we have letters written by Flora from the Colonial Bank in Hamilton where she stayed from time to time.

As we enter Advent and look forward to celebrating Christ’s birth, we remember Alexander’s death in Hamilton on 19 December 1868. For Flora, December was not so joyous, as not only was it the month of her husband’s death, but also of three of her children: Maggie on the thirteenth, John in New Zealand on the sixteenth, and Lexie on the thirtieth – a time of anniversaries and pain!

Alexander’s daughter, Mary, often wrote to her Sisters as Christmas neared. This year the following is especially poignant:

What lessons have we learnt?

Judith Geddes rsj

Research: Sr Judith Geddes rsj
Ref:  A Faith-Filled Family

Friend and Wise Counsel

Father Joseph Tappeiner sj

Joseph Tappeiner, Jesuit priest, was born in Austria on 18 December 1820 and died in South Australia on 10 February 1882. St Mary MacKillop writing to the Sisters about this man who was such a wonderful support during the period of excommunication said:

Father Joseph Tappeiner sj arrived in South Australia in 1852. He was appointed Director of the Sisters of St Joseph in August 1871 replacing Father Julian Tenison Woods who left Adelaide on 1 August 1871. Tappeiner ministered in Sevenhill[1] till 1870 and then became Parish Priest of the newly established mission of Norwood, Adelaide. He died on 10 February 1882.

Tappeiner was widely known and respected. The panegyric delivered by Father Frederick Byrne VG stated:

In our dear departed Father the Church has lost a devoted minister, the Society of Jesus has lost a learned member, the diocese has lost a zealous priest, the clergy have lost a wise counselor and sincere friend, the religious have lost a loving father and the world has lost its greatest treasure – a just man.[2]

Tappeiner was born in Glurns, a village in the Austrian Tyrol on 18 December 1820. He entered the Jesuits in 1841 and was ordained on 25 June 1848. He was well educated, was “well versed in ancient and modern languages especially in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, besides possessing a profound knowledge of theology and philosophy.”[3]

The 1870s were difficult times for the Church in South Australia as well as for the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. The Adelaide Diocese was led by Bishop Laurence Sheil osf (1866-1872).[4] Dr Christopher Reynolds replaced Sheil, first as Vicar General and then as Bishop.[5] Tappeiner was a stabilising influence throughout the period.

Woods composed a Rule of Life for the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in May 1867 and Sheil formally approved it in December 1868. Woods and Mary MacKillop met with Sheil on 17 December of that year to discuss the Rule. The Bishop made a few changes and then gave his approval of the Rule in writing.  Central Government of the Congregation was approved in the Rule.[6]…

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Father Joseph Tappeiner sj (PDF)

Pauline Wicks rsj

Footnotes:
[1] Sevenhill is located 128 km north of Adelaide; Norwood is a city parish. The Congregation was founded in Penola on 19 March 1866. Penola is located 383 km southeast of Adelaide.
[2] Observer, 18 February 1882.
[3] Observer, 18 February 1882.
[4] Marie Foale, The Josephite Story (Sydney: St Joseph’s Generalate, 1989), 21. Sheil “spent less than half of his five and a half year episcopate in residence in South Australia.”
[5] Reynolds became Archbishop in 1887. He died in 1893.
[6] Paul Gardiner, The Life of Saint Mary of the Cross, MacKillop 1842-1909, the Official Biography written by the Postulator of the Cause for her Canonisation, Vols. 1 and 11, (Carlton, Victoria: The Miegunyah Press, An imprint of Melbourne University Publishing Limited, 2015,) 151. Referred to henceforth as Positio.

Liveable Incomes for All

Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) organised a protest outside PM Jacinda Ardern’s office in Mt Albert on Wednesday 9 December simultaneously with United Community Action Network (UCAN) in Wellington after more than 40 welfare and poverty charities signed an open letter to the Government pleading for them to increase welfare in the lead up to Christmas.

I joined the small, determined demonstration on the grass in front of Parliament. Speakers from UCAN, National Council of Woman, the TOP party, a supportive small business owner, student council representative, and a street poet to name a few, adding their voices to the chorus for the Government to address the glaring inequities in incomes for people of Aotearoa and respond to the research and recommendations already in front of them.

Ricardo Menéndez March former co-ordinator of AAAP now Green Party Social Development Spokesperson stated “we can use all of the legislative and ministerial levers to lift benefits immediately,” including a Members Bill on benefit levels.

Following the protest we were invited to the Public Gallery to support Ricardo’s maiden speech. As we were taken to our seats ACT (Association of Consumers and Taxpayers) MP, Nicole McKee, was in the process of delivering her maiden speech, advocating passionately for licensed gun owners. Her comments jarred and felt insensitive being the very day the Royal Commission Report into the Christchurch Massacre was released. The afternoon ended with an invitation to Level 7 in Bowen House to join the Green Party function. The crowd at the function was young, passionate and deeply immersed in politics; Chloe Swarbrick as intimidating in real life as she is in Parliament despite her youth and diminutive stature!

A hope-filled Advent experience in many ways with the words of the street poet lingering in my ears…

Adrienne Gallie rsj

Pope Francis declares a Year of St Joseph

Have you ever thought of St Joseph as a creatively courageous father?

That is how Pope Francis described Joseph as he announced a Year of St Joseph (8 December 2020 – 8 December 2021) in honour of the 150^th anniversary of Saint Joseph being named as patron of the Universal Church.

Having celebrated the 10^th anniversary of Mary MacKillop’s canonisation with the theme of “Take fresh Courage” we are now invited by Pope Francis to reflect on and imitate the creative courage of St Joseph. Joseph was courageous in taking on the responsibility of becoming the husband of Mary and the legal father of Jesus and all that those two roles entailed. As we follow Joseph in the Gospel, we see how he could turn a difficulty into a possibility with his trust in the providence of God.

In his apostolic letter (8 December 2020), Pope Francis reflected on the qualities of Saint Joseph whom he described as a strong working man, a beloved, loving father, an accepting, obedient and “creatively courageous” person. The Pope wrote:​​​​​​​

In the Gospels, St Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love.

In the eyes of the Pope, Saint Joseph is an extraordinary person who epitomises our own experiences. By reflecting on Joseph’s life, we can appreciate that God calls each of us to love freely, to accept our responsibility to welcome and serve others, to use and develop our gifts and talents, to appreciate the value and dignity of honest work, to overcome our challenges and become “courageously and firmly proactive” in our daily living.  A “respectful and sensitive man,” Saint Joseph “did not look for shortcuts, but confronted reality with open eyes and accepted personal responsibility for it.”

Pope Francis encourages each one of us to imitate Joseph’s virtues and zeal as he urges us to:

Discover in Joseph — the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence — an intercessor, a support and a guide.

Pope Francis concluded his letter with this prayer:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer,
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his only Son;
in you Mary placed her trust;
with you Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father
and guide us in the path of life.
Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage,
and defend us from every evil.
Amen.

Sr Therese McGarry

The Meaning of Christmas

As we celebrate the Church’s New Year, we commence our journey towards Christmas confronted by the secular expressions of its significance as portrayed in our shopping centres, in the media and expressed in the decorations that don many houses in our neighbourhoods.

In his apostolic letter of December 2019 Pope Francis reflected on the meaning and importance of the nativity scene. He opened with the following statement:

A link to the letter has been provided below so that if you wish you can read it in its entirety.

Let us take Pope Francis’ words to heart and display the crib in our homes, offices, workplace, schools, hospitals, prisons or wherever we are ministering as a reminder that the message of Christmas is encapsulated in the nativity scene.

• The awe of parents with their newborn child,
• the first visitors to the stable – the shepherds with their humble backgrounds and ordinariness,
• the song of the Angels announcing a great event and
• the kings who travelling from the east to see for themselves the fulfillment of an old testament promise.

May the Christ-child be born again in our hearts and homes this Christmas.

Kath Hitchcock rsj

Pope Francis “Urbi Et Orbi” Christmas 2019 Message

Photo: Nativity outdoor decor during night time by NeONBRAND obtained from Unsplash.

Walking Together with Open Eyes

United Nations (UN) Human Rights Day – 10 December

When I was working in Kenya in 2004, I had the opportunity to visit a slum school and was greeted by 7-year-old Ashuru, who companionably took my hand and showed me around, introducing me to his friends and leading me into his classroom – a simple mudbrick room with a dirt floor, a few desks and hugely beaming smiles from front to back. The class sang enthusiastically, recited a poem, “I love my school”, and excitedly shared all they were learning. Later, we visited Kibera, the slum area where these children live. It is the biggest slum in Africa and one of the largest in the world. For me it was a privilege, a challenge and a never-to-be forgotten experience. It replicated the experiences I’d had in Peru in the 90s. The contrast between the generally well-resourced young people I’d taught in Australia and these smiling eager children with so little in material wealth couldn’t have been more stark. Yet I was struck again, as I’ve been so many times in my life, by the similarities of vision and passion of the human heart, especially of young people across the globe.

And this year, as we celebrate the UN Human Rights Day on 10 December, we are reminded once again, both that such contradictions and similarities continue to exist right across our world, and that we still yearn for justice and equality for all.

It is this foundation and hope that is at the heart of the Human Rights Declaration that we celebrate on 10 December. Ratified in December 1948, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with its 30 articles, was signed by every country, and is recognised as binding on all. The articles are seen to be interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. At their best, they remind us of the freedoms and protections that belong to every one of us, stating clearly that “human rights are inherent to each person regardless of sex, colour, class or creed.”

Understandably then, the theme for this year’s Human Rights Day (Recover better – stand up for Human Rights) relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the call to build such a world by ensuring that human rights are pivotal to recovery efforts across the planet. It was hope-filled and tremendously reassuring that, at the recent G20 summit, 19 of the 20 nations agreed to work together to ensure that future COVID-19 vaccines are a global public good with equitable access for everyone, everywhere. Indeed, a remarkable step forward for our world!

We in Australia have been blessed by our relative safety during COVID-19. As we support the UN efforts to create equal opportunities for all, we are also encouraged by the further call to tackle “entrenched, systematic and intergenerational inequalities, exclusion and discrimination.”

For us in Australia, these will involve questions and action for the Uluru Statement from the heart, the uninvited imposition of the cashless debit cards, the reality of increased imprisonment and deaths in custody, the increase in homelessness and the lack of affordable housing. They will demand advocacy for the Biloela family, the families on Nauru, the men suffering in Papua New Guinea, the people in community detention in Australia, those on temporary visas, as well as international students – all of whom have been excluded from Government assistance during the Coronavirus crisis. They will call us to continue our support for environmental action and care of earth.

In this post truth era, Pope Francis challenges all of us:

Jan Barnett rsj
Josephite Justice Co-ordinator

Images:
Recover Better obtained from Human Rights Day – Resources | United Nations.
Pope Francis by reynaldodallin. Obtained from Pixabay.