Mary goes to Rome: Mary MacKillop Pilgrimage
May 9, 2025
Like Mary MacKillop, I went to Rome! In January this year, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Jubilee of the World of Communications in Rome. Although Mary and I went to Rome for different reasons and over 150 years apart, we both journeyed with the theme of hope in common, we have the same name, travelled by ourselves, and we both saw the Pope.
Mary was going to Rome with hope to seek approval for the Sisters’ Rule of Life and had the opportunity to meet with Pope Pius IX. I was going to Rome to attend a gathering for Young Catholic Communicators for the Jubilee Year, with the theme being Pilgrims of Hope and had the opportunity to see Pope Francis.
Mary MacKillop continues to be Ecumenical in Bendigo
April 8, 2025
A statue of Mary MacKillop was recently placed in the Grand Stupa Buddhist Shrine of Universal Compassion in Bendigo (Victoria) together with a statue of St Francis of Assisi that was already there but in need of restoration.
The ceremony for the installation of Mary MacKillop was held in the Peace Garden of the Shrine. Following morning tea, Mr Ian Green (Chairman of the Grand Stupa) welcomed all and explained the vision of the Grand Stupa. Sr Monica Cavanagh, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, told something of the life of Mary MacKillop and her perseverance against the odds and the virtues that made her a saint; prayers followed as Bishop Shane Mackinlay of the Diocese of Sandhurst blessed both statues.
Jubilee 2025: Year of Prayer, Full of Hope
February 28, 2025
On Christmas Eve 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican marking the beginning of the Jubilee Year. The theme for 2025 is Pilgrims of Hope for a world suffering.
The Jubilee invites us all to embark on a journey of faith and transformation. A special year of prayer, full of HOPE. Hope that the people of the world will have a listening ear to the Holy Spirit. Hope that we will love each other as God loves us.
30th Anniversary of Mary MacKillop’s Beatification
January 18, 2025
Thirty years ago in 1995, I found myself in the very privileged role of President of the Australian-New Zealand Federation of Sisters of St Joseph, which was comprised of the diocesan congregations of Perthville, Lochinvar, Goulburn, Tasmania and New Zealand.
Randwick Racecourse in Sydney was the ideal place for Mary MacKillop’s beatification ceremony. On entering the course precinct, the buzz of anticipation and excitement was tangible. Thousands of Australians and people from far beyond filled the venue. There seemed to be instant camaraderie between complete strangers, all with the same reason for being at Randwick that historical day.
Celebrating Mary MacKillop’s Birthday
January 14, 2025
As we celebrate Mary’s birthday again on 15 January 2025, it is very fitting that her birthsite has recently been upgraded and made more accessible to visitors.
The birthsite in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, became a building site in 2022. St Vincent’s Private Hospital, that occupies the site, planned to build additional wards and theatres into the space. The original monuments commemorating Mary’s beatification and canonisation were temporally removed to make way for the building.
New Year 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope
December 31, 2024
As we begin this New Year, we give thank for all the blessings, memories and gifts of 2024. It was year filled with many joys and many challenges as people faced economic hardship, the loss of loved ones, war and climatic changes among other things. There were also moments when we rejoiced in the good news stories of heroic acts, the achievements at the Olympic games, the hope forged through the Church’s synod process and many more treasured moments.
As we step into 2025, we do with hearts full of hope. In the Catholic Church, Pope Francis has announced a Jubilee Year through which we are invited to become Pilgrims of Hope. Throughout the year there will be many events both locally and internationally to ignite the gift of hope among us.
Praying with Mary MacKillop in November
November 8, 2024
In this month of November, we traditionally remember the dead and depending upon our theology, we pray for the dead, to the dead or with the dead. A friend of mine has a strong belief and practice of praying to someone who has just died for a special situation. In current theology on the Communion of Saints, we are more likely to pray with the dead and our revised Litany of Mary MacKillop invites us to do just that.
Given all that, Mary MacKillop was more likely to pray for the dead, and she had plenty of opportunities to do so since seven members of her family died during Mary’s lifetime.
My Experience of Mary MacKillop’s Canonisation
October 8, 2024
For me the privilege of being in Rome for Mary MacKillop’s canonisation (17 October 2010) was the culmination of my Josephite journey to that point.
I was educated in primary and secondary school, and then teacher’s college with the Josephites. This gave me the opportunity to come to know the values and spirit of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. It helped me to be open, questioning and searching, the fertile ground to hear God’s call to me. My journey with the Josephites took me to many parts of New South Wales seeing ordinary people who, like my family, were the beneficiary of the commitment of so many of the Sisters.