Saint Mary MacKillop Feast Day 2019

Greetings on the feast of Saint Mary MacKillop.

As we celebrate Mary MacKillop’s feast day, let us celebrate how she was a woman who raised the powers of love in her time and continues to inspire us to do the same in our day.  Love was at the heart of all that Mary did. She recognised that the source of her love had its origin in God. She knew deeply within her that:

From this spiritual source she drew the energy to be a heartbeat of God’s love in the world especially for those most disadvantaged in our society.

Mary loved all with an undivided heart. As Pope John Paul II said during his 1995 visit to Australia for her beatification:

Hers was a spirituality of the heart, holding in balance a contemplative stance with a concern for justice. Mary entered the mystery of God’s love and allowed herself to be transformed by it in order to assist the voiceless to find their voice. Mary was indeed a woman who remained grounded in the reality of life, and through all her experiences learnt to ‘act justly, love tenderly and to walk humbly with God’ (Micah 6:8). She rolled up her sleeves, got her hands dirty and responded to the cries of those who struggled in life.

An example of how Mary MacKillop raised the power of love occurred when Mary and Sister Helena McCarthy were on their way to the city. Sister Helena shared this story. “We were waiting at the corner of the Street near Mount Street Post Office for a tram. A young woman came staggering along and at last reached and rested by the stone wall on the side of the footpath. I naturally thought the woman was intoxicated, but Mother’s quick eye detected something more serious. She said to me ‘Come along, dear and see what is wrong with this poor woman.’  On getting up to her we found the woman was very ill.  Mother asked if she could do anything for her. The woman said if she could get to the chemist’s nearby, she knew what would relieve her. The three of us then went to the chemist’s where the patient was attended to and we waited until she felt better”. [2]

On this feast day let us, like Mary MacKillop, be women and men who raise the powers of love. Recently I was having a cup of coffee with one of our sisters and I asked her what she had been doing. She replied that she had just come from a meeting of ‘Grandmothers Against Detention of Refugee Children’. Their work is based around the safety and protection for innocent children living in the experience of detention centres. On another day, I visited the office of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Congregational Administration Centre to find the staff knitting over lunch. They told me that they were joining others around our country who belong to the organisation ‘Wrap with Love’. Joining in movements such as these is one way of continuing to give expression to Mary MacKillop’s vision for living the Gospel.

On this feast day may you be inspired like Saint Mary MacKillop to make a difference in someone’s life by raising the powers of love through an act of everyday kindness.

May your day be filled with the joy and love that filled the heart of Saint Mary MacKillop.

Sr Monica Cavanagh rsj
Congregational Leader

[1] Pope John Paul II, 20 January 1995 at Beatification ceremony Randwick
[2] Sister Helena McCarthy – Memories of Mary by those who knew her p 71, 2010

Excursion to Mary MacKillop Place

Boundless, a young adults group from the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, recently visited Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney to learn more about Saint Mary MacKillop.

With Saint Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day approaching on 8 August, I thought it was a great opportunity to organise and invite members of my young adults group ‘Boundless’ to an excursion to Mary MacKillop Place.

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Sainthood Comes in Moments

This month of August, during which we celebrate the 110th anniversary of Saint Mary MacKillop’s death, is a timely reminder that all of us are called to be saints – here and now!  Mary understood this – and her entire life reflected this understanding.

In 1870, as an earnest 28 year-old, Mary shared her insights about living saints with her ‘own dear Mamma’:

Little could the youthful Mary have every imagined that she would become Australia’s first canonised saint so many years later!

In this month’s reflection from the Little Brown Book Too, the authors, Sue and Leo Kane, provide us with another reminder that Earth is meant to be full of living saints, and that our ‘Sainthood comes in moments’.

Sister Ethelberga, Mary’s nurse, said of her: ‘I never knew her to speak an unkind word to anybody. Neither would she permit any Sister to do so in her hearing.’

As we go about our days, we teach, not so much by preaching lessons, as by the way we are in this world. Our way of seeing things and people will come through in our responses. Mary knew this instinctively:

A very young Sister Laurence (who later became the third Superior General of the Sisters) once said to Mary: “Mother,  I think you are especially kind to people who give you trouble and worry.” “Ah, you little rogue!” was the lovely reply of a compassionate and human Mary.

Sainthood comes in moments: of gentleness, of humour, of kindness, of times when we choose to do the loving thing.  And for our ‘companions on the journey’, such moments help to keep their hope alive.

The above is an extract from The Little Brown Book Too (pages 32-33)

© Sue and Leo Kane 2011. Introduction Mary Ryan rsj.

Used with the kind permission of the publishers, St Paul’s Publications

Available online and from some Mary MacKillop Centres.

Download the print version of this reflection (PDF)

Photo: ‘Sainthood comes in moments’ by Mary Ryan rsj. Used with permission.

Living from the Heart

This month, as we continue mining the gold from Sue and Leo Kane’s Little Brown Book Too,  we are invited to ponder a simple story about Mary MacKillop which provides yet another example of how she lived from the heart.

There were no limits to her love… how do I measure up?

Mary had managed only a very early cup of tea for breakfast before she arrived at the convent in the afternoon. The Sisters had prepared a meal for her. Sister Borgia Healy tells the story:

Just as she was about to sit to the table, a knock came to the door.  I went to see who was there and a poor, half-starved, baby clothed old man stood before me. “Would you give me something to eat, miss?”  he said.  “I can get no work in  this town, not anything to eat. I’m very weak.”

Mother Mary followed me to the door, and when she saw the man, she said:

For Mary, that hungry old man was Jesus coming to her door. She often told her Sisters:

Her compassion sprang from her spirit of love and self-forgetfulness.

It knew no boundaries!

The above is an extract from The Little Brown Book Too (pages 32-33)

© Sue and Leo Kane 2011

Used with the kind permission of the publishers, St Paul’s Publications

Available online and from some Mary MacKillop Centres.

Download the print version of this reflection (PDF)

Image of Mary, Sister and poor family: Artist unknown

Mary MacKillop: Patron of Brisbane Archdiocese

Mary, Patron of the Brisbane Archdiocese

Mosquito plague, high humidity and heat greeted Mary MacKillop and her Sisters when they arrived in Brisbane on New Year’s Eve 1869 – just three and half years after the foundation of the Congregation in Penola. What warrior women they were, with hearts set on fire for God’s mission.  Little did they know what indescribable challenge and pain Queensland would be for Mary and the Congregation.

Mary and the Sisters had been invited by Bishop Quinn to set up schools in Queensland, so they came well equipped with the proven Woods-MacKillop system of parish-based schools. They immediately hopped in, opened schools in Brisbane and very quickly expanded their presence to other places in country Queensland.

The story of the journey between 1869 and when the Archbishop John Bathersby petitioned Rome to make Mary MacKillop the Patron of the Archdiocese is told here.

Pope Benedict XVI on May 6, 2009, assented to the petition and Mary officially became Patron of the Archdiocese of Brisbane.

So what does being a patron mean?  It can be everything from individual, personal devotion, to Mary being a protector of everyone and everything in the Archdiocese.  If we consider Mary as Patron, we need to reflect on this from both an inward and outward perspective.  It requires both movements as that is the call of the gospel.

Inwardly we can be encouraged, nourished and supported by Mary. An example would be to take oneself to the Shrine of Saint Mary MacKillop in St Stephen’s Chapel. Mary prayed and worshipped here and it is now a sacred place that provides solace and nurture for thousands of people each year.  Inside the chapel is a very different and enticing statue of Mary, sculptured by John Elliott, etched out of the stump of a huge camphor laurel tree. If one sits long enough with this image of Mary, it can speak so clearly and take one into the very essence of this woman of God.

The heart of what Mary and her Sisters were on about when they came to Queensland is expressed in the Sisters’ Constitution: ‘by making education of poor children the Sisters’ prime task.’ (Constitution of the Sisters of Saint Joseph 1.).  This motivation takes us to the outward focus of Mary being Patron.  The Archdiocese provides an opportunity for everyone to give expression to Mary’s spirit by supporting the MacKillop Catholic School Access Fund (MacKillop Fund).  This fund provides access to Catholic education for students from families experiencing significant financial hardship. Beyond providing for the individual child, it also provides school communities the opportunity to contribute by providing the uniforms, shoes, text books, tuition fees, etc.

No doubt Mary is happy to be Patron of the Archdiocese of Brisbane when she can see clearly, that in this day and age, people are faithful to Jesus’ invitation ‘that all may have life and have it to the full.” (Jn 10:10).

Annette Arnold rsj

Find out more about the MacKillop Scholarship here

Mary’s Words Still Inspiring Us!

Over many months, as we have pondered Val DeBrenni’s Stations of the Cross: a Journey with Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, we have reflected on the parallel journeys of Jesus and Mary MacKillop, and how their Way of the Cross can inspire and shape our own lives.

Last month, in our final reflection on this particular journey, we reflected on the Easter story, and how Mary MacKillop has shown us what it means to live in the light of Jesus’ Resurrection.

This month, as we turn to a new source of inspiration, we invite you to embark on a new odyssey! In the coming months, we shall mine Sue and Leo Kane’s The Little Brown Book Too, for the gold that they have discovered through reflecting upon snippets of letters penned by Mary, and recognising that her words, written so many years ago, can inspire us again and again in our everyday lives.

Finding God in a grain of sand…

There’s an old saying that goes: ‘It’s not the mountain ahead that matters, it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.’

In 1873-74, Mary MacKillop had to be away from Australia. She travelled alone to Europe, an astonishing thing for a young woman to take on in those days. The ‘mountain ahead’ for her was getting the Sisters’ Rule approved. The ‘grains of sand’ were the setbacks she met along the way:

We all struggle, at times, to focus on the vision that keeps us going, especially when those ‘grains of sand’ bring us down to earth. But really, that can be a good thing! Because they can help to dispel unreal expectations we may have of ourselves. Wouldn’t the ‘music of life’ be very bland without an underlying bass beat? When we try to befriend our dark moments, we can start to recognise ‘God’s whisperings’ within them…

The above is an extract from The Little Brown Book Too (pages 128-129)

© Sue and Leo Kane 2011

Used with the kind permission of the publishers, St Paul’s Publications

Available online and from some Mary MacKillop Centres.

Download the print version of this reflection (PDF)

Image: Sand, shell and shadow by Mary Ryan rsj. Used with permission.

Raised from ‘Death’ to New Life

Jesus is raised from the dead! Most of us have experienced times when things have been grim: we have lost a significant other… our treasured hopes have been destroyed… we have been let down, even betrayed… and it seems like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is an on-coming train!

Generally these painful times pass and life returns to a certain equilibrium – until our next crisis or disaster! This, of course is the pattern, the ebb and flow of human life… ‘death’ and ‘resurrection’.

When we look back and reflect, we can often recognise that something good emerged out of those times of darkness… that we have, in fact, journeyed through a ‘death experience’ to new life! These ‘light-bulb’ moments are gifts: they are  ‘Easter’ or ‘Resurrection’ moments… blessings that give us reason to shout, or sing, or say, or perhaps even whisper “Alleluia”!

The Gospels tell us that suffering and death do not have the last word. When Jesus died on the cross this seemed like the end of the hopes and dreams for both Jesus and his followers, but this confusion was soon replaced by joy. As you complete your journey with the Stations of the Cross, call to mind the Good News that Jesus rises from the tomb to a new life with God. Resurrection is a new way of being with God, for risen life is life with God.

The Gospel writers ponder on the meaning of this mystery that lies at the heart of Christian experience. They present us with four different accounts.

Spend some time praying with the Good News presented to us by Matthew:

• Read the story through slowly… imagine the scene
• Now become part of this story… imagine yourself at the empty tomb
• Open your mind and heart to the wonder of Jesus’ resurrection, to the truth of his presence and action in your midst

Moments in the life of Mary MacKillop

Saint Mary MacKillop shows us what it means to live in the light of the Resurrection.  She was a woman of hope and trust, an inspiration to those around her.  She sees the blessings hidden in the cross, and her life lives out of the light of the resurrection. Mary invites us to do the same…

Prayer

Jesus, your death upon the cross and resurrection transformation reminds me of the transformative possibilities in my own life. Give me the courage to let go of my resistance to change, may I be ever open to the break-through of new beginnings so that I can be open to the delight of surprise.

Download the print version of this reflection (PDF)

This is our final reflection from Stations of the Cross: A Journey with St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – Valerie De Brenni  (Introduction to this reflection: Mary Ryan rsj)

© 2012 Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart

Available for purchase @ $7.95 from Mary MacKillop Place Bookshop, Mount Street, North Sydney, or online

Image: ‘Resurrection’: Mary Ryan rsj. Used with permission.

It Seemed That All Was Lost

To Jesus’ friends and followers, his death and burial in a cave were the absolute opposite of what they had fondly expected. In those moments, it seemed that everything that he had promised had been a giant hoax. Their hopes were dashed.

Through the gifts of hindsight and our faith, we know differently, and in this month of April, we reflect on the events of the first Holy Week, through a different lens from theirs. Unlike those who stood by, shocked and disheartened as they witnessed Jesus’ burial in a borrowed tomb, we know, and will celebrate again at Easter, that he rose again ‘on the third day’, and that his memory lives on in the lives of his present-day followers.

After a lifetime committed to following Jesus, and ever-mindful of the Cross in her life, Mary MacKillop’s burial bore a striking resemblance to that of Jesus. Her tombstone was also provided by a friend, Joanna Barr-Smith. Mary, of course, did not physically rise from the tomb, but her memory too lives on today. Mary’s spirit has captured the hearts of countless people who continue to be inspired by her story of love, courage, compassion, forgiveness and trust in our God who never stopped providing for her.

This month, we are invited to spend some time reflecting on the scene of Jesus’ burial, and to stand in solidarity with those who have lost hope.

Station 14: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

A suggestion:

• First: reflect upon what is happening to Jesus in this thirteenth Station
• Next: ponder the Moments in the Life of Mary MacKillop
• Finally: reflect upon how this links with your own life

Gently, Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of Jesus in a linen cloth and placed in on a ledge, in a tomb that was probably a burial cave cut from the soft limestone rock. To protect the body from wild animals a large rock is placed at the entrance of the tomb. Those who love Jesus mourn their loss: it seems that all is lost.  The vision of God’s reign, so central to the life and ministry of Jesus, seems now a distant dream.

Moments in the life of Mary MacKillop

Mary MacKillop died in Alma Cottage, North Sydney on 8 August, 1909. Initially she was laid to rest in the Gore Hill Cemetery but in 1914 her remains were transferred to the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel at Mount St, North Sydney convent where she was placed in front of the altar of the Blessed Virgin. Joanna Barr Smith paid for the beautiful marble tomb that has become her final resting place. This has become a place of pilgrimage as thousands of pilgrims come each year to visit this sacred place.

Moments in My Life

• If you knew that this was your last day how would you spend your time?
• What would you want to say to the significant people in your life?

Take a moment to reflect in silence upon these aspects of your life.  We tend to take life for granted and live in an unreflective manner. The death of a loved one can pull us up short and help us to re-prioritize what is really important. We come to a deeper understanding of what gives life meaning.

Prayer

Jesus you call me to be open to every aspect of my life, to be aware of its beauty, its gift.  You invite me to live with intention, to embrace each day. Constantly draw me toward all that is good, so that through my actions others may experience a glimpse of your goodness.

Forgive me Lord for the times when apathy in given free reign and I become blind to all that life holds. Encourage me to ponder on life’s meaning. Help me to graciously accept the process of ageing and to find wisdom in the passing of time. May I finally delight in your presence and find my rest in you.

Download the print version of this reflection (PDF)

Stations of the Cross: A Journey with St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – Valerie DeBrenni

© 2012 Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart

Available for purchase @ $7.95 from Mary MacKillop Place Bookshop, Mount Street, North Sydney, or online

Images:
Station 14: Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel, North Sydney
‘Jesus is buried’: Mary Ryan rsj. Used with permission.