Find happiness in making others happy.
Mary MacKillop wrote these words in a letter to her Sisters in South Australia as they were preparing for Christmas in 1899. Probably, we too, have found that true and enduring happiness comes more from giving of oneself and sharing what one has with others, rather than from accumulating more power and more possessions just for oneself.
We may have come across different translations of the Beatitudes, where instead of “Blessed are they…” we read “Happy are they…”. The Beatitudes offer another insight into happiness, often not in the ways that the world sees it, but as Jesus did on mission to bring good news to the poor.
On 10 August 1909, Mary MacKillop’s Requiem Mass was celebrated in St Mary’s Church, North Sydney. In his eulogy, Cardinal Moran referred to the Gospel passage containing the Beatitudes. The Cardinal described Mary MacKillop as having lived the high ideals of the Beatitudes throughout her religious life. In particular, he highlighted as relevant “blessed are the poor in spirit” as Mary was detached from worldly goods and riches and attached and dependent on her God. He also emphasised that Mary hungered and thirsted after justice “not just in one land but wherever her word and example could reach”.
In July during his summer break at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV shared lunch in the gardens with 200 poor and vulnerable people, including 40 children. As he joined those gathered, Pope Leo XIV said he came with hunger for something other than food. [1]
I have come without a prepared speech, but with hunger. A hunger for justice, a hunger for genuine charity, a hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open its doors, to welcome and receive everyone. A Church where there is love for all, where no one is an enemy, and where we all know how to live out reconciliation, forgiveness and peace.
Pope Leo XIV explained that the historic papal title of ‘Pontiff’ means “a builder of bridges” and continued by saying:
Today, we would like to build a bridge with all of you, with your families, and with the society in which we wish to live, and to live in justice. A place where the causes of poverty can be eliminated, where the causes of the injustices that still exist in our world can be overcome: this is the Church we want to be.
As we celebrate the feast day of Saint Mary MacKillop, we give thanks for the many individuals and all the ministries that are working for justice with charity.
Wherever we find ourselves today, may we strive to make others happy; and so enjoy a Happy Feast Day.
Sr Josephine Dubiel
Congregational Leader
[1] Pope Leo at Borgo Laudato si’ lunch: ‘I came with a ‘hunger’ for genuine charity’, Deborah Castellano Lubov, Vatican News, 11 July 2026.