ATSI Sunday and NAIDOC Week 2025
July 1, 2025
Campfire Reflection for ATSI (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Sunday and NAIDOC Week 2025: The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy
As we gather this Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday (6 July), we pause to honour this sacred day set apart in the life of the Church – a day that recognises and celebrates the deep faith, culture, and enduring presence of the First Peoples of this land.
Feast of the Sacred Heart 2025
June 24, 2025
Greetings on the Feast of the Sacred Heart (27 June)
That the world might grow in compassion is Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for June. An outpouring of love and compassion is urgently needed in this month, traditionally connected with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Fr Julian and the Sacred Heart
Father Julian Tenison Woods had a profound love for God and a mystic appreciation of all God’s creation. I believe this came from his own experience of being loved by God and was expressed through the symbolism of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He named the Congregation he co-founded with Saint Mary MacKillop, the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart and he often signed his letters to the Sisters with the phrase “Yours most faithfully in the Sacred Heart”.
Mary Ryan rsj and Carmel Moore rsj awarded Order of Australia Medal
June 13, 2025
The Sisters of Saint Joseph are delighted to announce that Mary Ryan rsj and Carmel Moore rsj have each been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the King’s Birthday 2025 Honours List for services to the Catholic Church of Australia.
Refugee Week 2025 Reflection
June 11, 2025
As we approach Refugee Week 2025 (15-21 June), we pause to reflect on this year’s powerful theme: Finding Freedom: Diversity in Community. It is a reminder that freedom is not simply the absence of persecution or fear, but the presence of belonging, identity, and opportunity – all nurtured in the embrace of a compassionate community.
Refugee Week is a time to honour the courage, resilience, and strength of people who have been forced to flee their homelands. It is also a time to examine how we, as Australians, can better welcome and walk alongside people who have newly arrived in our country, ensuring they are not only safe, but celebrated.
God is a Person called “Hope”
June 10, 2025
I have been ruminating and praying on “hope” as I prepare myself to guide reflection days on the 2025 Jubilee Year, Pilgrims of Hope, here at Mary MacKillop Place over the next few months. I have come to realise that when we say we are “hoping for” something, we probably mean we are “wishing for” it, “hoping” and “wishing” sometimes used inter-changeably. However, the terms can have quite different nuances. For example, when we speak of “wishful thinking” we are probably trying to suggest a particular wish is almost pointless, the very opposite of being hopeful.
Pilgrims of Hope: A Message from the AJASS President
June 9, 2025
As President of the Association of Josephite Affiliated Secondary Schools (AJASS), I feel great anticipation as we prepare for the 2025 AJASS Principals Conference, which will be held at Mary MacKillop Place at the end of this month. This year, we gather under the Jubilee theme Pilgrims of Hope, marking 20 years of shared mission, collaboration, and commitment to the charism of Saint Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Tenison Woods.
This conference is not only a celebration of our journey, but a moment of deep reflection and renewal. We will be especially inspired by the theological and spiritual insights of Sr Catherine Mead rsj (Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart) and Sr Michele Connolly rsj (Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar).
Pentecost 2025
June 6, 2025
As we celebrate the feast of Pentecost (8 June), we recall the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, Mary and others gathered in the Upper Room. This event is often referred to as the birth of the Church.
In his book, Breath of Life: a Theology of the Creator Spirit, the Australian theologian Fr Denis Edwards reminds us there are other comings of the Holy Spirit. At the very beginning of creation when all was darkness and emptiness and chaos, the Spirit hovered over the waters and so began the universe story.