Fr Julian: Man of Words – Letter Ten

This month we look at the plan for Catholic Education in South Australia that Father Julian Tenison Woods had the task of implementing when he became the first Director General of Catholic Education in Australia.

In 1867 Bishop Laurence Sheil appointed Father Julian Tenison Woods as his Secretary and asked him to leave Penola and move to Adelaide. Once he was there, together, they devised a comprehensive plan for Catholic Education and communicated this at a public meeting held at St Francis Xavier’s Hall on Friday, 26 April 1867. [i]

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Are We Advocates for Earth’s Future?

Yes, You Can Buy Ladybugs!

On Saturday, the 19 October 2019 this response evoked laughter in a Limerick (Ireland) cosmology gathering! Fascinating though Ladybugs or Lady beetles are, why and how would anyone buy or sell them? Perhaps we are not all aware that Ladybugs are the sworn enemy of greenfly and aphids and therefore a valuable asset to even the amateur gardener! And yes, Ladybugs can be bought at some more entrepreneurial and ecologically minded garden Centres!

The hall full of laughing people who had gathered on Saturday morning at Don Bosco Centre, Milford, were more than a little serious about our planet’s future and they were very interested in insects and in promoting biodiversity without the introduction of harmful chemicals. All present at the conference were genuinely concerned about ‘climate change’ and the welfare of our planet. They were gathered to hear what they might do about “a Limerick Response to Climate Change”. Regardless of age or state of health, each person present possessed the capability of contributing to a response to earth’s cry for ‘help!’ Each was ready to embrace the responsibility of responding in some way. Even small changes in our lifestyles can make a difference.

We don’t have to be philosophers or scientists to notice the signs of our times. Our information sources and communication apps bring us an abundance of unwelcome news clips about melting ice-caps, rising sea levels, swamping coastlines, disappearing islands, changing weather conditions and even more local threats to our herds and potato crops. We know we add to that situation through the devastating effects of human activities, e.g., obliteration of rainforest areas, pollution of ocean and water systems, abuse of the land and destruction of natural habitats; and that’s just a few! These behaviours contribute to the loss of biodiversity, diminishment of top-soil and destruction of the very systems: air, sun and water that support our very survival.

The truth is every one of us can make a difference! All is not gloom and doom! In the midst of all the negatives about destructive forces it is encouraging to see some signs of hope. None of us is alone.

Have courage! Developing across the world is a kind of groundswell of people from all walks of life, pointing out the factors that are contributing to the destruction of earth, as well as highlighting ways human beings can respond. Scientists and others are publishing the results of their research. We hear about “Earth Overshoot Day” – marking the date when earth’s population uses more of the planet’s resources than the planet is able to replace. Churches celebrating the “Season of Creation,” (from 1 September to 4 October each year), remind us to respect God’s gift of creation and to care for it. A slogan such as “CUSP” challenges us to “cease using single use plastic”!

Cosmology groups, too, are evolving and becoming more vocal. We can rejoice in the ministry of many Religious Orders who, with a growing number of lay-people, are spending significant energy in developing sensitivity to the environment! Over the last ten years the Salesian Cosmology Group in Limerick has been running conferences to raise people’s consciousness levels about the crisis facing our planet, earth. They have encouraged all who attend to make lifestyle adjustments that are more respectful of earth’s resources and to be mindful that future generations have the right to a healthy planet…

You’re invited to continue reading below:

Continue ‘Are We Advocates for Earth’s Future?’ here (PDF)

Eileen Lanihan rsj

Image: Ladybird on purple flower by Dominque Knobben obtained from Unsplash. Used with permission.

Divine Lover of Life

Elaine Wainwright suggests that by contemplating creation we will develop love to care for the Earth community.

This extract from the Book of Wisdom 11:22–12:2, written in the second or first century BCE, belongs to the biblical Wisdom Literature which includes psalms and proverbs, poetry and prose. A key characteristic of the collection, distinguishing it from the more “historical” literature of the Hebrew Bible, is its reflection on life. For the sages responsible for the texts life includes the relationships of the ordinary human community, with the Divine and with the cosmos…

Continue reading the article below:

Tui Motu Issue 243, November 2019 (PDF)

Elaine Wainwright is a biblical scholar specialising in eco-feminist interpretation and is currently writing a Wisdom Commentary on Matthew’s Gospel.
Image: Mountain landscape. Used with permission.

A Hill Too Far?

At a time when the treatment of animals used in sport is under the spotlight, and in this month when countless Australians are captivated by the ‘Race that stops the nation’, it seems appropriate to stop,  ponder and allow ourselves to be inspired by Mary MacKillop’s kindness and concern for both people and animals.

“Another Sister and I were travelling with Mother Mary in Cobb and Co’s coach, which had its full complement of passengers,” one Sister recounted. “When we came to a very steep hill, Mother thought it was too much for the horses. She got out of the coach, and we did also, much against our will, as the hill was very long as well as steep, and, to make matters worse, Mother asked us to join her in saying some prayers for the driver of the coach. He was a most disagreeable man who was swearing at his horses most of the time.  Mother walked to the top of the hill in the best of spirits and provided the driver with some refreshments, as the days was very hot.”

On an ordinary, hot, Australian day, a grumpy man who swore at his horses must have been surprised to be the recipient of such a random act of kindness! “Amazing”, he probably thought, as he chewed on those unexpected refreshments. It raises the question: ‘Who deserves a good deed?’

In our imperfect lives, we all need someone to come along every so often to remind us of the love that underpins everything. Kindness sets up many ripples, and that’s why it is the greatest wisdom.

The above is an extract from The Little Brown Book Too (pages 48-49)

© 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: Jiawei Shen, who has written:
I have used a pure realist style to portray a scene of Mary MacKillop travelling around Australia by Cobb and Co coach in the 1880s. I based my work on comments by Mary’s biographers about how she never stayed in the one place long, travelling vast distances between Josephite  establishments over rough roads in uncomfortable coaches.
Obtained from: Mary MacKillop: A Tribute © Honeysett Press,  NSW 1995, page 70

Students Called to Action through Stewardship

Students at Mary MacKillop College, Nundah in Queensland, were called to action last week when they celebrated the College’s Penola Day.

At the College, Penola Day (7 October) commemorates the anniversary of the death of Father Julian Tenison Woods. Fr Julian was not only a gifted missionary priest and co-founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph but an eminent scientist and environmentalist. For Fr Julian:

As such, Penola House’s overarching value is stewardship. This is lived by the community through conservation, empathy and inclusivity.

This year Penola House committed the day to preserving the earth through conserving water. The Penola House liturgy invited the girls to imagine what the world will be like if we do not act to preserve all that is sacred. In this instance they acknowledged the importance of water as a “living source” (John 4:10-14) and as a House recommitted to their stewardship of this essential resource. Each girl wrote her commitment and a prayer on water droplets. The droplets were then hung in the plaza to form a community pledge of commitment.

The day centered on raising awareness to the plight of communities in drought-stricken areas of Queensland where water shortage has been unprecedented. Parent, students and staff donated bottles and cases of water which will be distributed to outlying communities in South East Queensland. The community also pledged commitments to practical ways of conserving water at school and at home. The College plaza was alive with fund raising initiatives as girls busked, braided and baked to raise money for those in need.

Penola Day 2019 was a day of awareness, gratitude and a deepening of empathy for the needs of those facing significant hardship. As a generation faced with a future of climate change and uncertainty, the students are keen to continue their commitment to the environment and conservation in the hope of bringing about change.

Mary MacKillop College
Nundah

View photos from Penola Day in the gallery below:

Photos provided by Mary MacKillop College, Nundah. Used with permission.

All Souls Day

All Souls Day is a day for commemoration of all the faithful departed and is observed on 2 November.

The feasts of All Saints and All Souls, which are celebrated one day apart in November, 1 & 2, are the two sides of the same coin. This precious coin is the incredible and all-encompassing love that God our Creator has for all of creation and therefore for each one of us. That unconditional love of the God who is Love carries us from the moment of our conception to our final home with God. As Christians we believe that, like Jesus, we will pass through the gateway of death to that new life in God that is our destiny.

In the earliest Christian scriptures, St Paul, writing to the Romans explicates this belief:

There has long been a tradition in our Church of praying for our dead. At each Mass in the Eucharistic Prayer we pray for them: “Remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again. Bring them into the light of your presence”. Mary MacKillop too reminded the Sisters, “Let us not forget our loved ones in our prayers.”

This remembrance in prayer in later times grew into the perceived need for a notion such as purgatory, a state of being purified of anything that might hold the person back from God. Over the ages the mystery of our journey through death to life has taken many forms in our attempt to understand what we cannot know, of what we have no experience. We can only use our imperfect images to try to describe the unknown. St Paul alludes to this when he says:

We are utterly blessed to be fully known by our God and so all our life – our joys, our difficulties, our sufferings, our weakness and sinfulness are surely gathered into the immense love of our God who draws us ever more and more into that love until we come to know fully.

The Opening Prayer of the Mass for 2 November brings together our understanding and our celebration, in Jesus, of the mystery of the life and death of our loved ones and of all our faithful departed.

All Saints’ Day

All Saints’ Day is a celebration of all Christian saints held on 1 November annually.

A young woman whom I know has just celebrated her 44^th birthday. She is the mother of two children. Early this year she was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer. After having undergone months of chemo-therapy and a complete reconstruction of her pelvis she is learning to walk again – a very painful process. Two weeks ago, she learned that the cancer has spread to other parts of her body. How does she face this challenging part of her life’s journey?

Then there are the mum and dad expecting their first child. Early in the pregnancy doctors told them that the little one would be born with severe difficulties. What decision do these parents make when they think about the future of their as yet unborn child, the ongoing care, advocacy and more ……..?

The people in each of these stories are facing their difficulties with hope, sometimes tears, many questions, fear but always with courage and love. They inspire us.

As you read this you will no doubt think of people in your life who have faced or are facing significant challenges as they continue to walk their journey of life.

As we move towards celebrating the feast of All Saints, I would suggest that the stories above, your memories, and many unknown stories call us to reflect on the meaning of this ancient feast.  Originally it was a celebration of all the nameless martyrs of the persecutions, people who surrendered their lives rather than compromise their beliefs.

Just what makes a saint? What is it about a person that we name them as “holy”?

The Gospel for this feast, the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-12, gives us the roadmap for this way of living. Jesus calls us to be meek and merciful. He challenges us to hunger and thirst for righteousness and to work for peace. He assures us then that “the kingdom of heaven will be ours.”

Richard Rohr comments that this Gospel gives us an image of what a healed, whole and liberated life looks like. He also comments that, in all his letters, whenever St Paul speaks of “the saints” he means “the people”, “those who have been wounded, walked through the wounding and come out the other side more alive and more whole.” Perhaps being more whole is about being holy?

So who are the saints among us?

They are the ones who stand tall in times of crisis; who reach out to others in times of need. They are women and men of principle, generosity, patience and kindness. They are the ones who are patient, forgiving and understanding.  They are the ones who form us in goodness as they make visible the love of God. These are the ones we celebrate on this feast, together with the saints the Church has publicly named as saint.

And so we ask “all you abiding in the fullness of God’s presence, be with us, rejoice with us, sing praise with us, and pray with us now.

You might like to spend some time with these questions that Sr Dianne Bergant offers for reflection:

Who are the saints in your life?
What makes them holy?
Which Beatitude holds special appeal for you and why?

Annie Bond rsj

Images provided by Sr Annie Bond. Used with permission.

France Inspired by St Mary MacKillop

For the Extraordinary Missionary Month of October, the Catholic Diocese of Versailles, France prepared an online St Mary MacKillop reflection and biography about the life of Mary MacKillop.

Provided below is the Mary MacKillop biography that was prepared…

First canonised Australian saint, co-founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart for the Catholic education of poor children.

Born in Melbourne, the eldest of eight children from a poor family, Mary had to work to support them quite early (16 years old). At 18, she left for Penola in the South East district of the Australian state of South Australia to be a governess. In her free time, she cared for poor or disadvantaged children from the local area, especially those from Aboriginal families.

There she met local parish priest, Father Julian Woods whose Bishop had instructed his priests to open Catholic schools in their parishes. He was unable to hire Catholic teachers. Therefore, he decided to found a new Religious Congregation to do this work and he invited Mary to become its first member.  The project far exceeded their expectations.

In 1866, she became the first Sister of St. Joseph as Father Woods’ new Congregation was called.  In 1867 she moved to Adelaide, the principal city in South Australia, to take charge of a large school there. Many young women joined her and by December 1869, when she made her final vows, there were already 82 sisters managing 23 schools, an orphanage, a shelter for former prisoners, and a House of Providence for vulnerable or homeless women of all ages.

Between 1871 and 1889, the new institute continued to grow even though conflict over its mode of governance led to the excommunication of Mary for five months. Then, after the bishop had lifted his excommunication, she travelled to Rome to ask the pope to approve the statutes of this new Australian Religious Congregation. Even though Rome had accepted it with some modifications, the mode of governance, new for the time, continued to provoke turmoil and division among some bishops.

In 1888, Rome gave formal approval to the Congregation and bishops who wished to retain the older form of governance for their sisters were permitted to do so provided they changed these sisters’ mode of dress and the names of their Congregations.

In 1891, 25 years after the establishment of the Congregation, there were 300 sisters in 80 foundations in nine Australian and New Zealand dioceses.

Until the end of her life and as far as she was able, Mary devoted all her energy to visiting the institutions, accompanying Sisters to new foundations, and instructing them on the most subtle points of their rule and on her methods of education.

She died in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 8 August 1909 and became Australia’s first canonised saint on 17 October 2010.

Beatrice Trépanier
Head of the Evangelization Department, Catholic diocese of Versailles, France

View the Mary MacKillop biography on the Catholic diocese of Versailles website

View the St Mary MacKillop reflection for Extraordinary Missionary Month here