Living from the Heart
July 6, 2019This 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
Fr Julian: Man of Words – Letter Six
July 5, 2019
Father Julian Tenison Woods wrote many articles on scientific subjects.
This month I present an example of the detailed research and time that must have gone into his writing: Palaeontology of New Zealand Part 4, Corals and Bryozoa of the Neozoic period in New Zealand. [i]
This is not a paper that I expect too many people may read in its entirety. Indeed it may not be a subject of interest to too many. It is, however, a valuable insight into the scientific mind of Father Julian and, I hope, may lead the reader into finding other articles of more personal relevance. It certainly shows Father Julian’s ability to apply his observations to areas unfamiliar to his experience.
Mount St Joseph’s Former Students Excel
July 4, 2019“Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College (MSJ) breathes life into contemporary learning, inspires girls to strive to fulfil their goals and celebrates their many talents.”
Here are a couple of examples of past students’ achievements:
Kelly and Lacrosse: Former MSJ student, Steph Kelly (MSJ College Sports Captain 2016) is living her dream and goal of playing lacrosse at the highest level. Steph played in the National Lacrosse Championships over the June long weekend for the victorious Senior Victorian Women’s Team. Victoria defeated South Australia 16-5. Steph was the top scorer in the championship.
Steph is currently on a break from her lacrosse scholarship at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia USA. In Steph’s own words:
Sue Safornos, Sports Coordinator: Supporting Steph to achieve her goals is MSJ’s sports coordinator, Sue Sofarnos. Sue has mentored Steph since she was a student at MSJ and as Steph’s coach in the Under 15 Victorian team in 2012-2013. Sue coached Steph to victory in the Senior Victorian Women’s team. Following in the family tradition, Sue’s daughter Hayley also played in the recent National Championship, being named Most Valuable Player. Sue has just been named as coach for the All Australian Lacrosse Team.
Trudi Camilleri – West End Star: Former MSJ student Trudy Camilleri is now starring in the London West End Theatre production of Queen of the Mist. Trudi is an amazing lady. On 16 August 1993, whilst at MSJ, Trudy was dragged under a bus and had both her legs crushed. She recovered and came back the following year to complete her Victorian Certificate of Education. Trudi went on to study at the Melbourne Conservatorium and even came back to MSJ to teach singing for a while.
Trudi has been living in London for the past 15 years and became involved in Musical theatre about five years ago. Queen of the Mist is a role that was written specifically for her. She is currently in the recording studio recording the cast soundtrack.
We take pride in these former students and congratulate them on their success.
Nicole Magee,
Marketing & Communications Officer
Mount St. Joseph Girls’ College, Altona West, Victoria
Footnote: Heading quote sourced from the MSJ Website
Photos supplied by Mount St Joseph college. Used with permission.
Media Statement: CRA urges Government to do more for Asylum-Seekers and Refugees
July 3, 2019Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) applauds the decision of the Australian Government to rescue eight Australian orphans trapped in Syrian refugee camps.
Catholic Religious Australia (CRA) applauds the decision of the Australian Government to rescue eight Australian orphans trapped in Syrian refugee camps in the recent secret operation. CRA urges the Government to continue to act courageously on behalf of refugees, especially young people.
There are approximately 50 Australian women and children remaining in Syrian refugee camps who are now suffering a backlash from the rescue operation. Accused of being traitors, their lives are in danger. The repatriation of these endangered families needs to be a priority for the Australian Government, for the sake of the physical and psychological safety of innocent children.
Media Statement: CRA urges Government to do more for Asylum-Seekers and Refugees
Mary MacKillop: Patron of Brisbane Archdiocese
June 29, 2019Mary, 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.
Feast of the Sacred Heart
June 28, 2019Personal Reflection on the contemporary relevance of devotion of the Sacred Heart.
Whilst writing a reflection for the Feast of the Sacred Heart, my memory takes me back to the first time I gazed upon an image of the Sacred Heart. I was about eight or nine years old, living in our humble rental home in North Fitzroy, Melbourne with my parents, brother and sister. My mother placed the image on the pedestal in her bedroom, accompanied with a Legion of Mary brochure and a statue of Our Lady. There she prayed every night that my father’s employment as a railway worker would enable the family to purchase their own home. Eventually this happened when we moved into our new family home in North Carlton when I was 12 years old. The framed image of the Sacred Heart came with us and remained in the family home for the next sixty years! It now resides in my sister’s home to this day.
My devotion to the Sacred Heart has ebbed and flowed over time. During my early years, I did not understand the origins of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Perhaps I was not alone in my experience. In Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods’ time, devotion to the Sacred Heart was primarily one of external devotion. Although the more I reflect on their spirituality through reading their letters and recognised biographies, my appreciation that their deep love of the Heart of Jesus was a central theme in their spirituality which they practised with enduring love.
As we approach the Feast of the Sacred Heart, I revisit the origins surrounding the reasons for the sub-title ‘of the Sacred Heart’ being added to our name as Sisters of Saint Joseph.
Mary Cresp rsj provides a background:
The words: “orientation of the charism was to be perpetuated,” clarified for me the connection between devotion to the Sacred Heart and living the Josephite charism. The connection was evident in the spiritual lives of Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods.
Memories continue to linger as I continue to write this reflection. My mother’s quiet devotion to the loving Heart of Jesus through daily prayer comes to mind. When I entered the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in the sixties, my mother often alluded to her image of the Sacred Heart with prayerful gratitude for my vocation. Such was her simple, deep faith and trust in the power of prayer. Prayer for her was a daily activity. Her well-worn Sunday missal, which is in my possession today, reminds me of her devotion to the Indwelling Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
Continue reading Sr Yvonne Harte’s article below:
A personal reflection on the contemporary relevance of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Yvonne Harte rsj
Images provided by Sr Yvonne Harte. Used with permission.
Remembering Sister Anne Derwin
June 26, 201910 September 1949 – 23 June 2019
Sister Anne Derwin of the New South Wales Region died peacefully on 23 June 2019 at The Mater Hospital, North Sydney, NSW.
Anne, who became a Sister of Saint Joseph fifty years ago, trained as a teacher of Maths, Science and Religious Education. She taught these subjects at Saint Joseph’s East Gosford, Mount Saint Joseph’s, Milperra and Saint Joseph’s Kogarah, before becoming principal of the Milperra school. Subsequently, she was appointed to the New South Wales Province Leadership Team. Next, she spent six years as Provincial of the NSW Province of the Sisters of Saint Joseph and, at the end of her time in that role, moved on to the directorship of Saint Joseph’s Spirituality and Education Centre, Kincumber South.
She then undertook the management of Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney. Her time there was short-lived for in the year 2007, Anne was elected Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Saint Joseph. While she was in that role, she and the Sisters celebrated the canonisation of Saint Mary MacKillop and four Congregations of the Australian/New Zealand Federation of Sisters of Saint Joseph moved towards “fusion” with the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. Her contribution to the Congregation she treasured and to religious women and men across Australia, through her presidency of Catholic Religious Australia, impacted in significant ways on the lives of many Religious Congregations and individuals.
Her term of office expired six years ago and since then Anne used her leadership skills and expertise as chair and member of several Boards, and acted as facilitator for Religious Congregations, especially during their Chapters and similar events. As her health declined and she became physically weaker, she maintained her passion and interest in public and current affairs. Even up to her last days, she continued her commentary and reflections on local and world events and, as her illness progressed, her family, friends and religious sisters gathered around her to give her support and share in her wisdom.
We continue to live in gratitude for her personal and leadership gifts, her organisational skills, and her sense of prayer and the presence of her God in her life.
The Mass of Christian Burial for Anne will be held at St Mary’s Church, Ridge Street, North Sydney, on Saturday 29 June at 10am and will be followed by the Rite of Committal at Macquarie Park Cemetery. Saint Mary MacKillop’s funeral Mass was celebrated in this church almost exactly 110 years ago.
Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ
June 23, 2019Bread of Presence… Corpus Christi.
My understanding and appreciation of the feast of Corpus Christi has been influenced over recent years by the writings of Teilhard de Chardin, Richard Rohr and Ilia Delio. This feast is for me a celebration of the all-encompassing Presence of Christ in the Universe. As a lover of nature and in my frequent experiences of walking in places of beauty I have an ever-deepening awareness that I am surrounded by the Body of Christ and that I live in the Body of Christ.
As Saint Paul writes…
Last year Richard Rohr had a series of meditations on the Eucharist. He spoke of those familiar words of Jesus, “This is My Body” and “This my Blood”. In his explanation he spoke of Jesus expressing his desire for us to be drawn into the reality that when we hear these words “This is My Body” we are being invited into an awareness of the sacredness of all humanity, of all creatures and all that exists.
Teilhard de Chardin expresses similar sentiments when he writes;
The words,“This is My Blood” are a call to recognise the presence of Christ suffering in our world today. The celebration of the Eucharist and the feast of Corpus Christi are a reminder to me to become the Bread of Christ’s presence and to appreciate the Source of this Presence in every encounter, and in all of creation.
The recent terrorist attack in Christchurch and the way people in New Zealand and the whole world responded have really given me a fuller appreciation of the Body of Christ.
In its aftermath we frequently heard the words:–
“The eyes of my heart were enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18) as I listened to and witnessed the daily outpouring of love through the donating of food and money, through stories of compassion, of people joining Muslims in Mosques, of hundreds of young and old gathering for Vigils, Throughout the country there was a felt sense of deep empathy and a growing desire to be in communion with our Muslim brothers and sisters. I grew in a deeper appreciation of the Body of Christ manifest through the encounters of love which were nourishing and sustaining those whose lives were traumatised.
The feast of Corpus Christi awakens us to the truth expressed in the words of Saint Teresa of Avila:
Yours are the eyes through which
he looks compassion on the world.
Lyndall Brown rsj
Image Communion Wine Bread by Bouf16 obtained from pixabay. Used with permission.