St Mary MacKillop in the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic
October 21, 2022
The pandemic was a time that surprised the world. It was never thought that the COVID-19 virus could challenge humanity on the domination of Earth. A fixation on daily death numbers, anguish, despair, pain, violence, lack of food and work, medicine, etc. all reigned.
But all believers in God had hope in God. It is there, where the Josephite mission stood out. There St Mary MacKillop reappeared, through the Josephites, with great strength, through personal and community prayer (Companions, Affiliates, Sisters and sympathisers or friends).
World Mission Sunday 2022
When I met Catherine, she was sitting outside a tin hut – smaller than an Australian backyard tool shed with no windows, a dirt floor and no electricity or running water. This was the family home, in a settlement in Suva, Fiji, and held all their belongings. Catherine lived there with her parents, but her two older sisters were with grandparents because her parents decided it wasn’t safe, and besides, they couldn’t fit! Dad had been laid off for the seven months of Suva’s continuous lockdown during COVID. With no source of income, the family were dependent on food from various charities.
Thanks to the initiative and generosity of Vincentian, Fr Joe Tuiamavule, his community and his generous benefactors, Catherine’s family is now together again, living in a brand new two-bedroom home, complete with furniture.
Mary MacKillop’s Canonisation Anniversary
October 7, 2022Canonisation celebrations at Mary MacKillop Place, 2010.
For the canonisation of Mary MacKillop, all roads led to Rome on 17 October 2010. For those of us in Australia, all roads led to Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney.
At the time, I was blessed to be working at Mary MacKillop Place as a member of our Pastoral Care Team. I spent six and a half wonderful years as part of that great team. It was such a busy time for us, answering phone calls and emails from all over Australia and other parts of the world. The people were requesting prayers and Novenas to Mary MacKillop for their loved ones who were seeking Mary’s intercession for healing and to answer their many intentions.
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2022
Dignity for all – The commitments we make together for social justice, peace, and the planet
We mark the 30th anniversary of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty this year on 17 October. The umbrella theme for this year is Dignity for all in practice.
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrined the importance of dignity: ‘Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.’
World Homeless Day 2022
When the Tent City was set up in Martin Place by homeless people in 2017, I was fascinated by the attention and care that had been given to its organisation.
The tents were placed at regular intervals, hot beverage tables were set up and all comers were offered free tea and coffee. The residents sat around in small groups, sharing ideas, and talking to passer-by’s like me. The experience raised the awareness of the magnitude of the housing and homelessness problem and the way it is increasing across the community. I was really distressed when the Government forced its closure, without taking any steps to deal with the reality facing us.
Taking a Cosmovision on World Mental Health Day
Shedding light on how we might benefit from recognising World Mental Health Day on 10 October, came the XXII International Congress of Analytical Psychologists that we recently attended in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Reflecting on Sr Jenny Mori coming from Peru and my travelling to South America from the ‘Land Down Under’ brought into focus the bigger picture to which contemporary life. The themes of the Congress which included climate change, political, scientific and social change, further emphasised how each of us is affected by what is happening globally. As citizens of the uni/multiverse, our lives both individually and communally, add to or detract from cosmic well-being. Indeed, we are healers of each other or harmful to others – knowingly or unknowingly!
Josephite Convents in New South Wales
As part of the continuing celebration of the Sesquicentenary of the arrival of the first Sisters of Saint Joseph in New South Wales, we are highlighting some historic photos from our collection.
These are presented under the banner of our beautiful Sesquicentenary logo which symbolises the coast, the mountains and the plains of our large State, represented by the blue, green and brown colours. Josephites have lived in these areas over the last 150 years.
October Prayer Intention: A Church Open to Everyone
Each month, Pope Francis asks for our prayers for a specific intention. For the month of October, the prayer intention is for a Church open to everyone.
May the church be a community of solidarity, fraternity and welcome,
always living in an atmosphere of synodality.
Any prayer we pray, invites us to do what the words say. How challenging is this prayer of Pope Francis for his intentions for the month of October!