The Hope and Faith of Mary MacKillop
April 8, 2022
The massacre of the innocent, the ravages of war and the displacement of people engender fear, desperation, and a sense of hopelessness. We also feel the pain of the flood victims left homeless and poverty stricken. Devastation and hardship call upon every ounce of faith and hope we have, to claim and look forward to a brighter future.
A Letter to Mary MacKillop
To commemorate the anniversary for when Mary MacKillop received Constitutions of the Institute (Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart) and when Central Government was accepted on 21 April 1874, Sr Maria Casey shares what she would have written to Mary if she was alive today.
Justice Now: The Peril and the Promise, Daring to Hope
April 6, 2022
Josephite Justice Network Gathering: 11-13 March 2022
At long last with Covid restrictions eased, we, the Josephite Justice Network, were able to meet face to face.
Seventeen of us gathered at St Joseph’s Spirituality and Education Centre, Kincumber, New South Wales and were aware of many others who were unable to join us.
Voting for the good of the whole community
March 29, 2022
How would Mary MacKillop vote in the upcoming Federal Election? We will never know.
Nevertheless, as the author Sheila McCreanor points out:
Although Mary MacKillop’s language is couched in the values of her time, we can follow its spirit and appreciate its important message.
The Legacy of Julian Tenison Woods and the Earth Charter
March 22, 2022
In every generation, voices of prophets remind us that God has charged humans with the care of our common home, Earth. The examples of our first peoples, and of individuals like Francis of Assisi, Meister Eckhart and the Medieval Women Mystics come to mind. In our day, too, we cite Pope Francis in his encyclical Laudato Si’ as synthesising world-wide awareness that our treatment of creation has repercussions for good or evil.
Similarly, can we claim Julian Tenison Woods as a nineteenth-century Australian prophet, a precursor of the current call to respond to the health crisis of our planet, Earth?
Lent and the life of Mary MacKillop
CEO of Mary MacKillop Today, Jane Woolford, shares her personal reflections in this Lenten season.
There is no doubt that hardship is all around us. Right here in Australia, people are enduring devastating damage from the floods. We are still feeling the difficult impacts of the pandemic, and overseas we are seeing a horrendous war play out with children and families caught in the crossfire.
During Lent, we reflect on the themes of sacrifice, justice and almsgiving.
Sabbatical: Invitation to Wisdom, Mission, Conversion, Transformation
2022 Sabbatical group members.
This Sabbatical held at St Joseph’s Centre, Baulkham Hills from 25 February to 8 April 2022, focuses on transitions and is for those who are at the crossroads of life and ministry.
The group of nine sisters who comprise the Sabbatical membership for 2022, encountered a very wet St Joseph’s Centre as they began their journey.
No ordinary Kyriale
March 21, 2022
For those with an appreciation for the story of the sung prayers of the Ordinary of the Mass, a new scholarly book is available at the Mary MacKillop Place shop in North Sydney and online.
Titled The Place of the Kyriale, the Ordinary of the Mass, in Catholic History, Liturgy, And Music and written by sacred music specialist Sr Marie Levey rsj, the book covers the history of Gregorian chant in the Western Church, especially the Kyriale.
Sr Marie is a Sister of Saint Joseph, a musicologist, church musician, and retired teacher of piano, violin and theory. For 20 years, she was musical director of The Gregorian Schola of Sydney.
“The book is a response to the need expressed by choral singers, parish musicians and scholars of music history, to know more about the origin and sources of the Kyriale, the people’s sung parts of the Mass,” says Sr Marie.