Lent and the life of Mary MacKillop
March 22, 2022
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.
Earth Hour 2022
March 20, 2022
Recently, I viewed the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the great space science observatory now orbiting the sun about 1 million miles from the earth. This large telescope, about the size of a tennis court, continues the work of the Hubble Telescope, which for 25 years explored the farthest depths of the Universe.
The Webb is extending Hubble’s work in several ways. It will allow astronomers not only to look further into space but also further back into time, (i.e. more than 13.5 billion years) to see the faint infrared light from the first stars and galaxies of the universe. Additionally, it will catch a glimpse of the cosmic dawn.
Feast of St Joseph 2022
March 18, 2022
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Joseph, a Man who Engaged with his Neighbours
Over these past few weeks, we have seen and experienced the gift of being a neighbour as Ukrainian families flee into neighbouring countries. Joseph, Mary and the child Jesus knew this experience when they were forced to go to Egypt fleeing the wrath of Herod.
In Australia we have seen neighbour supporting neighbour in the recent unprecedented floods that have ravaged communities in Queensland and New South Wales. We have heard stories of neighbours and friends looking out for one another and supporting each other during these tough days.
On the Feast of Saint Joseph (19 March), Joseph invites us to consider what it means to be a good neighbour.
Fusion: A Moment of Grace
On 19 March 2012, the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Tasmania, received authorisation from the Vatican for fusion with the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart.
“Fusion” is a scientific term to describe the coming together of two atoms to create something new and, in the process, releasing a huge burst of energy. The energy of our sun is the result of this process of nuclear fusion.
St Patrick’s Day – A Reflection
March 17, 2022
This St Patrick’s Day (17 March) we celebrate the Irish Sisters of Saint Joseph who have been part of the story of the Congregation since its beginnings.
As early as 1871 there were 78 Irish Sisters in the group of 137 Josephites. Some of these Irish women immigrated to Australia with their families and others travelled alone.
Who was St Patrick?
Ireland has many saints, the stories of whom have come down to us from tradition, often wrapped in legend and myth, but Patrick is different; he tells his own story.
His brief autobiography, written in old age, begins with an introduction: My name is Patrick and goes on to recount how at 16 he was captured, taken hostage and sold to a Druid in the north of Ireland, how he worked there for six years as a herdsman exposed to all weathers and conditions and how he prayed, “up to a hundred times a day” and the same at night. He tells of a dream that prompted him to journey 200 miles to the coast where, miraculously, a ship was waiting and he found passage back to Britain and his family.