National Vocations Awareness Week

August 2, 2020

For National Vocations Awareness Week (NVAW) starting on Sunday 2 August and concluding on Sunday 9 August 2020, you’re invited to view a reflection by Sr Clare Conaglen.

My Dad was a doctor. As kids we learnt that we had to share him with many other people unknown to us. For Dad being a doctor was more than a profession or career, it was a vocation, a belief that God was calling him, and that God had given him the gifts necessary. [1] He was dedicated, he gave his life to it and even when he was sick himself for a nearly a year, his patients all returned to him knowing that he cared for them with compassion and genuine concern. Mum was always the support and in turn lived out her vocation of spouse, mother and carer of the carer.

What do we mean by Christian vocation or call? It is not that we are doctors or priests, construction workers, secretaries or religious. It is more a sense that God is intimately involved in our lives and calls us to participate in making our planet, with humans and non-humans alike, more just, caring and loving, building and participating in the reign of God here and now.

However not everyone wants to hear this message and violence, racism, greed, egocentrism and destruction of our planet continue. Jesus doesn’t beat around the bush when he says, “whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matt 10: 39). How Jesus uses the word worthy means more about ‘capable’, ‘ready’, ‘equal to.’ Am I worthy of, up to it, ready, capable of Jesus? None of us are capable by our own efforts. With the support of a spouse or of a community we can respond to Jesus’ challenge.

Jesus continues “Those who find their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matt 10:39). Am I prepared to lose my life for the sake of Jesus? Our world today says you must be self-realised, achieve your utmost, be someone, make your mark in the world. Jesus asks us to be faithful, using our gifts and time for others, for our world. We will find meaning in our lives, we will have life.

My life as a Sister of St Joseph has led me into the classroom teaching mathematics and science in New Zealand and Samoa- such small islands in the Pacific with a culture rich in dignity and respect for each other. The students there saw themselves as the centre of the world and lived into their dreams for education and a career, living their vocation.

My life has also taken me to Peru for 16 years working alongside some wonderful people in a parish on the edge of the Lima where people come from the mountains and the jungle areas with their hopes and dreams to start a new life, a better education for their children and a better job. They carve out settlements on the dry and dusty hills of the desert in which surround Lima. Poverty abounds but a spirit of resilience also abounds.

Now I find myself on the Congregational leadership team in North Sydney which brings yet another set of challenges. And underneath and through the activity and challenges there is a constant flowing stream -the call, that relationship of love with God that invites us on. Are you up to the challenge? Are you capable? My Dad and Mum said “yes.” With the support of a community we can say ‘’yes.”

Sr Clare Conaglen

Footnote:
[1] Idea taken from Mary M McGlone, Scripture for Life Column, NCR, 13^th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

Celebrate Mary’s Feast Day with Mary MacKillop Today

July 30, 2020

Provided below is a message from Mary MacKillop Today to schools about the feast of Mary MacKillop on 8 August 2020.

Mary MacKillop’s Feast Day is coming up in August.

This year is particularly special because it is the 10 year anniversary since Mary was canonised as Australia’s first Saint. Education was close to Mary’s heart and she knew its power to lift communities out of poverty. This is why Mary MacKillop Today is asking schools across Australia to celebrate Mary’s Feast Day with us and raise funds to help give children in Fiji access to early education!

Throughout August, we’re inviting schools to hold their own fundraising activities and set a target of $1,500 (or more!). That’s enough to give a vulnerable community in Fiji the resources they need to build a safe and effective learning environment for eager children.

Once your school is registered, Mary MacKillop Today will provide resources to help your school promote and run a successful fundraiser.

Click the link below to register for your school’s resources today and celebrate Mary MacKillop’s legacy by helping transform lives with the gift of education:

Mary MacKillop Feast Day fundraising activities

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Madeleine Gough, Mary MacKillop Today’s Community Partnerships Coordinator, directly via email madeleine.gough@marymackilloptoday.org.au or telephone on (02) 8912 2708

Nine Days With Mary MacKillop Novena

July 29, 2020

These nine days will offer an opportunity to pray and reflect on scripture, Mary MacKillop and your own lives, all within your own time.

Friday 31 July marks the beginning of our Novena – a time when we can reflect on how the Scriptures, Mary MacKillop’s life and our life intertwine to encourage us in all that we do.

As this Novena is online – you might like to form a group or two to share in this retreat together.

Thank you for praying together as we look forward to celebrating the feast day of Saint Mary MacKillop (Saturday 8 August).

Day One, 31 July: Opening To Our Potter God

Day Two, 1 August: Becoming Good Soil

Day Three, 2 August: Becoming Light for the World

Day Four, 3 August: Becoming Salt for the Earth

Day Five, 4 August: Encountering God

Day Six, 5 August: Loving Tenderly

Day Seven, 6 August: Acting Justly

Day Eight, 7 August: Walking Humbly

Day Nine, 8 August: Feast Day

Good Grief: Stormbirds and Youth Wellbeing

Good Grief [1] has provided an update on their program Stormbirds and some resources on youth wellbeing.

The bushfires across New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and southern Queensland were unprecedented.The changes and losses experienced as a result of a natural disaster can be traumatic, complex and ongoing. Research following the Black Saturday fires in Victoria reveal that 5 years on, communities are still suffering mental health concerns at rates twice the general population.

Stormbirds is an early intervention education program that provides tailored support to children and young people affected by natural disasters. The program was developed by Good Grief in response to the Black Saturday Bushfires in Victoria and recently, the Stormbirds program has been reviewed and updated to support the children and young people affected by recent natural disasters.

Listen to our training coordinator Louise Hall discuss discuss the Stormbirds program with Simon Lauder on ABC News Radio.

With all the changes we experience in our lives, we may experience a range of emotions and reactions – we do not often recognise these as grief experiences.

Fiona McCallum, General Manager of Good Grief presented on ‘Seasons for Growth 25 years on – Educating children to live well with change, loss and uncertainty’ on the Youth Health Forum: “A long and winding road: Navigating the journey of grief and loss”. Youth Health Forums are stimulating, half-day forums that cover a wide range of adolescent health and wellbeing issues, appealing to health, education, community, welfare professionals and students.

Additionally, Good Grief has provided a resource titled Supporting your Child’s Social & Emotional Wellbeing which includes some ideas to help children and young people in times of uncertainty.

Visit the Good Grief website here

Footnote:
[1] A former ministry of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, now part of MacKillop Family Services.

Peruvian National Days 2020

July 28, 2020

Peruvian people celebrate the national days called “Fiestas Patrias” during two days – 28 and 29 July.

*Puno. Perú. Celebrating Fiestas Patria*s

On 28 July we remember the day that General Don José the San Martín signed the Independence Act and proclaimed that Perú was independent from the Spanish Crown. It took place in Huaura, a small town close to Lima. Houses, private and public buildings, display the flag of Perú.

This event was, to put it, only somewhat formal because the form of government and the leadership positions at the time were assumed by people whose parents were Spanish but who were born in Peru. They were called “Criollos” and they were the aristocrats of that time. Criollos wanted the opportunity to assume power and with the differences of social classes, the subjugation of the indigenous as slaves continued.

In schools, the historical version of independence is still presented as an achievement, however, other historians currently point out, from new research, that independence was “conceded,” says Moran (2015). Moran makes this claim in a book that compiles articles produced by renowned Peruvian historians who support this thesis based on historical documents and accounts. Liberating Peru from the Spanish Crown was a result of a series of internal and external events, almost a necessary objective, to ensure the independence of the South American countries that had achieved so much leading to their Independence. It should be noted that Peru is geographically in a strategic place, which allowed important critical political, economic and military actions for Spain to control the “countries” that were part of its colonies.

Remembering this event today is a challenge. 199 years have passed and Peru is still endeavouring to build a country that embraces its cultural diversity; revalues its traditions and promotes sustainable public policies that aim to enhance such. Although Peruvians carry out activities that honor their history, every 28 & 29 July, because they are public holidays, they need to seriously address issues such as: corruption, discrimination, poverty, precarious basic health services, poor investment in education and address unemployment. The experience of the COVID 19 pandemic has exposed and highlighted all these issues even more.

The bicentennial celebration is an opportunity to strengthen progress. Until 2019, people enjoyed these days doing different activities: tourism, visiting historical centers, museums, circuses, fairs, etc. In schools, traditional “marches” were held in which children dressed up as police, military, doctors, nurses, firefighters etc. Some students dressed representing the 3 Regions of the coast, the mountains and the jungle. They march through the streets of cities in many parts of Peru. On 28 July the President gives his Presidential speech and an account of the development of the State during the year. On 29 July, the traditional Military Parathe takes place – the armed forces, air force, the police, firefighters march and the air force planes mathe creative air demonstrations. Traditional dancing also forms part of the celebrations.

This year all these celebrations will not take place because of the current situation. The nation is still trying to get ahead due to the health crisis and the poverty in which thousands of people are submersed. This is compounded by the fact that in recent years Peru has received close to 1 million Venezuelan migrants due to the situation of poverty and internal violence in their own country. The desire to get ahead has mathe Peruvians continue to be creative. For this reason, those who are part of this country have much to do and the Sisters of Saint Joseph are more committed to the mission of caring for the most vulnerable people in schools, parishes, universities and working with other institutions in networks.

Sr Jenny Mori L rsj

Laudato Si’ Webinar: Part Four

July 16, 2020

In May 2015 Pope Francis launched his encyclical with the subtitle “On Care for our Common Home” and the title “Laudato Si’” which are the opening words for a hymn composed by St Francis of Assisi in the 1200s.

For our time, this document is both relevant and important, since it highlights the priority that respect for the environment should have in Catholic life, and integrates the notion with what is central to our understanding of humanity’s relationship with God.

Click here to continue reading

So Small a Beginning: Part 4

July 8, 2020

Sr Marie Foale speaks about the beginnings of the Institute of St Joseph for the Catholic education of poor children.

She believes that as a young Josephite growing up, she had a sense that one day Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods had made a spontaneous decision to found an order.

Click here to continue reading

Reflection on Mary MacKillop

Mary MacKillop Continues to Make a Difference.

*The Story of Mary MacKillop – Holy Family Primary Granville [1]*

As December 1882 drew near, once more Mother Mary had a death in her family. Her 32-year-old sister Lexie, who was a Good Shepherd nun in Melbourne, died. Lexie had helped Mother Mary in our first school at Penola. I cried in my heart for Mother Mary.

By the end of 1882 we had a foundation in the south coast of New South Wales, Albion Park. Archbishop Vaughan asked us to take over St. John’s School in Kent Street, Sydney. The people were very poor around Kent St, which was ‘a scene of much human misery’. Every day one of the Sisters cooked a substantial meal for the children and a hot drink was ready for them when they arrived at school. Even on Sundays the sisters cooked breakfast for the children and their parents. Our sisters truly were servants for the poor.

Extract from ‘The Letter under the Pillow‘ by Clare Aherne (2016) Chapter 11, pp. 59-60. Carrowmore Publishing Ltd, Ireland.

Mary MacKillop was a woman who championed the rights and needs of the poor in the community. Mary and the early sisters worked exceedingly hard to make a difference to the lives of the deprived. It seems remarkable that the sisters were able to provide such sustenance and assistance when they too relied on Providence. No doubt they sought out donations and went begging for food to enable this marvellous ministry to the poor.

Mary and the Sisters also knew suffering and death.

Let us reflect…

What feelings well up in you when you think of Mary’s generosity in these early days?
The present COVID-19 crisis paints a grim picture of hardship, sickness and death in the community.
What has affected your life during this time?
Have you been able to help others cope with endure their plight?
Are we able to extend kindness to our neighbours of all cultures?

Let us pray.

Michele Shipperley rsj

Image:
[1] The Story of Mary MacKillop a short film by Holy Family Primary, Granville. Obtained from Cath Family.