Responding to a Call
July 8, 2022
The phone rang as I was locking up the house before going to Saturday night Mass. It was the bishop wanting to know if I would go to a country town, 400 kilometres away to train people in leading Liturgy of the Word with Communion.
The parish had recently lost their priest, with no replacement available in the diocese. I assured the bishop that I would go. This was a call something like Mary MacKillop had envisaged for the Sisters of Saint Joseph long ago.
Australian National Pilgrimage 2022
June 8, 2022
In the Footsteps of Mary MacKillop – Bookings for Australian National Pilgrimage Now Open
Mary MacKillop Place and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart are delighted to welcome back pilgrims to its popular Australian National Pilgrimage: In the Footsteps of Mary MacKillop. The next pilgrimage will be running from 18 – 29 October 2022 and will visit many places associated with Mary MacKillop’s life and ministry in Victoria, South Australia and Sydney.
The Pilgrimage is run by Mary MacKillop Place and will be led by a Sister from the Sisters of Saint Joseph and the inaugural Director of the Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre, East Melbourne.
Celebrating June Feast Days with Mary MacKillop
During the month of June, we have the opportunity as followers of Mary MacKillop, to recall and celebrate the great feast days of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (24 June) and St John the Baptist (25 June).
Our Josephite constitutions expresses Mary’s hope that:
Aussie Camino Experience
May 16, 2022
Jim Phelan recently completed the ‘Aussie Camino’ and shares his experience with us.
The Aussie Camino is a pilgrimage walk inspired by the life and journeys of Sisters of Saint Joseph founders St Mary MacKillop and Fr Julian Tenison Woods. It is an opportunity for participants to embark on a contemplative journey, visit scenic places, meet and connect with new people. The walk begins in Portland, Victoria and ends in Penola, South Australia covering over 150 kilometres.
Remembering Mary MacKillop’s mother Flora
May 6, 2022
On Sunday 8 May, many families throughout our country will be celebrating the wonder and joy of experiencing motherhood and being mothered.
For others, Mother’s Day brings sadness and a sense of loss. In troubled places throughout the world mothers are separated from children, and children are living with the awful memory of losing their parents through massacre and war.
A pilgrim’s ‘light-bulb’ moment
April 27, 2022Recently, the staff and volunteers of Mary MacKillop Museum in Adelaide were delighted to welcome a busload of interstate pilgrims, one of whom, after spending quite some time in the museum, was hungry for ‘the more’.
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.