Ash Wednesday Reflection
Eight years ago, I was caught in a bushfire in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. The fire began at the conference centre where we were staying. We prepared to evacuate, but authorities told us it was too late. Next followed an anxious wait of more than 60 minutes, all the while watching the […]
World Day of Consecrated Life
If I’ve learned one thing through the experiences I’ve been privileged to share in life, it is the Teilhard insistence that every life is consecrated and sacred. His words have been echoed by Pope Francis who reminds us that all of life “is a gift from God! It is always sacred and inviolable”. What does […]
30th Anniversary of Mary MacKillop’s Beatification
Thirty years ago in 1995, I found myself in the very privileged role of President of the Australian-New Zealand Federation of Sisters of St Joseph, which was comprised of the diocesan congregations of Perthville, Lochinvar, Goulburn, Tasmania and New Zealand. Randwick Racecourse in Sydney was the ideal place for Mary MacKillop’s beatification ceremony. On entering […]
Epiphany – God puts on flesh!
We saw his star at its rising… Matthew 2:2 God puts on flesh! God brings light! What do we do? The word ‘epiphany’ used in Greek indicates an appearance or manifestation. What does it invite us to?
Sesquicentenary of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration: Launch of Heroic Women
Launch by Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Heroic Women: The Sisters of Perpetual Adoration 1874–2014, by Mary Cresp rsj – Brisbane 8 December 2024 In the late afternoon of a hot Sunday, around 70 people attended the launch of Heroic Women: The Sisters of Perpetual Adoration 1874–2014. It was 32 degrees outside, but the heat did not […]
Educational Book of the Year Winners Announced
Congratulations to Sr Mary-Ann Casanova PhD whose book, We Care for God’s Earth, has been jointly selected as Garratt Publishing’s Educational Book of the Year! Sr Mary-Ann shares the award with Kathryn Robinson and her book, Know Your Bible. We Care for God’s Earth and Know your Bible are both part of Garratt Publishing’s Living […]
Human Rights Day
The year was 1945. I was 10 years old that year, old enough to understand the horror of Hiroshima, to remember the newspapers showing young soldiers with limbs amputated, to learn about the holocaust, to watch the pain of our neighbour’s children when their father, a prisoner of war, returned a different man, a man […]
This Christmas, give the gift of education
Timor-Leste may be one of our closest neighbours but for many of its children, schooling – something that is taken for granted by most Australian children – remains a distant dream. Sadly, nearly 42% of Timor-Leste’s population lives below the poverty line, and children miss out on vital opportunities for learning. [1] Saint Mary MacKillop […]
My Experience of Mary MacKillop’s Canonisation
For me the privilege of being in Rome for Mary MacKillop’s canonisation (17 October 2010) was the culmination of my Josephite journey to that point. I was educated in primary and secondary school, and then teacher’s college with the Josephites. This gave me the opportunity to come to know the values and spirit of the […]
Love of God, love of neighbour, love of common home
Joy and Suffering One of the greatest joys I have experienced through the Josephite charism is the beauty of relationship between Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Tenison Woods. Jan Williamson captured it wonderfully in her painting The Vision. But joy and suffering often go together. I remember suffering when I first learned of Mary and […]
Launch of Laudato Si’ URGENT HOPE series of Conversation Packages
In this Season of Creation (1 September – 4 October 2024), the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, in collaboration with the Sisters of St Joseph Lochinvar, are pleased to launch their newest community resource supporting Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum entitled URGENT HOPE. URGENT HOPE is the first in a five-part series […]
Companions Supporting Companions Webinar
Every year, the Josephite Companions celebrate ‘Josephite Companions Day’. To commemorate this day, there was a webinar titled ‘Companions Supporting Companions’ on 31 August which featured the life of Mary MacKillop’s sister, Annie. Who is the story-teller in your family? Every family has one; someone who keeps the memories alive, never lets the exact truth […]