Resurrection: Is God Acting Now
Elaine Wainwright suggests that we read the resurrection story of Luke 24:1-12 as the culmination of Jesus’s life and death and as God’s continuing acting in all of creation. At the beginning of March many of us in Australia and New Zealand were grappling with the death of Denis Edwards, outstanding eco-theologian in our region […]
How Open Are My Eyes?
Week of Solidarity for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination From 21 to 27 March is a week of solidarity for the elimination of Racial Discrimination. In Australia this usually begins with Harmony Day, the positive spin on this week, where there is an opportunity for all Australians to celebrate the rich gifts of the diverse […]
Happiness and Harmony
Provided below is a reflection on the International Day of Happiness (20 March) and Harmony Day (21 March)… Why is 20 March named as the ‘international day of happiness’? There must be something in our society that has called for it. In fact, it was founded on 28 June 2012 when the UN General Assembly […]
St Joseph’s Day Message from Sr Monica
Greetings on the feast of Saint Joseph. May this feast day provide each one with the opportunity to live in the humble spirit of Joseph as people called to make a difference in our world. Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods chose Saint Joseph to be the Patron of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of […]
Fire In The Red Land – A Two Act Play
A Two Act Play on The Life of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop by Margaret Cusack
Margaret Therese Cusack rsj, who was born and grew up in Sydney, New South Wales, had some acting experience while a student at St Scholastica’s College, Glebe Point. As a Sister of St Joseph, she was trained to teach Secondary Science/Maths at the Josephite Training College in North Sydney. From 1967 onwards, she was involved in Music Education and achieved tertiary diploma qualifications through the Australian Music Examinations Board and Trinity College, London. As a teacher of Junior Secondary classes at St Joseph’s High School, Kogarah, she directed several school musicals.
During the 1970s, Margaret became part of a team of Sisters whose task it was to promote the cause for Beatification of Venerable Mary MacKillop. This led to the writing of ‘Fire in the Red Land’ in 1979. She was Music Advisor to Primary Schools from 1986-1995, and during that time was Musical Director of ten annual combined Music Festivals in the Wollongong Diocese, involving sixteen Catholic schools. At the same time, she reworked the second draft of the play (with helpful critiques from the Australian Playwrights Centre), and completed it in 1994.
Margaret considers it a privilege to have been called to help promote devotion to the person who is now Australia’s first canonised Saint