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Sermon from the 2007 Feast Day of Blessed Mary MacKillop
Download a pdf copy of a sermon here by Graeme Malone ss read on Mary MacKillop's Feast Day, 8 August 2007 at Mary MacKillop Place.
Mary MacKillop's Feast Day - Sr Katrina Brill rsj
Sr Katrina Brill rsj, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, says that, “Mary’s Feast Day provides all Australians with an opportunity to stop and reflect on the meaning of life. Mary MacKillop, an Australian by birth, stands out as one of our Australian heroes. Her life story embodies characteristics which are integral to the Australian identity. She is a person who truly understands the everyday life of people, their struggles and their joys. She was a ‘battler’ herself with a ‘roll up your sleeves, get in and do what you can’ approach. She would, with her Sisters and others, take on impossible situations and work with the people concerned to improve their situation. With imagination and hard work they pioneered new ways of living and caring for each other in Australia and New Zealand. In many cases dignity and hope were restored or in sight for the people and children in miserable circumstances.
One of her great qualities was faithfulness in her relationships. She didn’t pull out when times got tough. As can happen in relationships she suffered misunderstandings, betrayal, exclusion and injustice. Mary always tried to stay connected and yet quietly and firmly put her trust in God and looked for opportunities to right the wrongs in a way that preserved the dignity of those involved.
The many letters that still exist show how she enjoyed the good times with her family especially talking and working with her mother and sisters, depending on her brothers for practical help and advice and grateful for the study and learning that she gained from her father. However, like all families it was a challenge to keep connected in the difficult times, when her father would suddenly follow “pipe-dreams” and leave the family very financially insecure and dependant on others. She suffered deep grief too when her mother was shipwrecked off the NSW coast on her way to help the Sisters in a bazaar in Sydney and when her younger brother died in New Zealand from an accident.
In some painful phases of her life as Leader or Assistant Leader of the Josephite Congregation she struggled to stay in relationship with those with whom she worked closely. This included her Co-Founder Fr Julian Tenison Woods, certain Bishops and priests, and groups of her own Sisters. She constantly spoke candidly and yet respectfully of these situations as she perceived it and tried to leave the door open for further communication. Mary was not always successful in bringing about reconciliation but she is a witness to faithfulness in being constantly open to the possibility.
This same faithfulness is obvious in her relationship with God. Mary MacKillop was known as Mother Mary of the Cross and it is obvious that when she was at her best Mother Mary lived from the centre of the Cross where the vertical beam representing the love and providence of God meets the horizontal beam of the human condition and calls forth in her a deep compassion. Of course she struggled like all of us and says in one letter when she was nearly ‘dead with tiredness’ and could not say any prayers she says but ‘God’s presence is everywhere and makes everything I do and everything I wish to do, a prayer’.
Recently, over 300 Youth and Young Adults representing their World Youth Day Groups from all around Australia received the World Youth Day Cross and Icon from the New Zealand delegation of Young people. It seemed highly fitting that the national pilgrimage of young people with the WYD Cross should begin its journey here, the Shrine of Australia’s only Beatified Saint.”
Catholic Schools at a Crossroads
The Pastoral Letter of the Bishops of NSW and the ACT, 'Catholic Schools at a Crossroads', was launched at Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel on 7 August 2007. The Liturgy of the Word was celebrated by the Bishop of Broken Bay, the Most Rev David Walker, with those enjaged in the mission of Catholic school educaiton in NSW and the ACT.
Journey of the WYD Cross & Icon is placed under the patronage of Blessed Mary MacKillop
With the arrival fo the WYD Cross and Icon on Australian soil on 1 July 2007, Australia's year-long national journey of prayerful preparation towards the celebration of World Youth Day in Sydney in July 2008, commenced.
A delegation of young pilgrims from New Zealand brought the WYD Cross and Icon to Sydney for an international handover to a delegation of young Australian WYD08 pilgrims in the presence of religious and and civic leaders.
The Cross and Icon travelled from the airport to Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel for a special event during which, in the presence of invited guests, the Journey of the Cross and Icon throughout Australia was placed under the patronage of Blessed Mary MacKillop.
The Cross and Icon were then taken across the Harbour Bridge to Tumbalong Park at Darling Harbour where WYD08 presented and exciting festival program as part of the welcoming celebrations. The celebrations included the first live performance of the World Youth Day song 'Receive the Power' sung by Guy Sebastian and Paulini. All young people and families were invited to this celebration.
The national welcome day concluded with a 6pm Mass at St Mary's Cathedral.