Helping the sick and poor is Sr Kerry MacDermott’s vocation as a member of Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor, but loving them is her passion, The Catholic Weekly reports.

Established by Australian saint-in-waiting Eileen O’Connor, the order of Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor, shares a deep devotion to Our Lady and the downtrodden.

Sr Kerry was introduced to the sisters as a teenager while volunteering with them in her hometown of Brisbane.

She told The Catholic Weekly she marvelled at not only the work they did but the sheer depths of despair within her community.

And after leaving school and working as a bank filing clerk for a few years, she decided to join them at just 21.

Sr Kerry has been with the order for more than 50 years, the last 20 of those supporting some of Sydney’s poorest and needy aboriginal communities in Sydney’s south-west.

Based in a modest fibro Housing Commission cottage in the suburb of Macquarie Fields, which she established with her late congregational leader Sr Patricia Murphy, the 78-year-old spends a significant amount of her time behind the wheel of her worn and rusted 15-year-old Holden Commodore, travelling thousands of kilometres each year to provide financial, physical and emotional support.

Described by Aboriginal elders themselves as “the glue that keeps us together”, she has been given the Koori name, “Tidda”, which roughly translates to sister, a rare honour bestowed on a non-indigenous person. She has been responsible for a huge influx in not only Aboriginal people back to the Church but students at the John Therry Catholic High School at Rosemeadow, now boasting one of the largest numbers of indigenous students in the State.

Accompanying her on her rounds for a day, the sheer warmth, respect and love shown towards the slightly built sister is palpable.

Carrying almost celebrity status, she is warmly appreciated everywhere she goes. From hugs in homes to high fives in the street.

And it’s here she says is where she calls home and carrying out Eileen O’Connor’s mantra: “You will always find Jesus most at home in the poor and most broken”.

“When we moved out here more than 20 years ago, we did our research to find the area in Sydney with the biggest need and that was Macquarie Fields,” she said.

“And while many may be poor, I am so much the richer for having met them.

“The Aboriginal community is so rich in spirituality and I feel so very honoured to not only be accepted but respected by them.

“They are very, very proud people so knowing they feel comfortable asking me for help is very rewarding … I am quite simply following in Eileen O’Connor’s footsteps and I think when the time comes and I’m face to face with her she’ll be pretty pleased with me and the work I’ve done.”

This is an abridged form of an article by Debbie Cramsie which was published in The Catholic Weekly. Read the full article here.