The month of August gives us a special opportunity to focus on the life of Saint Mary MacKillop as we celebrate her feast day on 8 August, writes Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St Joseph, Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ.

All around Australia and beyond, people will be gathering to celebrate the gift of this woman of faith to our Church and our world. A special place of pilgrimage will be at Mary MacKillop Place, North Sydney, where Mary’s tomb is located.

*Sr Monica Cavanagh RSJ in a screenshot from her message for St Mary MacKillop’s feast day. See the video below.*

This feast day we give thanks for Mary MacKillop’s ongoing commitment to the ongoing spiritual and faith development of children and their families. Mary MacKillop’s faith in and service of God were unceasing. Her deep faith in her good God enabled Mary to walk in and through the many obstacles she faced with confidence, hope and perseverance. Mary acknowledged that the presence of God seemed to follow her everywhere and made everything she did and said a prayer. She had that wonderful capacity to find God in both the messiness of life as well as in moments of joy.

From the earliest days of the Congregation, the Sisters of Saint Joseph have always attended to the spiritual needs of the people with whom they lived and served. In her letter to Monsignor Kirby in 1873, Mary MacKillop writes of the necessity for the Institute (Congregation) in Australia. In this letter she identifies the specific need to nurture the faith of the children and their families in an Australian context. In particular, she notes that in many places the Sisters were to be the face of the church providing spiritual opportunities for the people especially when there was little access to the Eucharist and the sacraments. On these occasions, she notes that the Sisters gathered the people to pray the rosary and share a reflection appointed by the Pastor. In other places, they instructed people in the faith when requested to do so and at other times accompanied people as they were dying.

In honouring this woman of faith and commitment this year, we are delighted to celebrate the coming together of our Spirituality and Heritage Centres under a new umbrella of the Spirituality Ministry and the Sisters and staff who minister in these special places.

Our Spirituality and Heritage Centres are places of pilgrimage, hospitality and nurturance. They are places where people can experience the Divine – in nature, in inspiration, in welcome, in retreat and in moments of quiet reflection.

One such group are the Women of the Well who come to use our facilities to enable women to find space and time for refreshment and revitalisation in the loving presence of God. Gathering in a communal context, they take time to draw from the well of living water that Jesus speaks of in the visit of the woman of Samaria. (Jn 4:6-10)

May you be inspired by this woman of faith as you celebrate her life, love and kindness on this feast.

Sr Monica Cavanagh
Congregational Leader, Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

This article was published on the website of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.