Mary MacKillop: Her Life

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Mary MacKillopHer Life Spirituality
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Be ready for Gods will even when it takes you
by surprise. 1880
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I can only dimly remember the things that were
said to me, but the sensation of the calm,
beautiful presence of God I shall never forget.
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Do what you can with the means at your disposal
and leave the rest calmly to God. Mary MacKillop
1888
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We can all work quietly doing our best for God
(1883)
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Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them
bravely, remembering Whom you are trying to
follow
John Maitland Nothing could come between her
and a child in need - Mary MacKillop A Tribute
(1995)
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Do all in your power to promote Gods glory (1906)
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Forgiveness is love
Let us show love in our acts, bearing with one
another. Forgiving and forgetting.
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Never see a need without trying to do something
about it
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Keep your mind in peace whatever happens
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Mary Mackillop Prayer God of the prophets,you
gifted Mary MacKillop withvision and courageto
challenge the attitudes of our time. We pray for
the sensitivity and imaginationto explore new
possibilitiesin our own day. Like Mary, may we
learn to fightagainst what is oppressive and
unjust,and encourage others towardstrue
freedom. Amen.
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Please take some time now in the quiet of the
chapel to reflect on the images and words you
have just seen
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Why this why now?

• Religious Life of the School Religious Identity
  Culture - Ethos Charism
• School Renewal - Priority 1 Religious and
  Evangelising Mission

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Mary MacKillops Life

• Mary was born on 15th January 1842
• Her parents were Alexander and Flora
• Alexander was an intellectual, well- educated, an
  accomplished linguist and a businessman
• Flora was also very literate
• After a disastrous business decision left them
  bankrupt Alexander educated his children at
  home.

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Early life cont

• Prayer and loyalty to the Church were important
  to Alexander as he had spent time in Rome and
  Scotland training for the priesthood.
• As Mary grew older, she took over the
  responsibility of teaching her younger siblings.

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A meeting of like minds

• In 1861, Mary met Father Julian Tennison Woods at
  the little town of Penola.
• He had been to France in 1853 and was inspired by
  the work of the Sisters of St. Joseph from Le
  Puy.
• He and Mary shared the vision of educating the
  poor and neglected.

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Guided by Trust in Providence
Mary and Julian knew from supporting people
around the city streets that destitution, neglect
and ruin was the lot of those who were
economically poor, orphaned, homeless, sick or
aged. Youthful, energetic and confident these
two compassionate and loving people decided that
the call to action was imperative. Their deep
spiritual insight into the abiding, providing
presence of God and their conviction that they
could make a difference directed them to found
new institutions to educate children and care for
the destitute. (The Charism and Spirit of MMK)
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The dream begins

• 1865 Fr Woods asks Mary Annie to come and
  teach at Penola.
• Mary, Annie Lexie began teaching in the Church
  and in their own home
• Mary prayed to St. Joseph and found the stable
  which John, her brother, helped turn into
  classrooms.

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A strengthening vocation

• Mary began to live a systematic religious life
  centred around work, prayer, meditation and
  church visits.
• She began wearing a simple black dress
• 1868 the Rule of Life for the Sisters of St.
  Joseph was approved
• 1870 Mary discovered a new name Sisters of St
  Joseph of the Sacred Heart

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Mary wrote to her mother

• Do not be uneasy about me and never think that
  I can forget your loving care
• My name in religion in Sister Mary of the Cross
  no name could be dearer to me.
• Dear Mama, pray for me. I am weak but God is
  strongall things are possible with Him.

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• Fr Woods appointed Director of Catholic Education
  in Adelaide and began plans for a teaching
  Institute and he placed many sisters in schools
• Bishop Sheil originally enthusiastic about
  Institute but was advised by others who
  distrusted Fr Woods and that distrust included
  the sisters.
• 1871 Bishop Sheil ill and ill-advised
  excommunicated Mary

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• Never during the six long months of her exile did
  Mary lose her trust and faith in God.
• It is Gods work he will protect it.
• I was intensely happy and I felt nearer to God
  than I had ever felt before. The sensation of
  calm and the beautiful presence of God I shall
  never forget.
• Let no unkind thought of those through whose
  hands God has tried us, find a place in our
  hearts.

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• 1872 the sentence of excommunication was lifted
  and the Sisters renewed their vows at Norwood.
• Same year bishops were appointed to investigate
  the affairs of the Adelaide Diocese and the
  Sisters were found innocent of the charges
  brought against them.

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More trials and triumphs

• Bishop Quinn invites Sisters to establish schools
  in Bathurst
• His brother, Bishop of Brisbane invites Sisters
  to do the same in Brisbane.
• Neither could agree with the principle of Central
  Government
• 1873 Mary travelled to Rome to lay the Rule
  before Church authorities and it was
  provisionally approved with some amendments but
  not Central Government.
• 1879 Sisters withdrawn from Brisbane

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• 1880 nine new schools established in and around
  Sydney
• Providence opened at The Rocks home for poor
  and neglected women and children
• Plans discussed for a Novitiate
• 1883 New Zealand Temuka
• 1887 Western Australia
• 1889 Numurkah Victoria
• 1888 Decree which ended all strife over Central
  Government.

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• Mary was inflicted during her life with almost
  continuous headaches, weakness and prostration.
• Doctors now recognise multiple sclerosis.
• 1902 travelled to NZ to mineral springs in
  Rotorua for her health
• Suffered a stroke never more than partially
  mobile again
• 8th August 1909 She slipped away so quietly
  that we were hardly aware of it.

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• Mary MacKillop was a woman very conscious of the
  mission God had entrusted to her. The privilege
  was hers, the responsibility also.
• She never shirked it.
• She offered her life to the service of God to
  instruct the ignorant and minister to the poor..
  From her earliest years, Mother Mary of the Cross
  aspired to the attainment of the high ideals
  expressed in the Beatitudes.
• Cardinal Moran at Mary MacKillops funeral.

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PART 2SPIRITUALITY
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Read these words of Mary MacKillop while
listening to the song MacKillop People and
think how they reflect her spirituality
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• Prayer is our great weapon (1907)
• God will provide for the future (1907)
• Gods ways and ours are so different (1878)
• Courage, courage, trust in God who helps you in
  all things (1874)
• A certain sense of Gods wonderful love
  strengthens me (1873)

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• If men and women forget, God does not (1884)
• Lean more on God and less on ourselves (1877)
• Never is God nearer us than when dangeer
  threatens (1880)
• I must only trust in the mercies of God (1867)

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Christian Spirituality

• Consciously living our lives in relationship with
  God
• Empowered by the Holy Spirit
• Following the way of Jesus

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The Archdiocesan Vision

• Christian spirituality is
• Sustained by personal and communal prayer (Jesus)
• Lived in relationship with a Christian community
  (Communion)
• Expresses through working for Gods way of doing
  things in the world (Mission)
• Catching Fire p. 13

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Catholic Tradition

• In our Catholic tradition this spirituality is
  fed by word, by tradition, by the sacraments, by
  the life and witness of the saints, in
  Trinitarian theology, a justice imperative and
  Marian devotion. Catching Fire p. 13
• Mary Mackillop is a lived example and Catholic
  Christian spirituality

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Mary MacKillops Foundational Beliefs

• That God was active in her life and in the lives
  of all whom she encountered
• That God was loving and provident
• That God, in Jesus, calls us to show reverence
  for the dignity of all people
• That those who were most needy in our world come
  first

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• That the compassionate love of God was available
  to all whom she met
• That the will of God was integral to her lifes
  journey
• That the Cross becomes the Tree of Life
• That the work was truly a missionary one
• Sisters of St. Joseph. (2008). Mary MacKillop
  summary document reworked 71107

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Gods Will

• Mary firmly believed in, and trusted Gods Will
• His beautiful will
• She talked it
• She wrote it
• She lived it
• Whoever we are and wherever we may be, let self
  be forgotten, and let Gods glory, His Will, and
  the general good alone absorb our thoughts,
  deliberations and actions.
• (Letter to the Sisters in South Australia, 13 Nov
  1904, in OBrien, p. 201)

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Faith

• Mary saw Gods hand in everything that happened
  to her
• It is but right that He should let the heaviest
  part of the Cross fall upon your Mother
• She understood and accepted that Gods ways are
  not our ways.

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Hope

• Mary faced many her difficulties with courage
• She always believed that a solution would be
  found in God
• Her prayers breathed confidence in His help and
  guidance
• Despite trials of government, poverty, debt,
  persecution she was always even-tempered and
  approachable

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Charity

• Mother Marys charity was evidenced in her words
  and in her work
• Love of God and love of ones neighbour dominated
  her life
• She gave dignity to all especially the most
  neglected
• Her prayers, writings and advice to others exudes
  charity

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Prayer Life

• Mary MacKillop was seen by many of her
  contemporaries as a soul soaked in prayer
• She had a strong devotion to both Mary and St.
  Joseph
• Her realisation that Gods grace would enable her
  to triumph over human weakness is a theme that
  runs through her prayers.

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• Little did either of us dream of what was to
  spring from so small a beginning.

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Josephite Spirituality

• Can be summed up by MacKillop and Woods words
  respectively
• There, where you are you will find God (1871)
• for us to have faith in Gods presence in every
  circumstance
• http//www.josephite.org.au/spirituality/

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• Seeking right relationships with God and others,
  self and the earth
• Finding Gods meaning in all we do, whatever and
  wherever that may be
• Enriched and nourished by prayer, silence and
  reflection of Scripture
• Finds expression in encouraging young people
• http//www.josephite.org.au/spirituality/

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Charism

• A gift given to person and taken up by a group to
  carry out the mission of Jesus, serving with a
  particular spirit that tells us something special
  about God (Mary Cresp rsj)
• Charism is a passion for whatever dimension of
  the life of Christ peace, truth, healing, and
  mercy is missing now here in our time, where we
  are (Joan Chittister OSB)

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Josephite Charism

• Incarnational (God in our world)
• Gods compassionate love shown
• ordinary, roll-your-sleeves-up approach,
  hospitality, practicality, being with the
  other, simplicity, humility, no fan-fare,
  serving God in the neighbour.
• The Story of the Josephite Charism (Mary Cresp
  rsj)