7 Nov 2010 - Irish Eucharistic Celebration in thanksgiving for the Canonisation of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, St John's Cathedral, Limerick

If I could tell the love of God

I’d sing of one my heart enjoys,

Of one who whispers, warm and calm,

Of one whose tender touch persists.

If I could tell the love of God

I’d sing of beauty barely seen,

Of shadow gums and string bark,

Of tracks and water hard to find.

If I could tell the love of God

I’d sing of women seen as fools,

Because, in Joseph’s hidden way,

They crossed an empty land with trust.

If I could tell the love of God

I’d sing of women working hard,

Receiving bits of broken bread,

And poor enough to serve the poor.

If I could tell the love of God

I’d sing of Christ who chose the Cross.

His wisdom brings the might down.

His strength uplifts the stable’s child.

If I could tell the love of God

I’d sing of Christ who chose the Cross.

His justice mends a broken world,

His mercy turns the grave around.

Noel Rowe, from retreat notes written by Mary MacKillop

Irish Eucharistic Celebration in thanksgiving for the Canonisation of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, St John's Cathedral, Limerick

Homily

Fr Chris O'Donnell

"Two creatures feature on the Australian coat of arms - the emu, which is a flightless bird, and the well known kangaroo. These animals were purposely chosen because they share a very unusual characteristic. You see, both the emu and kangaroo can only move forward, they cannot move backwards. And so the Australian coat of arms serves to remind us of the importance of always moving forward. It is fitting that Australia’s first native saint, Mary MacKillop is one of the finest examples of a person who always sought to move forward.

There were plenty of really tough times in Mary’s life and at no point did she give up. Rather than be held back by her past or even her current challenges, Mary always sought to move forward. So what helped her rise above the many challenges that life threw her way? Well I feel it was down to her faith. Mary had many great characteristics but overriding all of these and in fact underpinning all of these was an incredible faith. She once said, ‘Faith is the first essential if we are to cope with life's difficulties.’

Unfortunately it’s hard to fully capture what faith is as there are so many different sides to it. But ultimately true faith will involve prayer, trust and service. That trust was clearly evident in Mary’s life. In the midst of her difficulties she never doubted that God was with her. In fact she believed that wherever we are, no matter how messy it is, we will find God. This gave encouragement as she knew she could always rely on God, in fact she once said, “God gives me strength for what is necessary”

And while it’s lovely to celebrate Mary’s virtues today I feel she would not be happy if that was all we did. She was a practical, hardworking saint and she would want today to serve a purpose. Yes honour her and especially offer genuine tribute and thanks to the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, sisters who have given and are still giving incredible service in Australia and also a lot closer to home, here in our diocese. However the practical side of Mary MacKillop would want us to leave this celebration willing to try harder to make a difference in our personal lives, in our communities and then even in our world.

So today we should ask ourselves what we can learn from Mary. You see Mary’s life shows us what is possible and what we are capable of. Mary would not want us to feel that her faith and life are beyond us. Instead she would want us to know that we could all have a similar faith. You see faith is like a muscle, if we want our faith to grow stronger we simply have to exercise it, we have to use it. Deepening our faith involves putting effort into praying, into trusting and into serving.

So a practical difference we could begin in our lives today is to try to deepen our faith. And because Mary’s trust in God was such an important part of her faith we could begin by trying to increase our trust in God. Mary’s incredible trust may be beyond us, but at least we should start somewhere. Having a sense of trust or providence in our lives means that we believe that everything that happens, be it good or bad, happens for a reason; and then knowing that in the midst of it all God is with us. Trusting this, should encourage us to live more fully irrespective of how messy or tough things are. And deepening our trust isn’t beyond any of us. Trust deepens the more we trust. So we just have to make the conscious decision to actively trust God more. Rather than rely simply on our own resources and become weighed down by our own difficulties and shortcomings, we should give it all to God. We must try to always entrust to him every minute of every day, every worry, ever situation, knowing that if we place these in God’s hands, they are in the best of hands.

Another way we can make a difference is to adopt Mary’s motto for life. Her motto was ‘never see a need without doing something about it.’ She wanted everyone to know something of the compassionate heart of God. If we are people of faith we cannot turn a blind eye to the genuine need of others. The more we grow in faith the more we should grow in compassion and service. Obviously we can’t do everything, but we can do something and as Mary once said, “Do all you can with the means at your disposal and calmly leave the rest to God.” Mary shows us what is possible when one person cares enough to try and make a difference no matter how small they feel their efforts might be.

Mary remained inspiring even to the end. In fact she used her dying breath to utter two tiny words – four letters really. Now, what could you say in four letters, well in Mary’s case, with four letters you can say everything. Mary’s final words were ‘Go on’ - it is hardly surprising that such a practical, hardworking and faithful saint would use her last words to simply encourage us to keep going no matter what.

The best service we can pay to Mary today is to try to imitate her virtues. She was a person of prayer of trust and of service who always moved forward and never gave up. May we try to be people who do the same. And remember Mary’s motto, ‘never see a need without doing something about it’, may we try to live this as best we can. And finally based on her dying words of encouragement, may we be people who always go on, go on trusting, go on praying and go on serving, knowing that God is with us and if we truly believe that God is with us, sure what else would we need. And when we face difficulties, if we find ourselves questioning our ability to make a difference in this world, may Mary’s life encourage us and in the midst of our doubts may we hear her whisper ‘Go on’"

Quote of the Day - Unity

"Oh if the Church everywhere were only more united, not one bishop against another, one religious Order or branch against another, one community so jealous of another, if the causes of these things were but removed, or some remedies applied, then God might get more.....and a wicked world less."

- St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

Sanctus nobis.........

..... rather we have six new saints

• Mary of the Cross MacKillop
• Brother Andre - Canadian monk said to have been able to heal the sick
• Stanislaw Soltys - 15th Century Polish priest
• Giulia Salzano - 19th Century Italian nun who founded a convent near Naples
• Camilla Battista da Varano - wealthy Italian who founded a convent in the 15th Century
• Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola - Spanish founder of a 19th Century convent

But as Fr Paul Gardiner SJ the postulator for the cause of Mary MacKillop points out, canonisations are about holiness not miracles

Some web browsing for you...........

One of the great photos of the uplifting event of the week! And following on from last Sunday's gospel about the need to remember to give thanks to God the whole world seemed to give thanks for the rescue of the 32 Chilean and 1 Bolivian miner. Interesting views and stories on the story during the week were how it was surely praying at their "makeshift shrine" that kept the Chilean miners sane. and how the first thing asked for by the miners when contact was made with them was a crucifix so that they could set up a small shrine down in the mine with many other makeshift shrines near the mine shaft.

David Quinn gives his opinion about the impact of faith during the crisis in his column in the Irish Independent - Why there were no athetists in the mine. And Nuala O Loan reminds us that despite what some people think, Religion is not a Problem.


And one of the great quotes of the week had to be:

"There are actually 34 of us, because God has never left us down here."

 - 19-year-old Chilean miner Jimmy Sanchez, in a letter sent up from the mine Tuesday. You can read more about Jimmy here.

At the same time, it also reminded us in Ireland that the element of folk religion, where it is part of the everyday fabric of our lives is something we need to rediscover with the example of the miners as they remembered to invoke their patron saint - St Lawrence (see pic)

And the Anchoress gives a quick reflection on the example of Mario Sepúlveda Espinace who returned from the depths bearing gifts....for others.

"[He]crested the top of a hole from which he thought he might never escape, and his first instinct was to give. That’s a thing worth writing about, and thinking about and praying about. I wish I had a picture of that moment! How huge and resilient is the human spirit?"

Back to the Synod about the Church in the Middle East, John Allen gives some interesting coverage and insight into the issues being raised by the Patriarchs and Bishops at the NCR blog with discussions about the role of the Eastern Churches in the universal church, the need to allow them to ordain their serving priests in Europe and North America as is their tradition and right, and interesting perspectives from Muslims and Jews about the relationship between the three Abrahamic faiths.


If you want to read more about the different Eastern Catholic Churches, CNEWA has a special magazine out this month with various articles about our Christian brethren in the Middle East.


The issue of tolerance and the role of Christianity in a secular society was sort of summed up during the week by Madeline L'Engle

"We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."

In her regular Tuesday column, Elizabeth Scalia (aka The Anchoress) discusses how although we live in a tolerant society, for many of the social "lepers" around us, there is still a vast amount of intolerance.

Bishop Paul D Etienne reminds us on his weekly blog how we need to rediscover a centre or a Core of Life to our everyday existence.

Of course, Sunday 17th is the Canonisation of Mary MacKillop and in case you missed me, Sacred Space 102fm has had a series of bits and pieces about Mary during the week which you can find here. And make sure you tune in on Sunday morning for our interview with Sr Margaret O Sullivan about this great Australian Saint.

During the week we nearly forgot the memorial of Blessed John XXIII - Good Pope John and you can catch up on some reflections and favourite speeches of this beloved Pope here. with a quick biography of him here and one his most famous impromptu speeches.

"When you head home, find your children. Hug and kiss your children and tell them: 'This is the hug and kiss of the Pope.' And when you find them with tears to dry, give them a good word. Give anyone who suffers a word of comfort. Tell them 'The Pope is with us especially in our times of sadness and bitterness.' And then, all together, may we always come alive -- whether to sing, to breathe, or to cry, but always full of trust in Christ, who helps us and hears us, let us continue along our path.”

In a challenge to the world, former Czech president and Nobel prize winner Vaclav Havel gave a speech in which he challenge the prevailing culture and predicted that the "First ‘atheistic civilisation’ is heading for catastrophe".

Holding onto faith can be difficult at times, but sometimes people of faith should be thankful for doubt. And Pope Benedict XVI speaking in Rome during the week noted that "It is the faith of the simple that knocks down false gods"

An unusual journalistic endeavour this week on the Pat Kenny radio show, a journalists take on a pilgrimage to Knock.

Given our spiralling unemployment rate, the Anchoress gives us some inspiration in the form of a Rosary for Jobseekers.

And through out it all, perhaps we need to remember that we need to live in the now, struggle to live in the present moment and that sometimes it is important not to do anything,

17th October 2010 - 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

This weeks show is a bit different as the Sacred Space 102fm team are introduced to the newest saint on the block - St Mary of the Cross MacKillop!

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks programme HERE.

Sr Margaret O'Sullivan RSJ (originally from Carrigkerry) tells us about the life, times and tribulations of Australia's first saint who is being raised to the glory of the altars by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome on 17th October 2010.  God creates saints and through the process of canonisation the Church gives official recognition to the holiness of individual Christians and offers them as witnesses and examples to the faithful. .


Mary MacKillop was born in Melbourne Australia on 15th January 1842 and died in Sydney on 8th August 1909. The years in between saw one of Australia's most remarkable women demonstrate incredible strength, devotion, inspiration and absolute trust in God.


Join us to hear about the trials and tribulations of this new saint as she battled the difficult social and physical conditions as well as overcoming church politics including excommunication to succeed in establishing her congregation to aid the poor of Australia and also hear about the Irish connections with the congregation which began when Mary left Dublin on 28th October 1874 with 15 young women who joined her in her mission around Australia right up to the present day and the pioneering work of the sisters as they return to their homeland in Ireland sharing their gifts and experience in ordinary ways among their own people.


As well as discussing Mary MacKillop here with us on Sacred Space 102fm, Sr Margaret also had a recent interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation which was held with Trevor Chappell which you can listen to here.

Mary MacKillop & Pain: The Woman Bent Double – Sr Marie Therese Foale rsj

A reflection on the gospel passage about the Woman Bent Over – Luke 13:1017, as given in Adelaide(1.3.97) by Sr Marie Foale rsj.

Mary MacKillop was a woman bent double with spiritual, physical and emotional pain. Suffering, the Cross, was always a part of her life. Yet, like the woman in the story, she let the pain flow through her. It did not possess her. She did not become embittered but remained faithful to her God even when all she could see was darkness. Then, at the word of Jesus, she was able to stand straight again, look into his eyes, and move forward with renewed courage. For her, the healing happened not once, but many times.

Mary once wrote that her life as a child was one of sorrows and her family home, when she had one, was most unhappy. However, she could add: 'Yet for all that, my good God watched over me and guarded me'. [1] As a young woman in Portland, she met her first real test of faith – when she was blamed unjustly for having been involved in the uncovering of headteacher Cusack's dishonesty. This storm raged for the last four months she spent in Portland. Rather than let it crush her, however, she let the suffering pass through her and, at its end, blessed God forthe care he took of her mind and heart during those months. She stated that the more these troubles pressed on her, the more the peace and love and gratitude of her good God filled her heart. [2]

The Spirit of Mary MacKillop Today

‘Wherever we are, whoever we are,

whatever we do, we are called to

relieve suffering and bring hope.

An invitation from the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (the Josephites)

The canonisation of St Mary MacKillop as Australia's first saint on October 17th has a special significance for us in Ireland. Mary MacKillop's name is well known to many Irish families who gave their daughters to the life and mission of the Sisters of St Joseph in Australia and New Zealand. Mary MacKillop's visit to Ireland in 1874 saw the beginning of a significant contribution from Ireland to the people of God in Australia and New Zealand. For this they rejoice and give thanks!

The Sisters of St Joseph would be delighted if you could join them to give thanks for the life of St Mary MacKillop and those who joined her as Sisters of St Joseph from many parts of Ireland.

The Mass to celebrate the Canonisation of St Mary Of the Cross MacKillop at St John's Cathedral Limerick November 7th 2010 at 12 noon.

All Welcome

For further information contact: Kathleen Murphy 061-602885

Quote of the Day

"....we are but travellors here"

- Blessed Mary of the Cross MacKillop

Quote of the Day - Suffering

"And with this burning appeal of the Sacred Heart [of Jesus] came such a rushing of longing desire on my part to be Its lover and Its own true child that, in a glance, the falseness of the world appeared to me; the beauty, the pity, and the generosity of the Sacred Heart in this loving appeal could not be resisted. And in Its cause, since It designed to raise me to It, I have never known aught but true peace and contentment of heart. Its love makes suffering sweet, Its love makes the world a desert. When storms rage, when persecutions or dangers threaten, I quietly creep into Its deep abyss, and securely sheltered there, my soul is in peace, though my body is tossed upon the stormy waves of a cold and selfish world."

- Blessed Mary of the Cross MacKillop 

Quote of the Day

"The Cross is my portion - it is also my sweet rest and support. I could not be happy without my cross - I would not lay it down for all the world could give. With the Cross I am happy, but without it would be lost."

- Blessed Mary of the Cross MacKillop



UPDATED A bit of browsing........

Just a little pick-me-up to get things started this week above.

Singer Joan Osbourne had a hit single titled “One of Us.” It questioned: “What if God was one of us?” This is the cry of many human hearts today and, yet…Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world taking on the visage and form of a human person. It was and is the greatest plan to ever win over a single heart to God, and an even more magnificent strategy for the salvation of the world. To read more have a look here.

Of course we are heading towards the 17th October and the canonisation of Blessed Mary MacKillop and America magazine has an editorial about Australia's first official saint. At the same time we should give some coverage to the correction that needs to be made about the media story that Mary MacKillop was excommunicated because she exposed a priest who abused children, with the postulater of her cause, Fr. Paul Gardiner (the postulator is the person who has to examine in detail the life and writings of any prospective saint and present their case for canonisation to the church) considered the foremost authority on the history of MacKillop, said his words had been twisted to suit the "ill will" of media outlets. "There was a long chain of causation. Somehow or other, somebody typed it up as if to say I said Mary MacKillop was the one to report the sex abuse," Father Gardiner said. "I never said it - it's just false - it's the ill will of people who are anxious to see something negative about the Catholic Church. There's already enough mud to throw, though." You can read more about it here and here.

This Sunday sees the start of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East in Rome with a papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, and runs through Oct. 24. The inestimable John Allen notes that this will be the 23rd synod since the institution was launched under Paul VI in 1967. They bring together roughly 250 bishops, priests, religious women and men, and lay experts to advise the pope on some topic, and whatever else a synod may be......Going in, one measure of success for this synod will be its ability to look beyond the usual bleak script about Christianity in the Middle East -- crisis, conflict, and the threat of extinction -- and also ponder the creative contributions the region can make to global Catholic reflection.

The theme of the synod is "The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness" and it is interesting Synod as it challenges us in our understanding of the meaning of the term "catholic" - especially here in Ireland. There are 23 churches which are in communion with the Successor of St Peter and 22 of them will send representatives to the Synod in Rome and they offer a wide diversity in liturgy and examples of prayer. But as well as that they also give evidence to the need for a secular society which values a place for religion.

"Properly organized, a healthy secular society means freedom for, not freedom from, religion. It offers space for a more “evangelical” form of Catholicism to develop, one not dependent on state sponsorship or legal privilege, relying instead on the attraction of the Gospel message and the boldness of those who proclaim... it.The positive Christian view of secularism boils down to this: Give us a fair and open marketplace of ideas and Christianity will be just fine.Christians in the West sometimes think of secularism as a threat to that open marketplace of ideas, but in the Middle East secularism tends to loom instead as its last, best hope. Perhaps by combining those experiences and outlooks, Catholicism can find something approaching balance."

Read more here. and here. 

UPDATE: Vatican Radio has numerous articles and podcasts which they are updating during the duration of the Synod if you want to follow what is happening in Rome.

UPDATE 2: If you are interested in finding out more about the different Eastern Catholic Churches you can read here and here.

Sandro Magister fills us in on the growth of Jewish Christians in the Holy Land


A reminder during the week of the struggles some Christians go through to practise their faith when Saudi police raided a secret Catholic mass in Riyadh last week and arrested a dozen Filipinos and a Catholic priest, charging them with prosyletising, a local daily reported on Wednesday.


There has been a lot of controversy in New York recently about the proposal to extend and renovate an existing mosque a couple of blocks from the site of the former World Trade Centre. For Catholics, we should pause and reflect on our own history before commenting given that in the fierce opposition to a Muslim centre, there are echos of an old fight.


Following on from last weeks post about the religious habit discussion, one sister blogs how her habit was of special assistance in a moment of crisis.


Faith and reason are often portrayed as uneasy bed fellows, despite the best efforts of writers including Pope John Paul II to show otherwise in Fides et Ratio. Elizabeth Scalia adds her opinion to the centuries old debate.


An odd discussion that came up in the blogosphere this week about "What will people wear to your funeral?" in the context of preparations for the month of the dead - November.


Over at Patheos, the discussion about "What do I really believe? continues this week with a focus on whether prayer makes a difference or not.
 
Sometimes our deepest convictions don't match what we have been taught to believe, and it's not always easy to share them with others. Here is your opportunity: say what you really believe, and do so anonymously.

An atmospheric and moody introduction to the Dominicans



And finally, in light of the discussion about Ireland's 166 clowns trying to run the country, have a look at what happened in Brazil.

Prayer through the Intercession of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

God of Compassion,
You filled the heart of Saint Mary MacKillop with a deep trust in Your Providence and trust in Your Will.

Help me like her to renew my trust in Your loving plan for me. Deepen my faith, so that like her I may bear the Cross and follow her example of kindness.

Through her intercession I pray especially for ____________________.

I make this prayer through Jesus, my Way, my Truth, my Life.

Amen.

UPDATED Blessed Mary of the Cross MacKillop.......Patroness of Whistleblowers?

Previously we have blogged about the one of the up and coming new saints on the block, Blessed Mary MacKillop from Australia who is to be canonised by Pope Benedict XVI on 17th October 2010. To celebrate the event, Sacred Space 102fm will be broadcasting an interview with Sr Margaret O'Sullivan about the life, times and tribulations of Mary MacKillop and  the ongoing work of her congregation the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and here online we will be posting various links, reflections and quotes from Australia's new saint around the time of the canonisation.

But an interesting development has been reported by the uber-blogger Rocco Palmo on his blog Whispers in the Loggia where "in the run-up to the historic day, the backdrop to one of the more intriguing angles of MacKillop's journey to sainthood has come to light with a revelation that, given the tenor of these times, is bound to make her final ascent even more high-profile than it's already been".

Five years after her establishment of the Sisters of St Joseph, alleging that the foundress had incited her community to "disobedience and defiance," Bl Mary -- then all of 29 years old -- was excommunicated by the bishop of Adelaide, who retracted the sentence five months later on his deathbed... and in a documentary slated to air on Oz's state broadcaster a week before the 17 October canonization, the context behind the move emerges.

While serving with the Sisters of St Joseph, MacKillop and her fellow nuns heard disturbing stories about a priest, Father Keating from the Kapunda parish north of Adelaide, who was allegedly abusing children.


They told their director, a priest called Father Woods, who then went to the Vicar General. The Vicar General subsequently sent Father Keating back to his home country of Ireland, where he continued to serve as a priest.


Father Paul Gardiner, who has pushed for MacKillop's canonisation for 25 years, says Father Keating's fellow Kapunda priest Father Horan swore revenge on the nun for uncovering the abuse.

For more about it, catch up with Rocco here.

UPDATE

We should give some coverage to the correction that needs to be made about the media story that Mary MacKillop was excommunicated because she exposed a priest who abused children, with the postulater of her cause, Fr. Paul Gardiner (the postulator is the person who has to examine in detail the lofe and writings of any prospective saint and present their case for canonisation to the church) considered the foremost authority on the history of MacKillop, said his words had been twisted to suit the "ill will" of media outlets. "There was a long chain of causation. Somehow or other, somebody typed it up as if to say I said Mary MacKillop was the one to report the sex abuse," Father Gardiner said. "I never said it - it's just false - it's the ill will of people who are anxious to see something negative about the Catholic Church. There's already enough mud to throw, though."

You can read more about it here and here.

Australia's new saint - Blessed Mary MacKillop

Brave, courageous, determined.....some of the words used to describe the first canonised saint from Australia, Blessed Mary MacKillop. The canonisation will take place on October 17th 2010.

Blessed Mary co-founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart with Julian Tenison Woods in 1866 know affectionatly as the Brown Joey's. We congratulate our local Josephite sisters and look forward to speaking with them in the near future closer to the canonisation in Rome.

To visit the website dedicated to Blessed Mary MacKillop go here which includes testimonials to this amazing woman.

To ask the Sisters of St Joseph in Ireland to pray for your concerns and intentions through the intercession of Blessed Mary MacKillop - email - marymackillopireland@gmail.com