Feast of St Mary MacKillop

The Feast of Mary MacKillop this weekend is a wonderful opportunity to remember the Josephite Sisters who were an influential part in the early history of Our Holy Redeemer School and Parish. In 1904 the Sisters of St Joseph took charge of a new weatherboard school, Our Holy Redeemer, Surrey Hills, with the school being staffed by two Sisters of St Joseph, the first of many of the Order that were to staff the school until the mid-1970's.

The Sisters lived in Kent Road, Surrey Hills (where they also had an orphanage) and walked daily to the school until a Convent was built for them, in 1923, opposite the school. Some of the windows in the current Our Holy Redeemer Church are from the front entrance and Chapel of the now demolished building.

Our Holy Redeemer parishioners Joan Griffith and Mary Sang shared a few of their memories of their time at school with the Josephite Sisters.

Joan recalls Sisters Aloysius, Martina, Denise, Ina Damien and Edmund who taught students from Years 1 - 8.  When Joan’s older children started at OHR in 1965 the Brown Joeys, as they were known, were still at the school. 

Mary recalled her fond memories of Sr. Edmund as a caring person who had a firm control of her class of fifty six Preps. “I met her a couple of times in my adult life and was astounded at how many of the pupils in my class she remembered, not only their names but where they had lived, family associations and anecdotes from their school days.”

Joan particularly remembers the nuns teaching basketball and also Sister Damien, with a whistle in her mouth and veil flying in the wind as she umpired the boys playing football. “They led very busy lives serving the community, with no social life whatsoever.  When I go to Box Hill Cemetery and look at the graves of my former teachers, I stop to offer a prayer for them.”

Source information: From  Ken James’ publication Surrey Hills – Non Government Schools and the Surrey Hills Historical Society
Image: Courtesy of Mary Sang: Sr Edmund and students OHR School, circa 1950's - 

A reflection from Deacon Jude Johnson…

Among Melbourne’s must see attractions, I was privileged to visit both St Patrick’s Cathedral and the Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre on my first day in Australia. As I discovered, Mary MacKillop was the first canonised Australian saint, and I was thrilled that I would be living where a saint was born and where her legacy still lives on.

As we celebrate her feast on 8 August, it makes me reflect on her life once again and to learn from her and relate to her. There is so much to say about our own canonised saint, but there is one story which stands out to me which I came across in  ‘Living from the Heart’ in the  book entitled The Little Brown Book Too: More thoughts on the Spirituality of St. Mary of the Cross in our everyday lives by Sue and Leo Kane. The story goes like this:

Mary had managed only a very early cup of tea for breakfast before she arrived at the convent in the afternoon. The sisters had prepared a meal for her. Sister Mary Borgia tells the story:

Just as she was about to sit at the table a knock came to the door. I went to see who was there, and a poor, half-starved, badly clothed old man stood before me. “Would you give me a bit to eat, miss?” he said. “I can get no work in this town, nor anything to eat. I am very weak.” Mother followed me to the door, and when she saw the man, “Sister dear,” she said, “Give to the poor creature what you have prepared for me. It will do me more good to give him dinner.” 

This story is simple but profound in its message that by loving and serving others (our neighbours) we love and serve God.  This story in fact, is the mirror image of Matthew 25: 35 where Jesus says, “I was hungry and you gave me food” as Mary perceived this starving man as Jesus coming to her door.

Loving our neighbour has become a challenge, during this time as there can tend to be a suspicion or fear of everyone due to the highly contagious Covid-19, as we practice physically distancing from each other. At the same time this is also the best of times to look out for our neighbour, for their wellbeing and their safety. As Mary responded to the man’s need practically by saying “give to the poor creature what you have prepared for me”, so we can ask in what ways can we  love our neighbours at this uncertain time.

How can we respond to Jesus’s command of “love your neighbour”? Is it by following the Stage-4 restrictions thrust upon us; or by being a capable listener to those who are struggling and vulnerable so that we all stay in the loop; or by praying and showing appreciation to those who are in the front lines; or by expressing a show of love through an act of service in whatever means possible; or by being kind to oneself by creating personal space for physical, emotional and spiritual health in order to cultivate the spirit of loving others, or in so many other ways?

As Mary says, “never see a need without doing something about it”.  The question to ask oneself is how God is calling me to love my neighbour in this time of crisis as the expression of living the Body of Christ.