12 them, it follows naturally that a brief explanation of some may not be unwelcome to those charitably interested in the welfare of religion in that remote quarter. [4] At times it meant that the Sisters went to live in towns and remote places in the bush where there was no regular access to the Sunday Eucharist or the sacraments. On these occasions she notes that the Sisters would gather the people and recite the rosary and read them some little meditation appointed by the pastor. Mary MacKillop took the heart of the Church into the midst of the people and there she built a Church of the heart in their midst. She continues in this letter: ‘The work is truly a missionary one”. She often reminded her Sisters that St Joseph’s true children’s mission was to ‘seek first the poorest and most neglected parts of God’s vineyard’. (6 March 1907) She also encouraged the Sisters to ‘use every means at their disposal to lead others to life’. (12 March 1899) Mary MacKillop took her Religious vows in response to what she perceived as a clear call from God to carry out a mission of love to those who were poor and isolated in the emerging Australian colonies. Mary and her Sisters lived among the people responding to the God of life whatever the circumstances. Archbishop Mark Coleridge in his feast day homily on 8 August 2014 spoke these words: Mary’s action was all about immense practicality – the love that is hands-on, the love that has mud on its boots. Because she made that journey, which is the great journey of faith, Mary MacKillop stands for ever as a witness to Easter. [5] She believed that participating in God’s mission meant being ready to move to wherever the need was – to the mining towns and gold fields, living in tents if necessary to keep the word of God alive in the hearts of God’s people. This led her across the highways and byways of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand serving those who were most in need through education and other charitable works. Her life challenges us to commit ourselves to work to address unjust structures that keep people bound down and oppressed and to reach out in love to those in our neighbourhood who are forgotten, isolated and marginalized. Mary MacKillop opened the window of her soul to the needs of our world, she sustained herself by a life of deep prayer, by a trust in a good God and by a deep sense that God was the source and centre of all that she undertook. The flame of faith ignited within Mary MacKillop, kept burning brightly within her as she walked this land and encountered its people bringing to all the message of their human dignity.
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