That’s what the Lebanese pharmacist said just now down in Elizabeth Street as another crocodile of Neocatechumenal pilgrims, from Florida this time, went singing their way down to the city.
And indeed it does.
Mind you, down in Chinatown Gloria Jean’s Coffee Shop was quite empty. “What’s this?” I asked. “A pilgrim-free zone?” Perhaps, I wondered (but not aloud), they had heard of GJ’s connection with Hillsong?
No, I think it was just that on this super Thursday they were all elsewhere, aside from little groups making their way towards The Hungry Mile…
Of course one of the events today has been at North Sydney, relating to Australia’s saint-in-waiting Mary McKillop, and a worthy saint-in-waiting she is too. I suspect she may even be amused…
Mary McKillop was born in Melbourne in 1842. Her father had spent the family fortune, so the McKillops were poor. Mary left home to work when she was fourteen and gave all the money she earned to her family. In 1861 she went to work in Penola, a small town in South Australia. Here Mary met Father Julian Woods. Mary felt a religious calling, but hadn’t been able to find an order that suited her. Consequently, in 1866, she and Father Woods started their own; ‘The Sisters of St. Joseph’. The Order was dedicated to the education of poor children. The order spread to Adelaide and other parts of South Australia, and membership grew rapidly.
Mary was a woman who stood up for what she believed which brought her into conflict with religious leaders. She took a vow of poverty, which meant she had to beg for money. Catholic church leaders didn’t like begging, but Mary refused to change her ways. The tension escalated into conflict over educational matters and as a result Mary was excommunicated by Bishop Shiel for insubordination in 1871. The excommunication placed on her was lifted 6 months later.
In 1883, Mary came into conflict with the Roman Catholic Church establishment by insisting on an equalitarian rather than hierarchical organization. Bishop Reynolds told her to leave his diocese and Mary transferred the headquarters of the Josephites in Sydney and died in Sydney on 8 August, 1909.
Mary never became bitter against the Church leaders that had opposed her. This forgiving attitude was complemented by the outstanding work of the congregation. Protestants, as well as Catholics, loudly praised her charity to the poor, her personal poverty, and her abstinence from proselytising.
I can see why people love her.
Meanwhile the Pope “has used his official welcome at Government House in central Sydney to praise the Federal Government’s apology to the Stolen Generations.” — ABC News. So he should.
