Two weeks ago, 750 guests gathered at a dinner in Sydney Town Hall, supposedly in honour of Mother Mary MacKillop, soon to be made Australia’s first saint.

It was a fund-raiser — plus an opportunity for Prime Minister Gillard to make a speech:

“For all Australians who share a country in which we put freedom of religion into action everyday by respecting each other’s beliefs, this is a time of celebration . . . whether you believe Mary MacKillop’s a saint, whether you believe she was a great Australian pioneer providing education to kids who needed it, whether you believe both – this is a moment to celebrate.”

Then she promised $1.5 million to assist the canonisation celebrations.

Then everybody got down to eating.

Perhaps some of the guests gave the Gillard a clap.

One thing is for sure, if Blessed Mary MacKillop had been present in visible form, she would NOT have clapped.

* * *

Even in her own lifetime, people tried to domesticate Blessed Mary and treat her as a “pioneer” or something.

Priests and others made so many demands on the Sisters that it threatened to interfere with their regular prayers. Mother Mary complained to one such: “Are we not Religious first — Teachers second?”

The original “Rule” of the Josephite Order spelt out the proper priorities of the Sisters:

“Those persons who enter religion do so first of all for the salvation of their own souls . . . the spirit of the Institute is a spirit of Poverty and Prayer.”

The same point was made by Pope John Paul II at Mother Mary’s beatification in 1995:

“Dear friends: Mary MacKillop cannot be understood without reference to her religious vocation.

“. . . Mother Mary of the Cross did not just free people from ignorance through schooling, or alleviate their suffering through compassionate care. She worked to satisfy their deeper, though sometimes unconscious, longing for ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ’.”

* * *

Australians don’t need yet another “pioneer” or “celebrity” to fuss over.

They need somebody different — somebody whose mind was totally God-centred.

That’s what Blessed Mary MacKillop offers.

But will we ever hear about that from the modern-day Josephite Order?

They seem happy to trivialise her as a dinkum Aussie or some kind of glorified social worker.

.

ABC-TV has “discovered” that Mary MacKillop’s excommunication followed her exposing a child-molesting priest.

They’ll tell all on TV, seven days before Blessed Mary’s canonisation.

Amazing. What a coincidence. The timing, I mean . . . .

Nothing of this “whistle-blowing” was mentioned in Father Paul Gardiner’s Vatican-commissioned biography of Mary MacKillop — or in her letters, as published by the Josephite Sisters.

* * *

Father Gardiner now says:

“The story of the excommunication amounts to this: that some priests had been uncovered for being involved in the sexual abuse of children . . . .

“The nuns told him (Father Julian Tenison Woods) and he told the Vicar General who was in charge at the time, and he took severe action.

“And Father Horan, one of these priests, was so angry with this that he swore vengeance — and there’s evidence for this — against Woods by getting at the Josephites and destroying them . . . .”  (www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/25/3021772.htm)

Father Gardiner never mentioned such “evidence” before.

Was he treating his readers as idiots, unworthy to know the facts?

* * *

The ABC also says:

“A statement from the Sisters of St Joseph says the events of September 1871 have been comprehensively documented.

“There were several factors that led to this painful period for Mary and the sisters . . . .

“The reasons for Mary’s excommunication have been written about and commented on in the public domain since that time. This is consistent with the information contained in the Compass program.” 

In the public domain? Where?

Are the ladies fibbing?

* * *

It only plays into the hands of anti-Catholic forces, to give them cover-ups to seize upon.

Better for the Church to be honest about past failures of its personnel . . . .

Then — with that out of the way — get off the back foot and give the Church’s enemies the prophetic message they richly need and deserve.

The ABC, for example, is a disgrace, intellectually and morally.

Whenever the public are most likely to reflect on the Faith – e.g. Easter or Christmas – along comes the ABC with some documentary allegedly undermining the historical basis of the Gospels . . . .

Now, on this occasion, they’ll taint the atmosphere of a happy canonisation with insinuations that all priests are good for is interfering with children.

The gospel reading for Mass in traditional Catholic churches today says:

The Pharisees came together and one of them asked Jesus a question, to test him: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”

Jesus answered: “You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbour as yourself . . . .

 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

* * *

Jews in those days believed there were 248 commandments and 365 prohibitions given by God.

Jesus was now saying that these complicated do’s and don’ts could be summed up in two basic commandments.

He was telling them (and us) to stop quibbling about the details of the laws and simply get on with basing everything we do on love alone. That way we can’t go wrong.

This made God’s Law more understandable – but no easier, you might say. . . .

* * *

Yet in a way Jesus WAS making it easier.

If we really love God it becomes a pleasure to show love to our neighbours — because they are his children.

Jesus himself set the example. He loved the outcasts of his day, lepers, traitors against his nation, adulterers, everybody . . . .

* * *

Blessed Mary MacKillop followed in her Lord’s footsteps in this regard. Her devotion to the Catholic Faith and to God trumped every other consideration.

She forgave those scheming against her. She worked to the point of exhaustion, pressing on despite poor health and pain . . . all in the spirit of one who loved her neighbours because she was on fire with love for God.

She taught her Order of Josephite Sisters the same mentality:

“We came into (our religious Order) to serve God, to overcome ourselves, to live in obedience and charity . . . .

“Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them cheerfully, remembering Whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid. Love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you in all your life.”

The Pope will be in England for four days.

He will be insulted by the media and largely ignored by the public.

In 1982, when Pope John Paul II visited England, things were a bit different . . . .

Anyway British Prime Minister, Mr Cameron, yesterday made an official statement welcoming the Pope as head of a worldwide community which, “Like other faith groups . . . proclaims a message of peace and justice . . . .”

* * *

Meanwhile groups of past victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests are lodging complaints about the Pope having been invited at all.

One such person on video at Telegraph.co.uk, says how they are “tired of apologies”.

When the Pope was here in Australia some months back there was a great carry on about how the Pope must apologise. He did apologise.

The victims groups have refused the offer of a meeting with the Pope.

It certainly is very sad that these young people were molested — sad because it is the Church on which the human race depends entirely for its understanding of the sacredness of the innocence of the young.

The business world, and the very media which rebuke the Pope regarding exploitation of the young, are themselves feverishly busy exploiting the young with impure books, impure videos, impure song lyrics, values-free sex education, immodest fashions in clothing and so forth.

Fair enough. If there is no God, what is there in life except exploitative power, and the use of exploitative mind-bending, to live by – and to teach the young to live by?

* * *

While in the UK, the Pope will canonise John Henry Newman, a British priest (converted from Anglicanism) who lived from 1801 to 1890.

Cardinal Newman is famous for his many wise sayings.

Some of them would be regarded today as not very trendy:

“From the age of fifteen, dogma has been the fundamental principle of my religion. I know no other religion; I cannot enter into the idea of any other sort of religion. Religion, as a mere sentiment, is to me a dream and a mockery.”

Even less acceptable to many would be his opinion that:

“To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant.”

(He didn’t say so, but he would doubtless include also “to cease to be agnostic, atheistic or multicultural“)

50 days from today, Australia’s Mary MacKillop will be canonised.

Blessed Mary of the Cross will become Saint Mary of the Cross.

The canonisation, celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, will be in Rome.

Many Australians will travel to Rome — as pilgrims — to witness the rituals in person.

* * *

The official Mary MacKillop Blog (25.8.2010) says:

“The Aboriginal Catholic Ministry Melbourne has prepared a very beautiful ‘Journey Stone’ to commemorate this momentous occasion and Mary’s journey to Rome.

The Aboriginal people of the Aboriginal Catholic Ministry Melbourne have a (project) of giving travellers a journey stone for safe travel.

You are invited and encouraged to take one of these stones . . . with you on Pilgrimage. The stone you hold has been hand painted by an Aboriginal artist (and) comes with this message:

‘As you journey in the footsteps of Mary MacKillop,
may you feel her courageous spirit
as you walk the streets of Rome.
Travel gently with respect
to the places where Blessed Mary once prayed.
Hold the sacredness of the land close to your heart.
Remember the good that she has done in our sunburnt land.
May the spirits of my Ancestors, watch
over and keep you safe.’  © Vicki Clarke 2010”

The blog also says:

“Mary MacKillop’s canonisation is particularly special to the Catholic Aboriginal community. The concern Mary showed for the welfare and education of Aboriginal peoples is well documented and her legacy continues through the work of the Sisters of St Joseph . . . .”

* * *

The real Mary MacKillop had little to do with Aborigines.

Blessed Mary’s official biography by Father Paul Gardiner does mention one occasion when the young Mary MacKillop willingly combed lice out of the hair of an Aboriginal girl, Nancy . . . .

Later, in 1898, Blessed Mary hoped to involve her Sisters in a Northern Territory Aboriginal mission organised by her brother, Father Donald MacKillop.  However, floods destroyed the buildings and the project never eventuated. It was decades after her lifetime before the Josephite Order had a presence in Australia’s north and north-west where most Aborigines lived.

* * *

Invoking “spirits of ancestors” (Aboriginal or any other) as watchers over our lives is sentimental dabbling in paganism.

The Catholic religion encourages us to pray to Saints acknowledged by the Church. Praying at random to others isn’t encouraged in the same way.

Better to pray TO the Church’s recognised saints – FOR our departed ancestors.

Florence Nightingale died 100 years ago yesterday.

Florence had an experience at the age of 17 when, “God spoke to me, and called me to his service.”

Back then, nursing wasn’t a very respectable profession. Hospitals were famous mainly for bad smells and frightening death rates.

Despite family protests, Florence became a nurse anyway. By 1853, she was superintendent of London’s “Institute for the Care of Sick Gentlewomen”.

She and 38 of her trainees went to Turkey to nurse soldiers injured in the Crimean War.

At first, recovery rates didn’t improve much – but after the hospital’s sewers and ventilation were fixed they did.

* * *

Back in England, Florence published a book, “Notes on Nursing”, covering what professional nurses needed to learn, plus “everyday sanitary knowledge . . . which every one ought to have.”

She wrote, altogether, 17 books on medical topics.

Plus another, 829 pages long, entitled “Suggestions for Thought to Searchers after Religious Truth.”

Due to health problems, Florence spent much of the second half of her life bed-ridden.

But she remained a great organiser, intellectual and author.

She died at the age of 90.

* * *

Florence made her nurses recite a pledge:

I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practise my profession faithfully.

I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.

I will do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession, and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling.

With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician, in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care.

When young, Florence worked in a Paris hospital staffed by nuns. She wore the postulant habit, but never became a nun herself.

She never became a Catholic. She told Cardinal Manning that she wished to, but he said no, as she didn’t accept some Catholic beliefs.

Florence Nightingale is venerated as a Saint in the Episcopal Church, but not in the Catholic Church.

* * *

A phonograph recording of Florence’s voice, made in 1890, has been preserved. She sounds a bit like Queen Elizabeth II:  www.archive.org/details/FlorenceNightingaleVoice