The Wild and The Sacred

The week before Christmas 2008 saw eleven Sisters of St Joseph from around Australia gather with Mary Southard CSJ (Sister of St Joseph from La Grange, Chicago) at Mulgoa, NSW, to take part in a programme celebrating the revelation of God’s presence in the great story of the universe. 

They were part of an enthusiastic group of around 90 people from all walks of life joined them.  Pictured above are Josephites, from L to R, Helen Barnes (Vic. Province), Jenny Scally (NSW), Rose Schlick (Qld), Loretta Baker (Lochinvar), Therese Leydon (NSW), Anne Elizabeth Harrison (NSW),  Jen Taylor (candidate SA), June Flinn (Lochinvar), Mary Southard (La Grange), Carmel Crameri (Vic), Elaine Smith (Qld), Mary Cresp (SA).

In presenting “The Wild and the Sacred”, Mary Southard (assisted by Mrs Carol Cummins-Kolinski) opened up for us the wonder of our God whose love, poured out and enfleshed in Jesus, continues to draw us and all of creation into union with the divine.  We pondered the evolution of the cosmos mirrored in the evolution of the tiniest atom.  We rejoiced that, made of star-dust, we are connected with the total universe and our world’s inhabitants. 

Our charism, as Sisters of St Joseph, intensified this bond.  So, invited by the Spirit to enter into Jesus’ portrayal of divine love, we were strengthened in our resolve to embrace the interconnectedness of life and to love dearly.  Creativity is then born; new life emerges; possibilities are multiplied.  This is the action of the God we have come to know.