Opinion Articles

SOUL MATTERS: Saint Mary of the Cross worth singing about
By Lauretta Baker

Remember the song – ‘It’s just another day’ …? Well, Sunday October 17, 2010 was not just another day. Yesterday marked the official canonisation of Australia’s first saint, Mary of the Cross MacKillop. It was a day of celebration for all Australians, whatever our belief or unbelief.

As a nation, we’re known for being genuine in acknowledging a job well done, or a life well lived. Remember how you felt when Sally Pearson lost the gold medal just the other day at the Commonwealth Games? And that feeling of ‘Good on you’ when she made it in the 100 metre hurdles? A job well done! So for Mary MacKIllop. It's taken 85 years and two recognised miracles but this weekend Mary MacKillop was finally proclaimed a saint. She's the woman of the moment and a new song is just beginning.

For some of us, this ‘saint’ thing is a vexing issue. Who needs saints today? What do they do for us? Why bother? In a sense we all need people to look up to, people who inspire us to ‘have a go’ when we’d rather not; to try that little bit harder; to pick ourselves up when we’re feeling low.

Recently newspapers printed a list of “People who Matter Today”. These people, it seemed, have the potential to change the world! Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI and Angela Merkel were there. But so were Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga. Lady Gaga changing the world! Oh, come on! Why bother to compile such a list? There’s something about inspiration and influence and the potential to energise and affect lives. And that’s the value of naming our saints. Mary MacKillop wasn’t on the list. She’s dead anyway, yet her spirit lives on in the hearts and actions of so many people within Australia and elsewhere.

As a woman, she was independent, feisty, determined, generous and full of energy. Her innate goodness and her down-to-earth approach to life, her ability to bring hope and purpose in the midst of suffering, have endeared her to many. Her dream of offering knowledge, dignity, freedom and a sense of worth to those who had none ; of living poorly among her ordinary neighbours; of staying in the struggle, was her way of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. She was an heroically holy woman.

What was really remarkable about Mary is that she had every reason in life to be resentful. Her life is a chronicle of one sadness after another – hence the title ‘Mary of the Cross’. She felt these disappointments and hurts intensely, as anyone would. Yet she remained positive and full of faith in the God whom she often, in her writings, calls “good. She always stood up for what she believed in, and never wavered in her commitment to justice.

At the same time, she was a great upholder of law and authority and obedience to authority. So, Mary MacKillop was an outspoken, fearless woman, a defender of the poor and defenceless, an Australian among Australians! A saint for our time!

Sunday, October 17, was not just another day.

Sr Lauretta Baker is the Congregational Leader of the Sisters of St Joseph, Lochinvar. This article is submitted by the Churches Media Association www.cmahunter.com.au.

*This article was published in The Newcastle Herald, 18th October 2010