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Issue 5, September 2006, Highlights: Creating a Vocations Culture 1 Creating a Vocations Culture 2 Creating a Vocations Culture 3 |
KCP Magazine Creating a Vocations Culture 3 Photo: Jill O’Brien, Sister of the Good Samaritan of the Order of St Benedict.
The first Sisters of our Congregation banded together to care for the destitute women of colonial Sydney in the mid nineteenth century. Theirs was a community life shaped by the ancient Benedictine Rule; their place of ministry, the polluted streets of the bustling harbour town. The outward signs of our life might look different but the same values and concerns are shared by Good Sams today. Two of us came to live at the Broome Campus of the University of Notre Dame in 2003 and we were joined by a third member in June of this year. Our convent is a simple demountable set in a developing garden in the University grounds. We have the beginnings of a library and we cherish the few pictures and objects that help to make our home peaceful, beautiful and hospitable. My day begins with Lectio Divina, the personal reflective reading of the scriptures.This is followed by the communal recitation of Morning Prayer of the Church which includes the singing of psalms, scripture reading and prayer of intercession for the needs of our world. Sometimes we are joined by staff and students for this prayer.After breakfast I go to the university to begin my daily tasks as Campus Minister which include pastoral care of students and staff and the liturgical life of the University community. This work brings me in daily contact with Indigenous and non-Indigenous students from across the Kimberley and other parts o fWestern Australia. When the community gathers after work we usually have down time to talk about the events of the day and prepare the evening meal. Evening Prayer is celebrated to end our day. Unlike Sister Hilary we do not get to read the paper each day but we do watch the news! As a religious, my life is deeply influenced by the gospel story of the Good Samaritan. I am challenged daily to the invitation to ‘cross over’ and not pass by those who might need a word of encouragement, interest taken in a sick child, support given in difficult circumstances. These calls to live the gospel are usually not world-shattering but they are the stuff of daily life. Benedict gives it another nuance when he tells me ‘to make hospitality my special care’ – this is about sharing our time, our table, our gifts. It is also about receiving graciously what is shared whether it is in a camp in the desert or in a friend’s home. I don’t always live up to these ideals but they continue to give meaning to my life. I live and work in an institution that is committed to education, especially the education of the Indigenous peoples of the Kimberley. Just as education was a key to a decent life for the poor and destitute in colonial Sydney, I believe it is one very significant way of empowering the Indigenous people to take their rightful place in modern Australia. The opportunity to work in the Diocese of Broome helps me to realize that I am part of the story of Polding and those first sisters who trudged the streets of colonial Sydney 150 years ago. Prayer for Vocations God of life, Amen. |
I am writing this on the anniversary of the death of Sister Hilary Lawless, a Good Samaritan Sister who died in her nineties. During her long life she lived with Sisters who knew our founder,Archbishop Polding, and the first members of our Congregation. I knew her when I was at secondary school and briefly after I had entered the Community. What stays in my memory of her was her keen interest in all that was going on around her. Even when her sight was failing she maintained the habit of reading. The daily paper was a must. Hilary is just one of many Good Sams whose care for the disadvantaged and poor and whose vitality and interest in life drew me to the Community.